Pyromania

On the death and burning of former LAPD police officer Christopher Dorner who appears to have committed suicide when the cabin he was cornered in, went up in flames.  Protesters decried police actions Saturday in front of LAPD headquarters in downtown L.A., criticizing the manner in which the manhunt was conducted and alleging widespread department corruption.

An Iraq veteran and former Naval Reserve lieutenant, Mr. Dorner reported a depraved LAPD work culture of racism, abuse, and failures of accountability; for example, when officers tried to hold colleagues answerable on any such violations.  Mr. Dorner himself was fired when he reported another officer for physically abusing a homeless person;  instead, Mr. Dorner was accused of making things up about the fellow officer and he lost his job.  Deeply disturbed by his experiences with "fighting the system" and within LAPD, he vowed vengeance, going on a "Rambo-style" gun rampage allegedly killing two police officers, and a relative and friend of the representative during his termination hearing (a former police chief) - and while LAPD waged a controversial, intensive manhunt that involved wounding innocent bystanders (e.g. one woman was shot in the back when police thought they spotted Mr. Dorner) - what some viewed as the result of department hysteria, panic - or variously, organized vengeance and abuse of authority and rights.

 

In addition to the Democracy Now! report, a controversial video allegedly recorded LAPD crying out, "burn that fucking house down."  The video went viral, including widespread twitter circulation.  

 

Photo credit/courtesy of the L.A. Times/photographer: Irfan Khan/"Protesters outside LAPD headquarters on Saturday."