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Two things we learned this week: One, a mass shooting that does not involve the words “Allahu Akbar” is somehow not considered terrorism, even if the murders are done in the pursuit of political aims.
And two, United States law enforcement officers get really creative when the crazy dude at the other end of the gun is black. And his target is white policemen.
“He wants to kill who? Quick, call the Terminator!”
That’s right. The Dallas Police Department used a bomb-disposal robot as a suicide bomber to kill Micah Johnson, the suspect in the murder of five policemen, in what might have been the Terminator’s first off-screen, peace-time killing, outside of the English language.
And, suddenly, the world moved a step closer to the man versus machines apocalypse of sci-fi films.
Is Prime Minister Keithos still groaning about his lazy special branch police guards? Maybe he can return a speed gun or two for one of these robots that really know about going beyond the call of duty.
“As far as I know, it appears to be the first intentional use of a lethally armed robot by the police in the United States,” said Elizabeth Joh, law professor at the University of California at Davis.
Johnson’s kill order, apparently, was given by Dallas police chief David Brown.
“We saw no other option but to use our bomb robot and place a device on its extension for it to detonate where the suspect was,” Brown told reporters.
Well, the police had no option if you ruled out extended negotiations—they had cornered Johnson for just a few hours—or maybe trying to starve Johnson out. But then an Afro-American nutter who was armed to the teeth, had no hostages and was believed to have already murdered several policemen, was never going to elicit much patience.
There sure won’t be any feel good movies about this Afro-American sniper. Almost prophetically, Brown is also Afro-American.
If Johnson was motivated by the frustration that led to popular protest songs like NWA’s “Fuck tha police” and Ice-T’s “Cop killer”, his demise quicker reminded Mr Live Wire of a sketch by US comedian Chris Rock.
“Everything white people don’t like about black people, black people really don’t like about black people… It’s like a civil war going on with blacks. And there’s two sides: there’s black people and there’s ni**as. And ni**as have got to go.”
Of course, in Johnson’s defense, which is easier to mount from the safety of an armchair in Trinidad, he is a military veteran, who was literally trained to kill by the United States government.
He was taught to annihilate targets identified by his commanding officer. Problem was he decided to wage his own war and reasoned that white men in police uniform were the enemy.
To paraphrase Rock again, Johnson didn’t go crazy. Rambo just went Rambo. And, in war, you are either a hero or a fiend depending on who you are shooting at.
If you don’t believe me, how come nobody has asked acting Police Commissioner Stephen Williams for an update on the unsolved murder of escaped convict Hassan Atwell?
Atwell, anonymous police sources claimed, was murdered by the “Rasta City Gang” in late July 2015. And then National Security Minister Carl Alfonso’s response at the time was: “I am glad they got him.”
You reap, says the good book, what you sow.
And, on the topic of glamourising violence against police, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character murdered over a dozen officers in the Terminator without the movie, star actor or director James Cameron facing boycotts or being vilified by the US press or politicians.
But just wait for the next rapper who delivers a verse about doing anything but hugging policemen!
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“For 2016, the trend seems similar. As of July 7, US police have shot dead 509 people this year, of whom 123 were black.” The difference here is 386, can anyone say what ethnic groups make up this figure?
Remember though that blacks are just about 10 percent of the population I think. So it is grossly disproportionate. But good point all the same.
“His lifelong ambition was to be a police officer,” Kelly says. “He has a great reputation in the community. He stopped regularly to have personal interactions and was generous with his time. He’s anxious to return as soon as that’s approved. We would expect that to happen in the reasonably foreseeable future.”
http://ti.me/29XZmOb
Lasana one question, how much training does a PFC specialist carpentry/ masonary have? Army reserve at that. More than likely this dude did no more than build bases and saw no active combat. Even if he did he would not have the requisite training to pull this job alone.
Even an army chef has to go through the same training as the killers. But it does offer good context if he never saw action himself.
