While details are still emerging about the shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in which three police officers were killed and three injured, the incident points to the new challenges the police in the US are facing as they grapple with the issue of racial discrimination against black Americans at the hands of white police officers. One suspect was also dead in the Louisiana, shooting, while two others are at large.
Americans already have a broad picture of where things could be heading. Coming after the killing of five police officers in Dallas by an African American earlier this month, which shocked the nation, yesterday’s incident points to the painful fact that it hasn’t helped heal the wounds, but only aggravated it. Calls for restraint and harmony by President Barack Obama and other political leaders and organisations after the Dallas shooting were widely welcomed, but unfortunately, some seem to be determined to exact revenge.
The Dallas shooting happened during a demonstration held to protest the fatal police shooting of two African-American men whose dying moments were captured in shocking video footage that went viral online. One of the two killed was Alton Sterling, shot by a police officer in Baton Rouge. Tensions between Baton Rouge police and residents have been running high since the killing of Sterling, and the area has been witnessing several protests since then.
These shootings again expose the deep fault lines through society, reviving long-running debates about racial prejudice and an epidemic of gun violence. The sincere efforts being undertaken by the government, the police and other organisations to address the grievances black Americans will come to naught if individuals try to settle scores by targeting the police. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards captured America’s mood when he said: “This is an unspeakable and unjustifiable attack on all of us at a time when we need unity and healing.”
Obama has condemned the shooting, calling it “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,” he said. As he said, the motives of the attackers are not known, but “there is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None.” Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, looked for political gains from the incident and immediately saw ‘a lack of leadership’ causing such tragedies.
But this must also be seen as gun violence. But that debate is unlikely to gather momentum because the gun lobby is impenetrable and remorseless.
While details are still emerging about the shooting in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in which three police officers were killed and three injured, the incident points to the new challenges the police in the US are facing as they grapple with the issue of racial discrimination against black Americans at the hands of white police officers. One suspect was also dead in the Louisiana, shooting, while two others are at large.
Americans already have a broad picture of where things could be heading. Coming after the killing of five police officers in Dallas by an African American earlier this month, which shocked the nation, yesterday’s incident points to the painful fact that it hasn’t helped heal the wounds, but only aggravated it. Calls for restraint and harmony by President Barack Obama and other political leaders and organisations after the Dallas shooting were widely welcomed, but unfortunately, some seem to be determined to exact revenge.
The Dallas shooting happened during a demonstration held to protest the fatal police shooting of two African-American men whose dying moments were captured in shocking video footage that went viral online. One of the two killed was Alton Sterling, shot by a police officer in Baton Rouge. Tensions between Baton Rouge police and residents have been running high since the killing of Sterling, and the area has been witnessing several protests since then.
These shootings again expose the deep fault lines through society, reviving long-running debates about racial prejudice and an epidemic of gun violence. The sincere efforts being undertaken by the government, the police and other organisations to address the grievances black Americans will come to naught if individuals try to settle scores by targeting the police. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards captured America’s mood when he said: “This is an unspeakable and unjustifiable attack on all of us at a time when we need unity and healing.”
Obama has condemned the shooting, calling it “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,” he said. As he said, the motives of the attackers are not known, but “there is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None.” Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for president, looked for political gains from the incident and immediately saw ‘a lack of leadership’ causing such tragedies.
But this must also be seen as gun violence. But that debate is unlikely to gather momentum because the gun lobby is impenetrable and remorseless.
