BREAKING: Shots fired at BLM protest in downtown Dallas, TX

[HagridOfTheDeep]

If, indeed, the perpetrators are black guys who wanted revenge, it's a real shame how much this senseless massacre will set back the cause of racial justice.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Obviously this is horrible, but if any people are trying to blame this on black people, or even BLM in general, they are horrible pieces of sh**t. If BLM was to blame, we will find out in a few days, but I doubt it is the case. Of course, certain people just can't wait to blame BLM. That being said, 4 people are dead tonight who had nothing to do with the shootings of black people around the country by cops. That is horrendous. Police should not all be treated at the same. Although the police in this country need to re-evaluate whether they treat Blacks, and minorities in general, the same as everyone else, there is no justification for shooting random cops on the street. This is a much deeper problem in this country, which is definitely not black or white. These cops who shoot black people in the streets probably don't consider themselves to be racist. Then why is it still happening? And before we just blame the cops, maybe we should look at ourselves at a society as well!!!!

Well, the problem is we are too quick to paint all people of a certain group with a broad brush. I'm guilty of this too.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

Really loved the rampant and unwarranted speculation from people on this very site about the innocent guy carrying a rifle and smiling with ulterior motives.

The guy was clearly acting normal. Really sick to read into his behaviors with some sort of agenda.

Forgive me, but in the civilized country from which I originate, people don't attend emotionally charged rallies with guns bigger than children strapped to their back. Something like that may be normal, but it doesn't mean it should be.

I agree that people shouldn't have been so quick to run with their suspicions, but a gun like that would scare me no matter who was carrying it.

[HagridOfTheDeep]

I really hate talking about this issue because it sickens me, but here it goes again, I need to vent:

-Police officers need to crack down on the small minority of brute cops, fire and prosecute them fiercely instead of shield them, create a better police culture, build community trust especially with minorities

-Protestors need to realize it's not all cops, it's a small minority of cops, most are putting their lives on the line every day to serve their community, and just want to get home to their family at the end of the day

-Revenge is never justice. Dealing out death, judging who should live and who should die, is never right. Stop the cycle of violence. That doesn't mean don't act, but there are other ways to fight for change. Positive change is possible, it's happened before, it's happening in other areas now. And deep down, we're all people, with good inside us

-the freaking Media needs to stop inflaming race relations to boost their number of viewers, and realize they're playing with fire and fanning the flames, whether it's conservative media saying all BLM protestors are thugs, or liberal media saying all cops are racist killers

-there is a Race problem in this country, we aren't yet living in Martin Luther King's utopia, and we need to accept that and begin to deal with it

-oh and maybe we should do some common-sense Gun reforms while we're at it. I believe in the 2nd amendment, but we also need to accept we have a Gun Violence problem, and do something about it

-let's make sure everyone has access to quality Mental Healthcare while we're at it too

Please stop posting stuff like this.  Most protestors know the difference between a good cop and a bad cop and one of the main reasons we are in this mess is because for decades the media has under reported these shooting.  Posting distortions is not going to help the situation and it is really insulting.  It's sickening that you think there is a sizable number of people in the black community who would even engage in revenge.  White terrorists have been mowing down people and blowing up buildings for decades.  No black person came out and said "white people need to realize blowing up buildings is wrong."  Really your condescension at a time like this is...  I don't know.  I don't even have the words.

I'm not so sure that's true when we have Black Lives Matter shutting down the Toronto Pride Parade to demand that police officers not be allowed to march. The representatives of both "sides" seem to be painting in broad strokes. And while that may not be true of their followers, it will be if we allow this rhetoric to win the day.

Many police departments are tarnished by a few bad apples. Some police departments are actually becoming extremely transparent and making progressive changes. What BLM did in Toronto was not in the spirit of helping to bring down the divide between "us and them," and these are currently the folks with the soapbox.

It's just as bad on the other side too, as evidenced by many of the tweets that have already been posted in this thread.

So it's not condescending at all to suggest we calm down and stop generalizing. In the end, this is about reaching a point of peace where everyone is treated with the same respect. Yeah, it's true that, as a group, cops aren't marginalized while people of colour are. Doesn't mean demonization of either group is the way forward.