Snipers slaughter Dallas police: 3 dead, 3 in critical condition, 2 in surgery; 11 shot overall

Snipers open fire on Dallas police during a protest over the shootings of black men in Baton Rouge and St. Paul.

Slaughtering a bunch of cops is sure going to guarantee black people are treated better, won't it?

But hey, we need high-powered rifles for everyday use! When are Americans going to say ENOUGH and revolt against the gun nuts, the gun industry, and their paid-for politicians? The U.S.A. is becoming a slaughterhouse.


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  • Sorry, art, I thought you were in South Africa rather than Spain :)

    Anyway, I don't want to leave the impression that the only reason we have segregated neighborhoods is self-segregation (a great example of which is "gayborhoods"). There's also economic segregation, meaning people can only live where they can afford to. And in older American cities, you do have neighborhoods that have been "black neighborhoods" for many generations. I'm sure you remember the flooding in New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. Some of those black neighborhoods would fall into the category of being so old that they date back to the time when neighborhoods were racially segregated not by choice.

    Does Spain have "ghettos" where the new immigrants from Africa and Asia are concentrated?
    BearinFW 07/11/2016 03:55 AM
  • Yes, you are right, and I know how self-segregation works. It exists even within a group that from outside would look homogenous. We do have this in our own gay community and as these days we are celebrating CSD I could ask how many Bears, or Daddies actually participated in the riots/liberation of the gay movement ... there are many many ways of oppressing people and as unity makes us stronger, we gather (apart) and form what then is perceived as self-segregation. To some extend, this is normal; I feel best in a gay bar, too! But when it is the response to fear and menace from those who have power (weapons, money, lobby, deputies ...), then you are not free to choose, then there is no option to change sides.
    It is great that there are mixed police forces (if we do believe that we need police at all, and it seems we need) for this alone works in favor of non-segregation, and I wonder how they actually talk to one another? What do they think? They are those who are supposed to give security to the streets - how do they feel right now?
    Because if they could speak free, there would be the opportunity to find some answers. (As I still have not heard nothing about it in spanish TV so far, I think what they are allowed to say is the sniper was mad, solitary and furious and had to be killed... but I am biased, obviously.)
    art4you 07/10/2016 04:44 AM
  • You ask why are there still black neighborhoods? I would assume the answer wouldn't be that much different in South Africa than here. There's no law that mandates racially segregated neighborhoods, but they tend to happen because of "self-segregation." I.e., people tend to gravitate toward other people of the same race. So we also have Hispanic neighborhoods and white neighborhoods. And yes, we do have mixed as well!!!
    BearinFW 07/10/2016 04:22 AM
  • Bear, I partially agree with you that this is of course another mass shooting. But, if you want to make justice, you have to look at every case individually. You can not exclude premeditation - because it depends on how you define premeditation and racist actions to tell if there is premeditation or not.
    If a police officer is confronted to a black man or black women or black child and reacts different from first sight - and as consecuence of this changed behaviour decides he must fear for his life, than there is premeditation, or a kind of.
    As Virgo put it, 'you don't see to many accidental killings of white people by white officers' - and that should make a difference. Why is a black person considered more menacing? Why are there still black neighborhoods?

