Dallas Attack Leaves 5 Dead: Sniper Ambush of Police During Protest

[vela]

Since no one knows whether the problem of police shooting blacks has gotten worse, no one knows if there is any legitimacy to the anti-police/white movement sweeping America these past 7 years.

So are you saying as long as the rate at which black Americans are shot or killed seemingly unjustifiably by police isn't getting worse, it's not a problem?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

There may not be an intentional war on blacks, but it isn't hard to understand why black men especially feel that way. And once you are convicted of a crime, most opportunities for economic advancement are gone. How many of us might have had our lives changed dramatically due a bad decision made when young, but got lucky? Let he who is without good memories throw the first stone.

Drug Sentencing Disparities

• About 14 million Whites and 2.6 million African Americans report using an illicit drug
• 5 times as many Whites are using drugs as African Americans, yet African Americans are sent to prison for drug offenses at 10 times the rate of Whites
• African Americans represent 12% of the total population of drug users, but 38% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 59% of those in state prison for a drug offense.
• African Americans serve virtually as much time in prison for a drug offense (58.7 months) as whites do for a violent offense (61.7 months). (Sentencing Project)

Contributing Factors

• Inner city crime prompted by social and economic isolation
• Crime/drug arrest rates: African Americans represent 12% of monthly drug users, but comprise 32% of persons arrested for drug possession
• "Get tough on crime" and "war on drugs" policies
• Mandatory minimum sentencing, especially disparities in sentencing for crack and powder cocaine possession
• In 2002, blacks constituted more than 80% of the people sentenced under the federal crack cocaine laws and served substantially more time in prison for drug offenses than did whites, despite that fact that more than 2/3 of crack cocaine users in the U.S. are white or Hispanic
• "Three Strikes"/habitual offender policies
• Zero Tolerance policies as a result of perceived problems of school violence; adverse affect on black children.
• 35% of black children grades 7-12 have been suspended or expelled at some point in their school careers compared to 20% of Hispanics and 15% of whites

http://www.naacp.org/pages/criminal-justice-fact-sheet

 

[Ivan Seeking]

One thing that becomes apparent is the problem of reaching for one's ID. Almost by definition you have to make movements that are exactly what a cop doesn't want to see. Apparently in the case in MN and the video linked earlier, that was the problem.

It seems that there might be an easy solution that could eliminate these sorts of deadly mistakes. Somehow eliminate the need to "reach" for your ID. Either do that before the cop approaches the car, or get out of the car, or have a place to put your ID where he or she can see it without moving your hands... It shouldn't be hard to eliminate this situation almost entirely.

 

[Evo]

Related? Missouri police officer gunned down Friday morning.

The suspect, Antonio Taylor, a 31-year-old black man who was paroled in 2015 after serving time on a federal weapons charge, was charged with assault of a police officer, armed criminal action and a felon in possession of a firearm, St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch said Friday, according tohttp://http//abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/police-chief-officer-shot-hospitalized-st-louis-suburb-40441688 .

Though officials said they were not yet sure about the suspect's motive, Belmar said investigators believe the officer was "ambushed."

After speaking with the driver, the officer went to his car to do paperwork, Scott said, and then the driver exited his vehicle, approached the officer's car, fired three shots, returned to his vehicle and fled.

He added that it was a "sad day for law enforcement," especially after the tragedy the night before in Dallas, where five police officers were slain

http://abcnews.go.com/US/missouri-police-officer-shot-traffic-stop-suspect-custody/story?id=40441765

 

[nsaspook]

Nice post.

I agree with your "culture" observation
Do you think maybe something so simple as ending municipal use of pecadilloes like broken taillight lens for a revenue stream could be of help ?
Had the officer said " You really oughta glue up that lens before it falls out. Do you know how much money the city makes from tickets for this chicken-poop stuff ? "
what would have happened ?

old jim

I agree but in this case it seems the broken taillight was a pretextual stop to look for a armed robbery suspect that 'matched' the driver.
http://www.kare11.com/news/police-scanner-audio-1/267042738

This puts a possible panic response into better context if the driver had no idea of the true reason for the stop and moved in a way that caused the officer to fixate on a possible weapon as an immediate personal threat.

