Micah Xavier Johnson identified as Dallas police shooting suspect

[AntiBank]

Source: The Independent UK

A suspect involved in the Dallas police shooting has been named by US media sources as Micah Xavier Johnson.

Both the Los Angeles Times and CBS News are reporting Johnson, 25, is the shooter. He allegedly has no known criminal history or links to terror groups.

Five police officers were killed and seven injured after at least one sniper opened fire on police during a Black Lives Matter protest.

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Dallas Police Chief David Brown said that, during a lengthy standoff with police, the suspect - who he did not name - said he "wanted to kill white people, especially white officers".

Read more: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/micah-x-johnson-xavier-dallas-police-shooting-shooter-identity-suspect-arrested-no-terror-links-a7127361.html

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Micah X. Johnson: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

http://heavy.com/news/2016/07/micah-xavier-x-johnson-dallas-police-shooting-sniper-gunman-shooter-suspect-name-identified-photos-facebook-video/

After the shootings in downtown Dallas, the gunman, identified as Micah Xavier Johnson, 25, holed himself up inside the El Centro College building in the downtown area of the city, Dallas Police Chief David Brown said at a press conference.

He told police he was “not affiliated with any groups,” and he said he “did this alone,” the chief said.

Sources told the Los Angeles Times that Johnson has no ties to terror groups and no known criminal history. He has lived in the Dallas area and has family members living in Mesquite, Texas, east of Dallas, the newspaper reports, citing federal law enforcement sources.

The suspect told police he was a U.S. Army Veteran, CBS News reports.

He told police negotiators the “end is coming” and said he wanted to “kill more” officers, according to Brown.

Police said after several hours of negotiating and shooting at the officers, the suspect was killed by a bomb-wielding robot.


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[riversedge]

1. He learned to shoot well that is for sure.

[ansible]

2. Oh boy...

[christx30]

4. Pretty much, yeah.

This plays right into the most unflattering (and racist) things the right says about the left, BLM, ect.
Cops are going to have an even more heightened sense of the "us against them" that is the cause of so many deaths. "Of course I shot first! Look at what happened in Dallas!"
I don't know what Johnson was trying to accomplish, but his actions are 100% unhelpful at building peace in this country. This is going to divide people even more.

[Igel]

10. There are two ways forward.

The first is confrontational, where each group fights and kicks and screams for self-validating concessions. "Look what we managed to force the _______________ to do."

The second is introspective, where each group looks inward to see exactly how they've dehumanized and produced more fear and distrust of the other group.

I mean, I've already read a post here whining that the police killed the suspect who was armed, killed some cops already, said wanted to kill more cops, and was barricaded in. He deserved a trial to show he was guilty, and the police were racist and wrong to end the situation that way. We built that kind of hate, brick by brick.

Sadly, introspection can be derailed by this kind of thing because it requires placidity, not outrage. Introspection requires two paths of reasoning--the first is to examine distrust and why we have the distrust. The second is to examine why the other side's distrust exists and where we might have contributed to it. We usually think of the "proper" course as them trying to work out why we distrust them and our trying to work out why we're distrustful and what they can do to fix it. It's all their fault, in other words. Some concern last night over the Dallas shooting was precisely to this point: If the shooter was a black man, crap--it's hard to hold this POV and it changes the narrative. It's distracting from the real issues, but the only real issues are our issues.

[Yukari Yakumo]

23. He made it too easy for them.

Particularly for BLM since it seems like he was drunk off of their "All Police are Evil" rhetoric (see also: Toronto Gay Pride Parade incident). Any moral high ground from the Sterling shooting is not just gone, but completely obliterated and then some.

[maxsolomon]

11. Holy Shit, Professor Griff?

Now Public Enemy's going to get dragged into this.

[Skittles]

31. he has tweeted to let people know he does NOT know this deranged killer

celebrities get their pictures taken a lot

[NWCorona]

35. He came out with the quickness! And rightfully so

[Odin2005]

18. Good Lord, this guy is like a RW stereptype of Black Seperatist extremist.

Complete with believing "Afrocentrist" pseudo-history.

[morningfog]

3. So, was he the only sniper?

Was he actually acting alone?

[AntiBank]

5. I highly doubt it

[GreatGazoo]

6. Good question. What happened to "triangulating" and ambush

with multiple angles of fire? Was there "friendly fire" in the confusion?

[Fast Walker 52]

16. so now it was a lone gunman?

