(ANTIMEDIA) United States — Despite popular reports to the contrary, alleged cop-killer Micah Xavier Johnson — who purportedly carried out the murders of five police officers in Dallas — was not a member of a militant black power organization.
In fact, the alleged shooter had been effectively blacklisted from multiple groups — a move several leaders told the Daily Beast would have nullified potential membership in such organizations across the board.
That blacklisting occurred once leaders performing a background check of Johnson discovered he had been sent home from Afghanistan for stealing women’s underwear — and was discharged from the U.S. Army during the period of tumult in the aftermath of the police shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri.
According to the Blaze, Delphine Johnson, the shooter’s mother, “said she watched her son transform from a fun-loving extrovert into a ‘hermit’ after his military service, which spanned roughly six years and included a seven-month deployment to Afghanistan.”
At one time, the alleged police murderer actually wanted to become a cop — but opted for the military, instead.
“He loved his country,” she recalled. “He wanted to protect his country.”
But something changed in her son.
“The military was not what Micah thought it would be,” Delphine recounted. “He was very disappointed, very disappointed. But it may be that the ideal that he thought of our government, what he thought the military represented, it just didn’t live up to his expectations.”
Feeling disillusioned with the military and with his identity shattered, Micah’s father, James Johnson, said his son began learning more about his heritage and black history. At that point, groups considered more radical — such as the New Black Panther Party and African Defense League — had particular appeal to Micah, whose now-defunct Facebook page displayed the red, black, and green pan-African flag and a photo with his raised ‘black power’ fist.
Despite his desire to join one of an assortment of radical groups, reported the Daily Beast, Ken Moore of the Collective Black People’s Movement (CBPM) received a request from an unnamed black activist group to vet Johnson for potential membership. When Moore stumbled upon the discharge from the Army for sexual harassment, Micah received the blacklisting label, “unfit for recruitment.” From the outlet:
“Malik Shabazz, former chair of the New Black Panther Party, told The Daily Beast that the background check system described by Moore effectively blacklisted Johnson from membership in black nationalist and black liberation groups across the country.”
Moore told the outlet, “Once you’re blacklisted by the alert we put out, that’s a wrap.”
Johnson, despite the cold shoulder from those organizations, continued to remain active, and reportedly attended protests in the area.
“He was basically seen as a loner, a sympathizer,” Moore explained.
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The shooter’s family claims Micah never expressed disdain for white people — his stepmother, Donna, is white — rather, Delphine explained, he hated “injustice.”
And the controversial police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in Minnesota — considered by many the height of injustice, as ongoing nationwide protests evidence — provided the spark to set Micah’s latent anger ablaze.
Moore seemed to concur, surmising that — on learning Johnson had shot 12 police officers and collaterally wounded two civilians — the blacklisted former military member had experienced a “psychological break.”
By all accounts, Micah Johnson’s choice to carry out a mass murder against police amounted to an act against an ambiguous law enforcement avatar. He apparently came to believe police acted unjustly, in general, and directed that anger toward the uniforms and badges he resented — without consideration for the individuals wearing them.
But the dehumanization by police of people they wantonly kill — whether or not such actions are justified — lies at the heart of ongoing protests around the country.
As for reports a militant pro-black power organization sent Johnson on a mission to murder, they have no basis in fact.
This article (Stop Blaming Black Liberation Groups for the Acts of the Dallas Shooter) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to Claire Bernish and theAntiMedia.org. Anti-Media Radio airs weeknights at 11pm Eastern/8pm Pacific. If you spot a typo, emailedits@theantimedia.org.