 

[TurtleMeister]

I agree but in this case it seems the broken taillight was a pretextual stop to look for a armed robbery suspect that 'matched' the driver.
http://www.kare11.com/news/police-scanner-audio-1/267042738

This puts a possible panic response into better context if the driver had no idea of the true reason for the stop and moved in a way that caused the officer to fixate on a possible weapon as an immediate personal threat.

If that is true then (in my opinion) it means that if the robbery suspect and the driver had been white we probably would have seen the same results. It would explain a lot.

I know one thing. The next time I get pulled over I'm going to be very careful.

 

[Averagesupernova]

No one should need to worry about reaching for their ID when it is something we do on a daily basis. It is automatic. I have been pulled over a handful of times for various things but never been hauled off in a police car. The only time I have been asked to get out of the car was when I pulled up to a parked cop to have an inspection done of a repaired exhaust problem. To me, it makes sense that a cop would walk up and tell the driver to put his hands on the steering wheel and not move them. Don't worry about ID at the moment, want to ask you some questions. Go from there. But insist that for the safety of both the hands need to stay on the wheel until otherwise instructed and nothing is said to prompt the driver to remove them. The incident in MN is not an unusual thing. Cops get nervous all the time. My nephew tells about when he and a friend were pulled over one time when they were in their late teens. Lady cop asks my nephews friend if he has anything in his pockets. He told her yes he does. He has a pocket knife, pair of pliers and a bunch of nails, etc. He had helped his dad with some carpentry work or something, I don't remember. So she asks him to remove everything from his pockets and when his hands get half way in she chickens out and says no no no, take them out, hands where I can see them. Both my nephew and his friend were good kids. They did nothing wrong other than for whatever reason they were pulled over and they went on their way with likely nothing more than a speeding ticket. I am white, my nephew and his friend are white, almost everyone I know is white. I realize cops need to assume that danger is right around the corner all the time, but if they cannot handle it they need to get out of the biz.

 

[russ_watters]

To a European, that is an astonishing point of view! In the UK, police officers (even occasionally) opening fire on unarmed citizens would be totally unacceptable.

Per your own statistics, police in the UK do occasionally shoot civilians (armed or unarmed) and civilians do occasionally shoot police.

You are staking out a very absolute position and apparently projecting a mirror image binary position on me -- both incorrect.

 

[russ_watters]

Probably the first time I've ever agreed with Van Jones on anything:
http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/0...n/video/playlists/dallas-police-officer-shot/

I've looked at dozens of stories and public figure speeches in the past two days and this is the first to describe the two sides as being near exact mirror images of each other. Indeed, it is the first I've seen that even describes the "other" side and says it is legitimate!

 

[russ_watters]

I «liked» your post but I feel I must quote it as well, such that the Americans reading this site could understand how much they are the exception in this case. The unjustified fear they live on... It is just crazy for civilized people to witness that.

Per my response to PeroK, you are wrong to believe the majority of Americans live in fear (that was PeroK projecting his/er fear on us, not accurately describing the situation) and it is offensive for you to describe your people as "civilized people" to contrast the US as being "uncivilized people".

 

[russ_watters]

Emphasis mine. So once again, you claim that there's an anti-white movement sweeping America. It doesn't matter if you think it's secondary to something else or if I didn't chose to focus on the first thing you said. Unless you meant "anti-white police" and not "anti-police and anti-white," I don't see how you can have a problem with my quote.

Yes: you misquoted because you apparently misunderstood. So: do we agree now that the anti-white police movement exists? Caveat being that some of the anti-police movement does not hinge on them being white?

No, it's a perfect example because it shows systemic corruption within the police force and legal system. It shows that you're dead wrong when you say BLM concerns aren't based on reality.

What are we talking about here? What is BLM about? Is it about "systemic corruption" or police unlawfully killing blacks? One is true (WRT Ferguson), the other false. I'll give you a hint: Ferguson was burned and the BLM movement arose before that report was released.

And there is, although I don't know how much they specifically place the blame on white police instead of police and the courts in general. You just keep denying that there is a problem even though the evidence is there.

Again: I've made no such claim. In fact, I listed ways to deal with the problem. You really need to read my posts better because you are not following them at all.

What I am after here is an acknowledgment of the other side: the problem that exists in urban black communities. It's you who wants to blame one side and ignore the other, not me.

The issue isn't being ignored, it's just not the issue that BLM specifically focuses on. They don't focus on air quality in China or childhood leukemia either. Granted, those are less related to BLM than the two things you mention, but I don't think it's fundamentally different: you can't criticize a group for focusing mainly on one legitimate problem and not something else you think they should.

