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Defense official: Dallas suspect served in US Army Reserve |
The Army veteran who gunned down five Dallas police officers Thursday
evening subscribed to updates from black nationalist groups on social
media and had been sent home from Afghanistan following a sexual
harassment allegation.
Micah X. Johnson, 25, shot 14 people,
including 12 officers, at the end of an anti-police protest in downtown
Dallas. He was killed early Friday after authorities sent a
bomb-wielding police robot to infiltrate the parking garage where
Johnson was holed up.
Beginning in 2009, Johnson served in the
Army Reserve as a private first class with a specialty in carpentry and
masonry, the military said.
In May 2014, six months into his
Afghanistan tour, he was accused of sexual harassment by a female
soldier. The Army sent him stateside, recommending an "other than
honorable discharge," said Bradford Glendening, the military lawyer who
represented him.
That recommendation was "highly unusual,"
Bradford said, since counseling is usually ordered before more drastic
steps are taken.
"In his case, it was apparently so
egregious, it was not just the act itself," Glendening told The
Associated Press. "I'm sure that this guy was the black sheep of his
unit."
According to a court filing Glendening read over the
phone Friday, the victim said she wanted Johnson to "receive mental
help," while also seeking a protective order to keep him away from her
and her family, wherever they went. Johnson was ordered to avoid all
contact with her.
Glendening said Johnson was set to be
removed from the Army in September 2014 because of the incident, but
instead got an honorable discharge months later -- for reasons he can't
understand.
"Someone really screwed up," he said. "But to my client's benefit."
After
Johnson returned from Afghanistan, a friend who served in his platoon
told FoxNews.com, "he got in touch with some bad folks and went all
Black Panther."
On Facebook, Johnson "liked" black militant groups
including the African American Defense League and the New Black Panther
Party, which was founded in Dallas.
His photo showed him
wearing a dashiki and raising his fist over the words "Black Power," and
his cover shot carried the red, black and green Pan-African flag.
Dallas
Police Chief David Brown, said Johnson cited the fatal shootings of
black men by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota, which prompted
the protest march in Dallas and many other cities.
"The suspect said he was upset with white people and wanted to kill white people, especially white officers," Brown said.
Activists
with Black Lives Matter, whose peaceful march police were guarding as
he opened fire, repudiated the shootings, and it wasn't immediately
clear if Johnson had any connection to the movement, which has disavowed
violence.
But one of the groups Johnson "liked" on Facebook,
the African American Defense League, posted a message earlier in the
week encouraging violence against police in response to the killing in
Louisiana.
"The Pig has shot and killed Alton Sterling in
Baton Rouge, Louisiana! You and I know what we must do and I don't mean
marching, making a lot of noise, or attending conventions. We must
`Rally The Troops!' It is time to visit Louisiana and hold a barbeque."
The message was attributed to Dr. Mauricelm-Lei Millere, a leader in the
organization.
Another group Johnson "liked" was the New
Black Panther Party, whose leaders have "long expressed virulently
anti-white and anti-Semitic opinions," according to the Southern Poverty
Law Center.
Johnson also "liked" the Nation of Islam and the Black Riders Liberation Party, which the center described as "hate groups."
Among
Johnson's other social media likes were groups that focus on the
history and accomplishments of African-Americans, such as Black Love
Matters, the Nubian Rootz Cultural Center, and I Love Black
Archaeologist, a web series whose main character uses a time machine to
visit famous black people.
The Dallas Police Department said
Johnson's Facebook account also included information about Richard
Griffin, also known as Professor Griff, who "embraces a radical form of
Afrocentrism."
On his Facebook page Friday afternoon,
Griffin, a member of Public Enemy -- an influential hip hop group known
for its politically charged lyrics -- said he does "not advocate killing
Cops."
Johnson had no criminal history, according to authorities. Local court records show his parents were divorced in 1996.
He
was believed to have shared a two-story tan brick home in Mesquite with
family members. He graduated from John Horn High School in Mesquite,
where he was a ROTC member, school district officials said.
Sharon
Carter, who works in the district's registrar's office and lives near
Johnson's home, said she saw him occasionally wearing military fatigues
as he left for Army reservist training, but never saw him armed.
"They say he was standoffish in high school," Carter said. "I never really spoke to him. He kept to himself."
A
relative had praised Johnson on his birthday in 2014 as "definitely
Army strong" on his Facebook page, calling him an "entertaining, loving,
understanding, not to mention handsome friend, brother (and) son."
After
Johnson was killed, a relative posted on her Facebook page, "I keep
saying its not true...my eyes hurt from crying. Y him??? And why was he
downtown." She did not respond to Facebook messages.
Friend
Israel Cooper said Johnson went by "Xavier,' his middle name, had a
"cool vibe," wasn't really political and seemed educated.
Cooper
said he and Johnson played basketball at a park near his home. "He
would be out there for eight hours. Like it was his job. Just hoopin',"
he said.
Cooper said that when he heard the suspect was
Johnson, he "was in disbelief because he's just not like a violent or
rough dude."
"So I was, `Nah, it's probably another Xavier
somewhere, you know,"' Cooper said. "But then, with pictures on the
internet and stuff, I'm like `OK.' "
Cooper added: "It's the
quiet ones that just do the most devastating stuff. You never see it
coming. But then it's more expected, like `I should have known."'