DORNER: ROGUE COP OR ROGUE NATION? I AM NOT SURE

DORNER: ROGUE COP OR ROGUE NATION? I AM NOT SURE

By Fahim A. Knight-El

There is a very high level of frustration inside the United States of America and nothing typified that frustration more than the recent Christopher Dorner’s incident, which in my opinion, was not totally about a rogue cop who consequentially found himself on the wrong side of the law; this fiasco also was not about some psychopath who suffered from some mental illness and went on a rampage of indiscriminately killing innocent people. The corporate media always systematically label these type individuals as insane in order to keep the masses in check by dismissing them as mere cuckoos who had no legitimate gripe in order to publically discredit their grievances, therefore controlling debate. This in turns falsely insures us as American citizens that this conduct was random and not rooted in a more extensive dissatisfaction. But there are many lessons to be drawn from the Dorner incident, it is a grim reminder that violence could crop up anywhere and at anytime (it is a reminder that no one is safe); often it could be unpredictable, but in Dorner ‘s scenario I believe the Los Angles Police Department (LAPD) arrogance led them eventually down a deadly path. Many sympathized with Dorner because it appeared that he unjustly lost his job and was terminated as a police officer for essentially becoming a whistleblower and had violated the police blue wall of silence. Some might even argue based on the way these chain events played out; did he do the right thing because in doing the perceived right thing, it cost him his good name, profession, reputation and ultimately cost him his life. Dorner stated: “I stood up for what was right but unfortunately have dealt with the repercussions of doing the right thing and now losing my name and everything I ever stood for”. We have witnessed my corporate and government whistleblowers in the last 10 to 15 years win huge civil suits by exposing government and/or corporate lawbreaking and deception by revealing hidden plots aimed at consumers or misuse of the public trust relative to government.

Yet, many refused to characterize Christopher Dorner's scenario as a case of a whistleblower; they justify this by characterizing Dorner’s behavior as being part of the angry black man’s syndrome, but this only denotes denial which rest on a foundation of racism. But instead of LAPD and Los Angles city and county government embracing Dorner as a whistleblower they allowed for systems of internal retaliation to take place by turning a blind eye, which this eventually led to the system failing Dorner in which many law enforcement officers have taken a covert oath never to 'snitch' another fellow officer out even if witnessing them breaking the law. I think in Dorner's incident there were a lot of lawbreaking and compromises of the LAPD grievance procedures and policies, which ultimately led to Dorner taken the law into his own hands. No. I do not agree with the Talking Heads and government assessment that Dorner was crazy—this  man in my opinion was pushed to the limits and found himself backed up against the wall—I think his action was a direct result of betrayal, racism, failed LAPD personnel procedures and a quest for justice found Dorner outside of the law. I truly think he did everything possible to legally remedy his situation, but in this system, there is an invisible rulebook and if you play by the rules there is a system of rewards, if you do not play by the rules—Dorner appeared to be on the punishment end.

However, I think looking back LAPD, perhaps wish they would have internally done some things differently (hindsight is truly 20/20 vision). This is what could happen when we allow systemic practices of institutionalize racism to fester and continue to go unchecked and unaddressed. Dorner by all accounts was an upstanding citizen who had served as an officer in the United States arm forces (ex-veteran) and was once a sworn Los Angles Police officer (I think both of these jobs as a professional soldier speaks somewhat to this man’s credibility). He was well trained as a military soldier and as a police officer who in the end demonstrated the type of military skill set that he had acquired and used his training to kill and evade police. Dorner stated: “I’m not an aspiring rapper, I’m not a gang member, I’m not a dope dealer, I don’t have multiple babies momma’s. I am an American by choice, I am a son, I am a brother, I am a military service member, I am a man who has lost complete faith in the system, when the system betrayed, slandered, and libeled me. I lived a good life and though not a religious man I always stuck to my own personal code of ethics, ethos and always stuck to my shoreline and true North. I didn’t need the US Navy to instill Honor, Courage, and Commitment in me but I thank them for re-enforcing it. It’s in my DNA”. Perhaps the lives that were taken by Dorner could have been prevented and spared, if only someone in LAPD brass chain would have seriously listened to this man grievances and followed through with his complaints with objectivity, non partial and without the bias, which appeared to be evident of a good ole boy and good ole girl system that existed inside of the LAPD.

