Rapper Ab-Soul expresses support for LA shooter, exposing lingering mistrust of police
theGRIO REPORT - As the manhunt continued as far north as the San Bernardino Mountains, late Thursday, Interscope Records rapper Ab-Soul posted a photo defending the fugitive on his Instagram page...
LOS ANGELES – While the general response to Christopher Dorner — a former Navy reservist who was fired from the Los Angeles Police Department in 2008, and is now suspected of slaying the daughter of a police captain and her fiancée, and shooting three police officers, one fatally, in an act of vengeance.
As the manhunt continued as far north as the San Bernardino Mountains, late Thursday, Interscope Records rapper Ab-Soul posted a photo defending the fugitive on his Instagram page, quoting Dorner’s 11,400-word manifesto, in which he outlines plans to kill law enforcement officers and their family members.
“This was a necessary evil,” Ab-Soul posted, quoting Dorner’s manifesto, and adding his own comment: “God Bless You Sir.”
So far, the post has received more than 3,200 likes and 500 comments, many supporting the statements.
One commenter calling themselves Popsapien referred to Dorner as “The BLACK RAMBO” and another, Gnodiaz replied: “Everyone else [is] misinformed idiots. He killed officers as a statement because the system he worked in was corrupt and they discharged him [from] attempting to reveal how corrupt it was.”
Ab-Soul and his manager did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
Dorner’s manifesto lays out his accusations of corruption within the Los Angeles Police Department in graphic and lengthy detail, and describes his plan to reap havoc in a quest for vindication. He describes his experiences with racism while on the job, and before joining the police force, and lists the places where he grew up, calling on members of the media to investigate his life and see that he is a nonviolent man. He states his conviction that he will die as a result of his actions. But it is the accusations of racism within the LAPD — including accusations that he was fired after reporting an incident of police brutality by another officer, and allegations that he witnessed a white officer using the n-word — that appear to have motivated support from Ab-Soul and some of his Instagram followers.
“The [police] department has not changed since the Rampart and Rodney King days,” Dorner wrote. “The only thing that has evolved from the consent decree is those officers involved in the Rampart scandal and Rodney King incidents have since promoted to supervisor, commanders, and command staff, and executive positions…I’m not an aspiring rapper, I’m not a gang member, I’m not a dope dealer, I don’t have multiple babies momma’s. I am an American by choice, I am a son, I am a brother, I am a military service member, I am a man who has lost complete faith in the system, when the system betrayed, slandered, and libeled me.”
In an interview with NBC News, Former LAPD Chief Bill Bratton addressed Dorner’s manifesto, deeming it invalid and calling Dorner “a psychotic delusional individual.” He pointed out that Dorner lost his employment appeal after two intense reviews, and though Bratton admitted the LAPD went through a period of “extraordinary brutality corruption racism,” he said the department has since mended its ways.
“I spent a lot of time in the minority communities, especially the African-American community which had the longest and largest historical set of grievances with that organization,” Bratton explained. “It was literally open warfare between the LAPD and the African-American community for over 50 years. [I] began significant efforts to expand the number of minorities on the command staff … It is a minority-majority department and I’m very proud that occurred during my time. A lot of glass ceilings were broken and [LAPD] Chief Beck is continuing that process.”
Speaking about ongoing corruption within the department, Bratton said he “categorically” refutes that the system is flawed, but does not deny the existence of dishonest officers. To that effect, he insists they are aggressively pursued and fired, as was the case with Dorner, making the LAPD one of the most transparent police departments in operation.
“It’s not a perfect organization, none is,” Bratton said. “But I think it’s better than most in the US at this time.”
Next: A history of hip-hop vs. the police
