The Dorner Dilemma

[col. writ. 2/16/13] © ’13 Mumia Abu-Jamal

 The short, but utterly fascinating post police career of Christopher Dorner has captivated the attention of millions.

Dorner, a fired Los Angeles cop, vowed war against his former colleagues, and almost made good his threats.

Citing the police department’s institutional racism, and an unfair disciplinary proceeding which resulted in his firing, the ex-cop pledged to exact revenge, and unleashed a deadly rain of bullets on several of his (former) fellows.

Trained as a sniper in the agency’s elite squads, Dorner sent shockwaves of terror through the highest ranks of the agency, by targeting the families of officers.

For ten days he struck and moved, leaving the urban landscapes for nearby mountainous territory.

After a series of shootings, he escaped to an abandoned cabin, where over 100 heavily armed cops converged to retire the former cop by fire.

Using pyrotechnics, they launched a grenade into the cabin, covered the doors, and waited for the hungry flames to do their work. The blaze raged for hours – the last weapon used in Christopher Dormer’s war.

We are left with pondering the forces which triggered Dormer’s war.

Fired after a questionable internal hearing, this black cop turned on the very forces that trained and nurtured him.

He was called a “monster” and worse by reporters, pundits and police –but, if so, he was a monster of the LAPD’s making.

What did he see – what did he experience on the inside that turned his heart to ice?

This, we may never know.

But we await the next Dorner – angry, embittered, soured on the job – and determined to deliver his own ‘burn notice’.