After Dallas police shootings, BLM tries to regroup

When it was over, 12 officers were shot and five — all white — would die. It would become the largest single loss of police officers to violence in this country since 9/11.

And with it, Johnson, who would be killed by police, became the face of American’s growing tension between police and the community because he killed cops.

Not Castile and Sterling, whose deaths at the hands of police launched dozens of nationwide protests leading up to Dallas.

And for some people on a hot Saturday afternoon in Dallas, where the city is still mourning and in shock – it hardly seems worth it.

Demetrick Pennie, a veteran Dallas police officer and president of the Fallen Officers Foundation, said the Dallas protest rally – as peaceful as it initially was – should never have happened.

“Sure we have issues in Dallas and in Texas that we would love to talk about,” Pennie said. “But Thursday was about Baton Rouge. In no way, form or fashion was this associated with how we police in Dallas. It was senseless. (Johnson) used that protest as a cover to attack officers.”

Protests, rallies and marches have always been used to mark specific causes, regardless of where they happened.

In the 60s, people marched against the war in Vietnam and for civil rights.

In the 80s, Americans took to the streets to march against Apartheid in South Africa.

Recently, most commonly under the Black Lives Matter banner, people have protested all over the country about incidents that have happened in Ferguson (Michael Brown), Florida (Trayvon Martin), and even Texas (Sandra Bland).

Atlanta has been an epicenter. On Friday, more than 10,000 people marched throughout Atlanta. Despite shutting down traffic for hours, fewer than 10 people were arrested.

“We are responding to the culture that doesn’t allow black people to feel safe in the country we live and serve in,” said Avery Jackson, 21, a graduating senior at Morehouse and one of the organizers of the Atlanta event. “Taking space and demanding safety for those blacks who don’t get to feel safe is an accomplishment in itself and I think that’s sometimes overlooked. It’s unreasonable to ask black people to explain why they want to resist to a country that is so violently oppressive.

But Mary-Pat Hector, a Spelman College sophomore and noted young activist, skipped the Atlanta rally, declaring on Twitter: “I’m so sorry. I love you all but I’m not going to your rally. I’ve been to too many. I need you to tell me your plan. We got work to do!”

Standing in front of two police cars that have been engulfed by flowers, cards and balloons as a makeshift memorial to the officers in front of Dallas police headquarters, Chris and Cheryl Miller, who drove down from Plano, tried to come to grips with it all.

And, as Hector suggested, figure out what the plan was.

“The reason why this hurts is because many people didn’t understand from the beginning what this was all supposed to be about,” Cheryl Miller said. “So now, it has become more difficult for Black Lives Matter to protest now, because they will be met with resistance.”

“If everyone could come together and talk about this and explain what the cause is, maybe everyone would then understand that there is truly a problem with police brutality,” she said. “Unless you can truly understand that, it is hard to relate and things become confusing.”

In the aftermath of the shootings, the Millers were among the thousands — black, white and Hispanic — who made the pilgrimage to the Dallas Police Department to pay their respects. News crews from all over the world set up camp. People brought tons of food and drinks. Children and crying men hugged police officers.

As sweat rolled down the head of Michael Walton, he tried to come to grips with it all.

“The turnout is good, but it is sad that we have this turnout for something like this,” said Walton, a Dallas cop for 26 years and president of the Fraternal Order of Police. “It has been supportive, but overwhelming.”

Which is why Walton also agrees that the premise of the shootings was senseless.

“The narrative, according to (Johnson), was to target white police officers. To kill them,” Walton said. “But there were black officers down there who were shot.”

While several officers were shot, none of those killed were black. At least one black civilian, a mother protecting her sons, was shot. She is still recovering in the hospital.

At least one tangible link to the tragedies was Charissa Williams. She lives in Baton Rouge and drove over eight hours to Dallas to pay her respects at the memorial.

“This has divided the country substantially,” said Williams, countering comments made earlier Saturday by President Obama who said, “America is not as divided as some have suggested.”

“I know that the suspect who killed the police officers motive was based on the recent police killings. And yes, people in this country, especially minorities, are tired of police killings and we demand justice. But this situation was just senseless.”

Williams said she didn’t know Alton Sterling, the man killed in Baton Rouge, but she knows the neighborhood well. She said the community has always had an uneasy relationship with the police and it is only getting worse.

Micah Johnson killing five police officers didn’t help, she said.

“It hurts the cause,” Williams said. “The protest here was peaceful and for him to do something like this is a nightmare. It puts our country back and I don’t know how we will overcome this.”

Behind Williams, Carmen Bautista and Chris Vecchio kneeled down in front of the front of one of the police cars and read some of the messages. Bautista cried.

“We are here to support the community because this is our home now. This touches a moral compass in us,” Vecchio said. “But if we don’t find a way to come together, this may not be the last time this happens.”

The couple just moved to Dallas four months ago from New York City.

“If we do not find a way to come together, this may not be the last time this happens.”