Hip-Hop Reacts to Shooting of 12 Police Officers in Dallas

Last night (July 7), shots rang out during protests in Dallas. The bullets were aimed at police officers, and as of today five officers have been pronounced dead and seven others were injured, according to CNN. To say it’s been a dark week for the United States is a grave understatement.

The perpetrators were snipers who shot from above, and in the aftermath of the tragedy Dallas Police Chief David Brown said one suspect told cops on the scene that he was angry over the recent police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. That suspect is now dead, and has been revealed to be 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson. Cops killed him by detonating a robot bomb they had at their disposal after a stand-off in a parking complex.

What is perhaps as equally terrifying as the incident itself is the reaction on the internet. People immediately began blaming the shooting on Obama and Black Lives Matter, characterizing the protest as "anti-police" despite there being pictures of protestors and cops posing for the camera and smiling together. The xenophobia will continue, too, despite the suspect allegedly saying he had no ties to any groups.

In addition, the Dallas Police Department tweeted a picture of someone they believed was a potential suspect. He was a black man, and Twitter users watching video of the scene quickly identified said "suspect" as walking around in the streets after gunshots went off. The suspect was detained and later released; 12 hours later, Dallas PD's Twitter handle has still not removed their inaccurate picture and tweet.

In light of the tragedy, hip-hop is speaking out. See what people like Scarface, Nicki Minaj, Joe Budden and more have to say, plus peep a long message from Fab below.