Obama says America is horrified over Dallas attack

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott says he’s cutting short an out-of-state trip to go to Dallas after four police officers were killed and seven others injured when snipers opened fire during protests.

Similar statements about other shootings have stoked tensions with law enforcement, including with FBI Director James Comey, who has suggested the intense public focus on police officers’ conduct, fueled by caught-on-camera moments, may be inhibiting officers as they try to protect their communities.

Obama said he would weigh in again when more is known about the killers’ “twisted motivations”. He called the murders “senseless” and pledged “justice will be done”.

Police initially said three people were killed in the shooting.

“It was very impromptu, but I though very appropriate; especially under the conditions of that exists in Dallas today”, Hancock said.

Obama met Friday with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg to review the agenda before visiting with the summit’s host, Polish President Andrzej Duda. He aired his frustration with what he said were racial disparities in the criminal justice system.

“I am confident that the United Kingdom and the European Union will be able to agree on an orderly transition to a new relationship, as all our countries stay focused on ensuring financial stability and growing the global economy”, Obama wrote.

In an op-ed published in the Financial Times on Friday, Obama says the USA and European nation “must summon the political will, and make concrete commitments” to affirm European cooperation. “In the days ahead we’re going to have to consider those realities”.

Although the USA has keen interest in the talks, the president’s words have limited impact and influence.

A witness told KTVT, “Whoever was shooting had an assault rifle – and I know guns. And it’s serious business”, he said in an interview. So the impulse for Obama is always to carry on as much as possible with business and usual.

The events also come during a heated presidential election where issues of gun violence and criminal justice reform have been in the spotlight, and come just hours before presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton was scheduled to give a speech addressing the shootings from earlier in the week. It’s not just a Hispanic issue. I ask you say a prayer for the officers and their families. “All fair-minded people should be concerned”, he said.

Cutting short his trip to Spain would signal the importance that he places on the issue. He also said the nation should express its gratitude to those serving in law enforcement.

“When people say “Black Lives Matter”, that doesn’t mean blue lives don’t matter”, Obama said referring to the Minnesota and Louisiana shootings. Sterling’s death was captured on video by civil-rights advocates who responded to police scanner reports of a potential arrest, while the aftermath of Castile’s shooting was broadcast live on Facebook by his girlfriend.

“If communities are mistrustful of the police, that makes those law enforcement offers who are doing a great job, who are doing the right thing, that makes their lives harder”, Obama said, insisting that recognizing problems within law enforcement doesn’t equate to being anti-police.

“I will have more to say about this as the facts become more clear”, the president said while noting that even in his comments yesterday about the police shootings that precipitated protests in Dallas and around the country that police “had an extraordinary hard job and the vast majority of them do their job in outstanding fashion”.

“To be for these issues is not to be against law enforcement”, he said.

“This is an American issue that we should all care about”, Obama said in a hastily arranged statement on arrival in Warsaw for a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation summit on Thursday. Obama did not speak to the press, but instead chatted quietly with the other senior officials at the table.

“I spoke this morning with Mayor Rawlings of Dallas to convey deepest condolences of the American people”, the president said. “Keep them in your thoughts”.