I am no expert on labor law or employment grievance procedures, but in my life and experiences, I have had my share of disagreements with those in human resources relative to fighting discrimination and fighting for better working conditions for those who were considered laborers and lowly wage earners. They have the ability to stack the deck against you and often poor people do not have the financial resources to mount a comparable legal defense against hired corporate guns (justice in the United States is often determined by money, it is surely not blind). This article was not written to defend Christopher Dorner's behavior; I do not condone violence in the workplace or outside the workplace, but rather to examine and assess employment procedures relative to employment grievances in lieu of the aftermath of the Dorner's incident. Moreover, this should be the real discussion taken place inside the LAPD in particular, and the United States in general. Yet, often these people go right back to their same disposition before the tragedy took place and no serious review and oversight is done to ensure this type incident never occurs again.

However, I am not optimistic about the political, economic and social course that America has chosen to take and I believe that these types of incidents in the near future are only going to increase. I hope that you did not think that Drone Warfare, the National Defense Authorization Act, the Patriot Act, Anti-Terrorism laws, etc., were for the other guy (international terrorist); these things have been put in place to contain social rebellion inside the United States of America and not for some overseas so-called Al-Qaeda terrorist (the real terrorist sits in the White House and he is much more dangerous than those deemed terrorist by the West)). They are preparing for you and me and perhaps it is difficult for you to believe that Martial Law is right around the corner. This is why, there is a rush to get guns off the streets and put forth new gun control legislation because of public apathy and disillusionment, which will ultimate lead the people into a direct confrontation with the State (for those who do not know what the State mean, it refers to the United States Government). This is the real reason why President Obama and some members of the United States Congress are pushing for comprehensive gun control laws and are quietly and covertly looking to slowly overturn the Second Amendment Right to the United States Constitution (disarm the people) we should not let this happen—I do support the National Rifle Association (NRA) on their quest to fight for the Second Amendment Right.

Just think about this, local, state and federal government agencies have these campaigns to buy back guns, but yet, in the inner cities of the United States the economic crisis has become desolate and hopelessness grips those who have become the expendable 'have nots'. I am more interested in buying back our freedom and fighting for our liberty against these elected dictators and tyrants that sit in the White House and in corporate America. President Obama has played a big game on black people and white liberals, as well and I am far from being a FOX news conservative and/or a Tea Party member and we have given this pawn a blank check to masquerade as though he is the champion of the poor. Obama has not paid any dues to be spoken of in the same breath of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and/or Minister Malcolm X and he definitely did not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. What has he done other than carried out the reactionary and oppressive agenda of the globalist? I have even heard Minister Louis Farrakhan attempting to spare this traitor; if you 'Negroes' are to afraid to criticize Obama, then stand back and allow me the privilege (the late comedian Bernie Mac would say, I aint   scared of you N----).

I might be digressing a bit, but these thoughts are coming to me, as I write this article about Christopher Dorner and it may connect or it may not connect. President Obama has used the U.S. Government agent provocateur Reverend Al Sharpton as his black henchman and bulldog to keep disagreeable black folk in check (but I am one of those 'Negroes' who are off the chain and I am not willing to sell my soul to the highest bidder and I surely do not dance to the tune of Reverend Al Sharpton). I do not agree with anything the establish 'Negro' leaders say and do; many of them typifies the term modern day slave (they are sellouts and Uncle Toms) and they have the job to keep us 'Negroes’ on the modern plantation and if you ‘Negroes’ do not know it by now, Reverend Al Sharpton is about lining his pockets with some money and keeping you 'Negroes’ looking up in the sky for that Mystery God that does not exist and praying for the false image of that white Jesus to return to the earth to save your black asses (the only interest Sharpton has is his own). You all are crying over some new installment of a pope and for over 600 years there has not been one black pope and it is our ancestors in Kush (Ethiopia) that established the original Christian Church—I have told you this before that all the prior white popes actually bowed and prayed to a Black Madonna and child (Mary was your mother and it’s you, the Nubian Jesus they pray and worship in secret). Bob Marley said free your minds from mental slavery; none but ourselves can do this.

