Obama leads country through grief
Politics

Obama leads country through grief

Updated 2220 GMT (0620 HKT) July 17, 2016
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President Barack Obama condemned the slayings of three Louisiana law enforcement officers on Sunday, July 17, as he called on the nation to condemn violence against law enforcement. "We as a nation have to be loud and clear that nothing justifies violence against law enforcement," Obama said, speaking from the White House press briefing room. "Attacks on police are an attack on all of us and the rule of law that makes society possible." Jacquelyn Martin/AP
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during an interfaith memorial service for the victims of the Dallas police shooting on Tuesday, July 12. Obama sought to unify the country during the somber memorial in Dallas for the five police officers slain in a sniper ambush during what had been a peaceful protest. The incident occurred amid a tragic week for the nation that saw Alton Sterling in Louisiana and Philando Castile in Minnesota killed during encounters with police. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden place flowers at a memorial on Thursday, June 16, for the victims of the nightclub shooting in Orlando. At least 49 people were killed in the massacre, the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Obama pauses on October 1 during a news conference about the mass shooting at Umpqua Community College in Oregon. Susan Walsh/AP
Obama sings "Amazing Grace" during a service in June 2015 honoring the life of the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a South Carolina lawmaker. Pinckney was one of nine people killed in a shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina. David Goldman/AP
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive for a memorial service in Fort Hood, Texas, in April 2014. Officials say Army Spc. Ivan Lopez took a .45-caliber handgun onto the military post, killing three people and injuring 16 before taking his own life. Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images
Obama pauses as he speaks in September 2013 about the shooting at the Washington Navy Yard, mourning what he called "yet another mass shooting" that took the life of American patriots. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Obama tours a tornado-affected area in Moore, Oklahoma, in May 2013. A tornado that ripped through Moore hit 2,400 homes on a 17-mile path. MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Obama speaks at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross following the Boston Marathon bombings that killed three people and injured at least 264 in April 2013. Suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was killed during an encounter with police, and his brother, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, was sentenced to death. Spencer Platt/Getty Images
Obama attends a memorial service at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, in April 2013. Fourteen people, nearly all first responders, died in an explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
In December 2012, 20-year-old Adam Lanza walked into Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and killed 20 children and six adults. At the memorial service, Obama said, "In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens -- from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators -- in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this." MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images
Obama walks back to the Oval Office of the White House in July 2012. Obama cut short a campaign stop in Florida in the aftermath of the mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. Twelve moviegoers were killed and 70 were injured by convicted shooter James E. Holmes. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP
Obama speaks on the campus of Missouri Southern State University after a tornado ripped through Joplin, Missouri, in May 2011, killing 158 people. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
The President and first lady hold hands during a memorial service for the victims of a Tucson, Arizona, shooting. On January 8, 2011, Jared Lee Loughner shot six people and wounded 13 more, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
An explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in West Virginia killed 29 workers in April 2010. It was the worst U.S. mine disaster in 40 years. "All the hard work; all the hardship; all the time spent underground; it was all for their families. ... It was all in the hopes of something better," Obama said about the fallen workers. JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
Thirteen people were shot and killed by Maj. Nidal Hasan at Fort Hood in November 2009. Speaking to an estimated 15,000 people at a memorial service, Obama called the act "incomprehensible" and vowed that justice would be done. JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images