Salon.com > christopher dorner

LAPD’s indefensible Dorner pursuit

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 01:00:00 +0000

In hunting down Christopher J. Dorner, hell-bent on murderous revenge over being fired from the Los Angeles Police Department, officers twice fired without warning on three innocent civilians, wounding two of them.

That innocent people get shot by cops who think their own safety is paramount, whose actions show they value their own lives more than those of people they are sworn to protect, is part of a major problem in America that has not abated much despite decades of efforts to make policing more professional and less brutish. It is the policy of police departments that police cannot kill innocents to save themselves, in effect, that sometimes your sworn duty is to die. But, on the streets, it is far too often another story entirely.

The victims of this Feb. 7 police violence bore no resemblance to Dorner or his vehicle. The deranged Dorner drove a gray Nissan Titan pickup, while LAPD fired a fusillade into a bright blue Toyota Tacoma pickup from behind, while minutes later Torrance, Calif., police rammed a black Honda Ridgeline pickup and then fired three shots.

Dorner was a large, even hulking, black man. In the blue truck were two Hispanic women. Torrance police shot at a surfer, a white male slight in stature.

Understanding Christopher Dorner

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 23:26:00 +0000

Bradley Manning: imprisoned, tortured. Marsha Coleman-Adebayo: lost her career at the Environmental Protection Agency. Karen Silkwood: died in a suspicious car accident. Gary Webb and Deborah Jeane Palfrey: committed suicide, the former having lost his career, the latter under threat of a 55-year prison sentence. Adrian Schoolcraft: involuntarily admitted to a psychiatric ward.

This isn’t a country that necessarily holds whistleblowers in the highest regard.

Ex-cops sympathize with Dorner’s anger

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:52:00 +0000

In a blaze of fire and bullets, a man believed to be ex-LAPD officer and alleged killer Christopher Dorner died Tuesday night in a cabin in California's mountainous San Bernardino County. And while Dorner's suspected killing spree is being widely decried, as the Los Angeles Times noted Tuesday, the allegations posted about LAPD racism and use of excessive force “have resonated among the public and some LAPD employees who have criticized the department’s disciplinary system, calling it capricious and retaliatory toward those who try to expose misconduct.”

Another former Los Angeles police officer, Joe Jones, has now posted his own online manifesto flagged by HuffPo Tuesday. Jones wrote, "The first thing I would say to [Dorner] is, I feel your pains!" but urges, "Don't kill anymore innocent people!"

Jones, 48, a patrol officer who retired in 1998, like Dorner stressed "the injustices of Police Corruption, Scandal, Lies, Deception and Brutality." Jones claims that he had his "Civil Rights violated on several occasions" by the LAPD, had himself been falsely arrested at gunpoint, and lost so much trust in the police department while an officer that he could "no longer wear the Uniform." His manifesto, which was originally posted to his Facebook page (since removed) and then circulated Tuesday, directly addresses "unethical LAPD and all agencies":

Dorner believed to be dead

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 02:55:00 +0000

BIG BEAR, Calif. (AP) -- The man believed to be fugitive ex-cop Christopher Dorner never came out of a California mountain cabin, and a single shot was heard inside before the cabin was engulfed in flames, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press.

The law enforcement official requested anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

A fourth person - a deputy - died earlier in the latest confrontation with America's most-wanted man, which seemed to be coming to an end.

Officials were waiting for the fire to burn out before approaching the ruins to search for a body.

"We have reason to believe that it is him," San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cynthia Bachman said.

The cabin was on fire and smoke was coming from the structure in the late afternoon after police surrounded it in the snow-covered woods of Big Bear, a resort town about 80 miles east of Los Angeles.

Bachman didn't say how the fire started but noted there was gunfire between the person in the cabin and law enforcement officers around the home before the blaze began.

TV helicopters showed the fire burning freely with no apparent effort to extinguish it.

Shots fired as Dorner spotted in Big Bear

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:34:00 +0000

The manhunt for former LAPD officer Christopher Dorner has taken an even more dramatic turn.

Updated 9:00 p.m. EST: The cabin in which the ex-cop is believed to be barricaded is on fire. "TV helicopters showed the fire burning freely with no apparent effort to extinguish it," the AP reported.

Updated 7:00 p.m. EST: According to AP reports citing the LAPD, Dorner is believed to be barricaded in the San Bernardino Mountains in a cabin. SWAT teams surrounding the otherwise empty property are asking him to surrender.

The AP reported, "LAPD held a brief news conference Tuesday, confirming that authorities think it's Christopher Dorner who's holed up in a cabin in the Big Bear Lake area, after a shootout that wounded two officers.

