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Dallas, Texas Police Officers Memorial Service. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired July 12, 2016 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:10] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

(CHOIR SINGING THE STAR SPANGLED BANNER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: To begin the program, please welcome the mayor of Dallas, Mike Rawlings.

MAYOR MIKE RAWLINGS, DALLAS: Please be seated.

Good afternoon. Welcome.

At 8:58 p.m., five days ago, the soul of our city was pierced when police officers were ambushed in a cowardly attack. In the days that followed, we have searched a massive crime scene, we've sobbed and paid tribute at a growing memorial at the police headquarters, we prayed together at Thanksgiving Square, we lit candles to honor the lives of our five heroes.

Today, we open our city's doors to our friends and to our neighbors. We realize that our pain is your pain. You want to do what we want to do - honor the lives of these five officers. Lorne Ahrens, Michael Krol, Michael Smith, Brent Thompson, Patricio Zamarripa. On behalf of the Dallas citizens and our great Dallas city council, we want to say thank you, and thank you for accepting our invitation.

Some of you have traveled from across our state, and some from across our country. I want to recognize my fellow mayors from out of state for being here on such short notice. Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Columbia Mayor Stephen Benjamin, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer. Thank you.

Thank you also to my friend, Ft. Worth Mayor Betsy Price, to our state's first lady, Cecilia Abbott, and daughter, Audrey Abbott, who are here on behalf of Governor Greg Abbott. To Governor Jay Nixon of Missouri and Governor Susanna Martinez of New Mexico, and to our congress men and women. You represent elected officials and your citizens across the country who have reached out to me in recent days and who weren't able to make it here today, whose cities and states have also been scarred by violence.

Congresswoman Johnson, Senator Cornyn, Senator Cruz, these men and women are here with us because they know we have a common disease - this absurd violence on our streets. Those that will help us fight it are our men and women in blue, our peacemakers in blue. They have died for that cause. That is why today we reserve five seats for the men we lost on Thursday night.

[14:05:30] We offer our gratitude to you, our cops, including those who have traveled here to support your brothers and sisters in the Dallas Police Department, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit Police and the El Centro College Police Force. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you. Thank you for coming.

Most importantly, it is our purpose today to bring comfort to you, the families who are represented by those empty seats. We love you. We will never forget you.

We also honor those who came close to death that night and who were wounded, not only in the body, but in the soul. May you never be forgotten as well.

We understand that Dallas' pain is a national pain. That is why I want to say thank you to President Obama and First Lady Mrs. Obama, Vice President Biden and Dr. Biden, and to two of our most distinguished citizens of Dallas, President Bush and Laura Bush, for coming to help us heal these wounds.

To wage this battle against violence and separatism today must be about unity. Unity among faiths, unity among police and citizens, and, yes, unity among politicians. In recent days, I've seen unity, even before that tragedy, when police and protesters mingled peacefully. I've seen unity when the protesters came out in support of the police after the days of this tragedy. I see unity today when the Arlington Police and the Texas DPS officers step up to relieve our exhausted police officers.

This interfaith choir behind me symbolizes that unity, coming from six churches across our city. These three religious leaders, Imam Omar Suleiman, Rabbi Andrew Marc Paley, and Dr. Sheron Paterson (ph) will pray in a few minutes in a show of unity. I believe you'll hear words of unity from other speakers. The senior senator from Texas, John Cornyn, President Bush, Police Chief David Brown and President Obama.

The past few days have been some of the darkest in our city's histories. There's no question about that. As we bury these men in the coming days, it will not get easier. I know. But there's nothing like a crisis that forces one to take pause of your life and your city's life. And if you're from out of town, I hope you'll forgive me for a moment. I want to speak to my fellow Dallasites.

I have searched hard in my soul of late to discover what mistakes we have made. I've asked, why us? And in my moments of self-doubt, I discovered the truth. That we did nothing wrong. In fact, Dallas is very, very good. Our police are among the best in the country. I am in awe of our Dallas police officers.

[14:10:12] We set the standard where policing can both be strong and smart, where men die for the rights that this country was built on. In short, I have never been more proud of my city, our city.

While we did nothing wrong, there is a reason this happened here, this place, this time in American history. This is our chance to lead and build a new model for a community, for a city, for our country. To do that, there will be tough times ahead. We will mourn together, and together is the key word here. We may be sad, but we will not dwell in self-pity. We may weep, but we will never whine. For we have too much work to be done. We have too many bridges to build that we will cross together. This, I know. This, I know, will happen.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let every head be bowed, every eye closed, as we go to God in prayer.

God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, thou who has brought us thus far on the way, Lord, our hearts are heavy, our spirits are torn asunder and tears flow from our eyes. And we come to you, O God, because you are the rock in the weary land. You are the shelter in the time of storm, and, God, you are uniquely qualified to come see about your people. From Genesis to Revelations, you have helped and healed and mended and molded.

Right now, O God, we salute the five slain Dallas police officers who died protecting and serving this community. We honor their sacrifice and commitment. Surround their families and loved ones with your Holy Ghost power. Cover the entire Dallas Police Department with your grace and your mercy. And, Lord, keep your hands of everlasting love on our chief, David Brown, as he leads with dignity and determination.

God, your word says, all things work together for good. We can't see that right now, but we'll trust you when we can't trace you. Lord, your word says, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Right now it's still dark, but we're going to hold on to your unchanging hand.

