I doubt it. There are always going to be stupid people and trolls out there. The 'net makes it easier to find them, but don’t mistake a hashtag for a serious groundswell of support.
I’m reminded that quite a few years back, a guy drove a panel truck up to the base of the Washington Monument in DC, claimed it was full of explosives and threatened to blow it up. Later in the day he decided to move his truck … somewhere. We’ll never know where because the police shot him. I don’t know how many times he was hit, but the Post story specified that he took 5 bullets in the head. The police release a statement claiming they were not attempting to kill him, but simply disable his vehicle.
Really, I got no problem with the police killing a guy under those circumstances, but the big lie destroys their credibility anyway, whatever their justification.
I’m sure they will come up with an explanation that will sound just as rational and provide a justification for shooting up the two women. “We weren’t even trying to hit them!”, or some other such bullshit.
“…or the pavement or the trees or the doorways and walls and windows of houses nearby or the other cars that we shot up or…”
The LA Times story I read says that at least seven (7) officers opened fire on the truck. And they claim that 30-40 rounds were fired. I think it will turn out to be more than that. I wonder what happens if evidence shows that anyone reloaded and continued firing?
The best explanation of course, is, “If we were really trying to kill them, they’d be dead!”
Or if there was no camera. The LAPD didn’t have them in every car in December.
If he’s waging asymmetric warfare, so were Jared Laughner and Adam Lanza.
time to make a Donner kebab
Living out here for 14 years, I can honestly say the LAPD is racist and unstable. But Dorner is VERY unstable. Reading his manifesto, which is quite articulate, makes him scarier. This guy is trained to kill and since he hasn’t been caught yet and the trail has gone cold, I certainly hope I don’t get pulled over. Being near a cop might be more dangerous than safe.
They’re chasing bogus leads, bullshit tips all over the place. Do they have a plan? And with shooting at two hispanic women in a pickup, mistaking them for a large black dude, do they even have a picture??
Facile argument but a valid one nonetheless.
Lanza can be easily dismissed. Laughner I don’t know much about, besides being a schizofrenic and generally unstable individual. Breivik would make for a more interesting case. Or as interesting as nutcase mass murderers can be anyway.
I see a difference. It could be that Dorner seems to have a legitimate grievance and clear strategic goals. Or he’s more cuddly. It’s one or the other.
How did murdering Michelle Quan and Kieth Lawrence accomplish those goals? They were not cops, they were a coach and security guard at a California college.
Targeting Michelle Quan is a very cold blooded way of targeting the LAPD. I have no idea why killing the fiancée was “necessary”. Maybe he is off his rocker after all.
Well I assume if you’re waging warfare, asymmetrical or not, your ultimate goal is to weaken your enemy and get them to accede to your desires. How does killing someone’s daughter accomplish this? If anything it would just make the LAPD more dangerous and aggressive.
Sorry, man, but I think you are over thinking this. I’ve got no doubt the LAPD has issues with brutality, racism, and corruption, as well as a blue wall of silence. But this guy isn’t a crusader for citizen’s rights. He’s an unstable nut killing people in response to his own inner crisis. All I can think about when I hear people praising this guy and talking about him like he was some people’s warrior is what the Quan and Lawrence families are going through. Frankly his defenders enrage me more than Dorner himself, who is tormented by his own demons, and is not long for this world. He’s just a phenomenon of nature and culture,the inevitable occasional discharge of a society awash in weapons, machismo, and mental stress. His defenders and explainers have no such excuse.
ETA: Pedro, I’m not suggesting you are defending his actions. But some people are.
Perhaps they were sitting close together.
The case file has beenleaked. Seems he appealed the decision twice so at least he tried (although vainly) to fight his dismissal within the system. Unfortunately, Chris Dorner is the hero LA deserves, but not the one it needs right now. So we’ll hunt him, because he can take it. Because he’s not the hero. He’s a silent guardian, watchful protector against corruption, he’s our Dark Knight.
HA! Or mistakenly conjoined??
He’s killed innocent people.
Erm… the Dark Knight doesn’t use guns, or kill cops. (sure he punches them if needed)
It’s terrible a thing, unfortunate and unprecedented.
If he can get LAPD to start shooting up every blue and gray pickup truck in LA county, that’s a pretty good start. Perhaps he’s secretly in the pay of red and yellow paint manufacturers!
Of course he is a walking bullet magnet. It’ll be a miracle if he doesn’t get two in the back of the head for resisting arrest and any witnesses to this fact will be at risk too. He deserves his punishment. What he dished out in no way compares to the injustice done to him.
The military language gets strained somewhere along the way but I think his goals are:
- Exposure
- Retaliation
- Deterrence
- Reform
Notice I didn’t include survival in there. Killing a police officer’s daughter covers 1-3.
Maybe while rightfully convicting him for his crimes we should also reflect on what brought on that inner crisis. Reading his manifesto I believe at some point Dorner represented what the LAPD should stand for.