Last night in Dallas, five law-enforcement officers were tragically murdered in the line of duty while trying to protect citizens’ First-Amendment right to free speech during a large, peaceful protest.

The New York Times has the details:

DALLAS — Snipers killed five Dallas police officers and wounded seven others, along with two civilians, during a demonstration on Thursday night against police shootings in Minnesota and Louisiana this week, the authorities said.

By morning, one suspect had been killed by the police, who used a robot-controlled bomb after extensive negotiations during a standoff in a garage in downtown Dallas at the El Centro community college. Three others were in custody.

The Dallas police chief, David O. Brown, said the gunman who was killed had “said he was upset at Black Lives Matter, said he was upset about the recent police shootings.”

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and the families of the police officers killed during this senseless tragedy.