President Obama implores nation to temper words and unite after Baton Rouge attack

- by MSR News Online

President Obama delivered brief remarks regarding an attack on six police officers who were shot in the line of duty in Baton Rouge, La., July 17.  Three officers have been killed,  according to city officials, with two officers in the hospital — one reportedly in fair condition and the other in critical condition.

This is the second statement regarding police killings that President Obama has had to deliver in as many weeks, following the fatal shooting of five police officers in Dallas, TX, July 8.

Watch President Obama’s remarks and read his full statement below.

Earlier today, President Obama made the following statement on the attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge, LA:

“I condemn, in the strongest sense of the word, the attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge.  For the second time in two weeks, police officers who put their lives on the line for ours every day were doing their job when they were killed in a cowardly and reprehensible assault.  These are attacks on public servants, on the rule of law, and on civilized society, and they have to stop.

“I’ve offered my full support, and the full support of the federal government, to Governor Edwards, Mayor Holden, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Baton Rouge Police Department.  And make no mistake – justice will be done.

“We may not yet know the motives for this attack, but I want to be clear:  there is no justification for violence against law enforcement.  None.  These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one.  They right no wrongs.  They advance no causes.  The officers in Baton Rouge; the officers in Dallas – they were our fellow Americans, part of our community, part of our country, with people who loved and needed them, and who need us now – all of us – to be at our best.

“Today, on the Lord’s day, all of us stand united in prayer with the people of Baton Rouge, with the police officers who’ve been wounded, and with the grieving families of the fallen.  May God bless them all.”

Information provided courtesy of WhiteHouse.gov.