Attorney General Eric Holder Thursday condemned the shooting of two police officers at a protest outside the Ferguson Police Department, saying it undermined peaceful calls for reforms.
“This heinous assault on two brave law enforcement officers was inexcusable and repugnant,” Holder said. “I condemn violence against any public safety officials in the strongest terms, and the Department of Justice will never accept any threats or violence directed at those who serve and protect our communities — from this cowardly action, to the killing of an officer in Philadelphia last week while he was buying a game for his son, to the tragic loss of a deputy U.S. Marshal in the line of duty in Louisiana earlier this week.”
In a press conference Thursday, St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar said the two officers were taken to the hospital with “serious injuries.” He said both were conscious.
The attack came just hours after Ferguson Police Chief Thomas Jackson announced his resignation on Wednesday.
The Justice Department recently released a report accusing the Ferguson Police Department of systematic racial bias.
Holder, Obama’s point man on Ferguson, has been accused of inflaming tensions in the St. Louis suburb. However, the nation’s top law enforcement official Thursday said that such violence against police officers was never acceptable.
“Such senseless acts of violence threaten the very reforms that nonviolent protesters in Ferguson and around the country have been working towards for the past several months,” he said. “We wish these injured officers a full and speedy recovery. We stand ready to offer any possible aid to an investigation into this incident, including the department’s full range of investigative resources. And we will continue to stand unequivocally against all acts of violence against cops whenever and wherever they occur.”