And, yes, that does raise questions about his ability to pull of such a job by himself. Not impossible though.
Basic training at best. I have friends who had the same training and served in the same area.
http://qz.com/726245/more-black-people-were-killed-by-us-police-in-2015-than-were-lynched-in-the-worst-year-of-jim-crow/
Vernal, Keith Look Loy found this jaw dropping statistic! http://qz.com/726245/more-black-people-were-killed-by-us-police-in-2015-than-were-lynched-in-the-worst-year-of-jim-crow/
Not surprised
I’ve got to be surprised there Vernal. You mean to tell me that so many laws have passed since then, we have done away with segregation, had a black US president… And yet?!
And yet…..
Lynching black people is part of American culture, culture doesn’t just change with laws.
These police killings are just an evolution on the practice, you get out of place with the wrong police officer and you could get it.
Here is an example of an old school butcher versus new school civilised butchers. Lol
It looked like the “whites” got the “blacks” so often that the “black” decided to get the “whites” only to be Robot killed by the “black”. OMG
What strikes me most are the issues raised in this incident and those leading up to it that advocates and lobbyists have been trying unsuccessfully to get the US government to address for a very long time – namely the disproportionate killing by police of African Americans, tighter gun ownership restrictions and better mental health treatment for U.S. war veterans.
Both victims of police killings this week were executed for carrying sidearms in jurisdictions where it is legal to do so, the Dallas mass shooter was an army war veteran who is reported by his loved ones to have returned changed after his deployment and he committed his crime using an automatic assault rifle, the preferred weapon of nearly all American mass shooters.
The Dallas police chief’s decision to use an IED/ROV rather than SWAT to take out a deranged veteran of America’s overseas conflicts is not just strange and perhaps innovative, it’s also ironic and his reasons for doing so will forever be the stuff of conjecture.
It definitely has to be acknowledged that Micah isn’t a crazy racist. Or not just that anyway. His skills are military issue. So he was armed by the US Gov’t in several ways.
Now everybody is in a straitjacket.
If anyone says the wrong thing, how volatile can things become Vernal?
From this distance, it looks like a powder keg.
It’s always been a powder keg, but when you live with a powder keg you become creative when it comes to keeping sparks from igniting it instead of just getting rid of the damned keg altogether.
First of all, most legal gun owners are white and they are mainly the ones who support that ridiculous second ammendment. Why?
Because most white Americans in their heart of hearts believe whites should dominate this country and believe that the country’s interest should always be aligned with those of white people, but the nation’s demographics are changing so rapidly that it can be visibly seen within a lifetime and it frightens many white people who now feel they must arm themselves against the growing black and brown menace. As far as many whites are clearly concerned that second ammendment isn’t meant for black folks.
The other thing are these constant Middle Eastern conflicts which ironically began when western nations (much as they did police killings of African American) ignored the brutal oppression suffered by many Middle Eastern peoples, then when those oppressed peoples turn to terror (as Micah did) western countries send their armies to quell them, armies largly made up of oppressed people who saw the military as their only option in life. Then when these veterans return there are inadequate mental health treatment awaiting them.
This week has been dripping with ironies!
https://mic.com/articles/148152/donald-trump-responds-to-dallas-police-shooting-with-prayers-and-condolences#.WwFzzf5Xh
If the shooter had been white they probably might have said he had PTSD. I look at our very own Beyond The Tape series , you ever see Insp Alexander going to interview any police at the station when they are held ? Or anybody of influence? He looks for the illiterate African or indian to pappyshow .
I thought Ian Alleyne had cornered that market. Lol
http://usuncut.com/black-lives-matter/law-professor-black-lives-matter-shirt/
I reaad this yesterday. It is BRILLIANT! (No wonder why he is a Law Professor!) One critical point …”Premise: There is an invisible “Only” in front of ‘Black Lives Matter’…”
About the Dallas Police Chief:
http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-dallas-chief-profile-20160708-snap-story.html
Just a frightening mess all around. It has been heartbreaking reading some of the posts in my newsfeed over the last couple days…
What has the mood been like? What is the “man on the promenade” saying?
