The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.
From the White House – Weekly Address
In this week’s address, Vice President Joe Biden commemorated the lives of the five police officers who were killed and the seven people who were wounded in Dallas. The police officers were providing safety to those who were peacefully marching against racial injustices in the criminal justice system – and the shocking images of the lives lost in St. Paul and Baton Rouge. Echoing the remarks of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Police Chief David Brown, the Vice President called on the American people to act with unity and to stop the violence. He emphasized that it is the responsibility of everyone to speak out against disparities within the criminal justice system, just as much as it is the responsibility of everyone to stand up for the police who protect us every day. Because together, we as a nation will persevere and overcome.
Transcript: Weekly Address: Standing Together to Stop the Violence
Remarks of Vice President Joe Biden as Prepared for Delivery, Weekly Address, The White House, July 9, 2016
Although I didn’t know the five police officers who were killed, or the seven who were wounded in Dallas this week – I knew them.
They were the folks I grew up with: The boy with the most courage and the most compassion; the man with a brave heart and a generous soul, whose words were always encouraging; the son who made his mother proud every time he turned and smiled at her; and the friend who you could always count on. Being a cop wasn’t just what they did. It was who they were—like every officer who joined for essentially the same reason. There was something about them that made them think they could help, that they should serve, that they had a duty.
So when an assassin’s bullet targeted the police force in Dallas, it touched the soul of the nation. Those killed and wounded were protecting the safety of those who were peacefully protesting against racial injustices in the criminal justice system. Those who were marching against the kind of shocking images we saw in St. Paul and Baton Rouge—and have seen too often elsewhere—of too many black lives lost.
I believe the Dallas Police Department is one of the finest in the nation—and this incredibly diverse city can bridge any divide. To paraphrase Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, let us use our words carefully. Let us act with unity, not division. As Dallas Police Chief David Brown—one of the leading chiefs in America—said, “There are no words to describe the atrocity that occurred to our city, all I know is that this must stop, this divisiveness between our police and our citizens.”
As Americans, we are wounded by all of these deaths. It’s on all of us to stand up, to speak out about disparities in our criminal justice system—just as it’s on all of us to stand up for the police who protect us in our communities every day. In the days and weeks ahead, we’ll continue offering our thoughts and prayers to provide comfort to the broken-hearted families. But they will only be redeemed by the courage of our actions that honor their memories.
So while we’re being tested, we can’t be pulled apart. We are America, with bonds that hold us together. We endure, we persevere, we overcome, we stand together.
Bolding added.
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Mayor Mike Rawlings of Dallas, spoke at a gathering Friday:
The Mayor invited the president to visit Dallas next week and the details are being worked out. From the White House press office:
The trip to Seville was for this:
He will still visit the naval base in Rota and speak to the troops.
Dallas Police Chief David Brown, yesterday:
More on Chief Brown’s work in building his department:
By the way, the chief was allowed to fire 70 officers in order to drain the swamp to rebuild his department – something that police unions have resisted. The police union leadership owns a lot of this when they insist on protecting bad cops who damage the reputation of their entire profession and add unnecessary risk to an already dangerous job.
More about Chief Brown:
Two additional stories on the Dallas Police Department’s transformation …
The Dallas Police Department Has Been A Model For Confronting Police Brutality
Some Things You Need to Know About the Dallas Police Department
In the News: Hillary Clinton spoke in Philadelphia …
Transcript (PDF)
More about the Mother Bethel AME Church:
Reactions and photos from Dallas of a community coming together to mourn:
Some Tweets from that story:
Attorney General Loretta Lynch weighs in:
From the transcript:
In the News: Democrats still crafting platform …
In the News: No, Newt Gingrich did not get a racial epiphany …
Nice sentiments but if either normal=white or white-people-who-work-to-understand-race=abnormal, then you are doing it wrong.
Thank you Jan.
From the President, earlier today:
Video from White House
Transcript: Remarks by President Obama at Press Conference After NATO Summit