Yes, there will be lingering effects from Thursday's ambush, there is terror, anxiety and despair, but in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus Christ, we will keep on, we will prance on, we will love on, we will live on. Shadow beneath the hand, may we forever stand, true to our God and true to America. Let the church say amen.

CROWD: Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING IN A FOREIGN LANGUAGE). In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful, may his peace and blessings be upon his prophets and messengers and all those that follow in their blessed path.

Today our city is heartbroken, our country is soul searching, and we as individuals are forever in need of your guidance and protection. We ask you to look upon us today, to guide us to live our lives in ways that are most pleasing to you. We ask you to put peace in our hearts that we may spread it to all of those around us. We ask you to protect us from being people of injustice, that we may purify the world of it. And as we ask you, we recognize that it is up to us to say, you did

not create us for bigotry or vengeance. You did not create us to dominate or oppress one another. You did not create us for war. We are not the ones to judge who should live and who should die. So today we stand before you in humility, and in determination, ready to pursue the peace, justice and equality that you demand of us, ready to stand up against all of the evil that threatens to destroy the goodness in your creation, ready to stand up against any oppression, in any name, for any cause, from any position, and against any of your creation.

[14:15:27] We ask that your love would comfort those who mourn their loved ones today. That their memory would flood their families with joy. That the children of our fallen officers and all of those who have lost their lives to senseless violence are molded in the love that we express today, not in the hatred that claimed the lives of their fathers. We ask that the voices of racism and xenophobia that seek to divide us are drowned out by the chorus of voices that say, you will not pit us against one another.

We choose today to live by the hope that you've instilled within us, not the fears that others manufacture amongst us. And with that, we pray to you, the one God of Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed and us all for one Dallas, one America, and one world. Amen.

CROWD: Amen.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dear friends, together we are here opening our hearts and our souls to the God of compassion, as the simple human beings that we are, as mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, all children of the heavenly parent, all created in the divine image, and all here today to pray for healing for wisdom, for strength and for peace.

In this moment of sadness and pain, we look to the heavens knowing as the poet Hana Sanich (ph) once said, there are stars up above, so far away we only see their light, long after the star itself is gone. And so it is with the people that we love. Their memories keep shining ever brightly, though the time with us is done. But the stars that light up the darkest night, these are the stars that guide us as we live our days. These are the ways we remember.

As we live our days, we remember Brent Thompson, Patrick Zamarripa, Michael Krol, Lorne Ahrens and Michael Smith. They will be remembered as shining lights of bravery, dedication to our city, kindness and compassion. As we live our days, we will never forget their sacrifice.

As our city is still reeling from the violence of only a few short days ago, we beseech you, O God, healer of the broken hearted, with the words of Moses as he prayed for healing for his sister, Miriam, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE), please, God, heal her. And so we pray to the families of our fallen Dallas police officers and Dallas area regional transit police officer, we pray, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) please, God, heal them, as we ask for your healing power to surround them and their loved ones in this, their time of need, with hope, with strength, and with love. To those who survived the violence but will always bear the burden of scars and memory, we pray, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) please, God, heal them and bring to their bodies and souls the wholeness and completeness they seek.

To our elected officials and police and first responders, in to whose hands we place our live, we pray, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) please, God, heal them as we know they hurt along with us. And bring to them, O God, the wisdom and the courage necessary to make the permanent peace we seek. And to those of us who are scared and afraid, angry and confused, in our city and in our country, we pray, (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE) please, God, heal us as we ask for your healing power to heal us once and for all from the illness of violence, of hatred, xenophobia and indifference that plague us every single day.

God, you who must work daily to make peace throughout the heavens, we ask you this day to give us the courage and strength to help us make peace here on earth for everyone, every single day, and together we say, amen.

[14:20:10] CROWD: Amen.

(UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE & CHOIR SINGING)

[14:25:55] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Senator John Cornyn.

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R), TEXAS: I know I speak for everyone here and around the country expressing my profound gratitude to Mayor Rawlings, Chief Brown and entire Dallas and DART Police Departments.

We thank you for your strength and the grace you've shown in these trying hours.

Chief, I particularly like the way you put it yesterday when you said simply that Dallas loves. It's my solemn privilege to join the people of Dallas all across the state of Texas and the entire country in honoring these men of uncommon courage.

Several years ago, in the aftermath of another tragedy, the shocking explosion in west Texas, a local official told me something that sticks with me even to this day. He said, being a Texan doesn't describe where you're from, it describes who your family is. So today our family, and this great nation, shares the grief of Dallas.

I want to especially thank President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Biden and Dr. Jill Biden for honoring us by your presence here today.

In times of darkness, when it's hard to hold on to hope, we must remember that these men, along with their fellow officers, were not ultimately overcome by evil. No, as scripture directs us, I believe they chose to confront evil and overcome it with good. They overcame evil by running toward the sound of the gunfire. They overcame evil by shielding their fellow citizens from the spray of bullets. They overcame evil by sacrificing their own lives so that others could live. And I believe that because of their example to all of us, the city of Dallas shall overcome the evil from that day.

Amidst our profound sadness, we honor and remember these officers for putting the people of Dallas before themselves and, in their final moments, serving others, protecting this city and loving this community as they did. Today we join millions across our state and country who continue to lift up these families, friend and fellow officers in our prayers, as well as those recovering from their wounds.

[14:29:41] In the aftermath of another life-altering event on September the 11th, 2001, President George W. Bush inspired all of in speaking of how this nation has always responded to evil with powerful courage and deep concern for one another. And so, once again, we gather as one nation under God, yes to grieve, but then to rise up and to...