Baton Rouge Sheriff: If We Don’t ‘Come Together,’ ‘We Will Surely Perish as a People’

‘this is not so much about gun control as it is about what’s in men’s hearts’

EXCERPT:

"As the colonel has just stated, we had six officers that were shot today in east Baton Rouge parish. The chief will speak to those individuals in a minute. We have three east Baton Rouge parish sheriffs that were shot. One is deceased, a 45-year-old. One is in critical condition fighting for his life as we speak, 41-year-old. And one had non-life-threatening injuries. He’s in surgery right now. He’s 51 years old. Each one of these individuals married. Each one of these individuals have family. We’re grieving as a law enforcement community. We’re grieving for each other. We’re grieving for our loss and we’re grieving for our families. And we ask for your prayers. Not only for us, like I say, for the deputies, but the families and the co-workers. As law enforcement, we are a family and we stand here together as you can see. But our number one priority is the safety of our community, the safety of the people that live here, the safety of law enforcement. We have activated the Louisiana sheriff’s association task force. As you can see behind me, several of my fellow sheriffs are here. We want to assure you we are having a coordinated effort that is going forward to ensure that we continue to provide the services necessary to protect the citizens of this parish. With god’s help, we will get through this. To me, this is not so much about gun control as it is about what’s in men’s hearts. And until we come together as a nation, as a people, to heal as a people, if we don’t do that and this madness continues, we will surely perish as a people. So I would just ask for your prayers and your support for all of the families of those that are involved here today and continue to pray for this parish, this city, this state, and this nation."

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