The people protesting police violence in Dallas on Thursday night when a sniper killed five officers are a bunch of hypocrites. At least, that’s the word of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Patrick appeared on Fox News’ “Outnumbered” on Friday to denounce the protesters for expecting protection from the very people they were protesting.
“All those protesters last night, they ran the other way expecting the men and women in blue to turn around and protect them. What hypocrites,” Patrick declared. “All of these officers … lost their lives protecting people who were protesting against them. This has to end.”
Patrick went on to say, “You can’t go out on social media and mainstream media and everywhere else and say that the police are racist, that the police hateful, the police are killers.”
The lieutenant governor said that police officers are one of the few groups of people who are required in their profession to risk their lives for others, regardless of their ideology.
“Every day when they go to work, part of their duty says, ‘If I have to give my life today for a stranger that I don’t know who’s another citizen, whether they’re for me or against me, I will.'”
Five police officers were killed Thursday night during a protest in Dallas when a sniper opened fire. The suspect, later identified as 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson, was killed by a bomb robot after he refused to surrender, police said.
“The suspect said he was upset about Black Lives Matter. He said he was upset about recent police shootings. The suspect was upset at white people. The suspect stated he wanted to kill white people,” Dallas police chief David Brown said. “Especially white officers.”
Watch Patrick’s condemnation of the prrotesters below.
Mass Shootings in America That Horrified All of Us (Photos)
Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.
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Washington D.C. — A former Navy reservist shot and killed 12 people on September 16, 2013, at a military facility. The gunman was killed.
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Tyrone, Mo. - On Feb. 27, 2015, Joseph Jesse Aldridge killed seven people — four of them relatives — in a door-to-door shooting spree before killing himself.
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Waco, Tex. - Nine people were killed and many more were injured after two biker gangs began firing at each other at a motorcycle club on May 17, 2015.
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Charleston, S.C. - Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people during a racially motivated shooting in a predominantly African-American church on June 17, 2015.
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Chattanooga, Tenn. - A gunman named Mohammod Youssuf Abdulazeez entered two military facilities on July 16, 2015, and killed four Marines and injured others, before he was killed.
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Umpqua, Ore. - On October 1, 2015, Chris Harper Mercer killed nine people and injured seven to nine more at Umpqua Community College before two police officers shot him. Mercer then committed suicide.
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San Bernardino, Calif. - 14 people were killed and another 21 injured after Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik opened fire during a holiday party on December 2, 2015. The pair were later killed during a shootout with police.
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Orlando, Fla. - 50 people were killed and 53 wounded on June 11, 2016, at Pulse, a gay nightclub. Just before the shooting, suspected killer Omar Mateen called 911 and pledged his allegiance to the terror group ISIS. Mateen was also shot an killed by police on the scene.
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TheWrap looks back at recent mass shootings that have happened on U.S. soil
Newtown, Conn. - On December 14, 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School. They were between the ages of six and seven years old. He also killed six adult staff members.