Spokane NAACP president Phillip Tyler says he’s sorry for deaths of black men and police officers

On Wednesday, Phillip Tyler posted a video expressing his pain and anger at the shooting of a black man by law enforcement in Baton Rouge.

On Thursday, Tyler, the president of Spokane’s NAACP chapter, was expressing pain and anger again at the deaths of police officers in Dallas during a protest of the recent police-related shootings of two black men.

A former Spokane County Sheriff’s Deputy and military law enforcement specialist, Tyler said he’s seen “both sides of the picture.”

“Why did these people have to die, both in Baton Rouge, Minnesota and the officers shot. Why? We as a nation have to come together and do a better job to have this public discourse and find a solution,” Tyler said Thursday night.

Tyler said he finds it especially disturbing that the Dallas police officers were killed working at an event allowing citizens to exercise their rights as U.S. citizens.

“They represent the worst of our society that would take advantage of those who were actively engaged in allowing freedom of speech and freedom of assembly,” he said.

“I’m sorry for the officers whose lives were tragically taken,” he said, echoing the words of a video posted Wednesday.

In that video, which has been viewed nearly 1,000 times, Tyler said he “needed to let go,” after watching a video of Baton Rouge officers fatally shooting Alton Sterling. His 15-year-old son filmed as Tyler talked for one minute about the shooting while staring deliberately at the camera.

“I’m sorry…” Tyler said. “I’m sorry that I don’t have the words to explain why to my community. I’m sorry that I don’t have the words to explain why to my children.”