Obama: ‘Very Hard To Untangle the Motives’ Of Dallas Shooter, ‘May Have’ Used Anger At Police ‘As An Excuse’

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During a speech in Warsaw, Poland on Saturday, President Obama stated that “it’s very hard to untangle the motives” of the shooter who shot at police in Dallas, and that while, “he may have used as an excuse, his anger about previous incidents…in no way does that represent what the overwhelming majority of Americans think.”

Obama said, “I think it’s very hard to untangle the motives of this shooter. As we’ve seen, in a whole range of incidents with mass shooters, they are, by definition, troubled. By definition, if you shoot people who pose no threat to you, strangers, you have a troubled mind. What triggers that, what feeds it, what sets it off, you know, I’ll leave that to the psychologists and people who study these kinds of incidents. What I can say is that, although, he may have used as an excuse, his anger about previous incidents, as has been indicated, at least in the press, and as Chief Brown I think indicated, in no way does that represent what the overwhelming majority of Americans think.”

He later argued, “I think the danger, as I said, is, that we somehow, suggest that, the act of a troubled individual speaks to some larger political statement across the country. It doesn’t.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett

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