NEW YORK: (AP) President Obama said Sunday that he condemns “unconditionally” the murder of two New York City police officers by a gunman who may have been angered over the deaths of black men in confrontations with police in Missouri and New York. Obama, who is on Christmas holiday in Hawaii, said on Sunday.
“Two brave men won’t be going home to their loved ones … and for that, there is no justification,” Mr. Obama said in a statement. “I ask people to reject violence and words that harm, and turn to words that heal - prayer, patient dialogue, and sympathy for the friends and family of the fallen.
The president said police officers “who serve and protect our communities risk their own safety for ours every single day - and they deserve our respect and gratitude every single day.”
“Today, two of New York’s finest were shot and killed with no warning, no provocation,” said an emotional New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton.
Police named the shooter as 28-year-old Ismaaiyl Brinsley, who shot and seriously wounded his ex-girlfriend in Baltimore early Saturday before driving to Brooklyn to murder the two officers. Bratton added that the gunman had made online posts that were "very anti-police".
Brinsley wrote on an Instagram account: “I’m putting wings on pigs today. They take 1 of ours, let’s take 2 of theirs,” two city officials with direct knowledge of the case confirmed for The Associated Press. He used the hashtags Shootthepolice
US media reported a possible link between Brinsley, who was black, and anger over the death of Garner, based on a social media posting.
The post included hashtags for Garner and for Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager who was killed in August by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.
Hundreds of people protesting against police violence filled the Mall of America in Minnesota on Saturday, chanting "Black lives matter", causing part of the mall to shut down.
Demonstrators around the country have staged protests since a grand jury decided on December 3 not to indict the white officer involved in Garner's death, a decision that closely followed a Missouri grand jury's decision not to indict the officer who killed Brown.
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