Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson has released a message on the four-year anniversary of the ambush that killed four Dallas officers and one DART officer on July 7, 2016.
Four years ago, Dallas police officers Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael Smith, and Patrick Zamarripa, and DART officer Brent Thompson were killed in the line of duty during a peaceful protest.
Today, Mayor Johnson released a video message reminding Dallas citizens to reflect on the events of July 7, 2016 as the city faces new challenges.
"We are now facing new, unprecedented, and immense challenges," Johnson said in the video message. "We are simultaneously called to confront systemic injustices and respond to the rapid spread of a deadly and highly infectious virus. We have to rethink the world as we knew it and forge a new reality based on the needs of today and the future."
Johnson requested that downtown's LED-lighted buildings continue their annual tradition of lighting up blue tonight in memory of the five officers.
"The anniversary of July 7 reminds us that we are not defined by tragedy or divisions," Johnson said in the video message. "We are bigger than our differences. We truly are in this together."