Yes, I can. And I can criticize the media and politicians for ignoring the issue too. Yes, the air quality in China is a bad example because unlike that, the BLK movement is intricately intertwined with both sides of the problem: protesting against one side while contributing to the problem on the other side.

It's also a little disingenuous of you to claim that the larger part of the problem is that urban black people just need to learn how to behave better, in the face of evidence that they (and rural blacks) are systematically discriminated against by those in power.

It is a little disingenuous of you to pretend the urban black cultural problem is smaller than it is. There is a reason why blacks are vastly over-represented in prison and it isn't (primarily) because they are discriminated against: it is because they commit an over-representative fraction of crimes. But that's par for the course: people want to ignore that problem.

 

[russ_watters]

I have a problem with this statement, and probably highlights the subtle racism that (some) non-minorities have towards minorities. Perhaps, black "inner-city culture" isn't the problem. Perhaps, there are other dynamics that led to higher crime rates in the city, like lack of education, lack of employment...

I'm going to stop there and overlook the (again!) accusation of racism. Blacks, whites, Asians, Latinas are all provided with free education by the government, through high school. Do you really not know how much worse the high school graduation rate is for blacks than the others? By percentage, more than twice as many blacks as whites fail to finish high school.

But yes, failing to get your government provided education is one of the several self-inflicted dynamics that leads to higher crime rates in cities.

 

[russ_watters]

So are you saying as long as the rate at which black Americans are shot or killed seemingly unjustifiably by police isn't getting worse, it's not a problem?

No, I'm not. What I'm saying is that if it isn't either bad compared with other problems or getting worse, it isn't a good explanation/justification for the new war on [white] police.

I'm also saying that people should try harder to fix worse problems than problems that aren't as bad. We're all aware that an average person is something like 15x more likely to be murdered than killed (justified or not) by police, right? And for unjustified only, the number would be something like 100x larger. So we're seeing a protest movement and, for all intents and purposes, a war springing over a problem that is 100x smaller than the related problem of civilians (particularly, inner city blacks) killing each other. Why does that make sense to people?

 

[MarneMath]

I'm going to stop there and overlook the (again!) accusation of racism. Blacks, whites, Asians, Latinas are all provided with free education by the government, through high school. Do you really not know how much worse the high school graduation rate is for blacks than the others? By percentage, more than twice as many blacks as whites fail to finish high school.

But yes, failing to get your government provided education is one of the several self-inflicted dynamics that leads to higher crime rates in cities.

Actually, please do not overlook the accusation of racism, because what you said is rather racist. You are under the (mistaken) beliefs that black, white asian and hispanic schools are starting at the same vantage point; however, that is radically untrue. I do know how much worse black high schools are than suburban high schools. I went to a high school that proudly graduated 30 percent of all freshmen in 4 years. There are natural economic and social ramification of years of racial institution barring people from opportunity along with excessive brutality forcing young black men to grow up with their father's in prison. It isn't a simple case of "oh well everyone has free education, so everyone has the same chance". The numbers of hurdles faced by minorities in inner cities greatly outweighs those of more affluent white neighborhoods, and to think otherwise is again your white privilege.

However, we're not talking about about you saying that there's a problem with inner city education. What we are talking about is that there is a problem with "Black Inner City Culture". Nevertheless you have again made the racist assumption that black culture is parallel to poor education. However, black inner city culture exist regardless of education. It's in music, style of clothing, it's a culture that has been produced by struggles and years of being ostracized by white America as a whole. When you start to treat an entire class of people as criminals or under performers, you tend to get what you expect. It's a self-confirming bias, and one that you seem to propagate. The fact that you don't view this as racist is exactly why the Black Lives Matter becomes frustrated with white America.

 

[MarneMath]

No, I'm not. What I'm saying is that if it isn't either bad compared with other problems or getting worse, it isn't a good explanation/justification for the new war on [white] police.

I'm also saying that people should try harder to fix worse problems than problems that aren't as bad. We're all aware that an average person is something like 15x more likely to be murdered than killed (justified or not) by police, right? And for unjustified only, the number would be something like 100x larger. So we're seeing a protest movement and, for all intents and purposes, a war springing over a problem that is 100x smaller than the related problem of civilians (particularly, inner city blacks) killing each other. Why does that make sense to people?

