Riley24

A BLM protester was struck by gunfire, the police had to evacuate the protesters for their safety. His target was white officers but he terrorized the protest. Yeah, I agree that blocking freeways is a bad way to do it, but that's a completely fair and seperate point, and has nothing to do with this attack.

You're wrong, BLM is not an anti-cop anti-white group. There's simply no other way to put it, you're wrong about that. The shooter was a trained army veteran that used his military training to carry out a terrorist attack on a BLM protest against law enforcement. His terror impacted the protest as well. How can he represent a group that he terrorized and shot at? Also, he told police he was not affiliated with any groups http://heavy.com/news/2016/07/micah-xavier-x-johnson-dallas-police-shooting-sniper-gunman-shooter-suspect-name-identified-photos-facebook-video/ If an NRA member shoots up an abortion clinic, does he represent the NRA? No. And even less so for BLM, because BLM does not have membership in the first place.

You definitely have, and thanks for that. I feel like I have too. When we first debated last year it was much less of a dialogue and more of a spitting talking points at each other (on both our parts).

So are you then willing to say that a few bad apples in BLM doesn't represent BLM? Also, the shooter wasn't a BLM activist as far as we know, so he's not even one of the said bad apples. BLM was also terrorized in this attack

Respond to this: what in the world are you talking about? They have a quote of hers on their website of her promoting peace and love. Do you really think the average protesters is walking around idolizing cop killers? PLEASE do me a favor and go on the Dallas shooting hashtag and read all of the thousands of BLM protesters condemning the snipers and mourning the loss of the officers. Does that not count?

There's a very reasonable discussion happening here (so far). Happy to see that.

Of course. That's normal. The movement attracts the least powerful in our society, but still manages to be mostly peaceful. A small percentage of those people are bound to be violent or mentally ill, they clearly didn't get the message of the movement. Not sure what you expect, even the pro-second amendment movement has its share of cop killers.

I meant that I'm not going to respond to the content of your post. I quite frankly don't have the patience or the energy to have the same exact BLM debate every week when there's a shooting. You want to believe they're a dangerous racist hate group, so you will. I can't convince you of anything.

I'm not even going to respond to this. There's so much to respond to, and I know I'll never convince you of anything. You seemed like you needed to get this out of your system, and I hear you brother, it's a shitty night. We'll have the BLM discussion another time, if you'll be willing to hear me out. Have a good night

I was thinking the same thing. Amassing all of that gear must have taken time and resources, let alone planning the attack...this probably wasn't about the shootings

According to what I've read, Dallas Police have been very supportive to protests in the city, and the protest tonight was very peaceful. Apparently Dallas welcomed protests, which is a very good strategy to prevent rioting. Dallas police were marching with the protesters when the shots rang out. The protesters were protesting systemic racism within the justice system, and the statistically disproportionate killings of unarmed black males. They weren't protesting police in general. Let's also not forget that a protester was struck by gunfire. The police were unbelievably brave in protecting the protesters. Let that be a heartwarming reminder of their bravery, not a political point.

Black Lives Matter is not responsible for this. The protest was very peaceful until the snipers attacked. DPD was marching with the protesters and there's even pictures of them smiling together. When the shots rang out both BLM and DPD ran for cover, and a BLM protester was also struck by gunfire. The protesters were also being shot at, not just the cops. So please don't turn this into "the protesters did this, BLM is a hate group trying to kill cops." It's stupid and completely counter factual. Does Dylann roof at all represent the right wing? No, and neither do these fucking sickos. Also, in the thread about the man who was shot by cops, EVERYONE said "I'll wait for the facts before making. A judgement" but in this thread a ton of people are blaming the protesters, even calling BLM a hate group. Why's that? We don't yet know the race of the suspects, what their motive was, or whether or not they were supporters of BLM. So far, all we know is that they are cop killers just like all of the other cop killers we've seen. What happened to "waiting for the facts"? Sorry for the double post, but I'm listening to the Dallas police scanner right now. Definitely sounds like fully automatic gunfire over the radio. If not, it's a TON of semi-auto being fired. Sounds like a damn war zone....

