Dallas cop-killer Micah Xavier Johnson was an ex-US Army Reservist who grew to hate white people who grew to hate white people for their mistreatment of African-Americans historically.
“Why do so many whites (not all) enjoy killing and participating in the death of innocent beings,” Johnson, 25, wrote five days ago on the Black Panther Party’s Facebook page above a graphic video of people participating in a whale-killing.
In his apartment where he lived with his mother in the middle-class Dallas suburb of Mesquite, police on Friday found a cache of bomb-making materials, ballistic vests, rifles and ammunition, police said.
In a photo on his Facebook page, Johnson raises a clenched fist in the defiant style of a black-power salute. Another image shows Johnson clad in military fatigues and pointing a gun with a laser.
“He was upset about Black Lives Matter, the recent police shootings, he was upset at white people. He wanted to kill white people, especially police officers,” Dallas Police Chief David Brown said.
Johnson told cops during several hours of negotiations that he had acted alone and was not affiliated with any group, though he said he was acting in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
But activists at Thursday night’s Black Lives Matter march said Johnson was not part of their protest, The Daily Beast Web site reported.
His military career consisted of a stint as a carpentry and masonry specialist with the Army Reserve from March 2009 to April 2015.
“Why do so many whites (not all) enjoy killing and participating in the death of innocent beings.”
- Micah Johnson in a Facebook post
He earned several service medals when he was deployed to Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014, Reuters reported.
But his time there ended abruptly when a female soldier filed a sexual-harassment complaint against him, requesting a protective order against him and asking that he undergo mental-health counseling, according to Military.com.
Johnson worked for a company, Touch of Kindness, which assists mentally challenged kids and adults, NBC News reported.
In his post on the Black Panther Facebook page, he railed against how whites have treated blacks historically — referring also to his own ancestors.
“Then they all stand around and smile while their picture is taken with a hung, burned and brutalized black person,” he wrote. “They even go to our homeland and shoot our endangered wildlife for sport.”
A day before the attack, Johnson’s sister also lashed out against cops on social media in the aftermath of this week’s killings of black men.
“White ppl have and will continue to kill us off. The only difference is they serve the system hiding behind that blue suit and get off easy murdering civilians,” Nicole Johnson wrote. “Everything coming into the light and i for one think these cops need to get a taste of the life we now fear.”
Her brother also “liked” Facebook pages connected to Nation of Islam founder Elijah Muhammad, the New Black Panther Party, the African American Defense League and the Black Riders Liberation Party.
Johnson attended the Academy of Combative Warrior Arts in Richardson and Fort Worth, Texas, its owner, Justin Everman, told The Daily Beast.
“We train for the streets, and due to this, we expect to engage with multiple attackers so it makes no sense to be on the ground any longer than necessary,” the academy says on its site.
Many of the academy’s members are cops, Everman said.
“We have completely no affiliation with him whatsoever,” he told the site. “It’s disgusting, what he did.”
It was not clear if Johnson’s military training helped him in the attack.
Army Lt. Col. Michael Waltz, a former Special Forces officer and White House aide, said a video of the shooter showed that Johnson was “not only trained, but well trained.”
“The way he raises and lowers the rifle to his shoulder, apparently firing two rounds at a time, with discipline in his movements and use of cover, is what makes it seem as though he has military training,” Waltz told Reuters.
