Yesterday, the world was forced to deal with yet another atrocity on American soil: the cold blooded killings of three Baton Rouge police officers and attacks on seven more.
The man behind the shootings has since been named as ex-Marine, Gavin Long, who committed the attack on his 29th birthday and was also killed in the firefight, reports the BBC.
The African-American had served in the military from 2005-2010, eventually attaining the rank of Sergeant and serving in Iraq, and had also wrote three books and had his own radio show.
But following the killings of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge, and Philando Castille in Minesota, Gavin became increasingly disillusioned and aggravated by the U.S. Police Force, even going so far as to make online videos calling for people to ‘fight back’.
In the video above he says:
Recently we have seen Independence Day, and Independence Day is really based on George Washington and the Americans fighting against their oppressor – Britain. And we celebrate that; we tell them they’re right.
But when an African fights back, it’s wrong. But every time a European fights back against his oppressor, he’s right. But soon as an African tries to fight back? Why is that – we gotta start questioning our mindset.
One hundred per cent of revolutions, victims fighting their oppressors, victims fighting their bullies, 100 per cent have been successful through fighting back, through bloodshed.
Zero have been successful by simply protesting. It has never worked and it never will. You’ve gotta fight back, that’s the only way a bully knows to quit. He doesn’t understand words.
If you all wanna keep protesting but for the real ones, the serious ones, the alpha ones – we know what it’s going to take. It’s only fighting back or money. That’s all they care about. Revenue and blood. Nothing else.
The video was posted onto Long’s YouTube channel just days before the attack where he also claims not to have affiliation to any group – despite some claiming he was a member of the Nation of Islam.
Long’s Twitter account, Convos With Cosmo, is also the bearer of numerous tweets, which, in hindsight, seem to foreshadow the shocking events that took place yesterday afternoon.
The Twitter account leaps forward from talk of a revolution and fighting back against to the sorts of things you would see on just about anyone’s social media accounts.
In the week before the 18 July attack he posted (from oldest to most recent):
The next tweet uses ‘you’ as a reference to shooting unarmed black civilians:
And then, just hours before the attack began yesterday, Gavin Long posted this final tweet:
The dead officers were named as Montrell Jackson, 32, and Matthew Gerald, 41, of the Baton Rouge police department, and Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola, 45. All three men had families.
Another officer is in critical condition.
Our thoughts go out to all those involved, either directly or indirectly. Hopefully some day we will see an end to this chaos.
