La. gov. defends 'Blue Lives Matter' law

[Common]

— Gov. John Bel Edwards said he believes black men are inordinately victims of police violence, but he doesn't regret signing the nation's first "Blue Lives Matter" law (http://tnsne.ws/29JiWSk) last month and hasn't softened his stance against gun restrictions.In an interview with the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana Monday, the governor said the police shooting of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge last week and the later ambush and murder of five Dallas police officers have left his state and the nation unsettled.
"This is a significant event that is causing a tremendous amount of anxiety, but one from which we can all learn," Edwards said. "We can do better."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/07/11/la-gov-defends-blue-lives-matter-law/86965786/

[Cigar]

Is he going to change the Policeman Oath also?

[Common]

Is he going to change the Policeman Oath also?

To what from what

[Ethereal]

Hate crime laws should be repealed, not expanded. It's inconsistent with equal protection under the law. Murder is murder.

[waltky]

7 officers shot, 2 killed...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_omg.gif
Baton Rouge Police: Reports of Multiple Officers Shot
17 July `16 - Baton Rouge police say there were reports of multiple people shot not far from the department's headquarters Sunday morning.


Sgt. Don Coppola, a spokesman with the Baton Rouge Police Department, said the scene was contained but couldn't say whether a suspect or suspects were in custody. He didn't know the nature of the injuries.


http://fm.cnbc.com/applications/cnbc.com/resources/img/editorial/2016/07/10/103776459-GettyImages-545751190.530x298.jpg?v=1468129198
Baton Rouge police move in on protesters for a second night on July 9, 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Alton Sterling was shot by a police officer in front of the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge on July 5th, leading the Department of Justice to open a civil rights investigation.

A section of Airline Highway, about seven miles from the police department, was closed off "due to police activity," according to the Louisiana Department of Transportation. It was unclear if the road closure was connected to the shooting.

Mayor tweet

The Baton Rouge Police Department has been on high alert since the police shooting of Alton Sterling prompted protests in the city and four people were arrested in an alleged plot to shoot and kill police officers in the aftermath.

http://www.cnbc.com/2016/07/17/baton-rouge-police-reports-of-multiple-officers-shot.html

[waltky]

Decorated ex-Marine kills three policemen in Baton Rouge...
http://www.politicalforum.com/images/smilies/icon_omg.gif
Ex-U.S. Marine kills three policemen in racially tense Baton Rouge
Sun Jul 17, 2016 - A decorated former U.S. Marine sergeant opened fire on police in Baton Rouge on Sunday, killing three officers, nearly two weeks after the fatal police shooting of a black man there sparked nationwide protests, including one shattered by the massacre of five Dallas policemen.


The suspect, dressed in black and armed with a rifle, was himself shot to death minutes later in a gunfight with police who converged on the scene of a confrontation that Mayor Kip Holden said began as an "ambush-style" attack on officers. Two Baton Rouge Police Department officers and one sheriff's deputy were killed, and one sheriff's deputy was critically wounded. Another police officer and one other deputy suffered less severe wounds and were expected to survive. Colonel Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police, told a news conference the gunman was believed to have acted alone, contrary to early reports that police may have been looking for other shooters.

It was not immediately clear whether there was a link between Sunday's bloodshed and unrest over the police killings of two black men under questionable circumstances earlier this month - Alton Sterling, 37, in Baton Rouge on July 5, and Philando Castile, 32, near St. Paul, Minnesota, on July 6. Police did not name the suspect. But a U.S. government official told Reuters the gunman had been identified as Gavin Long, of Kansas City, Missouri, and was black. He was reported by other media to be 29 years old. According to Long's military record, released by the Pentagon, he served in the Marines from August 2005 until August 2010, achieving the rank of sergeant. Listed as a data network specialist for the Marines, he was deployed to Iraq from June 2008 until January 2009, earning several medals and commendations. Authorities declined to offer a possible motive for Sunday's attack in Louisiana's capital.

PANDEMONIUM CAUGHT ON RADIO

A second government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said investigators had reason to believe an emergency 911 call may have been used to lure police into harm's way. Edmonson said several officers came under fire as police were responding to a report of a man dressed in black standing behind a store holding a rifle shortly before 9 a.m. In the ensuing pandemonium caught on a recording of emergency radio traffic, police are repeatedly heard reporting: "Officer down" and "deputy down" as officers swarmed the area searching for and ultimately confronting the gunman. The episode was over in about eight minutes, according to Edmonson's account.

President Barack Obama condemned the attack, vowed that justice would be done and called on Americans to focus on rhetoric and actions that united the country rather than divided it. "We as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence on law enforcement," Obama said in televised remarks from the White House. Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards called the shootings an "unspeakable, heinous attack" that served no purpose. "There simply is no place for more violence. That doesn't help anyone, it doesn't further the conversation, it doesn't address any injustice, perceived or real. It is just an injustice in and of itself," he told reporters in Baton Rouge. Obama has sought to balance concerns about police abuses, largely against African-Americans, while paying tribute to fallen officers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-police-idUSKCN0ZX0MX

Obama condemns shootings of police officers in Baton Rouge
July 17, 2016


WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama on Sunday strongly condemned the shootings in Baton Rouge that killed three police officers and wounded three others, saying there was "no justification" for the violence.

"We may not yet know the motives for this attack, but I want to be clear: There is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None. These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one," Obama said in a statement.

Obama added that he has offered the "full support of the federal government" to Louisiana's governor, Baton Rouge's mayor and local law enforcement. "Justice will be done," he said.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/obama-condemns-shootings-police-officers-baton-rouge-190634475--sector.html?ref=gs