A man opened fire on police in Baton Rouge, La. on July 17 without warning, killing three and wounding three more.
The ambush came on the heels of the shooting in Dallas, Texas, where five officers were killed during a protest against police violence. Baton Rouge was the city where police killed Alton Sterling on July 5.
The ambush was carried out by a Kansas City man named Gavin Long. CNN reports that Long, an African-American man and former Marine, carried out the shooting with an AR-15 style rifle.
Police have not officially released the names of the victims but one was identified by family members as Officer Montrell Jackson. Law officers Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola were also killed, according to sources close to the department. That was corroborated with social media posts.
In a Facebook post just after the Dallas shooting, Montrell Jackson offered a searing and honest account of his struggle as a black man and a police officer in Baton Rouge. Saying he was “tired physically and emotionally,” Jackson wrote:
“I swear to God I love this city but I wonder if this city loves me. In uniform I get nasty hateful looks and out of uniform some consider me a threat.”
Nevertheless, Jackson wrote that Baton Rouge “MUST and WILL get better.”
“I’m working in these streets so any protesters, officers, friends, family, or whoever, if you see me and need a hug or want to say a prayer. I got you.”
Meanwhile, media focus on Gavin Long, the Baton Rouge shooter, has focused on his eccentric worldview and affiliations. He called himself “Cosmo Setepenra,” and had a prolific social media output, recording videos of himself dispensing his thoughts and advice on everything from lifestyle topics to political subjects.
According to The Kansas City Star:
He took up anti-government views, and while he said he didn’t want to be affiliated with any organized groups, he was a member of a bizarre offshoot of the sovereign citizen movement and had been associated with the Nation of Islam. He saw police as part of the government and was outraged by the recent spate of police shootings of black men.
Followers of the sovereign citizen movement believe the government is corrupt and has no jurisdiction over them. Federal authorities consider the movement a domestic terrorist threat, and the movement continues to swell, with violent incidents erupting regularly.
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