The recent deaths of two African-American men at the hands of police officers in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Falcon Heights, Minnesota, may have prompted Johnson “to fast-track his plans” and use a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas last Friday as an opportunity to attack police, Brown said.
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Mr Brown said: “We believe he had been practising explosive detonations and that the materials were large enough to have devastating effects”.
Mr Brown said Johnson planned to “make us [police] pay for what he sees as law enforcement’s efforts to punish people of colour”, elaborating on the gunman’s stated motives to police before he was killed by a “bomb robot” after a four-hour standoff.
Sniper suspect Micah Johnson opened fire on officers Thursday night just as protestors were wrapping up a rally in downtown Dallas.
Police didn’t find the suspect and eventually cleared the area.
Police are also searching Johnson’s laptop and cellphones to try and find out whether anyone may have helped him plan Thursday’s attack.
Initial reports of gunfire have also been debunked by police, who also asked media to stop all live feeds around headquarters “for the safety of our officers”, the BBC reported.
“We’re sworn to protect you and your right to protest, and we’ll give our lives for it”, Brown said.
While talking to negotiators after the shootings, Johnson asked how many officers he had killed, Brown said.
Dallas police SWAT team members stay in a holding position in front of the Dallas Police Department headquarters which was locked down after an anonymous threat was reported in Dallas, Texas, U.S. July 9, 2016.
The department says on Twitter that it searched the garage with officers and dogs to ensure a report of a suspicious person was thoroughly investigated. Brown said there’s partial damage to the extension arm of the robot but it is still functional for potential future operations. Mr Brown said: “He seemed very in control and very determined about hurting more officers”.
During negotiations, he said he wanted to exterminate whites, “especially white officers”, the police chief said.
“Policing was never meant to solve these problems”, Brown said.
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Police also say a Wisconsin man posted calls on social media for black men to gun down white officers, and a woman in IL is accused of threatening in an online video to shoot and kill any officer who pulled her over. Brown also revealed the shooter wrote the letters “RB” in at least two locations at the crime scene.