    And sadly, we could go on listing probable victims, like latinos, foreigners alltogether, gay, women ...
    I suppose you have the same TV-series we have over here, they are all made ind the USA and made the same way. Just look at who survives in the end. The actress? The gay? The 'bad one'? And how does the bad one look?
    I know this is fiction, but we all grow up with it, including fictive mass shootings, and to some extend it seems that reality is mimicking fiction ...
    art4you 07/10/2016 04:10 AM
  • Art, you're considering this individual case. But looking at individual cases basically guarantees that nothing will be done to address the problem, because they can be rationalized away. This is also YET ANOTHER MASS SHOOTING. Weapons of mass destruction are too easily accessible in this country, regardless of whether the shooter is a nut, a criminal, a terrorist or a racist. Until that problem is addressed, we're going to continue seeing mass shooting after mass shooting for whatever the motive. Much of the discussion has been on semi-automatic rifles, but did you guys realize that for just a few hundred bucks, an attachment can turn an AR-15 into an automatic weapon. I almost guarantee this is what happened in Dallas, and quiite possibly in other mass shootings as well. Orlando wasn't an AR-15 but it was a German made rifle in the same class of weapon. And Virgo, no easy answers, but personally, I do not think white officers should be used in black neighborhoods at least for the time being. The situation is just too incendiary right now. Maybe some middle charge should be pursued? Murder, after all, requires premeditation. I would guess that that element is missing from almost all of the white officer/black victim shootings, which could partially account for the fact that so many officers are no-billed.
    BearinFW 07/09/2016 04:17 AM
  • You shouldn't become a police officer if you're scared easily. How come the only time the police are scared to death is when comes to black people who might or might not be dangerous. You don't see to many accidental killings of white people by white officers. Then again what if the cops were black and the citizens were white then what would be the discussion about. I'm all for rights to bear arms and freedom of speech. This country has race issue that didn't die in the 60's or 70's. It still lives on. Now what happen to the DPD officers are wrong and I don't condone it. Why aren't the police held accountable for there own actions? Why won't they be judge by a jury of their peers?
    Virgo827 07/08/2016 07:37 PM
  • Do you really think that is a 'rifle-problem' and not an unresolved racial discrimination? The means are there of course, to much weapons at all sides; but I can perfectly understand the response of fury to years and years of violence, first on the streets and than, sadly, at tribunals. Is there someone offering an alternative solution to this problem, which does not involve more fire ...?
    art4you 07/08/2016 05:06 PM
  • You can add a photo you just have to type something, even if you just post a . (period).
    Comments cant be completely blank
    Marc 07/08/2016 12:14 PM
  • Honestly, Karl, the people who did this are nothing but evil and their actions, if anything, only will make the problem of police shootings worse. If it's understandable that black people are frustrated, it's also understandable (though not justified) that some police officers are scared to deal with armed (or potentially armed), dangerous people and shoot before they should.

    As for gun control efforts, you're right. Nothing is going to happen until the American people demand it and vote accordingly. We aren't there yet, but we can't give up. Republican politicians will start listening when their blind support of the NRA begins to cost them more votes than it gains them.
    BearinFW 07/08/2016 07:46 AM
  • Very sad all around. Your point is well taken about the police shootings not being a way to get anything resolved. BUT (the infamous but) maybe it has come to this:. .that the dialogue and resolution of racial biases needs to move into high gear and get resolved. As for guns, gun control etc. That issue has been debated for years with no action. As the President quite correctly stated recently, not taking action on that issue IS a decision too (not to do anything about it) Until it becomes a national protest/mivement the likelihood of gun controls being tightened or enforced is nil - zero.

    To repeat, the police shootings are not justified, but if the result of profiling/racial tension, it clearly shows how desperate some folks are becoming.
    karlstar1 07/08/2016 06:52 AM
  • UPDATE: Five officers now dead as of 3 a.m. CDT. Three suspects in custody. DPD just announced that the live shooter situation in a college parking garage has ended with the suspect dead.

    This mass shooting just blows holes in all the NRA's usual arguments: This wasn't a gun-free zone; and the victims were well armed. The guns used, based on the rapid fire, almost certainly were semi-automatic, AR-15 type weapons, and the ammo was such that the bullets actually pierced bulletproof vests and did tremendous damage. Two of the officers died in the hospital.

    The gun lobby and gun nuts are being incredibly selfish on this issue. They actually believe that their right to own a mostly useless weapon like the AR-15 is more important than other people's right to LIVE. That is so wrong, and it's time for the American people to stand up to the NRA, the Republican Party, the gun industry and gun nuts. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. I for one am ready to get more involved on this issue. Gun violence is a national crisis and a national shame.
    BearinFW 07/08/2016 04:06 AM
  • Video: https://www.facebook.com/michaelbautista86/videos … 650159344/

    This was the scene, just a few miles from where I live. Terrifying.
    You need a Facebook account to see it I think
    Marc 07/08/2016 12:55 AM