Because it's possible to care about more than one thing at a time. Also, of course this doesn't make sense to you. You don't live in fear of an officer just having a bad day. The protest isn't just about police violence. Police violence is just the outlet that motivates the people to get together. If you listen, then you would find that the concern is the unbalance enforcement of the law against minorities and the extreme prejudice law enforcement officers may have towards minorities. I drive an Mercedes S550. I get pulled over often for "Random Inspections". I've been pulled over for driving to slowly in my neighborhood. I've been stopped by officers while shopping at stores in my affluent community. I know why. I'm 6 something, I'm muscular, I have tattoos, and I'm brown. I don't look normal. When I go out in public, if I wear what I find comfortable, then I know I'm going to get stares and watched. I shouldn't have to dress up in business casual to go shopping, but I do, because I stick out and frankly, I don't want my daughters to have to put up with the harassment I have had to put up since my youth.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Why does that make sense to people?

Because we know what to expect from criminals. But the police are supposed to serve and protect, not kill. It is a systemic failure and a betrayal of the public trust in the most profound sense. It undermines the basis for law and order because no one respects the system as being fair.

Can't you understand the problem when you fear the police as much as you do the gangs? That is how people have to live.

And the drug arrest statistics show that blacks are targeted by police. It is a simple fact. Oppression and institutional racism are alive and well. Black on black crime doesn't make that okay or insignificant any more than police brutality justifies the shootings in Dallas.

 

[Tobias Funke]

Yes: you misquoted because you apparently misunderstood. So: do we agree now that the anti-white police movement exists? Caveat being that some of the anti-police movement does not hinge on them being white?

Ok, fair enough about not getting your point. I've always understood the slash to mean "and," and you explicitly said "and" in your second post, so I interpreted it the way you actually wrote it. As for an anti-white police "movement"? (And is it still sweeping the country? If so, there are about a million other movements sweeping the country.) Obviously white police have been targeted for murder, as in, it's something that literally just happened a few days ago. I don't lump that in with frustration at the police for (mainly white) police actions, so I guess it depends on what you consider to be anti-white police to call it a movement or not.

What are we talking about here? What is BLM about? Is it about "systemic corruption" or police unlawfully killing blacks? One is true (WRT Ferguson), the other false. I'll give you a hint: Ferguson was burned and the BLM movement arose before that report was released

It's about both...? Part of the reason that you think I'm not following your posts is because you introduce arbitrary choices like that, while sometimes seeming to say that systemic corruption is real and sometimes not. Wondering whether it's perception or reality casts doubts on it, as does admitting it exists but seemingly wanting to limit it to the one area of Ferguson. Maybe you've been separating systemic corruption and unlawful killings (which do happen) the whole time, and maybe your posts are more consistent under that separation. I really don't know at this point.

Also, whether the report came out before BLM or not isn't very relevant because there was plenty of data available before that that made the conclusion obvious for anyone who had been paying attention, let along for people actually living there. I don't think that even at the very beginning it was solely about one incident. And would the investigation ever have been done if BLM didn't gain traction? I doubt it.

Again: I've made no such claim. In fact, I listed ways to deal with the problem. You really need to read my posts better because you are not following them at all.

Ok, I went back and looked at the posts and can see how you weren't saying they were wrong. I thought you said that they believe there are systemic problems in a way that casts doubt on whether there are, but you were saying that they believe that as opposed to there only being a few bad apples, so at least we're clear on that.

It is a little disingenuous of you to pretend the urban black cultural problem is smaller than it is. There is a reason why blacks are vastly over-represented in prison and it isn't (primarily) because they are discriminated against: it is because they commit an over-representative fraction of crimes. But that's par for the course: people want to ignore that problem.

Well, "urban cultural problem" is pretty vague (they don't "deal with" police correctly?), and I don't see how you can claim to rank its importance as compared to police and justice system practices that destroy lives. You say that it's the larger of the two problems, but given things like the Ferguson report, I think that's just your opinion based on nothing. If you're talking about crime rates and educational attainment, I'm pretty sure that they're not ignored. You don't think that there are community leaders and churches and involved parents and motivated teenagers, etc., trying to better their communities? The issue is discussed openly as well. Michelle Alexander's book is probably the currently most famous criticism of the police and the justice system, and she talks candidly about it.

