WARSAW, Poland: President Barack Obama on Saturday rejected the notion that this week’s stunning violence is a signal that the US has returned to some of the darkest days of its past, saying that as painful as the killings of police and black men were, “America is not as divided as some have suggested.”
“Americans of all races and all backgrounds are rightly outraged by the inexcusable attacks on police, whether it’s in Dallas or anyplace else,” Obama said from Warsaw, Poland, where he attended a NATO summit.
“That includes protesters. It includes family members who have grave concerns about police conduct and they’ve said that this is unacceptable,” Obama added. “There’s no division there.”
The comments marked the third time in as many days that Obama has spoken, from a distance, about the police-involved fatal shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota that were immediately followed by a sniper attack in Dallas that killed five police officers Thursday night. Seven officers and two civilians were also injured.
“This has been a tough week,” the president said.
Obama said the Dallas shooter, an Army veteran who was later killed by police, was a “demented individual” who does not represent black Americans, any more than a white man accused of killing blacks at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, represents whites.
Obama said he would visit Dallas “in a few days” to pay respects and mourn with the stricken Texas city.
He said that while “there is sorrow, there is anger, there is confusion” about how the US moves forward, “there’s unity in recognizing that this is not how we want our communities to operate. This is not who we want to be as Americans and that serves as the basis for us being able to move forward in a constructive and positive way.”
“So we cannot let the actions of a few define all of us,” Obama said.
The president said he planned to convene a White House meeting next week with police officers, community and civil rights activists and other to talk about next steps. He said the “empathy and understanding” that Americans have shown in responding to the events of the past few days, including Dallas police officers as they came under attack, had given him hope.
“That’s the spirit that we all need to embrace. That’s the spirit that I want to build on,” Obama said.
But Obama made clear that he will continue to speak out about the need to tighten access to guns in the United States, steps the Republican-controlled Congress has refused to go along with.
“I am going to keep on talking about the fact that we cannot eliminate all racial tension in our country overnight,” he said. “We are not going to be able to identify, ahead of time, and eliminate every madman or troubled individual who might want to do harm against innocent people. But we can make it harder for them to do so.”
Guns contribute to violence
Obama defended his calls for stricter gun measures in the wake of the shootings. He said the proliferation of guns is part of the broader tensions that sometimes arise between police departments and the communities they serve.
He says police officers at times have very little margin for error in making decisions because guns are so plentiful.
Obama also said the United States is unique among advanced countries in the scale of violence that it experiences, not just through mass shootings but the spate of people shot in his hometown of Chicago.
He said the US cannot identify every trouble individual before they do harm to innocent people, but it can make it harder for them to do so.
An attorney for a suburban Minneapolis police officer who killed a black motorist says the officer reacted to the man’s gun, not his race.
Minneapolis attorney Thomas Kelly told The Associated Press on Saturday that St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez was reacting to “the presence of that gun and the display of that gun” when he opened fire on Philando Castile.
Castile’s girlfriend, who streamed the shooting’s aftermath live on Facebook, said Castile was permitted to carry the gun.
Kelly says Yanez, who is Latino, is distraught and saddened over the Wednesday shooting in the Minneapolis suburb of Falcon Heights.
Authorities said that during the traffic stop, Yanez approached Castile’s car from the driver’s side and another officer approached from the passenger side. Yanez opened fire, striking Castile multiple times.
Kelly wouldn’t elaborate on what led up to the shooting, citing a pending investigation.
Serena Williams worried
In London, tennis superstar Serena Williams said the recent fatal police shootings of two black men and the attack on police in Dallas have her worried.
Williams was asked about the episodes after winning Wimbledon on Saturday.
She says the events made her think about her nephews.
She says she’s wondering if she should call them and tell them, “Don’t go outside. If you get in your car, it might be the last time I see you.”
On Tuesday in Louisiana, a black man was shot by police. A day later in Minnesota, another black man was shot dead by an officer.
Then, five police officers were shot and killed during a protest in Dallas on Thursday.
Williams says “obviously, violence is not the answer of solving it.” She calls the Dallas shootings “very sad.”
Many US flags were flying at half-staff in Texas to honor the five officers slain in Dallas, but a South Texas judge said only the Texas flag has been lowered in his county.
Goliad County Judge Pat Calhoun, the county’s top administrator, told the Victoria Advocate (http://bit.ly/29DhLk6) that Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to lower the state flag was a “local issue.”
Calhoun said Thursday’s shooting in Dallas and another last month at an Orlando nightclub that killed 49 did not meet federal criteria for lowering the US flag.
President Barack Obama in both instances ordered the American flag be lowered.
