It has been a brutally bloody July for law enforcement. The three officers murdered on Sunday morning have now all been identified.

Officer Montrell Jackson was the first man identified (as Nina wrote about yesterday, who left behind a wife and baby son, and an incredibly heartbreaking Facebook post after the Dallas shootings), and by Sunday night, the other two men had been identified as well.

Baton Rouge police department identified two of the slain officers as Montrell Jackson and Matthew Gerald.

Jackson, 32, served on the force for 10 years and had a 4-month-old child, while Gerald, 41, served for less than a year.

The third slain cop was identified by the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s office as Brad Garafola.

Casey Rayborn Hicks told The Associated Press Sunday that the slain deputy was 45-years-old and had been with the sheriff’s office for 24 years.

Hicks also identified the injured sheriff’s deputies as 41-year-old Nicholas Tullier an 18-year veteran, and 51-year-old Bruce Simmons, a 23-year veteran.

Hicks says that Tullier is in critical condition while Simmons has non-life threatening injuries.

#BatonRouge #thishastostop U.S. Marine, Matthew Gerald, 41; was shot and killed. He leaves behind a wife & 2 kids pic.twitter.com/X00vFtAseh

— Kelly Bazzle (@KellyBazzle) July 17, 2016

The third officer killed: Sheriff's deputy Brad Garafola.#BatonRouge #BatonRougeShooting pic.twitter.com/1CaGpgxfsY

— 10News WTSP (@10NewsWTSP) July 18, 2016

Jackson leaves behind his wife and infant son. Gerald leaves behind his wife and two daughters. Garafola leaves behind his wife and four children.

A memorial has begun outside of Our Lady of the Lake Regional Hospital in Baton Rouge, where the two wounded sheriff’s deputies are hospitalized.

Yesterday afternoon, President Obama gave a quick press statement regarding the deaths of the officers.

In his brief remarks, Obama stressed the importance of staying away from divisive rhetoric and actions, particularly ahead of two weeks of the Republican and Democratic conventions where he predicted that political rhetoric would be “more overheated than usual.”
“Around the clock news cycles and social media sometimes amplify these divisions,” Obama said. “That is why it is so important that everyone: regardless of race or political party or profession, regardless of what organizations you’re a part of, everyone right now focus on words and actions that can unite this country rather than divide it further.”
The President also stressed — as he did after a police ambush in Dallas — the danger that police face day-to-day.
“The death of these three police officers underscore the danger that police across the country confront every single day,” he said.

His remarks, this time, were right on point. I honestly don’t have a single thing to criticize about it. I wish he had sounded like this during the Dallas memorial service.

What now? What do we do now? We’re going to be learning about the killer’s background and motives over the next few days. I wish we didn’t even have to know his name. None of this is going to make us hurt any less. Knowing how much hate the killer carried isn’t going to give seven children their fathers back.

What might make us hurt less is to reach out to those around us, and show that we care. Like this:

Or this:

#GOPconvention attendees applaud police officers in the wake of Baton Rouge attack. #RNCinCLE @CNNPolitics pic.twitter.com/DETZbMgiXo

— Brenna Williams (@brennawilliams) July 18, 2016

We need to mourn together, because we have to begin to heal together. If we can’t, then we will be hopelessly tribalized, and there will never be a “together” anymore.