T’ruah’s statement on the shootings in Dallas and the killings of Alton Sterling, Philando Castile, and Michael Schumacher
“My entire being trembles, ETERNAL—how long?…Weary am I with groaning and weeping, nightly my pillow is soaked with tears.” (Psalm 6:4,7)
Our hearts break for the blood that our country has seen shed this week.
We mourn the deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, LA; Philando Castile in St. Paul, MN; and Michael Schumacher in Madison, WI, three men murdered by police officers. We mourn equally the five police officers murdered in Dallas, TX. We pray that the five police officers and one civilian injured in Dallas recover speedily, and that the families of all the dead and wounded receive the support of loving friends, family, colleagues, and strangers.
Our grieving must compel us to fix the entrenched systems of racism and violence that have led to the deaths of too many. This includes holding police officers responsible for protecting all of us, and working to end practices that enable or justify the use of excessive force primarily against people of color. While we do not yet know the identities or motives of those who killed the police officers in Dallas, we must reject any justification for violence against police officers as a response. We stand with the thousands of peaceful protesters in Dallas, Minneapolis, Baton Rouge, and around the country, and refuse to allow the violent actions of a few to overshadow or shape our perceptions of the nonviolent many. The easy access of the snipers to weapons reminds us of the need for sane gun laws that will prevent violent people from unraveling the shared fabric of our society.
We commit to pursuing a deep and wide justice that goes beyond punishment, even beyond accountability, to the transformation of structures of injustice and the healing of all our communities.
In this week’s Torah reading, “Aaron took as Moses had spoken and ran into the midst of the people; behold, the plague had begun among the people, and he put on incense and made atonement for the people. He stood between the dead and the living, and the plague stopped.” (Num. 17:12-13) We live in the midst of a plague of violence and racism. Together, may we find the courage to stand between the dead and the living, to stop the plague, to end the deaths, and to bring peace and wholeness to the living.