One friend wrote this. He was president of the black student union at my college:
“I haven’t cried this much in God knows how long. I’m not just shedding tears for the men or women officers in Dallas who lost their lives. But I am. I’m not just shedding tears for the black lives that still matter across this country, taken far too soon. But I am. But I’m also crying because the conversation just ended.
I’m crying because I fear that the ability to discuss the issue of crime, policing, race, the prison industrial complex, war or drugs, pick an issue — no one will talk any more. Mass murder. Mass attempted murder. Intent apparently perfectly clear. Against police. Who will listen now? No one. If I was a cop or in a cop family you couldn’t say shit to me. If I was grieving the loss of my law abiding or instruction following son or daughter you couldn’t say shit to me. There is nothing left to say. I’m just going to cry tears for the country that has been taken from us all. I got nothing else tonight.”
“I’m just being honest. Perhaps I should shed more tears for the families who are being tortured and torn apart right now. Perhaps I should I get a grip – I’m sure there is a smart as lawyer like me in Palestine, or Israel, or Pakistan, or Afghanistan, or Somalia or another African or South American country whose horrors and tragedies – they’re sitting in a War torn country (with our finger prints on the ruins) – saying welcome to our world. Welcome to our reality.”
That seems like a gross overreaction to me. But then I’m far from ground zero.
America is a bloody country that has so many gun crimes. Honestly, my first thought is I’m surprised it took so long.
Violence cannot be contained. It spreads like a virus. I feel as though it was bound to happen.
I’m glad that the killer was acting independently of any particular group and cannot claim to be influenced by any law abiding Afro-American.
I am sorry for the innocent lives lost. But America is adamant that it maintains this violent lifestyle. So what else will the repercussions be?
Of course they would love to ban Afro-Americans from owning guns. This would be my assumption based on how much it seems to irk and unnerve policemen when “blacks” have licensed firearms.
But they can’t do that. That time is passed.
So let’s see what they come up with now.
Policemen are unnerved even when black men don’t have a gun. It’s over 550 police killings.
America is a very divided country. On a lot of issues. A lot of ppl reject gun ownership. And certainly ownership of assault rifles.
Not enough reject them clearly. Sad.
As for his reaction, I really can’t judge. I’ve only been pulled over by police officers in the states once, and I was with a white guy.
But they live this reality every single day. Everybody has their limit and this is exhausting. And infuriating when others (in positions of power) are telling you there is no problem. Or ppl want to diminish your reality by saying all lives matter…
Fully agree.
Nice write btw. Impressive how you handle these serious situations. Not as good as the reparations piece I would say, but still a nice write. ?
Thanks 🙂
This was another friend the night of the Dallas shooting but before it hit the news:
“The quiet solidarity in the eyes of each Black Man I see today is a reminder. The silent rage of a tortured people slowly stirs amongst us.”
America has a long and difficult road towards genuine reconciliation and peace and trust and I really don’t know who is to take the first step. Night.
Those two police killings were really moving. Soul wrenching.
Maybe even enough to make a trained killer like Micah Johnson become dangerously paranoid. I don’t know.
Will there be copycat murders now?
If US police use the tactics they do against terrorists at home, it will be a disaster. Because they might provoke more “martyrs.”
I wonder why the Dallas police, or anyone, feel shock? History has shown us that no matter the cause of an injustice, there will be rebellion that brings pain and anguish in the short term, but will force change and an excising of what is rotten.
Rodney King may have been the start, but Dallas is not the end…
That American system has held firm for so long. It is hard to see change. Easy to see rebellion. But what will be offered as the counter measure? That’s what I want to see. But I expect a push-back now rather than progress. At least initially.