The ex-Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer accused of hunting down and murdering his former colleagues over alleged corruption, 33-year-old Christopher Jordan Dorner (pictured), released a “manifesto” online praising President Obama and the U.S. government while demanding more gun control. He also applauded a range of politicians including Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, some “moderate” Republicans, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), as well as media figures like CNN’s Anderson Cooper and extreme anti-Second Amendment zealot Piers Morgan.
A massive manhunt involving multiple law enforcement agencies is currently underway after the rabidly “pro-government” suspect allegedly shot three police officers, leaving one dead so far. A couple that was also reportedly targeted by Dorner for reasons that remain unclear is dead as well. And a shoot-out between police assigned to protect a person in the manifesto and the rampaging suspect, who is considered armed and extremely dangerous, ended with one officer dead and another wounded.
In his rambling manifesto, Dorner, who also served as a Navy reservist, identified several employees of the LAPD whom he promised to kill for alleged corruption, cover ups, and racism. Their families are also targets, the statement explained. “Unfortunately, this is a necessary evil that I do not enjoy but must partake and complete for substantial change to occur within the LAPD and reclaim my name,” he said in the manifesto.
According to news reports, Dorner originally released his screed on Facebook, explaining that his murderous rampage was the result of rampant corruption and racism within the LAPD, where he worked until being terminated several years ago. In the text, now widely published online, the suspect wrote that he was fired from his job for reporting a well-connected superior officer who allegedly used excessive force during an arrest. Authorities have not confirmed or denied the details.
Unlike most prominent incidents involving shootings, the media has been strangely silent on the suspect’s political leanings. However, reading Dorner’s manifesto makes it clear why: Not only does he profusely praise the U.S. government, certain establishment Republicans, and a wide array of Democrats, he also celebrates many high-profile figures in the mainstream media working for statist causes he believes in.
“Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Pat Harvey, Brian Williams, Soledad Obrien, Wolf Blitzer, Meredith Viera, Tavis Smiley, and Anderson Cooper, keep up the great work and follow Cronkite’s lead,” Dorner wrote in the manifesto. “I hold many of you in the same regard as Tom Brokaw and the late Peter Jennings.”
Obama, meanwhile, was also lavished with praise by the alleged cop killer. “Mr. President, I haven’t agreed with all of your decisions but of course I haven’t agreed with all of your predecessors decisions,” Dorner wrote about Obama after celebrating his wife, First Lady Michelle. “I think you’ve done a hell of a job with what you have been dealt and how you have managed it. I shed a tear the night you were initially elected President in 2008.”
While significant segments of the manifesto slam alleged racism within the LAPD, Dorner makes clear that he does consider superficial characteristics like race to be very important. “I never thought that day would occur. A black man elected president in the U.S. in my lifetime,” he wrote in the document, claiming repeatedly to have suffered from anti-black racial discrimination while working as a police officer. “I cracked a smiled when you were re-elected in 2012 because I really didn’t think you were going to pull that one off.”
Dorner, who claimed to have held a high-level security clearance in the armed forces, also offered strong support for the controversial Clinton family. “Hillary Clinton. You’ll make one hell of a president in 2016. Much like your husband, Bill, you will be one of the greatest,” the suspect wrote in the bizarre document, also praising the Clintons’ daughter. “Look after Bill. He was always my favorite President.”
Aside from praising Obama, Clinton, and numerous Democrats, Dorner also expressed strong admiration for some “moderate” Republicans — often called RINOs, or Republicans in Name Only, by conservatives. Among others, the triple-murder suspect applauded New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former Utah Gov. John Huntsman, an ex-ambassador for the Obama administration whom Dorner said was his first choice for president.
“Gov. Chris Christie. What can I say? You’re the only person I would like to see in the White House in 2016 other than Hillary,” Dorner continued. “The honorable President George H.W. Bush, they never give you enough credit for your successful Presidency. You were always one of my favorite Presidents (2nd favorite). I hope your health improves greatly. You are the epitome of an American and service to country.”
After asking journalists to investigate his claims about being improperly fired for exposing police brutality and corruption within the LAPD, Dorner goes on to detail his murderous plot to supposedly “clear” his name. Noting that he does not believe in God but rather in his own code of ethics, the suspect describes in chilling detail how he plans to ambush and murder his targets using a variety of weapons as well as military tactics.
Still, he spends a considerable amount of time in his ranting text calling for more gun control, showering praise on politicians and media figures that attack the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans. “The time is now to reinstitute a ban that will save lives. Why does any sportsman need a 30 round magazine for hunting? Why does anyone need a suppressor? Why does anyone need a AR15 rifle?” he asks, apparently oblivious to the real reason for the Second Amendment. “Whether by executive order or thru a bi-partisan congress an assault weapons ban needs to be re-instituted. Period!!!”
The rant then goes on to praise Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who recently filed sweeping legislation to ban so-called “assault weapons” — a bill so extreme that even many Democrats in Congress have distanced themselves from it. “Sen. Feinstein, you are doing the right thing in leading the re-institution of a national AWB,” Dorner wrote in his manifesto, adding that such legislation might have been able to stop his murderous rampage.
Of course, virtually every piece of anti-Second Amendment legislation introduced at the state and federal level, including Feinstein’s assault on gun rights, would exempt current and former law enforcement officers. Shrewd lawmakers know that without support from police — who overwhelmingly support the Second Amendment — their gun control schemes would be even more unlikely to pass.
Dorner also uses foul language to attack Christianity and the Bible, saying “I’m not a f—– Christian” and referring to the Holy Bible as “that old book, made of fiction and limited non-fiction.” Instead of Christianity, Dorner claims to follow his “own” personal set of moral and ethical codes that apparently permits the killing of people to get revenge and make a point.
Meanwhile, at least three innocent people have been shot at by police so far in the hunt for the murder suspect and ex-police officer. Among the victims were 47-year-old Maggie Carranza and her 71-year-old mother Emma Hernandez, who were fired upon with no warning while delivering newspapers, according to investigators cited by the Associated Press. One of the women was shot in the back and remains hospitalized. Apparently the pair was driving a pick-up truck that looked similar to the suspect’s, which police filled with bullet holes before finding out whether or not Dorner was inside.
Another vehicle that looked similar to Dorner’s was also fired on by L.A. police in Torrance, but no injuries were reported in that incident. “Now it appears neither of them are directly related,” police Lt. Devin Chase was quoted as saying by the Los Angeles Times after the mistaken-identity shooting incidents by police. “In both of them, officers believed they were at the time.”
Authorities are urging anyone who sees the suspect to consider him heavily armed and very dangerous. Numerous law enforcement agencies are currently involved in the massive manhunt, and the press is tracking developments closely. However, while the media has been reporting virtually every detail surrounding the tragic events, so far, almost nothing has been said about his political leanings — a stark contrast to other rampages, where opportunists have consistently tried to link killers to those with whom they disagree politically.
Photo of Christopher Dorner: AP Images
Alex Newman is a correspondent for The New American, covering economics, politics, and more. He can be reached at [email protected].
