Dallas Police respond after shots were fired at a Black Lives Matter rally in downtown Dallas on Thursday, July 7, 2016. | Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
In what has been characterized as the deadliest day for law enforcement in the U.S. since 9/11, gunmen in Dallas waged a coordinated, ambush-style attack on police during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest over the recent shooting deaths of Black men by police. As a result, five officers were killed and seven were wounded. Two civilians were also wounded. Authorities do not believe the attack was related to international terrorism or to the anti-police brutality protest, as CNN reported.
This shooting comes during a week rocked by the deaths of Black men by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“We believe that these suspects were positioning themselves in a way to triangulate on these officers from two different perches in garages in the downtown area, and planned to injure and kill as many law enforcement officers as they could,” said Dallas Police Chief David Brown at a news conference, as reported by NBC News. Brown said at least two snipers shot from elevated positions right before 9 p.m. CT on Thursday, shooting some officers in the back in an “ambush-style” attack.
RAW VIDEO: Our cameras captured the panic after the first shots were fired in downtown #Dallas Thursday nighthttps://t.co/JXcapjFIHv
— WFAA-TV (@wfaachannel8) July 8, 2016
Three people were in custody in connection with the shooting, according to NBC News. Dallas police chief revealed in a morning press conference that one of those in custody is a woman. A fourth suspect who had exchanged gunfire with police in a community college parking garage was reportedly neutralized at 2:45 a.m. CT after telling police negotiators that “the end is coming” and that “there are bombs all over the place in this garage and downtown.”
The Dallas police chief, who is Black, adding during the press conference that the suspect told authorities, “he was upset about Black Lives Matter, he said he was upset about the recent police shootings. The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. The suspect stated he was not affiliated with any groups, and he stated that he did it alone.”
A Black man named Mark Hughes, brother of protest organizer Cory Hughes, was accused and incorrectly identified as one of the shooting suspects. Mark Hughes, who was photographed walking with a rifle in the open-carry state, was interrogated by authorities and subsequently released in the early hours of Friday morning.
“I just got out of the interrogation room for about 30 minutes with police officers lying saying they had video of me shooting, which is a lie,” Mark Hughes told CBS11. “[They said] that they have witnesses saying I shot a gun, which is a lie. I mean at the end of the day, the system is trying to get me.”
#MarkHughes said, while being interrogated, the cops LIED telling him that they had VIDEO of him shooting at them. pic.twitter.com/oGR2WCOoft
— LEFT (@LeftSentThis) July 8, 2016
KTVT found the man Dallas Police earlier called a shooting suspect. He’s pissed. pic.twitter.com/wXhmGektYo
— Matthew Keys (@MatthewKeysLive) July 8, 2016
While in Poland for a meeting with NATO, President Barack Obama condemned what he called a “vicious, callous and despicable attack.”
“I believe I speak for every single American when I say that we are horrified over these events and that we stand united with the people and the police department in Dallas,” the president said.
Dallas PD has good reputation. Excessive force complaints dropped 64% from ’09 to ’14 after “shift to de-escalation” https://t.co/1eZNfpe6AI
— Albert Samaha (@AlbertSamaha) July 8, 2016
People want equality. – that’s all it is, it’s that simple. #Dallas pic.twitter.com/tOXr3M86ph
— SvarϮ (@Svarta_) July 8, 2016
Don’t ask me abt #DallasPoliceShooting bc I say: “the burden of the brutalized is not to comfort the bystander.That’s not our job, alright”
— BlackPeopleMatter (@lifeandmorelife) July 8, 2016
White supremacists planned and executed #DallasPoliceShooting to implicate #BLM and start their beloved race war.
— Black Khaleesi (@Edges_N_Paris) July 8, 2016
Some white conservative figures and media outlets took to social media, using the moment to attack Black protest and the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
And @TomiLahren weighs in but can’t hit the delete button fast enough.@AnnCoulter, come get your daughter. pic.twitter.com/CdDt4xf4HL
— W. Kamau Bell (@wkamaubell) July 8, 2016
This is what irresponsible journalism looks like. We can add to the story without wrongly shifting the narrative. pic.twitter.com/V9aYzxqB8b
— Yamiche Alcindor (@Yamiche) July 8, 2016
One former Congressman, Joe Walsh, seemed to advocate for a racial holy war against President Obama and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Just in case Joe Walsh tries to scrub his call for a race war: pic.twitter.com/PQAQlt6PXM
— Arturo R. Garcia (@aboynamedart) July 8, 2016
Backpack, rocks, swim – GO! Useless piece of human garbage you are #DeadBeatDad Joe Walsh! #DeleteYourself https://t.co/1MXaanR9FV
— Montel Williams (@Montel_Williams) July 8, 2016
Hey @SecretService, you need to go and detain Joe Walsh for threatening the President of the United States. pic.twitter.com/HXWqLHzuF5
— Action.Brotha.Jedi. (@BmoreDoc) July 8, 2016
As Princeton professor Eddie Glaude told MSNBC, the Dallas shooting reveals that “the nation is on edge.” In the coming days, conversations are likely to continue on the cycle of violence, police violence and racial violence in America.
