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The outrage of the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile sparked protests around the country from the Black Lives Matter movement. A petition started on July 6th, asking the White House to label Black Lives Matter a “terrorist” group. The White House has since responded to the petition stating, “we are not able to address the formal request of your petition.”
The petition posted to We The People states, “Terrorism is defined as ‘the use of violence and intimidation in pursuit of political aims.’ This definition is the same definition used to declare ISIS and other groups, as terrorist organizations.” The petition gathered over 141,000 signatures, surpassing it’s goal of 100,00 signatures.
Just one day after the petition was making it’s rounds online, shootings occurred in Dallas that Killed 5 police officers. Another shooting happened yesterday morning (July 17th), in Baton Rouge, that killed 3 police officers. BLM protesters condemned the shootings in Dallas and Baton Rouge.
The White House responded saying they couldn’t address the request of the petition. They went on to acknowledging that the U.S. is facing a “difficult time” right now. They also encouraged those who signed the petition to put President Obama’s words of compassion in their hearts and minds.
Read more details on the story from CBS News, here.
