Monthly Archives: February 2013

Questions The News Media Never Asked About The Dorner Case

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questions the news media never asked headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

There are questions the news media never asked regarding the Christopher Dorner Case. This is troubling because we live under a Democratically elected, Constitutional Republic. Many people are convinced that while our form of government may not be the best there is, it is far and away better than any of the other ones out there.

In order for our system of Democracy to function, we require a fully informed voting public. Thus, our News Media – “The Fourth Estate” – is crucial to the functioning of our free society. We depend on our News organizations to ask the questions that we, the public cannot. We also depend on them to get answers to those questions. Sadly, to date, there are questions the news media never asked regarding the Christopher Dorner case. I intend to ask a few.

Questions The News Media Never Asked

  • Why were there no surveillance videos of Christopher Dorner related to his commission of a crime?
questions_the_news_media_never_asked_Surveillance_cameras

The Camera Never Blinks

The reality is, we live in a surveillance society. You cannot go to the corner store or the shopping mall without being recorded by several surveillance cameras. You certainly cannot enter a parking garage without appearing on their “security cameras.” Could someone who had cased the garage avoid the cameras? Possibly. However, his victims would not have been avoiding those cameras. Chances are, the car in which Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence were murdered in, was in clear view of a camera. Thus the question is why no video of the crime?

The same question applies to the “ambush” in which two officers were shot, one being killed. There are a limited number of routes to exit the area in which this ambush occurred. You’ve got a clearly defined window of time. You’ve got a clearly defined location. With all the different surveillance cameras – many controlled by the State of California – where are the video clips showing the suspected vehicle leaving the area?

We’ve seen surveillance video of Christopher Dorner purchasing SCUBA gear. We’ve seen a clip from a surveillance camera of him entering a motel or some other establishment. Thus, we know that LAPD did collect surveillance videos in their investigation. However, where are these crucial video clips that would prove Christopher Dorner was at least in the area?

  • Cellphone tracking data, where is it?

Of course some of you might suggest that surely Christopher Dorner dispensed with his cellphone during his crime spree and his subsequent run from Law Enforcement. Living in our modern world, we all leave electronic “bread crumbs” wherever we go. Our cellphones are communicating with cell towers. The GPS in our cars and in our phones are pinpointing our exact locations. As an LAPD officer, Christopher Dorner would have known this.

questions_the_news_media_never_asked_stop_tweetingHowever, the San Bernardino Sheriff felt it necessary to request that the media covering the final stand off, stop tweeting for “officer safety.” This indicates that they believed that Christopher Dorner had a “smart phone” with which he could monitor the “Twitter-verse” for tactical updates. Was this merely a precaution? Or did they have reason to suspect he had a cellphone with Internet access? If he did have a cellphone, there should be tracking data that would place Chris Dorner in the areas where his alleged crimes were committed. Although they claimed that the trail had gone cold, they continued to search in the “Big Bear” area and never left. Could it be, they had cellphone tracking data putting him in that area?

  • Where is Christopher Dorner’s computer?

We are told that he wrote an 11,000 word manifesto and posted it to his Facebook account. Surely he had a computer. What all might be on his hard drive? Who was he communicating with? What else had he written? Notes? Plans? Perhaps personal rants against the LAPD? Following the shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School, we saw pictures of the destroyed and battered hard drive from Adam Lanza’s computer. Where’s Christopher Dorner’s computer?

  • Where are the pictures of Christopher Dorner’s stash of weapons?
questions_the_news_media_never_asked_richard_jewell

Richard Jewell

Law Enforcement never misses an opportunity to put on public display the weapons they recover from a dangerous suspect.  Remember Richard Jewell? He actually saved lives when the Olympics were in Atlanta. He called in a suspicious backpack in a park and got people away from it. It was in fact a bomb and blew up. The federal government suspected his involvement and made a great show of executing a search warrant on his apartment and displaying paramilitary books he owned.

questions_the_news_media_never_asked_james_holmes_evidence_collection

FBI at the apartment of James Holmes, the Aurora shooter.

Richard Jewell was eventually exonerated, but not before his name was drug through the mud. He eventually was given a medal and praised for having saved numerous lives. Following the mass shooting in Aurora Colorado, the news media covered the execution of a search warrant on the home of James Holmes. We saw FBI evidence technicians taking truck loads of evidence out of his home.

questions_the_news_media_never_asked_BranchDavidianCompoundFire

Branch Davidian Church complex burned to the ground by the Government.

