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At a memorial service for the five officers killed here, Obama sought to unify a nation left divided and raw by fatal shootings involving police, for open hearts and understanding from both law enforcement and those protesting against them.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nati...c02a5b5b03

Obama praised the slain officers and sharply criticized any who would paint all police as bigoted or seek violence against them. Yet he also acknowledged the very real fear and pain among black Americans who feel targeted and brutalized by police.

“We ask police to do too much and we ask too little of ourselves,” Obama said during his 40-minute remarks, which capped an emotional service just a mile from where the five officers were killed last week.

“Your work, the work of police officers across the country, is like no other,” Obama said to the assembled officers. “From the moment you put on that uniform, you have answered a call that at any moment, even in the briefest interaction, may put your life in harm’s way.”

Consoling a nation after a violent episode has become familiar ground for Obama, whose presidency has been marked by tragedies and attacks in places such as San Bernardino; Roseburg, Ore.; Charleston; and, most recently, Orlando.

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