LAPD Cmdr. Andrew Smith asked news agencies not to broadcast live reports because the person in the cabin might be watching television."

Original post: According to the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday afternoon:

Get your “Don’t Shoot! Not Dorner” swag

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:20:00 +0000

After the LAPD shot at three innocent individuals in the frenzied manhunt for Christopher Dorner, T-shirts and bumper stickers began appearing around Los Angeles and online -- equal parts commentary, dark comedy and serious message: "Don't Shoot, Not Dorner!" has become a fledgling meme.

In the image to garner the most viral attention to date, a muscular black man buying groceries is featured wearing a grey T-shirt inscribed with the words "Not Chris Dorner, Please Do Not Shoot." In another image, a pickup truck displays a handwritten sign reading, "Don't Shoot! Not Dorner, Thank You." It's a direct jab at the LAPD after two pickup trucks similar to Dorner's vehicle were shot at by police while innocent passengers were inside. Printed bumper stickers and shirts with the same message are now available for sale on eBay.

The lawyer of a man driving one of these pickups told the Los Angeles Times, "I don't want to use the word 'buffoonery' but it really is unbridled police lawlessness ... These people need training and they need restraint."

Were Dorner’s complaints legitimate?

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:53:00 +0000

Christopher Dorner, the allegedly killer ex-LAPD officer with a $1 million bounty on his head, hinged his sprawling anti-police manifesto on one major event: his dismissal from the LAPD in 2008 for allegedly making false statements about police brutality during an arrest. A disciplinary panel ruled that Dorner had lied when he said his training officer had kicked a mentally ill homeless man.

However, according to the Los Angeles Times, when a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge examined the case a year later in 2010 as part of an appeal filed by Dorner, he was "uncertain whether the training officer kicked the suspect or not." The judge nonetheless upheld the panel's ruling.

Based on police records, the Los Angeles Times detailed the events leading up to Dorner's dismissal:

Dorner: A drone target on U.S. soil

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 17:29:00 +0000

Updated, 1:30 p.m. ET: Ralph DeSio of Customs and Border Patrol has contacted Salon to state that reports that he confirmed the use of drones in the Dorner manhunt -- such as the comment cited by MSNNow below -- are incorrect. "Reports that U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s unmanned aircraft systems are being used are incorrect. CBP UAS are not flying in support of the search.”

However, a source named only as a "senior police source" reportedly told the U.K.'s Daily Express:

“The thermal imaging cameras the drones use may be our only hope of finding him. On the ground, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

Asked directly if drones have already been deployed, Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz, who is jointly leading the task force, said: “We are using all the tools at our disposal.”

Original post: Alongside the police shooting on two separate incidents of innocent individuals in the manhunt for cop-killing ex-cop Christopher Dorner, the frenzied search has also introduced the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (drones) to seek a target on U.S. soil.

$1 million reward for information on Dorner

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:16:00 +0000

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. -- Authorities are offering a $1 million reward for information leading to the arrest of Christopher Dorner, the former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings who is the subject of a manhunt in Southern California.

LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the reward at a news conference at LAPD headquarters Sunday.

Some 80 miles to the east, SWAT teams continued to scour snow-covered mountains near where the 33-year-old fugitive's charred pickup truck was discovered Thursday.

Authorities say Dorner has vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career.

Mountain hunt for ex-LAPD cop enters 4th day

Sun, 10 Feb 2013 18:52:00 +0000

BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (AP) — The hunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings entered a fourth day in snow-covered mountains Sunday, a day after the LAPD chief ordered a review of the disciplinary case that led to the fugitive's dismissal and new details emerge of the evidence he left behind.

Officials will re-examine the allegations by Christopher Dorner, 33, that his law enforcement career was undone by racist colleagues, Police Chief Charlie Beck announced Saturday. While he promised to hear out Dorner if he surrenders, Beck stressed that he was ordering a review of his 2007 case because he takes the allegation of racism in his department seriously.

"I do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do," the chief said in a statement.

Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of attacks in Southern California over the past week that left three people dead. Authorities say he has vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career. The killings and threats that Dorner allegedly made in an online rant have led police to provide protection to 50 families, Beck said.

Alleged killer ex-cop sent a strange package to Anderson Cooper

Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:11:00 +0000

Police are still on the hunt for Christopher Jordan Dorner, the LAPD officer who allegedly killed three people earlier this week, including another police officer and the daughter and son-in-law-to-be of a former police captain. California authorities say that Dorner, who has been dubbed the "Killer ex-cop," “could be anywhere at this point."

Yesterday it was also discovered that Dorner last week sent CNN anchor Anderson Cooper an unsettling package meant to exonerate him:

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