President Barack Obama attended a somber memorial Tuesday to five police officers slain in a sniper ambush in Dallas, as he seeks to unify a country divided by race and politics.
Accompanied by First Lady Michelle Obama, the president left Washington with the depressingly familiar task of ministering to a country stunned by gun violence.
The mayor of Dallas opened the service, saying the “soul of our city was pierced.” In the days since the shooting that rocked America — carried out by a black gunman intent on killing whites in retribution for police brutality — Mike Rawlings said the city’s residents “have sobbed and paid tribute.”
“Today we open our city’s doors” he said, thanking Obama for attending the memorial service.
But the most poignant tribute was to “peacemakers in blue” Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Lorne Ahrens and Michael Smith.
Each officer was represented by an empty chair in the auditorium, each adorned with a folded US flag and officer’s cap.
Obama spent much of Monday preparing his address to the interfaith service, also attended by his predecessor, Republican former president George W. Bush.

Source: Arab News