Obama: An Attack on Law Enforcement Is an Attack on All of Us

“Only we can prove, in our own actions and words, that we will not be divided.”


After an ambush on police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that left at least three officers dead and three others wounded Sunday morning, President Barack Obama spoke at the White House today, saying it is up to “all of us” to create a united front against violence.

“We as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against law enforcement. An attack against law enforcement is an attack against all of us and the rule of law that makes society possible,” said Obama. “This has happened far too often.”

Obama expressed his condolences to the families of the officers killed in Baton Rouge and called on Americans to “temper our words and open our hearts” ahead of the upcoming conventions. This is the 16th time Obama has addressed the nation after a shooting.

“We have to make sure that our best selves are reflected across America, not our worst. That is up to us,” said Obama. “Only we can prove, in our own actions and words, that we will not be divided, even if we have to do it again and again and again. That’s how this country gets united. That’s how we bring this country together.”

The shooting in Baton Rouge comes just 10 days after a deadly shooting in Dallas that killed five police officers and injured seven others. Baton Rouge has been the site of several protests since the fatal shooting of Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man who was selling CDs outside a convenience store when he was shot by the police. On July 13, the ACLU of Louisiana along with other community groups filed a lawsuit against the Baton Rouge Police Department, alleging that police officers used excessive force against protesters.

Watch Obama’s full statement below:

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We have a considerable $390,000 gap in our online fundraising budget that we have to close by June 30. There is no wiggle room, we've already cut everything we can, and we urgently need more readers to pitch in—especially from this specific blurb you're reading right now.

We'll also be quite transparent and level-headed with you about this.

In "News Never Pays," our fearless CEO, Monika Bauerlein, connects the dots on several concerning media trends that, taken together, expose the fallacy behind the tragic state of journalism right now: That the marketplace will take care of providing the free and independent press citizens in a democracy need, and the Next New Thing to invest millions in will fix the problem. Bottom line: Journalism that serves the people needs the support of the people. That's the Next New Thing.

And it's what MoJo and our community of readers have been doing for 47 years now.

But staying afloat is harder than ever.

In "This Is Not a Crisis. It's The New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, why this moment is particularly urgent, and how we can best communicate that without screaming OMG PLEASE HELP over and over. We also touch on our history and how our nonprofit model makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there: Letting us go deep, focus on underreported beats, and bring unique perspectives to the day's news.

You're here for reporting like that, not fundraising, but one cannot exist without the other, and it's vitally important that we hit our intimidating $390,000 number in online donations by June 30.

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