The war mentality and America’s addiction to violence is on display in Southern California. A massive manhunt is pursuing Chris Dorner, the alleged cop-killer ex-cop in the small mountain community of Big Bear where cops from all over California, in full battle gear and armed with semiautomatic weapons, are searching for him. Dorner published a manifesto on his Facebook page, a “rant” according to the media, but behind the rant, the words ring true—that the LAPD is riddled with racism, corruption and brutality, a charge that has plagued the department for decades—the Rodney King beating comes immediately to mind but there are countless other stories, some I’ve heard from those who lived there in the 60s and 70s. Dorner says he was fired for reporting brutality by a training officer against an inmate and I’m inclined to believe he’s right. An article by Dave Lindorff (http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/1575) makes a strong case that the LAPD is trying to silence Dorner—permanently. On Saturday, officers mistook 2 Latino women—a 47-year-old and her 71-year mother who were delivering newspapers—for Chris Dorner. Wrong car, wrong color, but no matter, without warning they fired more than 70 rounds at the car wounding both women, the 71-year-old critically. KTLA-TV carried pictures of the car the cops shot up. I counted 25 bullet holes in the rear on the driver’s side alone, what’s known as a “spray and pray” pattern used in Iraq and Afghanistan that left so many civilians dead or wounded. I have a friend whose niece lives in Big Bear. She says the LAPD have made the community fearful and she doesn’t know what the truth is but suspects that we’re not hearing the whole story. Today, she says, Dorner hijacked a car at gunpoint. “and told the local that he wouldn't hurt him, just needed the car. The guy said ‘can i get my dogs in the back? Dorner said, ‘yes, I won't hurt you or your dogs.’ and drove away” [after the guy got his dogs]. I’m not condoning what Dorner has done, but I think he’s right, it’s not the citizens or suspects we should be afraid of, it’s the police. While LAPD is particularly notorious, many departments across the country are heavily armed and trained in the tactics of war. The war’s violence has come home and we are paying the price with more suppressive attitudes, more shootings and a frankly fascist mindset. Police no longer “protect and serve” but suppress and terrorize. It’s an unsettling harbinger of the future.
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| Car LAPD shot up mistaken for Chris Dorner's. Wrong make, wrong model, wrong color. Two women wounded, one critically. |
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