‘Be proud of their legacy’: Dallas memorial honors five-year anniversary of July 7 ambush

By Lauren Girgis

Five unlit white candles stood in front of the Dallas Police Memorial site as a helicopter circled overhead. The police choir sang “Holy Ground” while hundreds of North Texas law enforcement officers lined Griffin Street in downtown Dallas on Wednesday.

They were there to mark the five-year anniversary of when four Dallas police officers and a DART officer were killed by a gunman during an ambush in the midst of a peaceful protest for Black lives. It was one of the deadliest attacks on law enforcement in this country.The gunman was later killed inside El Centro College by an explosive device delivered by a robot.

Those honored Wednesday were Brent Thompson, 43; Michael Krol, 40; Lorne Ahrens, 48; Michael Smith, 55; and Patricio “Patrick” Zamarripa, 32.

The memorial, typically an annual event to honor all Dallas police officers who have died in the line of duty, was not held last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The police detail marched with friends and family members of the officers up Young Street to the Dallas Police Memorial that was erected 20 years ago near City Hall. The ceremony included a 21-gun salute, a Dallas Police Choir performance and remarks from department leaders and city officials. Police Chief Eddie García presented a wreath in honor of the five-year anniversary.

“They were truly unafraid,” García said. “They stood for everything that is right about our beloved calling. We know our lost heroes aren’t missing this event. They’re watching from above, no doubt in their Dallas police uniform, and proud that they had the right to wear this badge. Be proud of their legacy.”

Valerie Zamarripa, the mother of police officer Patricio “Patrick” Zamarripa, told a group of reporters that she hates July 7 but that the ceremony was “beautiful.”

”What can I do? I can’t change it,” she said. “And with that, we just have to rejoice and celebrate him and the others, so their deaths will not be in vain.”

Zamarripa — who spent July 2 serving breakfast to members of the Southwest Patrol division, where her son and two of the other officers worked — lit one of the five candles placed in his honor with the rest of her family.

Zamarripa still wears her son’s badge number around her neck, and she has a tattoo of him on her right arm. She said she would spend the rest of her day honoring him and the other officers who were killed five years ago.

Mike Mata, president of the Dallas Police Association, called the day a “joint memorial” of not only the five fallen officers, but also 81 others who have died while serving and whom the community could not honor during National Police Week in May due to COVID-19.

“You don’t want to have any type of insinuation that these five lives mean any more or any less than the other 81 that are on the wall,” Mata said. “They have families too. … It’s difficult to balance that, to pay respects to such a traumatic event that the city went through and this department went through, but also remembering those other officers who also have given the ultimate sacrifice for the city.”

The police association held a luncheon for survivors and families at its headquarters immediately following the memorial.

An order from Mayor Eric Johnson proclaimed July 7 “Police Memorial Day” in Dallas and ordered all city facilities to lower their flags to half-staff on Wednesday.

A candlelight vigil was also planned in the evening at the Southwest Patrol Division on West Illinois Avenue.

García said he doesn’t believe there is as much divisiveness between police and the community as is sometimes portrayed. Instead, he said, there was “one individual who had a different agenda” on July 7, 2016.

“You saw officers running to save and protect the protesters,” García said. “This community came together that night. This community comes together today.”