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On Thursday night, during a Black Lives Matter protest against law enforcement held in Dallas, Texas, five police officers were murdered. At least seven other officers and two civilians were shot.
The situation is fluid, with new information still being learned with regard to motive and details surrounding the massacre. But thus far, here’s what we know:
1. White cops were targeted; one suspect sympathized with Black Lives Matter.
In total, 12 police officers were shot, tragically leaving five dead. According to Vox, four officers were from the Dallas Police Department with the other officer from the Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART).
One suspect, who was eventually killed by police after negotiations broke down, told police officers that he was angry over the two recent police shootings and wanted to kill cops, especially white cops, according to Dallas Police Chief David Brown. The suspect also sympathized with Black Lives Matter and felt “upset” for them.
“The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter; he said he was upset about the recent police shootings. The suspect said he was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers,” Brown told reporters.
It has also been reported that at least one suspect yelled “more cops will die” and “this is the end” for law enforcement, during the massacre.
2. A black power group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack, vowing to assassinate more police officers.
As James Barrett of the Daily Wire reported on Friday morning, the “Black Power Political Organization” claimed credit for the slaughter of innocent cops, posting the following message on Facebook following the shooting.
#BlackPower! #BlackKnights! Sniper Assassins Take Down Five Police Officers! And More Will Be Assassinated In The Coming Days! Do You Like The Work Of Our Assassins? Get Your Own Sniper Rifle And Join Our Thousands Of Sniper Assassins Worldwide In the Fight Against Oppression!
As noted by Barrett, the post has since been removed.
According to The Mirror, the same group also posted the message below just days before the police massacre:
“Don’t worry my people! Justice will be served for Alton Sterling!
“We contacted the police chief Carl Dabadie Jr. He already know what will happen to him, his wide Carla Settoon Dabadie, and his two sons, if he don’t do what we want.
“So continue to support us, and (Black Knights) sniper assassin group.”
3. Four reported suspects in total.
According to WhoTV, “Authorities say three people are in custody and one suspect is dead.”
4. This was a coordinated attack; shooters were sniping police officers.
As reported by The Washington Post:
Dallas Police Chief David Brown…believes the four suspects worked together with rifles, “triangulated at elevated positions at difference places in the downtown area” to attack police officers.
The suspect in the El Centro garage said “there are bombs all over this place, in the garage and downtown,” according to Brown. FBI and ATV are on scene, canvassing for explosives.
5. A suspicious package was found by law enforcement officers.
“A suspicious package was found, and is being examined by the Dallas Police bomb squad,” notes The Washington Post.
“We are being very careful with our tactics, so we don’t injure or put any of our citizen’s in harm’s way,” said Chief Brown.
6. No suspects committed suicide.
It was reported that one suspect committed suicide after carrying out the attack, this is inaccurate. According to Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown, that suspect was taken out by police officers and did not commit suicide.
“We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was. Other options would have exposed our officers to grave danger. The suspect is deceased as a result of detonating the bomb,” said Brown.
7. Dallas issued to be on lockdown Friday morning; the threat is not completely neutralized.
The city of Dallas was issued to be lockdown Friday morning; Police Chief Brown said that cannot say for certain that the threat has been completely neutralized.
Per Brown, other people affiliated with the attack may still be at large.
8. Cops were ambushed, murdered executions-style and shot at point-black range.
As reported by the Daily Wire on Friday morning, horrific video surfaced showing a cop being gunned down from behind at point-blank range.
(Warning: Video contains graphic content)
Other cops were reportedly ambushed and murdered execution-style.
9. One of the murdered officers has been identified.
“The deceased DART officer has been officially identified as Officer Brent Thompson, age 43, who joined DART in 2009. He is the first DART officer to have been killed in the line of duty, according to DART,” reports Vox.
10. Early on, media outlets named a man as a suspect who now has been cleared of wrong doing.
According to The Washington Post, a man by the name of Mark Hughes was identified by the Dallas Police Department as a possible suspect. The man has since been cleared of any wrongdoing.
11. This is the deadliest attack on American law enforcement since 9/11.
Below is a video provided by an eye-witness attending the protest against law enforcement. As seen, utter chaos ensues when gun shots are initially heard.
On Friday morning, just hours after rebuking American law enforcement, President Obama condemned the attack on police as “vicious, despicable and calculated.” Click here to view his remarks.
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