Micah Xavier Johnson

Black History Month – February 25, 2019

Today before we start celebrating black history, I just want to say one thing. A black man in an evening gown on global television was one of the most embarrassing things I have seen in my fifty plus years here on this earth. Our children are just learning to pull their pants up so their new drawers won’t be showing and now you want them to think wearing a dress is bold and forward thinking. Its not. Its a shame. I’m not talking about anyone’s sexuality here. It’s none of my business who you love or sleep with. It’s really none of my business what you wear. I’m just saying black men and black male children wearing evening dresses is not cool. We have enough problems. Don’t help them push this agenda. That’s right, I said it. Send your replies to [email protected] or mail your replies to UthinkImplaying, P.O. Box 123456789

Usually I try to celebrate some black historic event that on the date corresponding to a date in black history month. There were some to choose from, but its more to it than celebrating past accomplishments or vile acts, that happened decades or even centuries ago. Today we are going to talk about Micah Xavier Johnson. This event happened in memorable history.

On July 7, 2016, Micah Xavier Johnson ambushed and fired upon a group of police officers in Dallas, Texas, killing five officers and injuring nine others. Two civilians were also wounded. Johnson was an Army Reserve Afghan War veteran who was reportedly angry over police shootings of black men and stated that he wanted to kill white people, especially white police officers. The shooting happened at the end of a protest against the police killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Philando Castile in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, which had occurred in the preceding days.

That paragraph opened up a whole bunch of doors. Lets start with the first door. Johnson killed five officers and tried to kill nine others. That shit was uncalled for and reprehensible and I’m not going to give it to the brother. No telling how many black people paid for that stupidity, not to mention the families that will have to live with those murders for the rest of their lives. Naw, he’s not getting it from me. An eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. Next door, he wanted to kill white people. I would have a real problem with him killing any of my white friends. Yes sir, I said it. You know where to send your mail to. Door number three. His reaction was in response to the killing of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. Not too many folks were not deeply affected by those murders. Yes I was mad and angry too. But it never crossed my mind.. not even once.. to go out and start shooting innocent people. I’m gonna shut these doors now… only thing in those rooms are dead bodies.

Here is how it went down. A protest was organized in Dallas by the Next Generation Action Network in response to the killings of two men, Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, by police officers in Louisiana and Minnesota, respectively, days before. The Dallas protest was one of several held across the United States on the night of July 7. Around 800 protesters were involved, and around 100 police officers were assigned to protect the event and the surrounding area. About 20 to 30 open-carry gun rights activists joined the protest march, some wearing gas masks, bulletproof vests, and fatigues. There were no reported incidents with that group.

Around 8:58 p.m. Johnson parked his SUV sideways on Lamar Street, in front of the east entrance to the college, at Building A, and left the vehicle emergency lights blinking. At the time, the street had been cleared out in anticipation of the protest. Taking cover at street level, he began shooting at groups of police and protesters who were gathered on Main Street. Johnson was believed to have talked to three of the officers he shot before he first opened fire. Three officers were killed in the initial gunfire, while at least three others and a civilian were injured. Eleven officers fired back. During the shooting, officers, unaware where the shots were coming from, scrambled to block intersections and were exposed to gunfire as a result. Immediately afterwards, Johnson made his way north on Lamar Street, encountering Officer Brent Thompson along the way. A civilian recorded video of the encounter from his hotel balcony on Lamar Street. The video showed Johnson, clad in tactical clothing and armed with a rifle, loading his rifle and firing indiscriminately to draw officers near his position. When Thompson approached a corner, Johnson engaged him in a gunfight, forcing Thompson to take cover behind a concrete pillar. Johnson fired towards one side of the pillar, then ran over to the other side of the pillar to flank Thompson and shot him multiple times from behind, killing him.

Johnson, now injured during the firefight, attempted to enter the Lamar Street entrance of the college by shooting out the glass door but was unable to make his way in. He wounded two campus police officers who were near the doorway inside the building. One was shot in the stomach underneath his bulletproof vest, while the other was hit by flying glass in the legs. Johnson then made his way to Elm Street where he shot out another glass door and entered the college unseen, he then made his way to Building B.Hearing the shattering glass, one of the injured campus officers, Corporal Bryan Shaw, made his way through the building and discovered a trail of blood leading to a stairwell. Accompanied by another police officer, Shaw entered the stairwell and was met with a hail of gunfire coming from above. Unable to see Johnson, he held his fire and retreated with the other officer.

Afterwards, Johnson made his way along a mezzanine between the school’s second-floor dining area and third-floor library, but came onto a dead end of windows facing down onto Elm Street. He shot out multiple windows and fired repeatedly at officers on Elm Street. He hit Michael Smith, a police officer standing in front of a 7-Eleven, killing him and shattering the store-front glass. Officers began entering the college, sealing escape routes from the building, and evacuating students and teachers in the building, including those on a floor above Johnson, through a different stairwell.

Officers opened negotiations for surrender but Johnson said he would speak to black police officers only. Johnson stated that he had acted alone and was not part of any group. According to Chief Brown, Johnson appeared delusional during his standoff; “We had negotiated with him for about two hours, and he just basically lied to us, playing games, laughing at us, singing, asking how many did he get and that he wanted to kill some more.” By about 2:30 a.m., Chief Brown saw no possibility of negotiating further and made the decision to use a bomb disposal remote control vehicle armed with about 1 pound (0.45 kilograms) of C-4 explosive. The plan was to move the robot to a point against a wall facing Johnson and then detonate the explosives. Johnson saw the robot approaching and fired repeatedly at it in an attempt to stop it. However, the robot exploded as intended, killing Johnson immediately. The robot, while sustaining damage to its extended arm, was still functional.

It was the first time a robot was used to kill a suspect. I would use the race card, but I can’t because it was a black police chief that ordered the suspect be bombed. Still I feel some kind of way. Who would think of sending in a robot to kill someone? Why not use some device that would knock him out and don’t tell me they don’t have it. Two specks of ricin would have killed everybody in that building. At the time some people viewed Johnson as a martyr. There are even folks who celebrate the day of the shooting as an annual holiday and a twitter hashtag #micahxavierjohnson, which represents some of the weirdest view points I ever seen. Police Chief Brown retired from the Dallas Police Department on October 22, 2016. Despite being the longest serving police chief in recent decades, he gave no reason for his retirement only about 7 weeks after the Dallas police shootings, but the mayor and city manager both said that he was not forced out of office. He now works for ABC News as a consultant. Anyway, I thought we would take a look back at recent history. We ain’t there yet. I don’t even see the sign, but we on the highway and we got a full tank of gas. The future is ahead of us.