ARMY SEX DISGRACE OF DALLAS COP KILLER
Shooter had been discharged
PLEAS FOR CALM AFTER ATROCITY IN TEXAS
Police killer Micah Johnson was kicked out of the US army after he was accused of sexually harassing a female soldier, it emerged yesterday.
The victim had called for the Afghanistan veteran – who shot dead five white policemen in Dallas to avenge the recent killings of fellow blacks – to receive “mental help”.
The revelations prompted concern that warnings about the soldier’s psychological state were ignored but could have prevented the tragedy.
Racial tensions in the US yesterday remained on a knifeedge after three more ambush shootings of police officers in Georgia, Tennessee and Missouri on Friday.
Johnson’s attack at a peaceful Black Lives Matter protest on Thursday night also injured seven more white officers and two bystanders.
After being forced out of the army, a he av il y a rmed Johnson used his training to deadly effect with a series of “ambush attacks” on police, who initially believed they were under f ire from a team of snipers.
A police search of his home in nearby Mesquite on Friday revealed “bomb- making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition and a personal journal of combat tactics”.
Pentagon records do not reveal the reason for Johnson’s army discharge last year but a mi l i ta r y lawyer who represented him said Johnson had been accused of sexually harassing a female soldier and had to leave the service.
Johnson served in the US army reserves from March 2009 for six years. He was deployed to Afghanistan in November 2013 and returned in July 2014.
His former military attorney Bradford Glendening, who practises at nearby Fort Hood, said the army sent Johnson home from Afghanistan, which was highly unusual.
He said military discipline for sexual harassment is typically counselling.
Glendening added: “He was very much disliked by his command, that was clear.”
His v ictim asked that Johnson receive “mental help” and wanted a protective order for herself and her family.
It is not known what help, if any, he was given.
Johnson’s records indicate he left with an honourable discharge but Glendening says he believes this is a mistake.
He was awarded the Army Achievement Medal during his service.
Family friends say Johnson – described as a gun-obsessed loner – changed after returning from Afghanistan.
Myrtle Brooker, 62, knew his mother Delphene Johnson through church.
She said: “He wa s withdrawn. He didn’t want to talk to people and didn’t believe in God any more.”
The killer told a friend that he believed white police officers were carrying out “genocide” against black people before he carried out the shooting.
Israel Cooper, 19, said: “He was upset. He said white cops are just slaying black people, basically genocide. He said, ‘ This is getting out of hand.’”
Johnson – known by his middle name Xavier or sometimes just X – had attended an event for 60s black activist Malcolm X.
Police records show he was subject to a “suspicious person” report near a strip club just a month after he was discharged.
Thursday’s murders in Dallas is the worst loss of life for US police since 9/11. It followed the shooting dead of two black men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, by white police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota. Both saw footage posted online and are being investigated.
The deaths sparked protests nationwide linked to the Black Lives Matter movement – which continued to spark unrest yesterday.
Police departments across the US ordered officers to patrol in pairs and to call for back-up before responding to any call.
It comes after three more police officers in Tennessee, Missouri and Georgia were shot only hours after the killings in Dallas.
President Barack Obama yesterday rejected the notion that the violence is a signal the US has returned to some of the darkest days of its past.
Speaking from Warsaw, where he was attending a Nato summit, he said: “America is not as divided as some have suggested. Americans of all races and all backgrounds are r ight ly outraged by the inexcusable attacks on police.
“That includes protesters. It includes family members who have grave concerns about police conduct.”
Obama said Johnson, who was killed by police, was a “demented individual” who does not represent black Americans any more than a white man accused of killing blacks at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, represents whites.
He added: “We cannot let the actions of a few define all of us.”
Johnson told me white cops were slaying black people, basically genocide