Funerals begin for fallen Dallas officers after Obama’s call for reconciliation

Funerals are set to begin on Wednesday for the five officers killed by a sniper during a protest last week in downtown Dallas. Services will be held for Dallas Police Sr. Cpl. Lorne Ahrens, Dallas Police Sgt. Michael Smith and Dallas Area Rapid Transit Officer Brent Thompson. Dallas Police Officer Michael Krol’s funeral is set for Friday, and Dallas police Officer Patrick Zamarripa’s funeral will be held Saturday. The five were gunned down as they policed a Black Lives Matter demonstration in the city last week.

We turn on the TV or surf the Internet, and we can watch positions harden and lines drawn and people retreat to their respective corners, and politicians calculate how to grab attention or avoid the fallout. … I understand how Americans are feeling. But Dallas, I’m here to say we must reject such despair. I’m here to insist that we are not as divided as we seem.

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Their funerals follow a public memorial at which President Barack Obama urged Americans to cast off despair over violence and to rise above racial divides. His speech sought a careful balance between tribute to the fallen officers and respect for the country’s law enforcement, and sympathy for those protesting against police violence. A call for national unity and solidarity was reinforced by several speakers at the interfaith service, including former President George W. Bush, a Dallas resident.

I’m more afraid of the police after the shooting because people are going to feel like everybody’s out for them. … We feel like the biggest gang is the police out here because they face no repercussions.

Anthony Williams, a 23-year-old demolition worker who described being routinely sworn at, frisked and asked for identification simply for sitting outside

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