My heart is aching. Because all lives matter.

The coward who shot and killed five white police officers in Dallas, Texas did not serve the nation yesterday.  They committed an unjustified and horrific act of violence and murder that took the nation’s attention away from the unjustified murder of two black men – Alton Sterling and Hilando Castile. We cry for their families.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”  Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This coward took the nation’s attention away from a peaceful, non-violent protest which had the support and encouragement of local police. He callously took the lives of five brave officers, four of whom worked under a black police chief committed to unifying a police force and community.

“We’re hurting. Our profession is hurting… We are heartbroken. There are no words to describe the atrocity that occurred to our city. All I know is that this must stop, this divisiveness, between our police and our citizens…Pray for these families. Pray for our strength in these trying times.” Dallas Police Chief David Brown

The three officers whose names have been released pending family notification are Brent Thompson from DART, and Michael Krol and Patrick Zamarrippa from Dallas P.D. We cry for their families.

“This has been a week of profound grief and heartbreaking loss. The answer must not be violence; the answer must never be violence. We must reflect on the kind of country we want to build and the kind of society we want to pass on to our children. We must reject the easy impulses of bitterness and rancor and embrace the difficult work of finding a path forward together.  I ask you to turn toward each other, not against each other.”  Atty. General Loretta Lynch

Now, we are in mourning for more victims. More families. More division.

Last night was an act of pre-mediated murder. During negotiations before the murderer was himself executed by a robo-bomb, he admitted he was angry and wanted to take down white people, especially white officers. He did that, but he also murdered an officer of color and seriously injured a black mother, Shetamia Taylor, shielding her four sons from the gunfire.

The two killings earlier this week were not pre-meditated, but they were certainly murders.

Second degree murder is such a killing without premeditation, as in the heat of passion or in a sudden quarrel or fight. Malice in second degree murder may be implied from a death due to the reckless lack of concern for the life of others. (search:murder,legal dictionary;law.com)

“This has been a long week for this country. We have seen terrible, senseless things. Every member of this body wants a world in which people feel safe regardless of the color of their skin. That’s not how people are feeling these days…Let’s not lose sight of the values that unite us; let not lose sight in our common humanity. The values that brought those protesters to the streets of Dallas: respect, decency, compassion, humanity. If we lose those fundamental things, what’s left?” Paul Ryan, Speaker, House of Representatives