Attorney general to attend vigil honoring police in Baton Rouge

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch will travel to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Thursday and Friday to attend a vigil honoring fallen police officers and meet with community leaders, the Justice Department said.

Lynch will join U.S. Vice President Joe Biden at a vigil at 2 p.m. Central time (1700 GMT) Thursday for three police officers shot dead on July 17 by a U.S. Marine Corps veteran with ties to an African-American anti-government group, the department said.

Lynch and Biden’s presence will serve to underscore the Obama administration’s commitment to police safety.

President Obama traveled to Dallas in the wake of the shootings of five police officers there. Since taking office as Attorney General, Lynch has traveled the country on a “community policing tour” that highlights best practices of local departments.

Biden has become a liaison between the White House and police as tensions between departments and minority communities have escalated in recent years.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Bernadette Baum and James Dalgleish)