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News > World

Militant Black Organizations Rejected Dallas Police Killer

  • Micah Johnson, a man suspected by Dallas Police in a shooting attack, is seen in an undated photo from his Facebook account.

    Micah Johnson, a man suspected by Dallas Police in a shooting attack, is seen in an undated photo from his Facebook account. | Photo: Reuters

Published 11 July 2016
Opinion

Dallas shooter Micah Johnson reportedly sympathized with militant Black organizations, but they refused his support.

Micah Johnson, the man police say was responsible for killing five officers in Dallas last week, allegedly tried to join various hardline Black power organization but was not allowed after an activist vetting process found he was unfit, according to The Daily Beast.

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The media outlet spoke to a man who was asked to conduct a background check on Johnson by an unidentified activist group in Oakland, California.

Ken Moore of the Collective Black People’s Movement said he labeled Johnson “unfit for recruitment” after finding out that he had been discharged from the Army for sexual harassment. That led other groups to reject him in turn, effectively barring him from the movement.

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Johnson was an Army Reservist who served in Afghanistan but was reportedly sent home after a sexual harassment complaint.

According to an anonymous friend quoted by the Telegraph, upon his return from Afghanistan Johnson “got in touch with some bad folks and went all Black Panther,” referencing the revolutionary Black power organization active in 60s and 70s.

However, according to The Daily Beast, Johnson operated alone, having been denied membership in Black political groups, such as the People’s New Black Panther Party and the Black Riders Liberation Party.

Johnson nonetheless attended protests and events organized by militant organizations.

“He was basically seen as a loner, a sympathizer,” Moore told The Daily Beast.

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A leader from one of the groups Johnson followed online, a woman named Lakesia Washington from the Black Riders, posted a message calling for armed resistance against police brutality. Washington would later celebrate Johnson's deeds.

The article by The Daily Beast speculated that the initials “RB," written by Johnson in his own blood before he was executed by police, were a reference to “RBG,” an acronym widely used by people in the Black power movement meaning “red, black, and green,” the colors of the Pan-African flag.

Police have said they had not yet determined what the “RB” meant.

According to Dallas police, Johnson said he wanted to kill white police officers but also was critical of Black Lives Matter.

The official Black Lives Matter organization denounced Johnson's actions in a statement, saying the attack was “the result of the actions of a lone gunman.”

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