Alton Sterling, 37, was shot and killed by police officers on Tuesday, July 5, while he was selling CDs outside of a convenience store. The following day, Philando Castile, 32, was shot and killed by a police officer after he was stopped for a broken tail light. Videos of both killings were widely shared on social media, causing hundreds to take to the streets in protest of police actions, as well as memory of the two men killed. Thursday night, snipers shot and killed five officers at such a protest in Dallas, Texas. Questions of police brutality, America's historic racism, the Black Lives Matter movement, and second amendment rights have been pushed to the forefront of the nation's consciousness.
A Week of Bloodshed in America
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Protesters gather on the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, July 7, 2016, in the wake of the shooting deaths of Philando Castile Wednesday night in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, after a traffic stop by St. Anthony police, and the death of Alton Sterling, who was shot by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, while being detained earlier this week. #
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Diamond Reynolds, the girlfriend of Philando Castile, is consoled as she talks about his shooting death with protesters and media outside the governor's residence in St. Paul, Minnesota. Castile was shot and killed after a traffic stop by police in Falcon Heights, July 6, 2016. A video shot by Reynolds of the shooting went viral. #
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Minneapolis NAACP president, Nekima Levy-Pounds, leads a chant of "Hands up, don't shoot," for Philando Castile outside Governor's Mansion, July 7, 2016 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Castile was shot and killed last night, July 6, 2016, by a police officer in Falcon Heights, MN. #
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A chalk outline reading "Am I Next?" written outside the Governor's Mansion during a demonstration for Philando Castile, July 7, 2016, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Castile was shot and killed the previous night by a police officer in Falcon Heights, MN. #
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Cameron Sterling, son of Alton Sterling, is comforted by hands from the crowd at a vigil outside the Triple S convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 6, 2016. Alton Sterling, 37, was shot and killed by Baton Rouge police outside the store where he was selling CDs. #
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Tawandra Carr, who said she was best friends with Alton Sterling, cries while people gather outside the Triple S convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 6, 2016. Sterling, 37, was shot and killed outside the store by Baton Rouge police, where he was selling CDs. #
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Activists burn a U.S. flag with posters of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile as they protest on the corner of Florence Ave and Normandie Ave against the police shootings that lead to two deaths in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively, in Los Angeles, California, July 7, 2016. #
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Autumn Baptiste, 5, middle, and her mother Shamika Cherry, left, attend a protest outside the White House concerning police brutality, July 7, 2016, in Washington, D.C. #
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A demonstrator gestures from the top of a trailer truck during a protest against the shootings that lead to two deaths in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively, in Oakland, California, July 7, 2016. #
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Police watch activists protest in Times Square in response to the recent fatal shootings of two black men by police, July 7, 2016 in New York City. Protests and public outcry have grown in the days following the deaths of Alton Sterling, July 5, 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile, July 6, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. #
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Diamond Reynolds is recorded on a cell phone as she recounts the incidents that led to the fatal shooting of her boyfriend Philando Castile by Minneapolis area police during a traffic stop on Wednesday, at a "Black Lives Matter" demonstration, in front of the Governor's Mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota, July 7, 2016. #
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Sandra Sterling, reacts during community vigil in memory of her nephew, Alton Sterling, who was shot dead by police, at the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 6, 2016. #
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This image may contain graphic or objectionable content.
Click to view imageStill images from video show Alton Sterling as he is shot dead by police during an incident captured on the mobile phone camera of shop owner Abdullah Muflahi in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 5, 2016. #
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Marques Armstrong chants in support of Philando Castile, who was fatally shot by Minneapolis area police during a traffic stop on Wednesday, at a "Black Lives Matter" demonstration, in front of the Governor's Mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota, July 7, 2016. #
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"Stop Police" written by activists is seen on a U.S. flag as they protest on the corner of Florence Ave and Normandie Ave against the police shootings that lead to two deaths in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively, in Los Angeles, California, July 7, 2016. #
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Police watch activists gather in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art as they march up 5th Ave. in response to the recent fatal shootings of two black men by police, July 7, 2016, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Protests and public outcry have grown in the days following the deaths of Alton Sterling, July 5, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile, July 6, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. #
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Tyree Johnson, cousin of Philando Castile who was fatally shot by police during a traffic stop, is consoled by one of Castile's co-workers at a "Black Lives Matter" demonstration in front of the Governor's Mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S., July 7, 2016. #
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A protester scuffles with a member of the New York Police Department during a street protest against the killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in Manhattan, New York, July 7, 2016. #
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A woman chants out of the window of a bus as a group of protesters demonstrate near a prayer vigil in memory of Alton Sterling, who was shot dead by police, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 7, 2016. #
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This image may contain graphic or objectionable content.
