Army veteran who killed 5 Dallas cops had bomb-making materials

MESQUITE — The man who killed five Dallas police officers and wounded seven others was described as a loner, an Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and a follower of black militant groups on social media.

When authorities searched the home of 25-year-old Micah Xavier Johnson on Friday they found bomb-making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition, and a personal journal of combat tactics. Among his Facebook “likes” were the African American Defense League and the New Black Panther Party, which was founded in Dallas. He also was a member of the Facebook group “Black Panther Party Mississippi.” A photo on Facebook showed Johnson wearing a dashiki — his raised, clinched fist over the words “Black Power.”

Johnson, who was killed by a police remote-controlled bomb early Friday, had learned about the military in the ROTC program at the high school he attended in Mesquite, a blue-collar suburb east of Dallas. During his military service, he was a private first class with a specialty in carpentry and masonry, according to the military. Officials said he served in the Army Reserve for six years starting in 2009 and did one tour in Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014.

Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown said that Johnson, who was black, had told negotiators before he was killed that he was upset with the fatal shootings earlier in the week of black men by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota.

“The suspect said he was upset with white people and wanted to kill white people, especially white officers,” Brown said.

The African American Defense League posted a message Wednesday encouraging violence against police in response to the shooting 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 highlight of our occasion will be to sprinkle Pigs Blood! Louisiana Revolutionaries You are being called out! Make ready and we shall come as thieves in the night!” The message was attributed to Dr. Mauricelm-Lei Millere, a leader in the organization.

Leaders of the New Black Panther Party have “long expressed virulently anti-white and anti-Semitic opinions,” said the Southern Poverty Law Center. “Its leaders have blamed Jews for the 9/11 terrorist attacks and for the slave trade.”

The Dallas Police Department said that 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.”

There were other hints about Johnson’s political leanings, according to his Facebook profile. While photos depict Johnson in his camouflage Army uniform, the cover shot on his Facebook page carries the red, black and green Pan-African flag.

Among Johnson’s other social media likes were I Love Black Archaeologist, a web series whose main character uses a time machine to visit famous black people; Black Love Matters; and the Nubian Rootz Cultural Center — groups that focus on the history and accomplishment of African-Americans. The Southern Poverty Law Center said Johnson also “liked” the National of Islam and the Black Riders Liberation Party, which it described as “hate groups.”

There were certainly other sides to Johnson. He was known by his family and neighbors as an “Army strong” veteran who loved playground basketball.

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, including membership in ROTC, school district officials said.

Johnson had no criminal history, according to authorities. Local court records show his parents were divorced in 1996.

A relative had left a positive comment on Johnson’s Facebook page celebrating his birthday in 2014, calling him “definitely Army strong” and an “entertaining, loving, understanding, not to mention handsome friend, brother (and) son.”

At a news conference Friday, Brown said Johnson told negotiators he had acted alone and was unaffiliated with any group. In the midst of the shootings, authorities had said they believed there was more than one shooter.

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.

For several hours Friday morning, police blocked access to the home in Mesquite. Investigators wearing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives vests carried out several bags of material.

Just before noon, officers reopened the street. No one answered a knock on the door.

Nearby, friend Israel Cooper said Johnson went by “Xavier,’ his middle name. Cooper said Johnson had a “cool vibe, wasn’t really political and seemed educated.

Cooper said he and Johnson played basketball at a park near the Johnson home. “He would be out there for eight hours. Like it was his job. Just hoopin’,” said Cooper.

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.’”

WARNING: The video below contains graphic content.

FROM THE AG

The nation’s top law enforcement official, Attorney General Loretta Lynch, called for calm, saying the recent violence can’t be allowed to “precipitate a new normal.”

Lynch said protesters concerned about killings by police should not be discouraged “by those who use your lawful actions as a cover for their heinous violence.”

It appeared the shooters “planned to injure and kill as many officers as they could,” Brown said.

Video from the scene showed protesters marching along a downtown street about half a mile from City Hall when shots erupted and the crowd scattered, seeking cover. Officers crouched beside vehicles, armored SWAT team vehicles arrived and a helicopter hovered overhead.

Demonstrations were held in several other U.S. cities Thursday night to protest the police killings of two more black men: A Minnesota officer on Wednesday fatally shot Philando Castile while he was in a car with a woman and a child, and the shooting’s aftermath was livestreamed in a widely shared Facebook video. A day earlier, Alton Sterling was shot in Louisiana after being pinned to the pavement by two white officers. That, too, was captured on a cellphone video.

The Dallas shootings occurred in an area of hotels, restaurants, businesses and some residential apartments only a few blocks from Dealey Plaza, the landmark made famous by the Kennedy assassination.

The scene was chaotic, with officers with automatic rifles on the street corners.

“Everyone just started running,” Devante Odom, 21, told The Dallas Morning News. “We lost touch with two of our friends just trying to get out of there.”

Carlos Harris, who lives downtown, told the newspaper that the shooters “were strategic. It was tap, tap, pause. Tap, tap, pause,” he said.

Brown said the suspects “triangulated” in the downtown area where the protesters were marching and had “some knowledge of the route” they would take.

Video posted on social media appeared to show a gunman at ground level exchanging fire with a police officer who was then felled.

Mayor Mike Rawlings said one of wounded officers had a bullet go through his leg as three members of his squad were fatally shot around him.

“He felt that people don’t understand the danger of dealing with a protest,” said Rawlings, who spoke to the surviving officer. “And that’s what I learned from this. We care so much about people protesting, and I think it’s their rights. But how we handle it can do a lot of things. One of the things it can do is put our police officers in harm’s way, and we have to be very careful about doing that.”

Few details about the slain officers were immediately available.

Four of the dead were with the Dallas Police Department, a spokesman said. One was a Dallas Area Rapid Transit officer. The agency said in a statement that 43-year-old officer Brent Thompson, a newlywed whose bride also works for the police force, was the first officer killed in the line of duty since the agency formed a police department in 1989.

“Our hearts are broken,” the statement said.

ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Theresa Williams said one of the wounded civilians was her sister, 37-year-old Shetamia Taylor, who was shot in the right calf. She threw herself over her four sons, ages 12 to 17, when the shooting began.

Other protests across the U.S. on Thursday were peaceful, including in New York, Atlanta, Chicago and Philadelphia. In Minnesota, where Castile was shot, hundreds of protesters marched in the rain from a vigil to the governor’s official residence.

Select cities around the country are doubling up on patrol officers in the aftermath of the attacks. On-duty patrol officers will operate in pair.s

Los Angeles, Cincinnati, Chicago and Las Vegas are among them.

FROM THE WHITE HOUSE

White House officials have been in touch with officials in Dallas on Friday to offer support for the shootings there, a White House spokesman said.

President Barack Obama is also concerned about the effect on the United States of easy access to guns, spokesman Josh Earnest told a press briefing after a NATO summit in Warsaw.

“The president’s views about the impact that the easy availability of guns has on our community is a significant source of concern for him,” Earnest said.