The US Flag Code allows presidents and governors to lower flags for officials, military members and certain occasions, though some states have their own policies.
“Americans of all races and all backgrounds are rightly outraged by the inexcusable attacks on police, whether it’s in Dallas or anyplace else,” Obama said from Warsaw, Poland, where he attended a NATO summit.
“That includes protesters. It includes family members who have grave concerns about police conduct and they’ve said that this is unacceptable,” Obama added. “There’s no division there.”
The comments marked the third time in as many days that Obama has spoken, from a distance, about the police-involved fatal shootings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota that were immediately followed by a sniper attack in Dallas that killed five police officers Thursday night. Seven officers and two civilians were also injured.
“This has been a tough week,” the president said.
Obama said the Dallas shooter, an Army veteran who was later killed by police, was a “demented individual” who does not represent black Americans, any more than a white man accused of killing blacks at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, represents whites.
Obama said he would visit Dallas “in a few days” to pay respects and mourn with the stricken Texas city.
He said that while “there is sorrow, there is anger, there is confusion” about how the US moves forward, “there’s unity in recognizing that this is not how we want our communities to operate. This is not who we want to be as Americans and that serves as the basis for us being able to move forward in a constructive and positive way.”
“So we cannot let the actions of a few define all of us,” Obama said.
The president said he planned to convene a White House meeting next week with police officers, community and civil rights activists and other to talk about next steps. He said the “empathy and understanding” that Americans have shown in responding to the events of the past few days, including Dallas police officers as they came under attack, had given him hope.
“That’s the spirit that we all need to embrace. That’s the spirit that I want to build on,” Obama said.
But Obama made clear that he will continue to speak out about the need to tighten access to guns in the United States, steps the Republican-controlled Congress has refused to go along with.
“I am going to keep on talking about the fact that we cannot eliminate all racial tension in our country overnight,” he said. “We are not going to be able to identify, ahead of time, and eliminate every madman or troubled individual who might want to do harm against innocent people. But we can make it harder for them to do so.”
Guns contribute to violence
Obama defended his calls for stricter gun measures in the wake of the shootings. He said the proliferation of guns is part of the broader tensions that sometimes arise between police departments and the communities they serve.
He says police officers at times have very little margin for error in making decisions because guns are so plentiful.
Obama also said the United States is unique among advanced countries in the scale of violence that it experiences, not just through mass shootings but the spate of people shot in his hometown of Chicago.
He said the US cannot identify every trouble individual before they do harm to innocent people, but it can make it harder for them to do so.
An attorney for a suburban Minneapolis police officer who killed a black motorist says the officer reacted to the man’s gun, not his race.
Minneapolis attorney Thomas Kelly told The Associated Press on Saturday that St. Anthony Police Officer Jeronimo Yanez was reacting to “the presence of that gun and the display of that gun” when he opened fire on Philando Castile.
Castile’s girlfriend, who streamed the shooting’s aftermath live on Facebook, said Castile was permitted to carry the gun.
Kelly says Yanez, who is Latino, is distraught and saddened over the Wednesday shooting in the Minneapolis suburb of Falcon Heights.
Authorities said that during the traffic stop, Yanez approached Castile’s car from the driver’s side and another officer approached from the passenger side. Yanez opened fire, striking Castile multiple times.
Kelly wouldn’t elaborate on what led up to the shooting, citing a pending investigation.
Serena Williams worried
In London, tennis superstar Serena Williams said the recent fatal police shootings of two black men and the attack on police in Dallas have her worried.
Williams was asked about the episodes after winning Wimbledon on Saturday.
She says the events made her think about her nephews.
She says she’s wondering if she should call them and tell them, “Don’t go outside. If you get in your car, it might be the last time I see you.”
On Tuesday in Louisiana, a black man was shot by police. A day later in Minnesota, another black man was shot dead by an officer.
Then, five police officers were shot and killed during a protest in Dallas on Thursday.
Williams says “obviously, violence is not the answer of solving it.” She calls the Dallas shootings “very sad.”
Many US flags were flying at half-staff in Texas to honor the five officers slain in Dallas, but a South Texas judge said only the Texas flag has been lowered in his county.
Goliad County Judge Pat Calhoun, the county’s top administrator, told the Victoria Advocate (http://bit.ly/29DhLk6) that Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to lower the state flag was a “local issue.”
Calhoun said Thursday’s shooting in Dallas and another last month at an Orlando nightclub that killed 49 did not meet federal criteria for lowering the US flag.
President Barack Obama in both instances ordered the American flag be lowered.
The US Flag Code allows presidents and governors to lower flags for officials, military members and certain occasions, though some states have their own policies.
