Baton Rouge police officers killed less than a week after credible threat warning issued
Three Baton Rouge police officers were killed less than a week after the Baton Rouge police issued a ‘credible threat’ warning to police officers.
The three police officers who were killed were 32-year-old Montrell Jackson, 41-year-old Matthew Gerald, and a 45-year-old sheriff deputy.
There were also three police officers who were wounded. The suspect, Gavine Eugene Long, was killed during a shootout with the police.
Last Wednesday, CNN reported that the Baton Rouge police issued a “credible threat” warning to police officers and that four people had been arrested in connection with the threats made against the police officers.
The three individuals arrested in connection with the threat were a 13-year-old, 17-year-old Trashone Coats, and 20-year-old Malik Bridgewater. Coats was released after it was determined that he had no involvement in the situation. The fourth person has not been located.
CNN quoted East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux as saying, “We can’t take anything for granted any more. What you saw in the (law enforcement) response is because of the very real and viable threats against law enforcement. Look what happened in Dallas. A very peaceful protest and then some crazy madman.”
Police officers throughout the country have received an increase number of threats after videos surfaced of white police officers killing Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
The men’s deaths resulted in several protests throughout the country. And in some instances, as in Minnesota and Georgia, protesters shut down a major interstate.
The protest in Dallas, Texas, received the most attention because it resulted in five police officers being killed. Micah Xavier Johnson, a former Army Reservist, told negotiators that he targeted the police because he was angry about the deaths of Sterling and Castile at the hands of white police officers.
Johnson also told the negotiators that he “wanted to kill white people-especially white officers.” Like Johnson, Long was in the military and he expressed anger over the deaths of black men at the hands of white police officers.
Long was a former Marine who left with the rank of sergeant. After Sterling death, Long tweeted, according to the Los Angeles Time, “At what point do you stand up so that your people don’t become the Native Americans…EXTINCT?”
The Los Angeles Times also reported that in support of Johnson, Long tweeted that “he (Johnson) was one of us!”
President Obama, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton have spoken about the tense relationship between the African-American community and the police departments.
President Obama has said that although he understands why there is a divide between the African-American community and the police, he doesn’t condone the “violence on law enforcement.”
Gov. Edwards said that the solution cannot be “more violence” because that “is just an injustice in and of itself.”
As for Gov. Dayton , he said that he is “forced to confront …that this kind of racism exists” and that the solution must be the African-American community and the police working together to solve the problems and to build trust amongst each other.
Montrel Jackson was the youngest police officer killed on Sunday. On July 8, 2016, following the deaths of Sterling and Castile, Jackson went to his Facebook page to write a post about how it is to be an African-American police officer.
In his post, Jackson wrote that he faced criticism when he is in and out of his police uniform: “I’m tired physically and emotionally. Disappointed in some family, friends, and officers for some reckless comments but hey what’s in your heart is in your heart…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.”
The three police officers who were killed were 32-year-old Montrell Jackson, 41-year-old Matthew Gerald, and a 45-year-old sheriff deputy.
There were also three police officers who were wounded. The suspect, Gavine Eugene Long, was killed during a shootout with the police.
Last Wednesday, CNN reported that the Baton Rouge police issued a “credible threat” warning to police officers and that four people had been arrested in connection with the threats made against the police officers.
The three individuals arrested in connection with the threat were a 13-year-old, 17-year-old Trashone Coats, and 20-year-old Malik Bridgewater. Coats was released after it was determined that he had no involvement in the situation. The fourth person has not been located.
CNN quoted East Baton Rouge Sheriff Sid Gautreaux as saying, “We can’t take anything for granted any more. What you saw in the (law enforcement) response is because of the very real and viable threats against law enforcement. Look what happened in Dallas. A very peaceful protest and then some crazy madman.”
Police officers throughout the country have received an increase number of threats after videos surfaced of white police officers killing Alton Sterling and Philando Castile.
The men’s deaths resulted in several protests throughout the country. And in some instances, as in Minnesota and Georgia, protesters shut down a major interstate.
The protest in Dallas, Texas, received the most attention because it resulted in five police officers being killed. Micah Xavier Johnson, a former Army Reservist, told negotiators that he targeted the police because he was angry about the deaths of Sterling and Castile at the hands of white police officers.
Johnson also told the negotiators that he “wanted to kill white people-especially white officers.” Like Johnson, Long was in the military and he expressed anger over the deaths of black men at the hands of white police officers.
Long was a former Marine who left with the rank of sergeant. After Sterling death, Long tweeted, according to the Los Angeles Time, “At what point do you stand up so that your people don’t become the Native Americans…EXTINCT?”
The Los Angeles Times also reported that in support of Johnson, Long tweeted that “he (Johnson) was one of us!”
President Obama, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards, and Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton have spoken about the tense relationship between the African-American community and the police departments.
President Obama has said that although he understands why there is a divide between the African-American community and the police, he doesn’t condone the “violence on law enforcement.”
Gov. Edwards said that the solution cannot be “more violence” because that “is just an injustice in and of itself.”
As for Gov. Dayton , he said that he is “forced to confront …that this kind of racism exists” and that the solution must be the African-American community and the police working together to solve the problems and to build trust amongst each other.
Montrel Jackson was the youngest police officer killed on Sunday. On July 8, 2016, following the deaths of Sterling and Castile, Jackson went to his Facebook page to write a post about how it is to be an African-American police officer.
In his post, Jackson wrote that he faced criticism when he is in and out of his police uniform: “I’m tired physically and emotionally. Disappointed in some family, friends, and officers for some reckless comments but hey what’s in your heart is in your heart…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.”
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