A civil rights group in Texas is criticizing Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick for blaming protestors and the Black Lives Matter movement for the shootings in Dallas. Officials with the group call the lieutenant governor’s comments irresponsible.
Patrick was asked to share his observations about the shootings on the Fox News Channel’s "Fox and Friends First" program during his interview, Patrick said that “Too many people in the general public, who have a big mouth are creating the situations like the shooting in Dallas.
“All those protestors last night, they ran the other way expecting the men and women in blue to protect them, what hypocrites," Patrick told Fox News reporters.
Ashton Woods with the Black Lives Matter movement in Texas calls the lieutenant governor’s comments irresponsible because he says their protest of the police shootings in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and outside of St. Paul, Minnesota was a peaceful rally until an interloper took siege of the event.
“Mr. Patrick can hold the belief that he is willing to hold, but we’re going to keep doing the work. People may pick up weapons and shoot at police officers without regard to life, but that’s not who we are, that’s not what we are going to condone. We are going to fight for rights and that’s what we are here for," Woods says.
Woods says Patrick’s comments do not bridge a gap between the black community and law enforcement, it only widens the divide.
