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President Obama calls for unity in wake of Dallas police shooting

(CNN) — Speaking at the memorial service for five slain officers in Dallas, U.S. President Barack Obama praised police for protecting and serving t...
Memorial for slain Dallas officers draws U.S. presidents, area faith leaders

 

(CNN) — Speaking at the memorial service for five slain officers in Dallas, U.S. President Barack Obama praised police for protecting and serving the people. “Like police officers across the country, these men and their families shared a commitment to something larger than themselves. … The reward comes in knowing that our entire way of life in America depends on the rule of law, that the maintenance of that law is a hard and daily labor, that in this country, we don’t have soldiers in the streets or militias setting the rules. Instead, we have public servants, police officers, like the men who were taken away from us.”

During last week’s shooting, Dallas police “showed incredible restraint” and “saved more lives than we will ever know,” Barack Obama added.

“When the bullets started flying, the men and women of the Dallas police, they did not flinch, and they did not act recklessly,” he said.

Obama said the shootings of five Dallas police officers would appear to have exposed the “the deepest fault line of our democracy” but that Americans must reject such despair.

He attended the memorial along with first lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Jill Biden.

The five who died were shot during a protest against the police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota. Nine officers and two civilians were injured in the attack.

Former President George W.  Bush also spoke at the memorial.

“None of us were prepared or could be prepared for an ambush by hatred and malice,” Bush said. “The shock of this evil still has not faded. At times, it seems like the forces pulling us apart are stronger than the forces binding us together. Argument turns too easily into animosity. … Too often we judge other groups by their worst examples, while judging ourselves by our best intentions.”

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