Police agencies on edge, on guard amid heightened threats

ATLANTA (AP) — Police agencies across the U.S. are on edge and on guard after receiving threats and calls for violence against them on social media in the aftermath of the killings of two black men and the sniper attack that left five officers dead in Dallas.

[...] a man who killed one person and wounded three others — including an officer — in Tennessee apparently told investigators he was motivated by the recent killings of black men by police.

[...] threats ranging from generic promises of violence to specific video postings have been made, only heightening fears of further attacks.

Police also say a Wisconsin man posted calls on social media for black men to gun down white officers, and a woman in Illinois is accused of threatening in an online video to shoot and kill any officer who pulled her over.

Ryan Lenz, online editor and senior writer at the SPLC, told The Associated Press that the number of black separatist groups nearly doubled in 2015, mirroring a similar increase among white hate groups that has come against the backdrop of police killings that make frequent headlines.