The
deadly assault on Baton Rouge, La., police officers Sunday illustrates "a brewing anti-police environment," and fuels a feeling by law enforcement that there are "targets on their backs," experts say.
In an interview on
Fox News, John Matthews of the Community Safety Institute in Dallas decried the rise in "ambush attacks."
"This is horrific," he tells Fox News, noting it is telling law enforcement officers that there are "targets on their backs."
The outrage comes just 12 days after Baton Rouge resident
Alton Sterling was fatally shot by police in an incident recorded on cellphone — one of two controversial police shootings that preceded an ambush on Dallas police in which five officers died.
Dan Bongino, a former New York Police Department officer, tells Fox News that law enforcement has already been "beefing up their intelligence," calling it a "critical" defense of such attacks.
"It's really disturbing and speaks to… a brewing anti-police environment," Bongino tells Fox News, adding the
call for armed protests in Cleveland from the New Black Panther Party "certainly isn't helping right now."
"It's really disturbing… that people are stirring the pot," he said, referring to the rhetoric of the New Black Panther group.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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