Even following the Branch Davidian Massacre in Waco, TX, although the church commune was burned to the ground, the ATF managed to bring pristine, never even touched by smoke, assault rifles out, laying them on a table for the news media to photograph. Where are Christopher Dorner’s weapons? If his driver’s license could survive the fire, surely some of his weapons did.

Based on his “manifesto” you would expect to see quite a few. As yet, I haven’t seen such a display. I know they searched a storage facility he supposedly owned, they searched his mother and sister’s homes. If they’d found anything that would paint him in a negative light, I’m sure we would have been treated to a press conference. Perhaps I just missed it. Did you see it?

Resurrecting The Fourth Estate

When there are questions the news media seems to be avoiding, it becomes incumbent upon us to ask them. We need to ask them over and over and over again until we receive satisfactory answers. If you agree, please contact the major news outlets and ask them why they haven’t asked these questions.

What the government, be it State, Local or Federal gets away with once, it will do it over and over and over again. As I’ve said in my previous articles on the subject of Christopher Dorner, he may well have done everything they’ve accused him of and more. However, what if he was not guilty of the crimes he was publicly accused of?

We certainly saw no signs of either extensive planning or an exceptional use of weapons and tactics. Based on the LAPD shooting up vehicles without checking to make certain the occupants were Christopher Dorner and certainly no efforts made to effectuate an arrest or allow surrender, what we had was a government sponsored “Hit” with multiple assassins. This is what a “shoot on sight” order amounts to. Also curious was the eagerness of common patrol officers to engage what the media told us was a highly trained, extremely dangerous felon. One would think that prior to engaging such a suspect, they would wait for backup. Particularly if you had reason to suspect he had fully automatic assault weapons and possibly a .50 caliber rifle. Those things will punch holes through Armored Personnel Carriers. There are a lot of questions the news media never asked. We certainly should be asking them.

A Tale Of Two Dorners

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A Tale Of Two Dorners Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

There are a number of things I find profoundly disturbing regarding the Christopher Dorner case. They simply do not add up. On the one hand, in the lead up to Chris Dorner’s death by a self-inflicted gunshot and subsequent cremation, which strangely enough, seems to follow a pattern repeated time and again, two mutually exclusive pictures of Christopher Dorner have emerged.

A Tale Of Two Dorners

William J. Bratton

Ex-LAPD Chief William J. Bratton

On the one hand, we have a man whom passed the psych evaluations of both the United States Military and the LAPD. According to William J. Bratton, previous chief of the LAPD, the LAPD psych evaluation is one of the most stringent in the nation. Thus, to characterize Christopher Dorner as psychologically impaired seems a bit suspicious.

If he “snapped,” when did he snap? What was the “straw that broke the camel’s back” so to speak? Since we never got to actually hear from Christopher Dorner – his supposed “manifesto” notwithstanding – we have been forced to rely upon the characterizations by the LAPD, their spokespeople and the “talking head” shills, touting their credentials as having been FBI profilers. The stories they’ve told describe a large, dangerous, motivated man, who had been trained by the US military in survival, marksmanship, demolitions and a host of other rather nasty anti-social skills. On top of this training, he also received the best training the LAPD had to offer as well. This supposedly gave him knowledge above and beyond any ordinary fugitive. He knew LAPD tactics and procedures.

Clint Van Zandt

Talking Head Shill, Clint Van Zandt

To make things worse, to believe these media accounts, Chris Dorner had been planning this since 2008. Take a man with these skills, resources, the time to plan and prepare, you have an extremely dangerous foe indeed. This wasn’t a wasp stinging a buffalo, this was a Ninja striking from the shadows at night causing all of us to remember why we fear the dark. LAPD with the help of the United States military had created a “Frankenstein Monster” who was now stalking them. One might imagine that every Law Enforcement Officer in the area, was hearing the theme music from “Jaws” every time they stepped out of their door. The shark was out there. They were like swimmers praying they would make it back to the boat with all their limbs intact.

If one was attempting to orchestrate the media coverage to strike fear into the hearts of anyone in the area wearing a Law Enforcement uniform, they couldn’t have done it any better. However, the reality of the events as they unfolded, not only did not fit the trailer for the movie, they didn’t even follow the script.

The Manifesto

First of all, anyone trained in tactics and certainly anyone who knows the methods of the LAPD, would know better than to post on Facebook, a “be advised, I’m coming to kill you” heads up, complete with a list of targets. The first problem is, once people start dying it identifies you as the number 1 suspect. The 2nd problem is, all your targets become harder to hit. They go into lock down. They get a security detail, much like exactly what happened.

