As the US find itself in the grip of heightened racial tensions, former Congressman Joe Walsh (R-Illinois) took to Twitter to tell President Barack Obama the chaos unfolding in Dallas is “now a war.”

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This happened late Thursday, as what was initially thought to be two shooters – later determined to be four – engaged nearly a dozen police officers in combat. It was a massacre that left five police officers dead and six injured. Three of the injured are in a critical condition, with two more in surgery.

Snipers open fire during Dallas #blacklivesmatter rally. Видео опубликовано RT (@rt) Июл 8 2016 в 4:43 PDT

READ MORE: Snipers shoot 11 officers, killing 5, during demonstrations in Dallas

This followed two separate police killings of black men in Louisiana and Minnesota, in which both African-Americans were later judged not to have been posing any threat.

The retired Walsh, who used to represent the 8th District of Illinois, went online to bash both Obama and the #BlackLivesMatter movement in no fewer than a dozen tweets. This one below was later deleted, according to the Washington Examiner.

Another tweet sees Walsh strike out at the now widespread accusations of white racism.

Obama says Cops are racist so 2 uneducated black thugs shoot 10 Dallas Cops tonight, killing 4.



Wake up silent majority. Stand w our Cops. — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 8, 2016

Walsh also posted a series of tweets about “standing up” to “cop haters”, such as this one.

It's time 4 patriotic Americans to stand up & stand against all the Cop haters - from Obama to the thugs on the street.



It's way past time. — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 8, 2016

But later the former lawmaker appeared to change his tune, explaining that he wasn’t lashing out against any one race – just the “haters.”

I wasn't calling for violence, against Obama or anyone. Obama's words & BLM's deeds have gotten cops killed. Time for us to defend our cops. — Joe Walsh (@WalshFreedom) July 8, 2016

His latest Twitter address says the police “work their asses off to protect our inner cities. They deserve respect and help. Not hate and resistance.”

The retired congressman is now a conservative radio talk show host. However, Walsh has been dropped from a number of radio shows for various reasons, including using racial slurs on air.