Micah Xavier Johnson: Dallas suspect was Afghanistan war veteran, army says
The lone gunman killed by police after five officers were murdered in Dallas on Thursday night was a veteran of the Afghanistan war, the US army has confirmed.
Dallas police shooting: Micah Johnson was 'lone shooter' – as it happened
Follow the latest updates in the aftermath of a shooting attack on a protest against police violence in Dallas, in which five officers were killed
Despite initial reports that multiple shooters were involved, Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings confirmed on Friday night that Micah Johnson was the sole gunman.
Johnson – killed during the confrontation by an explosive device set off by a police robot – was a 25-year-old army veteran with no criminal record, described as a loner, Dallas Police Department said in a statement.
An enlisted US army reservist, he was deployed to Afghanistan in November 2013 and served there until July 2014, according to his service record, released by the US army on Friday. He was an engineer and a carpentry and masonry specialist.
His rank was private first class, earned the year after his March 2009 enlistment. He left the military in April 2015 after serving in the 420th Engineer Brigade in Seagoville, Texas.
On Friday morning, ATF agents and local police were at the house where Johnson seemingly lived with his mother. The road was blocked off at both ends by police and a crowd of neighbours, and media, gathered in a field opposite the home, a large two-storey structure on a well-kept street in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, a half-hour drive east of the shooting scene in downtown Dallas.
“During the search of the suspect’s home, detectives found bomb making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition, and a personal journal of combat tactics,” said police.
Jeh Johnson, the head of the US Department for Homeland Security, said the dead suspect did not seem to have “links to or inspiration from any international terrorist organization”.
During negotiations with police following the shootout in Dallas, Micah Johnson “said he was upset about Black Lives Matter”, Dallas police chief David Brown told the media. “The suspect said he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. The suspect said that he was not affiliated with any groups and he stated that he did this alone.”
One of the organizers of the Dallas protest, Pastor Jeff Hood, said he did not recognize Johnson and had never heard of him.
READ MORE: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/j...
Dallas police shooting: Micah Johnson was 'lone shooter' – as it happened
Follow the latest updates in the aftermath of a shooting attack on a protest against police violence in Dallas, in which five officers were killed
Despite initial reports that multiple shooters were involved, Dallas mayor Mike Rawlings confirmed on Friday night that Micah Johnson was the sole gunman.
Johnson – killed during the confrontation by an explosive device set off by a police robot – was a 25-year-old army veteran with no criminal record, described as a loner, Dallas Police Department said in a statement.
An enlisted US army reservist, he was deployed to Afghanistan in November 2013 and served there until July 2014, according to his service record, released by the US army on Friday. He was an engineer and a carpentry and masonry specialist.
His rank was private first class, earned the year after his March 2009 enlistment. He left the military in April 2015 after serving in the 420th Engineer Brigade in Seagoville, Texas.
On Friday morning, ATF agents and local police were at the house where Johnson seemingly lived with his mother. The road was blocked off at both ends by police and a crowd of neighbours, and media, gathered in a field opposite the home, a large two-storey structure on a well-kept street in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite, a half-hour drive east of the shooting scene in downtown Dallas.
“During the search of the suspect’s home, detectives found bomb making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition, and a personal journal of combat tactics,” said police.
Jeh Johnson, the head of the US Department for Homeland Security, said the dead suspect did not seem to have “links to or inspiration from any international terrorist organization”.
During negotiations with police following the shootout in Dallas, Micah Johnson “said he was upset about Black Lives Matter”, Dallas police chief David Brown told the media. “The suspect said he wanted to kill white people, especially white officers. The suspect said that he was not affiliated with any groups and he stated that he did this alone.”
One of the organizers of the Dallas protest, Pastor Jeff Hood, said he did not recognize Johnson and had never heard of him.
READ MORE: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/j...
Last week, the House Appropriations Subcommittee marked up the 2016 Veterans Affairs funding bill, and slashed more than $1.4 billion from the president’s requested budget for America’s Veterans. Today, VA Secretary Bob McDonald appeared before the Senate Appropriations Committee to discuss that budget proposal.
While some may argue this is not a drastic move, every cut and rescission of funds has real-world implications for Veterans across the country. Here are three ways these proposed congressional cuts will adversely affect the quality of care and services provided to Veterans next year if they are not reversed:
1.Medical Care
The Veterans Health Administration has expanded access to care, completing more than 46 million appointments between May 1, 2014, and Feb. 28, 2015. That’s an increase of 2 million more completed appointments than during the same time period in 2013-2014. VA has also begun to turn the corner on wait times – 97 percent of appointments are completed within 30 days, including 12 million same-day appointments.
The republican controlled 2016 House proposal reduces VA medical care by $690 million. What does this mean? As a result of the overall cut to medical services, an estimated 70,000 fewer Veterans will receive the VA care they need.
These Brothers and Sisters are coming home from fighting a ugly war and when they come back home, many of them need help and this may have been what was happening in this case but yet we, as the people of the United States Legislators don't want to talk about this issue but at the same time want to cut the budget for the Vet.
Welcome Home and this is the thanks for your service. READ MORE: http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/19356/how-...