If 3 or 4 officers get shot, for no apparent reason, the panic you would cause would be multiplied because they would have no context to place the murders in, no suspect and no apparent motive for the crimes. If you’re going to wait from 2008 until now – 5 years – you’re not impulsive. You’re not even likely to be considered a suspect. LAPD would have been like a dog chasing it’s tail.

Christopher DornerThis brings us to the next problem. Christopher Dorner was accused of going to war with LAPD. Wars require planning, logistics, staging areas, tactics and strategy. Christopher Dorner would have learned this and practiced this during his time in the military. Yet, we saw no evidence of any of this as events unfolded. Give me 5 years to plan a campaign, and I’m going to have several “safe houses,” some hideouts, various caches of arms, ammunition and supplies, several vehicles, and an escape route all planned out. I am not going to be running, gunning and shooting it out with Law Enforcement. No high speed chases. No having to car jack civilians, no breaking into homes. I would be staying in one of my safe houses watching the news reports. Yet we are asked to believe that Christopher Dorner, with all his LAPD and military training, posted a manifesto with a list of targets, went on a shooting rampage, began with the lowest hanging fruit, the daughter of the attorney that defended him and then went on the run with no apparent backup plan? Does any of this seem suspicious to you?

Curiouser and Curiouser

One of the oft repeated explanations by Law Enforcement to explain the extreme difference in response when one of their own is shot as opposed to an ordinary citizen is, a person who will shoot a Cop poses and extreme threat to society. When a police officer is shot, they will throw every resource at their disposal into catching – and usually killing – the person accused of having done the shooting. When an ordinary citizen is the victim of a violent crime, their response is much more pedestrian.

Torrance Pic

The truck was shot up AFTER it had passed. Clearly not a threat.

The LAPD and its media shills, spared no expense in painting Christopher Dorner as a crazed madman. They told us ahead of time that he probably would not surrender and that he would probably go out in a “BLAZE of glory.” Their reasons for these predictions became clear early on if you were paying attention. They shot up two civilian vehicles shooting two women delivering papers and the truck of another man who happened to be White. Witnesses say that at no time did the Police give the people in these vehicles the opportunity to surrender. No attempt was made to arrest the occupants of these suspected vehicles. Let alone any efforts to determine whether or not Christopher Dorner was actually in the vehicles.

If you were Christopher Dorner and you were aware of these incidents, what would your response be upon being approached by Cops? The message was clear. Arrest, surrender is not an option! Under these circumstances, what would you do?

Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence

Monica Quan and Keith Lawrence

Yes, Christopher Dorner was depicted as a crazed madman, but was he? Remember, there were no witnesses and no physical evidence of Christopher Dorner having shot anyone. All we have is the alleged “manifesto” he is supposed to have posted. If we are to believe that he murdered the daughter of the attorney who defended him, as well as her fiancé who was unrelated and not involved, then why did he not murder the two women he held hostage? Tying someone up is much more problematic than simply shooting them. In point of fact, they managed to release themselves and call the police.

Same question with the fellow he “car jacked.” Leaving witnesses behind who could reveal your demeanour, details of any conversations, what equipment you had with you and of course, describe the vehicle you took, would not be a sound strategy. Wouldn’t a “crazed madman,” a person on a rampage simply shoot these people?

Dorner Cabin

They’re awfully close to that cabin aren’t they?

Then of course there is the conclusion. Christopher Dorner holed up in a mountain cabin. Helicopters circling. A gun battle raging ending up with the cabin being destroyed by fire. The official police version was that Christopher Dorner took his own life in the end and they stress that they did not intentionally set the fire. Unfortunately, there is a YouTube video where you can hear the police plainly state, “get the gas and burn it down.”

Why burn it down? Fire does an exceptional job of destroying evidence. If he had any documents on him, if he had a USB thumb drive with evidence, fire would have destroyed them. Of course, saying that he committed suicide also absolves the police in the minds of the public for his murder. Isn’t it funny that all these types of cases seem to end with the person saving the police the trouble of shooting them?

Burned Out Cabin

But the driver’s license survived… Yeah right!

Then there’s the curious nature of the fire. We watched that fire burn that cabin all the way to the ground. The fire burned so hot the police couldn’t go in and search the rubble until the next day after the fire department hosed it down. The body was so charred that it could not be positively identified… however, they did find his wallet with his driver’s license which miracle of miracles did not burn up in the fire. Does this seem suspicious to you?

When you add it all up, according to the police accounts, Christopher Dorner could not steal a boat even though he was in the Navy. He drops his LAPD badge on the dock and next turns up almost 200 miles away. His truck breaks an axle and he sets it on fire which is guaranteed to draw attention to it. Takes two women hostage and holds up for a few days before one of them escapes and calls the police. He then steals their vehicle, dumps that and car jacks another vehicle, gets into a gun fight with a couple of fish and game officers and then flees into the woods and holds up in a vacant cabin where he ends it all in flames. It is possible all these things happened just as reported. The problem is, none of this fits the original description of the highly competent trained killer depicted by the media.

How About An Alternative Possibility?

Man Hunt Map

Man Hunt Map

Everything hinges on this “manifesto” supposedly published by Christopher Dorner. But what if he had nothing to do with it? I’m sure the first question that may occur to you, if you’ve taken the time to read it might be, how could he not have published it since it contains so much personal information? Information about his childhood. School experiences. Time in the military etc? Where would anyone get that information? Simple. Remember his psychological evaluation performed by the LAPD? The personal information contained within the “manifesto” could well have been covered, disclosed and in his files.

Suppose tomorrow you went to log into your Facebook page and discovered something on your wall, presumably from you, that you had not posted. Suppose it contained threats and a “hit list?” What would you do? We know that Christopher Dorner was a “whistle-blower.” He had broken the “Code of Silence” and been fired for doing so. Would he have sat quietly for 5 years? Or perhaps he would have continued to collect information. What if he had come across some extremely damaging information on some people in power in the LAPD hierarchy?

What would someone in power do? They would have to discredit him and silence him. Notice that the only person remotely attached to his hit list that was murdered, was the daughter of an attorney who made a career of defending Cops against the LAPD. Not a high ranking LAPD officer. The other Cops that were “ambushed” were low ranking patrol officers. Again, not high value targets on his “hit list.” It seems peculiar to me that one would put a paramilitary organization – that’s what the LAPD is – on notice and then for your opening bid, not go for a high value target, but pick off some relative peons on the force and the daughter of an attorney whom the LAPD probably doesn’t care for to begin with.

This is a tale of two Dorners that simply doesn’t fit. When things do not fit, we should pay attention and bring to bear the most critical examination possible. We owe it to ourselves to not only ask hard questions but demand the answers to those questions. If Christopher Dorner was the threat he was built up to be, why then did the officers who encountered him open fire immediately rather than call for backup? It’s a job not an adventure. The objective is to go home to your family at the end of your shift. The only thing you would have to do is maintain visual contact at a safe distance until reinforcements arrived. Initiating a gun battle was unnecessary and cost one officer his life. I am convinced there is much more to this story than we have as yet been told.

How Many More Like Him Are Out There?

If he is crazy, clearly psych screenings are a waste of time…

The Way Forward – SOTU 2013

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The Way Forward SOTU 2013 HEADERby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Last night President Obama delivered the annual State of the Union Address. The reality is this has become mostly theater however, there was some substance in his address. If we were to be technical, once he said, “the state of our Union is strong,” he could have ended his speech, dropped the mic and walked off the stage. Of course, that’s not how we roll. So, allow me to hit some of the highlights.

The Way Forward – SOTU 2013

SOTU - 2013

SOTU – 2013

President Obama did a masterful job of laying out where we’d been and how far we’ve come. Yes, we’ve got a long way to go. However, we can see daylight in the distance. After a decade of war, we will be leaving Afghanistan within the next year. We’ve created 6 million jobs, we’re using less foreign oil than at any other time in the past 20 years, Corporate profits are at an all time high, we’ve cut our deficit by 2.5 trillion dollars, we’re producing more domestic oil than we have in the past 15 years and nearly half of all new energy production has come from wind power.

The future has the potential to be bright indeed. Tempering this outlook for peace, love and happiness, was acknowledgement of an extremely truculent Republican Party who to date has shown little inclination to do anything other than obstruct the President’s agenda while shooting themselves in the foot… repeatedly!

The Way Forward

VAWA

How can any sane person oppose the VAWA?

President Obama laid out a host of programs that the Republicans have opposed. Many of them are what could be considered, “no brainers!” VAWA – The Violence Against Women Act – there shouldn’t even be a discussion on passing this. Politically, women are over half of the electorate. They’ve voted for and passed it in the past, why not now? The “Fix It First” program, we can see our infrastructure crumbling all around us. Whom in their right mind wouldn’t want our bridges and roads repaired? How many bridge collapses do we have to have before the Republicans come to their senses?

Fix It First

If we don’t fix our infrastructure, we will become a 3rd world nation.

If you were sitting in your home with a leaking roof, and it was pouring down rain, you wouldn’t sit there for long trying to catch the water in buckets. You’d take the next opportunity – go into debt if you had to – to secure and fix your house. The United States is where we live. It is our home and we need to fix it.

Immigration Reform

Anti-Immigration Republican

Take America Back??? From whom?

Immigration reform. Again another no brainer. The fact is, we’re down to almost zero illegal immigration across our southern border. The problem is, we’ve got people who were brought here as children through no fault of their own. They don’t have any ties or connections with Mexico to speak of. Some don’t even speak Spanish. All they’ve known is the United States and some did not even know they were here illegally until they went to apply for a job after college. What do we do about them? We’ve educated them. They’ve been paying taxes and working along side us to build a better country. Send them home? This is the only home they’ve ever known. Some have even served and some have died in our military. Fixing immigration is long overdue.

Again, do the Republicans think they can survive alienating the growing Hispanic population? Their anti-immigration posture is lunacy writ large. Mitch McConnell said, “President Obama is out to destroy the Republican Party.” If that were his intent, he’d have to do nothing but simply get out of their way. They’re doing a fine job of destroying themselves.

Minimum Wage

Word CloudRaising the minimum wage to $9 an hour? Again another no brainer! If you think tax cuts will stimulate this economy, raising the minimum wage will do it better and quicker. Here’s a dirty little secret. When you give rich people money, they save it. When you give poor people money, they spend it. Who do they spend it with? They spend it at all the businesses ironically owned by rich people. It is just common sense that anyone who works a full 40 hour week, shouldn’t be living below the poverty level. If you cannot make enough to live by working, what exactly is the point of having a job? Think of the crime, raising the minimum wage would cut down on. People will do whatever it takes to live… up to and including robbing you.

Gun Violence

Paul Revere

Paul Revere’s Ride

This has been both the foil and the bane of the Democratic Party. My personal opinion is that they should treat it like the 3rd rail and leave it alone. Here’s why, our culture is based on gun ownership. Going all the way back to the Revolutionary War, Paul Revere wasn’t riding through towns to alert the military. He was calling up the militia. Who were the militia? The militia was defined as all males between the ages of 16 and 45. These were common ordinary citizens who came with their own personal firearms, ammunition and supplies. In the army, your weapons and equipment is supplied. You’re given a uniform. Think about that word “uniform.” Uniform means that everyone, everything is the same. Everyone is issued similar weapons, similar ammunition, given similar training and is dressed similarly.

In the Militia, you come as you are and you bring what you’ve got. Had it not been for individual gun ownership, we would still be a colony of Great Britain and our national anthem would be “God Save the Queen.” So ingrained was this lesson in our early history, the importance of personal firearms ownership was codified into our Constitution. This is what the 2nd Amendment was about.

Understanding The 2nd Amendment

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Let’s take the first clause. This seems to cause people some problems. In order to regulate the Militia, the Militia must first exist. You cannot regulate what does not exist. When the armed citizenry come together as a group, they form the Militia. Then they can be regulated. They can be organized into groups. Given assignments, taught tactics what have you.

Why would you do this? You would do this because they are necessary to the security of a free State. Now remember whom the Militia is. All males between the ages of 16 and 45. They have to have their own firearms because the State or the Federal Government isn’t burdened with having to issue these citizens arms or supplies. This brings us to the latter clause. “The right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”

Our Gun Culture

The Man With No Name Trilogy

Clint Eastwood – The Man With No Name Trilogy

Guns in the hands of our citizens have been critical to not only our survival as a nation, but to our expansion into the west to fulfil our “Manifest Destiny.” Firearms were used to feed us and protect us on the frontier. The heroes in the old “Dime Store Novels” were the likes of Buffalo Bill, Wild Bill Hitchcock, Wyatt Earp and “Doc” Halliday.

When the motion picture industry came into being, the quick gun shootin, rooty toot tootin, Cowboy became and American icon. Tom Mix, Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood, Charles Bronson and a host of others became our heroes. They all solved their problems with fast and accurate shooting. We played with cap guns in plastic holsters.

As we matured, guns and their use matured with us. The wise cracking, fast shooting Cop shows of the 80’s like “Miami Vice” introduced us to shoulder holsters and ankle holsters. Do I need to mention James Bond with is Walther PPK?

The Duke

The Duke

Thanks to movie ratings, we never saw the reality of the aftermath of a shooting. No pools of blood. No gray matter and brain tissue splattering the walls and the floors. No mothers falling out and weeping. It was all neat clean and tidy. Only lately have they begun to show limited realism in the CSI type shows.

Is it any wonder that our relationship with firearms seems so excessive to other cultures? You simply cannot undo over 200 years of our culture by passing a few laws. If you could wave a magic wand and remove all 300 million firearms from these United States, all you would succeed in doing is creating the worlds largest “Black Market” for guns. We can’t even keep drugs out of the country. Guns? I don’t think you can train “gun sniffing dogs.”

With these facts in mind, pursuing the tools of gun violence – the gun – will only serve to alienate – remember our culture – those who might otherwise stand with you on all the other issues. I fully understand the raw emotion of the issue when it comes to parents and family members who have lost a child to gun violence. I understand because my oldest son was murdered by a thug with a gun. So, I’ve been there. This isn’t theory for me, I’ve lived it. The gun didn’t murder my son. The piece of excrement who pulled the trigger did.

The Republican Response

The official Republican response to the State of the Union was delivered by Marco Rubio, the junior Senator from Florida. It was a colossal train wreck! First of all, his response was clearly written before he had the opportunity to hear the President’s address. You could determine this because he was rebutting statements and points that the President never made.

Marco Rubio’s Water Bottle Moment

He basically rehashed – in some cases nearly word for word – old speeches by Mitt Romney. Then there was the water bottle fiasco. Evidently towards the end of his speech, his mouth got dry. I suppose nerves will do that to you. He leans way off camera to grab a water bottle and it was so inartfully done, the effect was hilarious! I don’t know why they bother. At some point they came to the conclusion that in order to deliver a proper rebuttal, staging was everything. Thus, they’ve tried everything to give their responses more gravitas by attempting to make the staging look as officious as possible.

We’ve had them deliver their response in a State House stacked with phony audience members clapping on cue. We’ve had the disastrous marionette like walk out of Bobby Jindal and now Marco Rubio stands in front of a set designed to appear as though he’s standing in the “Oval Office” with a window behind him. Far be it from me to give them advice when they’re doing so well, but perhaps a bit less attention to form and a little more attention to substance would do them well.

The Complete State Of The Union Speech

Justifying Murder – The Christopher Dorner Case

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Justifying Murder Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

 Justifying Murder – LAPD And The Christopher Dorner Case

At the time I’m writing this, ex-LAPD officer Christopher Jordan Dorner is still at large. Officer Dorner is the primary suspect in several murders. At least one of them being a fellow LAPD officer.

If he has done as accused, there is no excuse for his behavior. His actions are reprehensible and would meet almost anyone’s definition of a serious mental pathology. It is not the purpose of this piece to either defend or justify his actions.

What concerns me is the reactions and the actions of the LAPD which presumably is not claiming “diminished capacity” as an explanation or justification for their behavior. If anything, their reaction is going a long way to prove the allegations levelled against the LAPD in Officer Dorner’s so called “manifesto.” The main accusations Officer Dorner levelled were those of racism and police brutality.

Torrance Pic

Shoot first… Ask questions later.

In the aftermath of events, we’ve seen LAPD open fire – shoot first, ask questions later – on two women delivering newspapers. Their crime? They happened to be driving a truck that some “hair trigger” officers thought looked like the truck Officer Dorner was suspected of driving. Could you imagine the fallout that would ensue if you shot someone by mistake? “Emma Hernandez, 71, was delivering the Los Angeles Times with her daughter, 47-year-old Margie Carranza, when officers apparently mistook their pickup for that of Dorner.” One woman was shot in the back, the other in her hand.

A little while later, another vehicle was shot up. Fortunately the man inside was not hit. No commands were given. No opportunity to surrender. No attempts to effectuate an arrest. I was under the impression that the job of Law Enforcement Officers was not to act as judge, jury and executioner, but if possible deliver a suspect to a court of law. What we’re dealing with here is “street justice.”

Warrant-less Searches

Warrant-less Searches???

What is the difference between the actions of LAPD and your common street gang? They have been ordering citizens out of their vehicles, searching their homes at gun point without obtaining search warrants as demanded by due process. Does the law not apply to the police? Are they above the law?

I have personally tended to scoff at the likes of Alex Jones when they beat the drums of societal collapse and martial law. However, they suddenly don’t seem so crazy. We are either a nation of laws or we are not! If the LAPD can throw “due process” and the United States Constitution out the window, then anybody can. All they need do is claim to be concerned for their own safety.

A Campaign Of Demonization

Christopher Dorner

The Black Rambo?

If you’ve been paying attention, you’ve noticed that the Public Relations department of the LAPD has shifted their tactics. The shift has been subtle, but evident nonetheless. At the beginning the focus of the LAPD was to paint Officer Dorner as mentally unstable, irrational, possibly suffering from PTSD, perhaps because of his service to this country in the Navy. In short, “Crazy Black Man” on the loose! Be afraid, be very afraid! Now, they’re portraying him as some sort of “Black Rambo.”

In an unprecedented move, the LAPD has released video tapes of Officer Dorner going through the common training course all LAPD Officers go through. They showed him on the shooting range – alongside other Officer candidates – remarking on how well he controlled the recoil of the pistol he was shooting. Evidently, according to the anonymous Public Relations representative, being able to control the relatively light recoil of a pistol, makes one an extremely deadly and accurate pistol shot. In point of fact, controlling recoil is not necessarily indicative of accuracy.

Disarming Techniques

Practising disarming techniques with his fellow LAPD officers

They released a clip of him practicing disarming techniques with fellow Officers. Evidently you’re supposed to either forget or ignore the fact that the training he was receiving was the exact same training that all LAPD Officers receive. Thus, how does this make Officer Dorner any more or less dangerous than your average LAPD Officer? It does not.

Clearly what LAPD is doing is laying the ground work to justify murdering Christopher Dorner rather than bring him to justice. The question I have is why? This is a question that you and everyone else ought to be asking as loudly and as often as possible. What does he know? What might he say in open court that the LAPD would prefer him never to reveal in open Court? Are they justifying murder ahead of time? It seems to me that they are.

Christianity And Modern Black Enslavement (Part II)

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Christianity and Modern Black Enslavement Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Christianity And Modern Black Enslavement

When we speak of Christianity and Modern Black Enslavement, we’re not so much talking about the enslavement of the body so much as the mind. If nothing else, Black people are people of faith! In some very real ways, this has worked to their detriment. When you look at the actuarial tables, you will notice that Black people here in the United States, have a lifespan significantly shorter than that of White people on average. Why? Ironically, the age at which one receives Social Security seems to be linked to the average lifespan of the Black male. As the lifespan of the Black male has increased, so too has the age at which one can begin receiving Social Security. Of course – tongue firmly pressed in cheek – that is merely a coincidence.

Actuarial Tables

Notice that based on statistics, a Black Male living an average lifespan will only get a couple of years of his Social Security.

African-American Health Care

When we finally do go to the doctor, our condition is much worse than if we’d gone when we first developed symptoms.

One of the things that must be considered is the teachings within the Black Church that encouraged Black people to trust Jesus and to pray for their health and healing. Going to a doctor was almost seen as a lack of faith. Of course if you don’t have medical insurance because you cannot afford it, trusting Jesus becomes your only viable alternative. When Black people do go to the doctor, often the problem has become so advanced that the treatment options are limited and extremely expensive. Thus our mortality rate. I have several relatives who were born at home with the aid of a midwife. Not because there were no hospitals readily available, but because that was our culture at that time.

You can have a perfectly healthy home delivery. However, what happens if there are complications? What if the child has some sort of issue? I have a son who would not be alive today had it not been for the attention and skill of the hospital and the attending physician.

Black Student

It is easy to slip through the cracks.

The effects of Christianity and Modern Black Enslavement are also manifested in the Black culture’s approach to education and employment. Faith and belief supersede preparation and performance. If you’re not getting your lesson in school, pray and ask God for help. I have no problem with prayer, but the reality is, a tutor or an after school session with your instructor will probably do you more good.

Christian Iconography And The Work Place

Earliest Depictions Of Virgin And Child

If the earliest depictions of Jesus and the Apostles showed African looking people, why was it necessary to change them?

The earliest depictions of Jesus and the Apostles all showed extremely dark men. Many wore “Afros.” So how did we arrive at this blond haired, blue eyed, white skinned Jesus? According to the stories, this was by design. None other than Michael Angelo was commissioned to paint the image of Jesus that is still widely used today. You say but it doesn’t matter what color Jesus is? Oh, but it obviously did matter. If it didn’t, Michael Angelo would not have been paid to do it.

Jesus entering Jerusalem

Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem

Let’s examine the ethnicity of Jesus and the real Hebrews/Jews. First of all, the only Europeans in the area at that time were the Greeks and the Romans. Jesus was neither Greek nor Roman so he clearly wasn’t what anyone could mistake for white. In the Gospel account of Herod seeking to kill him, Joseph takes Jesus and his family and flees into Egypt. The Egyptians were predominately African except for those who had mixed with the Greeks. If I were trying to hide from an assassin, the RNC Convention wouldn’t really be my first choice. I would be pretty easy to spot. You would want to blend into a crowd that looked a lot like you.

Black Jesus Wearing A Hoodie

If Jesus were walking down the street at night wearing a hoodie…

The facts are that if Jesus were walking down the street today, dressed as we are, he would find it extremely difficult to hail a cab. He probably would have cause to be concerned when passing a policeman. Wearing a “hoodie?” Definitely out of the question! So why do we have this white skinned, blond haired, blue eyed Jesus today? Because It is much easier to worship a God who looks like you look. If God is white and you’re white, you’re much more related to God than someone who is not white.

Looks Like Jesus?

If when you close your eyes and picture Jesus, the image you’re seeing looks like your boss… or a co-worker, you’re at a disadvantage.

Now think about this from the Black perspective. If you have been programmed in your mind to believe that Jesus looks like a white man, how then can you deal from a position of equality with your boss, the police or your school teacher? They look like your God. Close your eyes and picture Jesus. What do you see? Whom does your “Lord and Saviour” look like? Lord and Saviour or Lord and Slaver?

One thing that must be asked, had the original iconography not been supplanted with the Europeanized versions, how would that have affected the way Europeans interacted with and treated Africans? Would the African Slave Trade ever occurred? Prior to every atrocity the victims of that atrocity are first dehumanized, then demonized.

WWII anti-Jewish Propaganda

Before Auschwitz, Dachau, Chelmno, Jasenovac, the Jewish people first had to be demonized.

We saw this in graphic form during WWII. Government propaganda departments produced posters, cartoons and movies designed to dehumanize and demonize the “enemy” to gin up public support for their war efforts. Jews in Germany were depicted as money grubbing, bestial, rats and described as being parasites, feeding on German society. We know how that turned out.

Over here, the Japanese were done the same way. They were depicted as slant eyed, slope forehead, fang toothed, nearly simian beasts. They were depicted as creatures of nightmares. The added problem here in the United States was, we had naturalized and American born, Japanese citizens who had been living here for years. The racial hatred engendered didn’t just apply to the Japanese soldiers we were fighting. It crossed over to the Japanese Americans living and working right alongside us.

Anti-Japanese Propaganda Poster From WWII

Like Germany did to the Jews, we also demonized the Japanese.

The results? Many Japanese citizens were rounded up and placed in concentration camps just like the German Jews in Nazi Germany were. The difference? We called ours, “Internment Camps.” It might well have gone the same way for the Japanese here as it did for the Jews in Germany. Let us not kid ourselves into believing that human nature is somehow improved based on geographical location.

The only thing that prevented a Japanese Holocaust right here in the United States was, our form of government – thankfully – spreads power between 3 branches. In Germany, Hitler’s word was law. Even so, we dropped two nuclear bombs on Japan – which were unnecessary – wiping out soft civilian targets. This met the definition of a war crime. Perhaps this has something to do with why we never signed on to the Geneva Convention?

Iconography And The Enslavement Of Black People

Birth Of A Nation PosterThe depiction of Black people historically and currently has been used to foster and maintain a policy of degradation and oppression. The 1915 film “The Birth Of A Nation” by D.W. Griffith is an excellent example of this. The film is based loosely on “The Clansman” which was a propaganda piece for the Ku Klux Klan. It is a silent film which shows two families, one from the North and the other from the South, going through the Civil War and Reconstruction.

Birth Of A Nation Statehouse Scene

Eating chicken and trimming their toe nails in the Statehouse… Really???

In this film Black people – usually played by white people in “black face” – are shown taking advantage of white women. They’re is a scene showing newly elected Black congressmen, eating chicken and trimming their toe nails in the House Chambers, with their feet up on the desks. They’re showed preventing white people from voting. Ironically, they’re shown treating white people in the same ways white people treated Black Slaves. I don’t need to tell you that this film scared white people to death. It probably did more to set the tone for Black and White relations from it’s release until today than anything else. Iconography and depictions do matter. They shape not only the perceptions of the public, but the victims as well.

I See Scary Black People

I see scary Black People. From Birth Of A Nation

To Be Continued In Part III