Up Next
Dallas: Obama Calls for Unity in Wake of Killings of Police
In today's headlines, President Obama has called for unity while speaking in Dallas at a memorial for five police officers killed by a sniper Thursday evening. The shooter, Micah Xavier Johnson, opened fire at the end of an anti-police brutality march, killing five officers and wounding at least seven more. Johnson was an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan in 2014. While on tour in Afghanistan, a female soldier accused him of sexual harassment, took out a restraining order against him, and he was sent back to the U.S. by the Army. Speaking Tuesday, President Obama acknowledged racial discrimination exists within police departments. President Barack Obama:
"Perhaps we’ve heard prejudice in our own heads and felt it in our own hearts. We know that. And while some suffer far more under racism’s burden, some feel to a far greater extent discrimination’s sting. Although most of us do our best to guard against it and teach our children better, none of us is entirely innocent, no institution is entirely immune. And that includes our police departments. We know this."
President Obama will meet today in Washington, D.C., with law enforcement officials and civil rights leaders, as daily demonstrations against police brutality continue nationwide.