While ex-LAPD officer Christopher Dorner has made it clear that he’s targeting the police force after allegedly killing one officer and two civilians this week, he has a few choice words for journalists as well.
In a manifesto written by Dorner and delivered to CNN by a LAPD source, Dorner expresses his support for the federal government, gun control and Charlie Sheen (of all people), but bars no holds when detailing his terrifying intent to hunt down and kill any accessible police officer he encounters, or their families. Dorner’s eerie, Joker-esque practice of naming his targets in writing only scratches the surface of the brutality of his remarks, among them comments like, “Unfortunately, orphanages will be making a comeback in the 21st century.”
Los Angeles police Chief Charlie Beck weighed in on the severity of Dorner’s claims: “Of course he knows what he’s doing. We trained him. …It is extremely worrisome and scary, especially to the officers involved.” Dorner was terminated from the force in 2008 after three years of service, after implicating a fellow officer in an unwarranted attack against a suspect. His claims were dismissed as false and attempts to reverse his termination in court failed.
The second half of the manifesto takes an extremely bizarre turn, with Dorner rambling on subjects from The Hangover trilogy to Michelle Obama’s bangs. And strangely, he repeatedly references journalists, either as a vague entity “investigating (his) story,” or name dropping specific media figures that he supports (among them Chris Matthews, Joe Scarborough, Pat Harvey, Brian Williams, Soledad O’Brien, Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper and Piers Morgan).
For Cooper, a connection to Dorner moved beyond the chilling words of the manifesto. Cooper’s CNN office received a parcel, allegedly from Dorner, containing a DVD, Post-It note and coin riddled with bullet holes. The note partially read, “I never lied,” according to CNN, and while the contents of the DVD have not been confirmed, the coin supposedly was a souvenir from ex-LAPD chief William Bratton, with three bullet holes piercing it along with a handwritten inscription reading, “Thanks, but no thanks, Will Bratton.”
Among the more obscure references to journalists in the manifesto is a plea for the media to “utilize every source” to uncover Dorner’s innocence and clear his name. The address to journalists even goes as far to suggest submitting a FOIA request to access LAPD documents regarding Dorner’s termination.
Several media outlets have omitted parts of the manifesto that refer to journalists for undisclosed reasons, which seems highly unusual. A look at the manifesto, which can be read uncensored here, shows this guy has things a lot more sinister up his sleeves than a bad impression of Fahreed Zakaria.
Have you read Dorner’s manifesto, or are you as perplexed by his media fixation as I am? Sound off in the comments below.
This article appears in Feb 7-13, 2013.
What’s truly perplexing in this case is the manifesto’s raving praise for gun control. It’s like MADD giving 5-star reviews to distilleries…had the laws he offers such support for been in place, Dorner wouldn’t have been able to acquire his arsenal unless he was still a cop. What’s next, Manson demanding knife control?!?
Obviously, Dorner had existing emotional problems. But there must have been something that set him off the deep end. The egregious random shootings at the trucks last week by the LAPD clearly suggest that there’s much more to this story than LAPD wants the public to know. I don’t remember this much frenzied paranoia by the department since the Patty Hearst kidnapping.
Kate…looks like this guy is using a wild tact to get his points
accross…he knows he is going down. But, has the news media
looked into his accusations for any element of truth???