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Obama said
although most activists from the Black Lives Matter movement
wanted to see better relations between communities and law
enforcement, violence and overly broad criticism against police
undermined the protest movement.
"I want to say to say to everyone concerned about ... racial
bias in the criminal justice system that maintaining a truthful,
serious and respectful tone is going to help mobilize American
society to bring about real change," Obama said.
"Whenever those of us who are concerned about failures of the
criminal justice system attack police, you are doing a
disservice to the cause," he told a news conference in Madrid
where he is on a one-day visit.
Micah Johnson, a black U.S. military veteran of the Afghan war,
opened fire on police officers on Thursday during a protest in
Dallas against the fatal shootings of two black men by police in
Louisiana and Minnesota the previous day.
Johnson wanted to "kill white people, especially white
officers," Dallas Police Chief David Brown said after the attack
on Thursday night.
The Black Lives Matter group said on Friday it advocated
dignity, not murder, in response to the shooting that also left
seven other police officers and two civilians wounded.
Obama said there was legitimate criticism to be made of the
criminal justice system and that citizens should continue to
protest against it.
"I would hope that police organizations are also respectful of
the frustrations that people in these communities feel and not
just dismiss these protests as political correctness or politics
or attacks on police," he said.
(Reporting by Ayesha Rascoe; Writing by Angus Berwick; Editing
by Raissa Kasolowsky)
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