Unfortunately, violence is something we are all too accustomed to hearing about on the news. Shootings and other violent crimes seem to happen regularly.

This past week, however, has been particularly brutal. First, Alton Sterling, 37, was shot and killed by police outside a convenience store in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The next day, Philando Castile, 32, was shot and killed by a police officer during a traffic stop in Minnesota. Both men were African-American and in both instances, video of the horrific events went viral across news and social media networks.

These deaths ignited protests across the country, led by the Black Lives Matter movement. At one of these protests, in Dallas, more violence ensued. The protest itself was peaceful, with some police officers even taking pictures in solidarity with the protesters.

But one lone shooter, Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, would change that. The Afghanistan veteran shot 12 police officers, killing five. It was the deadliest incident for U.S. law enforcement since 9/11. Johnson acted on his own and was not affiliated with any terrorist organizations or the Black Lives Matter movement.

A bloody and tragic week indeed. But instead of mourning these losses, the events have immediately become politicized, the worst and ugliest example being the cover of Friday's New York Post, a picture from Dallas with the title "Civil War: Four cops killed at anti-police protest."

The fear now is that the killings of these police officers will only serve to further militarize police and cast negative light on the Black Lives Matter movement. This issue has already deeply divided the country with seemingly no moderation or middle ground to be seen.

But comedian Trevor Noah put it best on Thursday night's episode of "The Daily Show," saying "You can be pro-cop and pro-black." He lamented the fact that on every issue in American politics these days, people must take one side or the other and this automatically means they hate the other side.

This extreme division is what causes no progress on this issue. The problem is a strained relationship between minority communities and police in this country and dividing ourselves into Black lives versus Blue lives will only make the issue worse.

Johnson is an example of someone who took the extremism too far, and murdered public servants in cold blood. The same way Alton Sterling and Philando Castle were murdered in cold blood. So who's right and who's wrong here?

If murders are responded to with murders, all we will accomplish is to ruin more lives and harm more families and communities.

"You don't fight fire with fire. You fight fire with water. We're gonna fight racism with solidarity." - Fred Hampton.