Local advocates sound off on Dallas shooting

It has been a long week for local groups responding to both the shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana and, now Dallas. Yesterday, advocates in Austin held a rally and vigil for Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. During that rally is when shots rang out in Dallas.

Seven lives lost all within days of each other.

“We can’t say black lives matter, we want cops to stop killing us and then we go out to kill them,” Chas Moore, Austin Justice Coalition said.

“Seeing two, what I call brutal murders of black men in two different states and then the news of a lone ranger if you will, ambushing cops in Dallas, it’s like have we gotten to a point of anarchy”? Moore said.

That's how some may feel, after hearing about the killing of five police officers in Dallas. It's believed the shooter was retaliating against police for the killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in in Falcon Heights, Minnesota.

“You don't see it being addressed properly, people can get disgruntled about that and if you're a little unbalanced, this gentleman was a military guy, I think sometimes if you see too much and can't handle it you reach out in a violent way,” Nelson Linder, president of Austin NAACP said.

Linder certainly does not condone what the shooter did in Dallas. He says fighting violence with more violence gets us nowhere.

“This entire climate in this country is toxic right now,” He said.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick sounded off on the Dallas shooting, saying :"All those protesters last night, they turned around and ran the other way expecting the men and women in blue to protect them. What hypocrites!"

“He's in a position to influence state policy, influence not only the legislature but also the public, and his comments were very disheartening,” Margaret Haule with Black Lives Matter Austin, said.

Community leaders and law enforcement agree, there is still lots of work left to do, to bring the country together on this issue.