When 25-year-old former Army Reserve Micah Johnson slaughtered five Dallas police officers June 7, it looked like he was sympathetic to Black Lives Matter, and other recent officer-involved shootings in Baton Rouge, La. and St. Paul, Mn. Johnson hid behind peaceful protests, using his AR-15 military-type assault rife to gun down five Dallas police officers. Only a day before cable and network news broadcasts hyped what looked like a nationwide trend of white police officers getting trigger-happy with the black community. President Barack Obama, commenting from Warsaw, Poland, expressed frustration over more regrettable incidents targeting black citizens. When the dust settled after the massacre, Dallas police found an arsenal of guns and bomb-making explosives in Johnson’s apartment, attesting, if nothing else, to his bigger plans ahead for even worse mayhem.
Protests and marches in major U.S. cities turned violent in St. Paul and Baton Rouge where white police shot two black victims. Instead of keeping the July 5 death of Alton Sterling and July 6 death of Philando Castile in perspective, black politicians, including the head of the Congressional Black Caucus G.K. Butterfield, railed against officer-involved shooting involving black suspects. Hyping the two deaths as egregious racism, the media helped push Johnson into his ballistic episode. Once politicians and media digested the Dallas massacre, they sang a different tune, showing sympathy for policemen sacrificed by a garden-variety mass killer. More information uncovered by the Dallas police indicated that Johnson sympathized with black militant hate groups, classified as domestic terror groups. Johnson “had been practicing explosive detonations,” seeking to cause more mayhem.
Finding an arsenal of weapons and explosives should tell Black Lives Matter leader DeRay McKesson, arrested-and-released over the weekend in Baton Rouge, to stand down with continued demonstrations. Responsible leaders know that there are many reasons for officer-involved-shootings, not only racism. For too long, the media and certain politicians have played along to justify violent protests. Dallas Police Chief David Brown said Johnson has enough weapons and explosives to spread destruction over the city. Politicians and the press must fairly represent the causes of officer-involved shootings, not blame it only on racism. When you look at the Aug. 9, 2014 Michael Brown shooting, it was clear that Ferguson officer Darren Wilson used poor police tactics, showing either incompetence or a lack of fitness for duty. No one should die for stealing a pack of Cigarillos.
Instead of whipping the public into a frenzy, elected officials and the media should explain the many causes of officer-involved-shootings. Even DeRay McKesson knows the police must protect public safety against potential ballistic killers. Returning from Poland, Obama and Vice President Joe Biden are due to address an interfaith memorial service tomorrow in Dallas. Former President and Texas Gov. George W. Bush is due to attend. Letting angry talk show hosts and pundits blanket 24/7 cable and network news insisting that white law enforcement agencies around the country have declared open season on black people is outrageous. Before the Dallas shootings, there was so much hate vented on the airwaves, it’s no wonder a ballistic killer like Johnson went off his rocker. When Obama makes statements about a “broken criminal justice system,” it gives the green light to violence.
With a U.S. population of nearly 320 million and some 900,000 sworn peace officers, it’s no wonder officer-involved-shooting happen too often. Attributing the white-officer-on-black suspects to racism completely ignores the real issues involved in today’s policing, especially in high crime urban areas. It’s up to responsible elected officials and the media to give the whole story to the public or risk copycat killings from what happened in Dallas. Whether or not folks march in major U.S. cities, there’s nothing law enforcement can do to end socioeconomic decay, poverty, crime and unfortunate incidents with police. Police departments around the country need to screen better applicants and provide better training to prevent, to the greatest extent possible, unnecessary officer-involved-shootings. Blaming bad policing or unfit officers on racism inflames passions but doesn’t deal with the problem.
Leaders of black civil rights groups, like the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People [NAACP] or Congressional Black Caucus need to tell the public that the vast majority of officer-involved-shootings don’t involve racism. Groups like Black Lives Matter inflame the public, blaming every white police shooting of African Americans on racism. It’s high time for Obama to put officer-involved-shootings into perspective, letting the public know it’s seldom about racism, far more about bad policing or, worse yet, unfit policemen. “We’re convinced this suspects [Dallas shooter] . . . though that what he was doing was righteous,” said Dallas Police Chief Brown, alerting the public of mental illness of ballistic killers. Black Lives Matter’s McKesson does the black community a real disservice, blaming police shootings on racism and stirring up the public’s rage.
