On Monday, Attorney General Loretta Lynch criticized the violence in Ferguson, Missouri.
Attorney General Loretta Lynch criticized the violence in Ferguson, Missouri, after a man reportedly opened fire on police officers Sunday, one year after the death of Michael Brown.
"I strongly condemn the violence against the community, including police officers, in Ferguson," Lynch said while addressing the Fraternal Order of Police's national conference in Pittsburgh on Monday. "As we have seen over the recent months and years, not only does violence obscure any message of peaceful protest, it places the community, as well as the officers who seek to protect it, in harm’s way."
Officers shot a man late Sunday night who St. Louis Country Police say opened fired on plainclothes officers during a protest marking the one-year anniversary of Brown's death. According to local reports, the man was taken to a hospital and is in critical and unstable condition.
Lynch called for local law enforcement and community leaders across the country to work together to build "trust, respect and mutual understanding."
"Recent events in communities across the country have served as stark and tragic reminders of the tensions that exist in too many neighborhoods between law enforcement officers and the people we serve," Lynch said. "One year after the tragic events in Ferguson, Missouri, we have yet again seen the consequences for officers and residents when those tensions erupt into unrest and violence."