Law and order?

Trump on Baton Rouge shooting: 'We demand law and order'

By Rebecca Morin

Donald Trump seized on the fatal shooting of three police officers in Baton Rouge on Sunday to bolster a growing theme of his candidacy: that he’s the “law and order” candidate.

The shooting in the Louisiana capital, which left three more wounded, comes 10 days after a former U.S. Army reservist opened fire on police officers in Dallas, Texas, killing five officers and wounding nine others. The shooter was identified as Gavin Long. Louisiana state police said they are unsure if he had accomplices, but two "persons of interests" are being detained in the nearby town of Addis.

"We grieve for the officers killed in Baton Rouge today. How many law enforcement and people have to die because of a lack of leadership in our country," Trump wrote on Twitter and Facebook Sunday. "We demand law and order."

The shooting, which occurred the day before the start of the Republican National Convention, began before 9 a.m. less than a mile from the police station. Baton Rouge has seen sporadic nonviolent protests since Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was shot and killed by police outside a convenience store.

Presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton released a statement Sunday afternoon, calling the assault on the Baton Rouge police officers an "assault on all of us."

"There is no justification for violence, for hate, for attacks on men and women who put their lives on the line every day in service of our families and communities," Clinton said in a statement. “We must not turn our backs on each other. We must not be indifferent to each other. We must all stand together to reject violence and strengthen our communities. Our thoughts and prayers are with the friends and families of the police officers who were killed and injured today.”

President Barack Obama also issued a statement about the lethal attack: "I condemn, in the strongest sense of the word, the attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge. For the second time in two weeks, police officers who put their lives on the line for ours every day were doing their job when they were killed in a cowardly and reprehensible assault. These are attacks on public servants, on the rule of law, and on civilized society, and they have to stop."

Obama added: "These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one. They right no wrongs. They advance no causes."

The White House also indicated that the president spoke separately to Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards and Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden, offering assistance and condolences.

Attorney General Loretta Lynch said FBI agents are on the scene.

“For the second time in two weeks, multiple law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. There is no place in the United States for such appalling violence, and I condemn these acts in the strongest possible terms," Lynch said in a statement. "I pledge the full support of the Department of Justice as the investigation unfolds. Our hearts and prayers are with the fallen and wounded officers, their families, and the entire Baton Rouge community in this extraordinarily difficult time.”

Tension between police and the black community has grown following the killing of Sterling, which was captured on video and has since widely circulated online. The Dallas shooting came at the end of a rally organized to mourn the death of Sterling and Philando Castile, a 32-year-old black man killed by police in Minnesota.

Trump has sided firmly with police, casting the Black Lives Matter movement against police violence as “very divisive.”

"I saw what they said about the police in various marches and rallies, I've seen moments of silence called for for this horrible human being who shot the policemen," Trump alleged during a recent interview with Bill O’Reilly of Fox News.

“We must maintain law and order at the highest level or we will cease to have a country, 100 percent,” he said during a speech last week in Virginia Beach, Virginia. “We will cease to have a country. I am the law and order candidate.”

He then proceeded to attack his Democratic rival for the presidency.

“Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, is weak, ineffective, pandering, and as proven by her recent email scandal which was an embarrassment not only to her but to the entire nation as a whole,” he continued. “Not only am I the law and order candidate, but I am also the candidate of compassion, believe it. The candidate of compassion.”

On Saturday, introducing his running mate Mike Pence, Trump returned to the same theme. “I found the leader who will help us deliver a safe society,” Trump said of Pence. “We are the law and order candidates.”

Later, Trump sought to connect the unrest on American streets to the recent spate of terrorist attacks around the world.

“We’ve witnessed horror beyond belief. No matter where you look and now it’s happening more and more,” Trump said. “We need new leadership. We need new thinking. We need strength. We need in our country law and order and if I’m elected president, that will happen.”

On Sunday, Edwards asked for prayers for the officers involved and their families in a statement following the Baton Rouge shooting.

“This is an unspeakable and unjustified attack on all of us at a time when we need unity and healing," Edwards continued . "Rest assured, every resource available to the State of Louisiana will be used to ensure the perpetrators are swiftly brought to justice.”

Louisiana Sen. David Vitter tweeted: "Murderous attack in Baton Rouge just horrible. Praying for the officers and families. Blue lives matter. All lives matter."

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, a Republican congressman from Louisiana, also tweeted out a response saying, "Terrible news out of Baton Rouge. ... I am closely monitoring the situation and praying for the officers who were attacked."

Former Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal reacted to the shooting on Fox News.

"We've got to say that All Lives Matter. It doesn't matter what color you are," Jindal said. "We've got to support our police officers. We've got to say these are heroes."

Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings also reacted to the shooting, calling it "deeply disturbing." He continued to call on those who have been peacefully protesting police to "swiftly condemn this type of violence against law enforcement."

"This must stop. Violence against our police officers under any circumstances is not acceptable and poses a grave threat to all of us," he said in a statement.