Click to view imageStills from the video that Diamond 'Lavish' Reynolds streamed via Facebook Live, July 6, 2016, of her boyfriend Philando Castile right after being shot by the police in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. #
Diamond 'Lavish' Reynolds / Facebook Live -
Savannah Greene, 11, and Alexis Marshall, 13, leave flowers at a makeshift memorial outside the Triple S Food Mart where Alton Sterling was fatally shot by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 7, 2016. #
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Demonstrators raise their hands toward a line of police officers on Highway 880 during a protest against the police shootings that lead to two deaths in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively, in Oakland, California, July 7, 2016. #
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A clerk looks at broken windows shot out at a store in downtown Dallas, July 8, 2016. Snipers opened fire on police officers in the heart of Dallas during protests over two recent fatal police shootings of black men. #
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Demonstrators lock arms as they march from The White House to Capitol Hill, July 7, 2016, in Washington, DC. Protestors gathered in Washington to protest the fatal police shootings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. #
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Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton listens to a speaker at a "Black Lives Matter" protest for Philando Castile in front of the Governor's Mansion in St. Paul, Minnesota, July 7, 2016. A Minneapolis area police officer fatally shot Castile during a traffic stop. #
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Emergency responders administer CPR to an unknown patient on a stretcher as law enforcement officials stand nearby at the emergency receiving area of Baylor University Medical Center, July 8, 2016, in Dallas. #
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A protestor is detained by NYPD officer as people take part in a protest for the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile during a march along Manhattan's streets in New York, July 7, 2016. #
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Activists gather in front of The Metropolitan Museum of Art as they march up 5th Ave in response to the recent fatal shootings of two black men by police, July 7, 2016, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City. Protests and public outcry have grown in the days following the deaths of Alton Sterling, July 5, 2016, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and Philando Castile, July 6, 2016, in Falcon Heights, Minnesota. #
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People take part in a protest against the killings of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile during a march through Manhattan, with the Empire State Building seen in the background, in New York, July 7, 2016. #
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A Dallas police officer covers his face as he stands with others outside the emergency room at Baylor University Medical Center, July 8, 2016, in Dallas. Snipers opened fire on police officers in the heart of Dallas on Thursday night, killing some of the officers. #
Tony Gutierrez / AP -
A picture of Alton Sterling, who was fatally shot by police, and his family is seen at a makeshift memorial outside the Triple S Food Mart in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 7, 2016. #
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A man raises his hands as he walks near a law enforcement officer, following the shootings Thursday of several police officers in downtown Dallas, Texas, July 8, 2016. #
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Protestors lie in an intersection during a demonstration for Philando Castile, July 7, 2016, in St. Paul, Minnesota. Castile was shot and killed the previous night by a police officer in Falcon Heights, MN. #
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Sandra Sterling, aunt of Alton Sterling, is comforted at a vigil outside the Triple S convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, July 6, 2016. Sterling, 37, was shot and killed outside the store by Baton Rouge police, where he was selling CDs. #
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A Dallas police officer, who did not want to be identified, takes a moment as she guards an intersection in the early morning after a shooting in downtown Dallas, July 8, 2016. At least two snipers opened fire on police officers during protests in Dallas on Thursday night; some of the officers were killed, police said. #
LM Otero / AP -
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Demonstrators sit on Highway 880 during a protest against the police shootings that lead to two deaths in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively, in Oakland, California, July 7, 2016. #
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A man raises his hands in a show of solidarity with protesters as they march against the killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile in Times Square, Manhattan, New York, July 7, 2016. #
Bria Webb / Reuters
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