I am not a social scientist, but as poverty increases in the United States in particular, no jobs and ultimately no tangible future for the American people can be foreseen (do not blame me for this forecast, I am just the messenger) things are only going to worsen. I live in America and the black community and there is no doubt gun violence in some of the larger cities and smaller cities are at epidemic levels. These guns in particular, in the black community were systematically put there by the enemy as part of the genocidal plot and they have made dope the number one commodity in the black community—these drugs and gun traffickers are often members at the highest levels of the United States Government (president, ambassadors, congresspersons, law enforcement, dignitaries, business leaders, etc., they are the ones that controls the dope and gun trade). We do not own the ships, boats, airline carriers and we definitely do not control the airspace and the U.S. Ports; this business is to lucrative and to vital to U.S. economic interest for them to worry about the social plight of the expendable victims. I personally live in a right to work state, which means workers have no rights when it comes termination, equal protection, labor protection, etc. The 2008 induced economic meltdown, which rearranged the United States and Global Economy, also impacted the labor arrangement and not to forget the devastating effect of dismantling of Labor Unions, which has left the U.S. labor force powerless and disillusioned (this induced crisis diminished the little rights labor had enjoyed).

They systematically outsourced U.S. jobs to Mexico and the Far East, it has been this phenomenon that has left people disillusioned and feeling helpless and betrayed. The weakening of U.S. labor was directly impacted by a diminishing job market and the few employment opportunities have created an inequitable supply and demand scale relative to labor and employment opportunities in which this paradigm has empowered corporate entities and capitalist business enterprises to the detriment of an obsolete labor force that in reality has out lived its purpose (corporate America and the business sector can now be highly selective and cheap because they have a huge unemployed pool to draw from). Thus, since the 2008 so-called economic decline, it tip the job market scale in total favor of big business in which they understood that job demands were high and unlike anytime in American history there is a huge labor force that had mortgages, student loans, automobile loans and various aspects of consumer debt that was undergirding life styles built on earning capacities that were being kept afloat by debt (this has become the impetus of creating the new 21^ST century slave). The 2008 economic meltdown showed our vulnerability as a glutting class of consumers and we had lost our will to be producers and had settled on being consumers which has created our present predicament.  

The Los Angles cop who felt that his personnel grievances were mishandled by the Los Angles Police Department, Human Resources, his superiors and Internal Affairs, as well as by rank and file members on the Los Angles Police Department were all part of a system of betrayal. I think many of us who have worked in corporate America, perhaps have filed grievances and/or sought internal remedies to situations that may have arisen on the job. I think many of us of have had various types of incidents at our place of employment where you may have felt your rights as an employee had been violated by a so-called superior and/or management staff. Thus, most jobs provide the employee with a personnel manual which outlines the employment policies and procedures—this will ordinarily include topics like employment performance, scheduling, pay hikes and raises, absentees and tardiness, promotions, definitions of sexual harassment, violence in the work place, vacation, policy on substance abuse and drugs, etc., and a host of other policies that is put in place to govern employee's conduct. I think the discipline policy is one of the most important procedures because it gives the employee their internal right to due process relative to charges, filings and hearings.

