US President says activists who attack police hurt Black Lives Matter cause

chika ebuzor 17:14 - 10 July 2016

U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he walks under a rain on the South Lawn of the White House upon his return to Washington, U.S., after visiting wounded service members the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, June 21, 2016. REUTERS/Yuri Gr...

The sniper, Micah Johnson, a black U.S. military veteran of the Afghan war, said he wanted to kill white people.

U.S. President Barack Obama said on Sunday that attacks on police out of a concern about the fairness of the criminal justice system hurt the Black Lives Matter movement, after a sniper killed five police officers in Dallas on Thursday.

Obama told a news conference in Madrid that although the "overwhelming" amount of activists in the Black Lives Matter movement wanted to see better relations between communities and police, there were always people that say "stupid" things.

The sniper, Micah Johnson, a black U.S. military veteran of the Afghan war, said he wanted to "kill white people" following the fatal shootings of two black men by police in Louisiana and Minnesota.