And no one will cover the protesters that grieve for the officers, because its not good for ratings. Whats great for ratings is "WAR ON COPS IN AMERICA. WHO IS TO BLAME?", and that is ALL we will see for the next few weeks. The city of Dallas is hurting tonight, and so is a lot of the country. When two cops got killed in my city (NYC), the whole city felt it. Its a special kind of tragedy that's felt when you walk around. No one covered that story, though. There are some real broadcasting proteges here....really quick with the forum post updates

I'm guessing he wasn't the shooter then, since they're still hunting for the last shooter. As much as we debate about this, I want you and everyone to know that I'm pro-police in the sense that I don't want to see anyone get shot. It sickens and enrages me, and it distracts from the very important conversation about reforming the justice system. People on your side of the political spectrum plant a flag and say "I'm pro-police", as if people on my side are anti-police. (I wouldn't be on LSPDFR.com if i was anti-police). Don't let the conversation be turned into that, because I'm sure that the debate in the country will shift in that direction very soon.

How is it that we have MRAPS in small towns, but big city cops don't have hard body armor...?

Open carry is inherently suspicious. Any alert person sees a guy with a gun and starts to question whats going on. Update: 4th officer has been pronounced dead. This was an organized mass shooting.

Not nearly as suspicious as this guy.

Texas is an open-carry state

That's another topic for another thread, the "black on black crime" talking point has been thoroughly discussed before and frankly I don't care to start that again. BLM was formed because black individuals are disproportionately killed by police, and because our justice system unfairly targets minorities. THAT is their message. Anything else is bullshit that's been lost in a game of telephone among conservative media. No, thats not a fair analogy. The cop was a uniformed cop being paid by the department. BLM does not have membership. I absolutely guarantee the killers will be condemned by the movement, I'll personally PM you their response just to prove it to you.

ABSOLUTELY SICKENING to see that asshole walking around with his rifle smiling. That guy is mentally ill, and he's walking around with a fucking rifle. Jesus Christ. How have we not learned this lesson yet?

The narrative that will be pushed is "See? BLM is a hate group and area a bunch of cop killers". But what I think is an even better narrative, is isn't it crazy that we live in a country where its so easy to do something like this? Its sickening. Mentally ill people can choose to do this. This was an organized attack by multiple gunmen, not a deranged protester that wanted to go out guns blazing. There have always been cop killers, and there always will be. BLM does not have membership, anyone that kills cops because they're mad that cops kill people clearly isn't mentally capable of understanding that sick irony. They're not BLM protesters, they're cop killers.. It doesn't reflect the message of the movement, just as when right-wingers kill cops it doesn't reflect their message of small government. Just felt obligated to bring this up, since I know that hatred for BLM is already spurring.

Totally agree. Unconfirmed that a protester fired the shots. The only reports I've read so far said that the shots came from a parking garage in the opposite direction of the protesters. Cop killers have always existed, and will always exist. If they use the protest as an excuse, its largely irrelevant. BLM doesn't have membership, anyone can claim they're doing violence for a movement. BLM was formed in response to violence, their message is of non-violence. Anyone that uses public outrage at cop killings to then kill cops clearly doesn't understand the point of the movement. But I know with 100% certainty Fox News will point to Dallas and say "see? BLM is a bunch of cop killers.". Its infuriating, but not nearly as infuriating as the violence itself.

I never said it wasn't important, I just think that reforming the justice system is more important. And I think you saw the last paragraph I added, so I think we're on the same page.

Hence why I said not to draw a comparison. My point was that whether or not protesting is legal or not is largely irrelevant. Its Civil Disobedience. And as awful as the riots were in Ferguson, do you really think the FBI would already be talking about an investigation into this shooting had it not been for the extreme protests? No way. A local DA would've take the side of the cops and declined to pursue charges right off the bat, and this shooting would've been swept under the rug. BLM is starting to get results, and our justice system is just starting to reform itself. That's a great thing, and whether or not people are late to work isn't nearly as important as that. But I'm not taking the sides of the protesters blocking traffic. its a dumb and annoying thing to do. It doesn't lead anyone to support the movement, it just agitates them and makes them less receptive to the message. But please don't forget that method and message are different things. Some OWS protestors somewhere may have done some dumb shit, but does that mean Wall Street is A-okay? No way.

Effective protests usually aren't. Rosa Parks broke the law (not to draw a comparison, but you get the point).