Here's How You Can Be Pro-Cop and Pro-Black Lives Matter, in One Tweet

Yes, it's possible to support Black Lives Matter and law enforcement. 

Earlier this week, two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, were shot and killed by police. Protests erupted across the country, with demonstrators decrying police brutality and racist law enforcement practices. 

Thursday night in Dallas, five officers were killed and seven officers were injured by at least one gunman during a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest. The officers were from both the Dallas Police Department and DART, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit agency. Two civilians were wounded as well. Today, mourners are honoring and remembering the slain officers.  

People like former Illinois congressman Joe Walsh have wrongly tried to frame the events as a war between two sides. "This is now war," Walsh wrote in a now-deleted tweet. "Watch out Obama. Watch out Black Lives Matter punks. Real America is coming after you." 

But this isn't a war. It's possible to condemn racist law enforcement tactics and still respect the work of those who risk their lives everyday to protect Americans. 

That was the idea conveyed in this tweet by Washington, D.C. executive Erin M. Simpson.

"I don't want black men shot at traffic stops," Simpson wrote. "I don't want cops shot by snipers. I don't want kids shot at school. I don't want any of this."

Simpson's stark, simple message has been retweeted more than 40,000 times.

Jon Stewart conveyed a similar message in a 2014 Daily Show segment, which is seeing new life on social media for its eerie relevance to this week's events. 

"You can truly grieve for every officer who's been lost in the line of duty in this country, and still be troubled by cases of police overreach," he said. "Those two ideas are not mutually exclusive."

"You can have great regard for law enforcement and still want them to be held to high standards."

Read more: