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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…

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.