Local law enforcement agencies took to social media this morning to express their grief and outrage at the deaths of five Dallas Police Department officers Thursday night at a Black Lives Matter protest.
The Buffalo Police Department’s Facebook put it simply: “Our thoughts are with the Dallas Police Department,” displaying a police badge with a black band around it, shown at right.
Lockport Police Department had a similar post: “Our prays and thoughts go out to the men and women of Dallas PD,” again with the black banded police badge.
The Genesee County Sheriff’s Office shared a series of photos from the Badge of Honor Association to express their dismay and grief.
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with our law enforcement brothers and sisters in Dallas Police Department and nationwide.”
The Erie County Sheriff’s Office was more verbose:
The men and women of the Erie County Sheriff’s Office are shocked by the assassination of 5 of our law enforcement brothers and the wounding of 6 others.
Our agency stands with Dallas Police Department as it fights through its sorrow to investigate the killing of 5 of their own and continue its hunt for these killers.
Today, and for the coming days, the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, along with all our law enforcement brothers and sisters throughout this nation, will mourn these dedicated public servants and remember their service to the community of Dallas.
The Depew Police Department shared, “The Depew Police Department offers our sincerest condolences to the Dallas Police Department and the family and friends of the fallen officers who paid the ultimate sacrifice.”
There have reportedly been 26 police officers killed by gunfire in the line of duty so far this year. There were 16 in all of 2015.
President Barack Obama, while in Poland, called Thursday night’s incident a “vicious, calculated and despicable attack on law enforcement,” vowing that “justice will be done.”
Thursday, the president had decried the deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, La. and Phlando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minn. in a Facebook post, saying Americans should be “deeply troubled.” It was those deaths that the Black Lives Matter rally was protesting.
President Obama, noted, however that justice can be done in both instances.
“When people say ‘Black Lives Matter,’ that doesn’t mean blue lives don’t matter,” he said, referring to police. “It just means all lives matter.”
Six Dallas police officers were injured in addition to the five who died.
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