Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick calls Dallas protesters 'hypocrites' for running from sniper's bullets

AUSTIN, Texas — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called protesters who ran away from the hail of bullets that rained down on downtown Dallas on Thursday night "hypocrites" during an interview Friday on Fox News.

"All those protesters last night, they turned around and ran the other way expecting the men and women in blue to protect them. What hypocrites!" an audibly emotional Patrick said.

As Gov. Greg Abbott issued on open letter calling on Texans to calmly unite and come together, Patrick took a more combative tone. He blamed Black Lives Matter protesters for the violence against police and said people "with big mouths are creating situations like we saw last night."

"We have to have their back," Patrick said of police. "And I'm sick and tired of those who are protesting our police and putting their lives in danger."

[US military veteran believed to be lone gunman in Dallas police ambush]

Patrick said he saw some of the slain officers wheeled past him at a Dallas hospital Thursday night. If the violence against police doesn't stop, he said, police will stop working to protect citizens.

"I do blame people on social media with their hatred toward police," he said. "I do blame former Black Lives Matter protests. … This has to stop."

His tone was diametrically opposed to Abbott, who took a more measured approach in calling for Texans and Americans to support one another in the aftermath of the tragic Dallas ambush that left five officers slain following a protest of police-involved shootings this week in Louisiana and Minnesota.

"Every life matters," Abbott wrote. "With each innocent life lost, we lose more of our humanity. It is time for us to unite as Texans, as Americans, to say no more."