 

[PeroK]

Per your own statistics, police in the UK do occasionally shoot civilians (armed or unarmed) and civilians do occasionally shoot police.

You are staking out a very absolute position and apparently projecting a mirror image binary position on me -- both incorrect.

The critical difference (apart from the sheer numbers involved) is the unacceptability of it. I've seen about half a dozen news stories this year of US Police officers shooting unarmed civilians (lying on the ground, in their car, running away). If this happened in the UK, without a shadow of a doubt, these officers would have been charged with murder. These acts, if carried out by a UK Police officer, would simply be unacceptable. You might chose to believe that the rest of the civilised world has police forces and methods close to those of the US. But, what we non Americans are trying to tell you is that we most certainly do not have police forces that act like this. They may not be polar opposites, but the two systems of policing in the US and UK are a very long way apart.

One case that you may find extraordinary is that of the death of Ian Tomlinson:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Ian_Tomlinson

In this case, a police officer pushed him to the ground and he collapsed and died a few minutes later. The officer was charged with manslaughter! (I must confess, I thought this was harsh. And, indeed, he was acquitted - although dismissed from the force for gross misconduct.).

The police officer did not shoot him or seriously assault him - he merely pushed him to the ground - yet was charged with manslaughter. That explempifies the difference between what we in the UK find acceptable in police behaviour and how the US police officers may behave.

Here is a video of the incident:



This was headline news in the UK and very mild stuff compared to what we've seen US police officers do.

 

[jack action]

Per my response to PeroK, you are wrong to believe the majority of Americans live in fear (that was PeroK projecting his/er fear on us, not accurately describing the situation) and it is offensive for you to describe your people as "civilized people" to contrast the US as being "uncivilized people".

I never said "my people" were civilized (I didn't even say I was) and I didn't say that the majority of Americans are living in fear or are uncivilized, as I'm sure there are many (maybe the majority?) who are not and I'm sure they would have chosen the exact same wording I did:

It is just crazy for civilized people to witness that.

Yes, it is uncivilized to even think it is justify to wave a gun in someone's face to establish your authority over that person. This will necessarily lead to an escalation. Is it really that important to catch a suspect, that a police officer (or anyone else) can wave his gun in all the innocent people he meets until, maybe, he finds the suspect? You're better letting him go than scaring the heck out of everyone and - maybe - accidentally shoot someone. You'll catch him next time and if there is no next time, you know what? The future will all be good.

When you talk about "your people" vs "my people", it is the basic speech coming from fear. I don't talk for anyone else but myself (I'm reassuring you, Canada is not plotting to take over the USA; anyway it wasn't on the agenda the last time we met in my basement. ).

Fear is not an "American" problem, it is a human trait of character found all over the world. Actually, fear is a good thing, it is when it turns to panic that it becomes a problem. Unfortunately, lately America is dangerously tipping over the edge (There are other countries too, but that is not an excuse). I mean, you will have to vote soon and you have the choice between only 2 candidates: one who - amongst other things - wants to build a wall on a 2000 miles border ... and the other one. That is the definition of a panicky reaction from the population. It is really bad because for people who want to seriously tackle the current issues, well, there is only one choice, which means no choice at all, and no serious discussions about the issues. That weakens democracy terribly.

The reason I get involved, even though I'm not a US citizen, it's because fear is contagious and it spills outside your border.

 

[TurtleMeister]

This was headline news in the UK and very mild stuff compared to what we've seen US police officers do.

It saddens me to think that people outside the US judge it based on the media. I've been around a while. I'm in my 60's. In my life I've never personally witnessed police brutality. Not even a minor incident. But maybe that's because I've always lived in predominately white neighborhoods. I notice that the black population in the UK is only 2%. Do you have areas in the UK where the population is predominantly black?

 

[jim hardy]

.

Yes, it is uncivilized to even think it is justify to wave a gun in someone's face to establish your authority over that person.

