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WASHINGTON – Responding to the shooting deaths of five Dallas officers and the wounding of several others, Attorney General Loretta Lynch addressed the nation Friday and implored Americans, “Do not let this week precipitate a new normal in this country.”
Lynch asked citizens to help each other and not to turn on each other.
However, at the same time, she offered encouragement to anti-police protesters, telling them, “Do not be discouraged by those who would use your lawful actions as a cover for their heinous violence.”
The attorney general also reached out to law enforcement officers, telling them the Justice Department “will do all that we can to support you in the days ahead.”
But she also suggested they might be part of the problem, saying, “We must continue working to build trust between communities and law enforcement.”
Lynch indicated the shootings would increase the administration’s drive to curtail Second Amendment rights.
“We must take a hard look at the ease with which wrong-doers can get their hands on deadly weapons,” she said.
The attorney general said it was understandable that Americans would react with feelings of helplessness and fear, “but the answer must not be violence.”
Her comments come after the shooting deaths of five Dallas law enforcement officers Thursday night. Seven officers were wounded.
Dallas police killed the sniper, 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson.
Police detained, then released, three other potential suspects, two men and one woman.
Two civilians were wounded as the sniper apparently targeted police during a demonstration in downtown Dallas after the shooting deaths this week of two black men by police, Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota.
Those shootings sparked nationwide protests against the police.
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Johnson told police he was angry about those shootings and said he wanted to kill white people, especially police officers.
After hours of negotiation, police killed Johnson with an explosive strapped to a police robot.
Speaking to reporters this morning in Warsaw, Poland, President Obama deplored the Dallas shootings as a “vicious, calculated, despicable attack.” He called it a “tremendous tragedy” and “senseless murders.”
“Let’s be clear: There is no possible justification,” he added.
