Dallas trauma surgeon: 'This killing, it has to stop'

 (CNN)Dr. Brian H. Williams, a trauma surgeon at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas, was on duty last Thursday night when wounded police officers began to arrive in the ER.

Speaking to CNN's Don Lemon Monday night, he said that the experience has affected him deeply and was like "this bad movie on an endless loop."

He added: "Going to work has forced me to kind of push it aside temporarily but it continues to break through.

"I'm thinking about the officers and their families and the men that were killed in Baton Rouge and Minnesota last week and I compare my situation to theirs and it's hard for me to focus on myself right now." 

 

visibly upset, he told Lemon: "I don't understand why people think its OK to kill police officers. I don't understand why black men die in custody and they're forgotten the next day. I don't know why this has to be us against them. This is all really... it has to stop."We are all in this together, we are all connected. All this violence, all this hatred, all these disagreements, it impacts us all, whether you realize it or not. This is not the kind of world we want to leave for our children. Something has to be done

Central to the conflict that Williams feels is the experiences he has as both a surgeon and as a black man, and the different reactions that his professional and personal appearances elicit.

"Clearly when I'm at work dressed in my white coat the reactions I get with individuals and the officers I deal with on a daily basis is much different to what I would get outside the hospital in regular clothes and my fear and mild inherent distrust in law enforcement, that goes back to my own personal experiences that I've had in my own personal life as well as hearing the stories from friends and family that look like me, that have had similar experiences," he said.

"You put that all together, that will explain why I feel like I do."