Christopher Dorner is no hero. Malcolm wanted to live. Martin wanted to live. Medgar wanted to live. Fred wanted to live. Each realized the value of life and they knew themselves to be more valuable living, breathing, and teaching than rotting in the ground. They realized the value of their lives and the lives of others, and not a one of them championed senseless homicide. Christopher Dorner is no hero. The murderous terror he wreaked throughout Los Angeles, California, was cowardly and showed no resemblance to civil rights activists who came before him. Christopher Dorner died not a man flanked by the African American community, but rather a man having soiled his name in a most despicable fashion. Christopher Dorner is no hero. Admittedly, I write this passage with hopes that Christopher Dorner was a man whose actions were unprompted—perhaps, that he was a man inexplicably deranged. Christopher Dorner’s claims, though—that the LAPD was rife with racism—are all too credible to many. The corruption which set Los Angeles ablaze in both 1965 and 1992 has left a lasting impression on the African American community; such that the LAPD has since become a perpetual public relations campaign. If it is so that Christopher Dorner had been victimized by institutionalized racism while working with the LAPD, then his actions were inexplicable—but his anger was not. The world presumably watched a man die on live television, February 12th, 2013. The cabin to which he retreated succumbed to flames, leaving nothing but char. And while the man inside committed the most foul of actions, many who watched his demise did so feeling they may have a shared experience with him: violation by the hands of law enforcement. Christopher Dorner is no hero. What remains to be seen, though, is whether among the many names he is called—murderer, coward, devil—he may also be labeled “victim”. More to come.
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