EXERPTS FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES TODAY:

The sequence of events this week tore at a nation already deeply divided over questions of policing and race, pivoting from anger and despair over shootings of black men by the police to officers being targeted in apparent retaliation. It dealt a blow both to law enforcement and to peaceful critics of the police.

“All I know is that this must stop, this divisiveness between our police and our citizens,” Dallas Police Chief Brown said.

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Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, who was in Washington, said: “After the events of this week, Americans across our country are feeling a sense of helplessness, of uncertainty and of fear. Now, these feelings are understandable and they are justified. But the answer must not be violence. The answer is never violence.”

“To our brothers and sisters who wear the badge, I want you to know that I am deeply grateful for the difficult and dangerous work that you do every day to keep our streets safe and our nation secure,” she said. To the protesters, she said, “Do not be discouraged by those who would use your lawful actions as a cover for their heinous violence.”

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Response to the Minnesota shooting of a Black Man. 

“To legitimize yourself as a person, as a human being.  Every time one of these individuals loses a life, it’s not just the loss of one life.  It’s a rip in a family, it’s a rip in the community. And you get enough of these little rips, and you know, it starts to tear at the national fabric a little bit… And I’m frankly tired of learning about the lives of the people through their deaths.”