Just days after penning a letter in response to officer-involved shootings of black men, Beyoncé took to Instagram to pay tribute to the officers who were shot and killed on Thursday in Dallas.
The post shows a video of a close-up of the Texas flag, displaying it in black and white, billowing and waving. Intercut with the flag footage are the the names of the five officers who were fatally shot during a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas that had been peaceful prior to the attack.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BHoCygChuFj/
The endless loop video is accompanied by a comment from the Texas-born Beyoncé, decrying the act of violence and encouraging a response of love and compassion.
Rest in peace to the officers whose lives were senselessly taken yesterday in Dallas. I am praying for a full recovery of the seven others injured. No violence will create peace. Every human life is valuable. We must be the solution. Every human being has the right to gather in peaceful protest without suffering more unnecessary violence.
To effect change we must show love in the face of hate and peace in the face of violence.
The message from Beyoncé is significant given the fact that she has been accused of being anti-police by her detractors, in part because of her support for Black Lives Matter.
Her critics—like Rutherford County Sheriff Robert Arnold, who asserted Beyoncé’s “Formation” music video led to the death of law enforcement officers—seemingly render it impossible to support police while also criticizing the behavior of officers who have partaken in unnecessary violence.
The belief that Beyoncé has expressed sentiments that harm law enforcement launched a series of ineffective boycotts and a protest that attracted exactly zero attendees, which Beyoncé responded to by selling “Boycott Beyoncé” merchandise during her tour.
On Thursday, Beyoncé posted an open letter on her website in response to the deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Minneapolis, two black men who were shot and killed by police. “We are sick and tired of the killings of young men and women in our communities,” the statement read. “It is up to us to take a stand and demand that they ‘stop killing us.’”
“Fear is not an excuse. Hate will not win,” Beyoncé wrote. “While we pray for the families of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, we will also pray for an end to this plague of injustice in our communities.”
BEYONCÉ WENT OFF ✊🏾 pic.twitter.com/F6b9WfnCJC
— evan 𐚁 (@beyonseh) July 7, 2016
H/T Uproxx