Most of us don't even go places where that's accepted behavior.
When i see a statistic like this one from Chicago

it makes me wonder.
~340 killings so far this year, or 338 if you add righthand column,
4 by police , 1.2%
270 unaccounted for, 79%

i have to ask myself
"What kind of place is it?
How close to reality was Pulp Fiction ? "

Wasn't one of the themes in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" that we tend to become as harsh as our surroundings ? Even more so when we have power to dominate?
Police department psychologists will learn to spot the Kurtz's . ( http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/heart/themes.html )
And getting them out will help.
But they're a symptom..
Dehumanizing one another is the problem.
Religion is supposed to teach against that dehumanization but we reject religion in favor of competitiveness and acquisition
Where there's material things to acquire people will compete to acquire them, where there isn't material wealth they will compete to acquire dominance
that's human nature

but it's difficult to fix something when you don't know much about it. And i don't know anything about life in inner cities.
One would think though, more "Sesame Street" less "gangsta" couldn't hurt.

 

[PeroK]

It saddens me to think that people outside the US judge it based on the media. I've been around a while. I'm in my 60's. In my life I've never personally witnessed police brutality. Not even a minor incident. But maybe that's because I've always lived in predominately white neighborhoods. I notice that the black population in the UK is only 2%. Do you have areas in the UK where the population is predominantly black?

London and other major cities are diverse with black and Asian (mostly Pakistani & Banglashdeshi) population. About 10% of Greater London is black:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_groups_in_London

Most major cities have predominantly black and Asian areas. I used to live in Nottingham and the St Ann's area almost became a black ghetto with incipient gun violence. If you believe the Nottingham Post things have improved dramatically:

http://www.nottinghampost.com/gun-knife-crime-halves-nottingham-police-turn/story-26697402-detail/story.html

 

[Dembadon]

Nevertheless, it's also part of your white privilege

Can you please explain what "white privilege" means? The last time someone tried to explain it to me, I got a word salad about how I'm not allowed to have opinions or make reasoned arguments because I'm a white male.
Edit: Nevermind, I don't want to drag the thread off-topic.

 

[mheslep]

To a European, that is an astonishing point of view! In the UK, police officers (even occasionally) opening fire on unarmed citizens would be totally unacceptable. Even one incident would come under national scrutiny and spark a review of policy. And any police officer killed in the line of duty would be national news for days.

Rotherham

 

[mheslep]

... a perfect example because it shows systemic corruption within the police force and legal system. It shows that you're dead wrong when you say BLM concerns aren't based on reality...

And there is, although I don't know how much they specifically place the blame on white police instead of police and the courts in general. You just keep denying that there is a problem even though the evidence is there.

... in the face of evidence that they (and rural blacks) are systematically discriminated against by those in power.

An example doesn't show systemic anything. On a heated subject like this, where unsubstantiated statements can directly make the problem worse, showing a basis in fact is important. This forum has rules stating the same. You've provided none.

 

[Evo]

After re-reading through the thread, I would have to delete too much to tone it down so that it had a better chance at a good start. I think we should leave it closed.

 

[Astronuc]

After re-reading through the thread, I would have to delete too much to tone it down so that it had a better chance at a good start. I think we should leave it closed.

I agree with closing the thread, but I would like to offer the comments of the surgeon who treated some of the police officers who were fatally wounded.

Dallas Surgeon Delivers Poignant Message About Defending Police, But Also Fearing Them
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dallas-trauma-surgeon-speaks-shootings-100739307.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dallas...ge-defending-police-fearing/story?id=40501531

"There’s this dichotomy where I am standing with law enforcement. But I also personally feel and understand the angst when you cross the paths of an officer in uniform and you’re fearing for your safety," Williams said. "I’ve been there and I understand that. But for me that does not condone disrespecting and killing police officers."

When asked how he handles this with his daughter, he said he makes a point of picking up the tab for officers when he sees Dallas police officers out at a restaurant.

"I want my daughter to see me interacting with police that way so she doesn’t grow up with the same burden I carry when it comes to interacting with law enforcement," he said.

He said his goal is to have more interactions so that police can understand his perspective of these interactions.

"I also want the Dallas PD to see me, a black man, and understand that I support you, I will defend you and I will care for you," Williams said. "That doesn’t mean that I do not fear you."

 

[Evo]

I agree with closing the thread, but I would like to offer the comments of the surgeon who treated some of the police officers who were fatally wounded.

Dallas Surgeon Delivers Poignant Message About Defending Police, But Also Fearing Them
https://www.yahoo.com/news/dallas-trauma-surgeon-speaks-shootings-100739307.html
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/dallas...ge-defending-police-fearing/story?id=40501531

Did you see my post of the Missouri police officer that was ambushed the morning after the Dallas officers were killed? He was siting in his car. Unfortunately police officers also have a lot to fear.