Many of us in 1991 witness the Rodney King incident where a majority white police officers responded to a traffic stop and a high speed police chase ensued, but who knew that as this incident unfolded that it would make history because it eventually led to one of the largest social rebellions in recent American history. There is no need to totally rehash the Rodney King incident, but what was interesting was how we got to that space and time; an innocent bystander video taped the LAPD brutally and violently beating Rodney King who was on the ground in a defensive posture and his posture was definitely not one who was resisting arrest (once the smoke cleared King’s face looked like he had been in a 15 round heavy weight fight with Muhammad Ali and it was clear evidence of police brutality).

This video beating was given to various news outlets and the first thing the Talking Heads and the law enforcement experts tried to do were to convince the American people that they did not see what they thought they saw (this primary information—raw video footage of a savage assault being carried out police officers was being denied by LAPD). They tried to convince the American people that Rodney King was resistance arrest as he laid on ground while officers savagely used their batons to beat and kicked him like he was an animal as he rolled over trying absorbed the violent blows the best as he could. Also, there were other law enforcement officers that swore to serve and protect who stood idly by and did nothing while they watch their other fellow officers break the law. If memory serves me correctly there were a couple of African American officers on the scene who did nothing to stop their white fellow officers from committing this crime against King. This eventually became a high profile case involving a petty criminal who had a lengthy criminal history and was not a choir boy (Rodney King was a dope fiend and an alcoholic, but despite his 'bad boy' history he was a human being). The United States Constitution guarantees each American equal protection under the law and due process under the law.

I think the Los Angles Police Department prior to and since the Rodney King incident has had some unresolved concerns relative to a culture of racism and police brutality aimed at blacks and Latinos. Dorner stated this in his "Manifesto": "The department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days. It has gotten worse. The consent decree should never have been lifted. The only thing that has evolved from the consent decree is those officers involved in the Rampart scandal and Rodney King incidents have since promoted to supervisor, commanders, and command staff, and executive positions". . ."Dorner goes on to state: This department has not changed from the Daryl Gates and Mark Fuhrman days. Those officers are still employed and have all promoted to Command staff and supervisory positions. I will correct this error. Are you aware that an officer (a rookie/probationer at the time) seen on the Rodney King videotape striking Mr. King multiple times with a baton on 3/3/91 is still employed by the LAPD and is now a Captain on the police department? Captain XXXX is now the commanding officer of a LAPD police station (West LA division)".

It appears that sensitivity and diversity training pertaining to law enforcement officers still is not enough to sensitize some white law enforcement officers into understanding the culture, and race/ethnic backgrounds of non-Caucasians who might be confronted with violating the law. Moreover, many non-white suspects and defendants are suspicious of white law enforcement authority figures because of the lack of trust that exist between the two races and cultures and often there is a feeling that law enforcement does not have their best interest at stake—these historical and cultural differences creates tension and often time this leads to African Americans and Latinos having a higher percentage of arrest records and eventually higher percentages of convictions. I am very sensitive about policing because it is a very tough job that carries a lot of stress and there are many more good cops than there are bad cops who truly have taken the oath to protect and serve.

Lastly, may be somewhere in the deep recesses of LAPD minds the Dorner incident will force them to implement some real changes and it is sad that it has taken the loss of human life to get people talking about fairness and how to make the work place better for all; there will always be disagreeable grievances in the workplace, but how we handle them will determine how successful society is in minimizing violence and anti-social behavior from over-spilling into the broader society. There were many lessons that came out of the Dorner incident and I do not think they can just be brushed under the rug. If we do nothing Dorner will revisit us at some point.

Fahim A. Knight-El Chief Researcher for KEEPING IT REAL THINK TANK located in Durham, NC; our mission is to inform African Americans and all people of goodwill, of the pending dangers that lie ahead; as well as decode the symbolism and reinterpreted the hidden meanings behind those who operate as invisible forces, but covertly rules the world. We are of the belief that an enlightened world will be better prepared to throw off the shackles of ignorance and not be willing participants for the slaughter. Our MOTTO is speaking truth to power. Fahim A. Knight-EL can be reached at fahimknight@ yahoo.com.

Stay Awake Until We Meet Again,

Fahim A. Knight-El