At a Tuesday memorial service, President Obama delved into the life stories of each of the five officers killed in last week's shooting in Dallas. He noted that Lorne Ahrens "bought dinner for a homeless man" the night before he died, that Michael Krol "came a thousand miles from his home state of Michigan to be a cop in Dallas," that Michael Smith was a "man of faith," that Patrick Zamarripa “dreamed of being a cop," and that Brent Thompson had married his wife just two weeks ago and had "their whole life together waiting before them."
As mournful as Obama was for each of the five lives lost, he also maintained hope that the country could recover from this tragedy and others that have recently struck the country. To those Americans feeling "as if the deepest fault lines of our democracy have been exposed and even widened," Obama said, "I'm here to say we must reject such despair. I'm here to insist that we are not as divided as we seem."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
-
Catholic bishops rebuke Trump on immigrationSpeed Read ‘We feel compelled’ to ‘raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,’ the bishops said
-
House releases Epstein emails referencing TrumpSpeed Read The emails suggest Trump knew more about Epstein’s sex trafficking of underage women than he has claimed
-
Newsom slams Trump’s climate denial at COP30speed read Trump, who has called climate change a ‘hoax,’ declined to send any officials to this week’s summit
-
UK, Colombia halt intel to US over boat attacksSpeed Read Both countries have suspended intelligence sharing with the US over the bombing of civilian boats suspected of drug smuggling