Where have I heard that before?

[LanternWaste]

20. I don't think any definitive statements supporting your premise have been made.

I don't think any definitive statements supporting your premise have been made. I haven't seen any organization rule out one or more shooters being involved.

[Fast Walker 52]

36. they have now

http://www.commondreams.org/news/2016/07/09/officials-say-dallas-sniper-former-us-army-soldier-acted-alone

[flamingdem]

7. They're still calling the people being held

suspects. They're not cooperating.

Still, it always seems to end up being one lone gunman in his 20s. And, the neighbors are always shocked, he was quiet, a bit of a loner, as they're saying in Mesquite where he lived with his mom.

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

8. CNN showing ariel footage of neighborhood

where he lived with his mother in Mesquite; it's a very nice neighborhood with 1 and 2 story brick homes.

I can't imagine what his mother is going through.

[rladdi]

12. So does open carry of weapons and the massive push of arming America 10 fold

really make up safe? Does American law enforcement actually agree or approve of open carry of guns? Does it really make them more safe?

[TeddyR]

19. I'm not a fan of open carry

Or hugely opposed either. That said it can cause confusion as evidenced by the tweet Dallas police sent looking for the open carry guy from the protest.

[sarisataka]

22. Yet the man open carrying

Was located. He peacefully turned his rifle over to the police. No one was shot in the process. Somehow they were able to tell the good guy, who happened to be black, from the bad guy.

I agree with you about open carry, I am not greatly opposed to it but I think it is not worth the anxiety it causes.

[christx30]

26. I had that thought too.

During the situation last night as I was walking home, my thinking was, "Texas is an open carry state. I can't imagine any way that more non-uniformed people in downtown Dallas could make anything better."
"Yee haw, officer! We're here to help!"

[onehandle]

13. Just another legal gun owner. nt

[Skittles]

30. just another gun humping nutcase

dime a dozen in Texas

[romanic]

14. A former veteran?

Make sense. He had to have had a military mind to pull off a military style killing. So tragic.

Hate, anger, prejudice, and a rifle...led to this.

ETA: Not attacking former vets btw, I know there are many who have served this country and have acclimated back into society unlike this murderous racist sob. Still it's a sad testament to how our country treats vets when they come back home, mental health and PTSD are real issues!

[FLPanhandle]

15. Racism kills

He appeared to one racist asshole

[Odin2005]

17. The Drumpfists are going to have a field day with this.

[olddad56]

21. US Army Veteran.. that says it all...

another government trained killer who came home with PTSD. Thanks to the Bush crime family for more collateral damage from your illegal invasions.

My heart goes out to his victims, their families, and the family of this man.

[7962]

24. Any evidence that he had PTSD? The only evidence so far is he was a virulent racist.

Until we know more, dont insult the people who deal with PTSD every day without harming anyone.

[FLPanhandle]

25. +1

There is no evidence presented the killer had PTSD.

Most with PTSD are not to be painted as potential shooters.

[olddad56]

28. not all people with PTSD are potential shooters, in fact very few...

but many veteran with experience in war zones that commit homicides and suicides do suffer from PTSD. We may never know if this particular veteran had PTSD and if that influenced his thought process. At this point there is no evidence that this person did or didn't have PTSD. And many, many people who have PTSD are never diagnosed, or are misdiagnosed with something else.

I don't think any normal person that participates or witnesses a war is ever the same. And each are affected to varying degrees.

I know how being in Vietnam effected me and I was never in any ground combat situation. Most of the people that I am still in contact with from my time there have been diagnosed with PTSD, and some form of cancer. My purple heart Vietnam vet brother-in-law went almost 45 years before ever having any of the common symptoms of PTSD. He happened to be watching a documentary about Vietnam a few years ago and it brought back so many repressed memories that he started having nightmares, guilt, anger, etc.

It surely didn't help this shooter that he was in the Army in Afghanistan.

Fuck war.

[olddad56]

29. I wasn't insulting anyone, you made that connection on your own.

[7962]

32. By immediately diagnosing him with PTSD, you were.

Oh, military veteran, he's got PTSD. Yeah, you WERE insulting those who do deal with it by instantly jumping to that conclusion.
Why not conclude that the guy was a racist, based on his own statements.

[Demonaut]

27. fuck that guy

[7962]

33. Well, THAT was right to the point! nt

[Sunlei]

34. One man, one of 'our own' dealt out all that death? why did police 'have to' kill him?