If you were doing a threat assessment of Micah Johnson's attack in Dallas, what key points would you highlight?

2016-07-11T08:53:30-04:00

I know some folks are going to have heartburn with me for addressing Mr. Johnson as an insurgent rather than using a more emotionally satisfying label such as terrorist or murderer, but there are lessons to be learned which could be easily obscured by emotion - and, as military professionals, we have a duty to accurately assess threats and implement or recommend effective countermeasures.

Response by 1LT William Clardy made Jul 11 at 2016 8:57 AM

2016-07-11T08:57:39-04:00

As a starting point, I would suggest that an institutional blindness to a suspect actually maneuvering tactically instead of fleeing or remaining stationary led the Dallas PD to mistake Mr. Johnson's use of "shoot and scoot" tactics for multiple assailants.

Response by Cpl Jeff N. made Jul 11 at 2016 9:04 AM

2016-07-11T09:04:46-04:00

He isn't/wasn't a military threat. It was civil in nature. He was a US Citizen with no signs of radicalization from an external (outside of the U.S.) organization. You can call him an insurgent, a terrorist or a criminal. I think in some ways all three fit him to some degree.

As far as we know, he had sympathy with BLM but no actual affiliation (he was not a member). How do you countermeasure one person in a nation of 300 million? From what I have read (we clearly do not have all of the details yet) there were not many real hot buttons. He was booted from the Army, so what, lot's of people are. Not for violence (I think theft of women's underwear). I have read nothing about statements or threats he made that would put him high on the horizon either.

No criminal record to speak of (or so I have read). Again, no final/complete investigation to go on but counter measuring someone like him would be tough. The only real option is for people to watch the heated rhetoric calling for the killing of the police or the mistrust of the police etc. That is not likely to happens since the President readily and quickly does so at almost every opportunity. The fish rots from the head down.

Response by Cpl Mark A. Morris made Jul 11 at 2016 9:28 AM

2016-07-11T09:28:53-04:00

Good morning 1LT,

There appears to be a lot of unknowns. The focus, for some reason, doesn't get past the stated lone shooter. Without information on the other suspects picked up in the parking garage and the one stopped on 35, I am not sure we would be able assess the threat correctly.

These perps and their backgrounds need to be understood. Then, we would be able to discuss the matter in depth. Notice, all news channels have the narrative on just one person with loose connections to the New Black Panther party and the Nation of Islam.

I got home late early Friday morning to catch the end of the event. I did see video of the Police responding towards the ambush. But, I did not see any helmets, or organized approach to the suspected location of the enemy. Brave for sure. However, the response in the future could be different.

For example: Two fire teams supporting each other with air using thermal. This would have to be practiced and every situation would be different. To me, the Thursday night situation had at least one shooter using military tactics and the Police in civilian mode. I don't know if the Police had comm with the helo and if the helo was using thermal.

The Police need to know how many they are up against and where their location is/was.

Thank you for asking the question 1LT. Have a great morning.

Mark A. Morris BS, RDMS, RVT

Response by SSG John Erny made Jul 11 at 2016 9:42 AM

2016-07-11T09:42:19-04:00

It is fair to liken his actions to that of an insurgent, the tactics he used were much the same. A sucker punch if you will. He like McVeigh was willing to die to get his point across and take as many people with him as possible; again like an insurgent. Perhaps that is what we should be more concerned about, people adopting the methods used by insurgents and using them in the U.S. It is claimed that Johnson had explosives, this to is the way of the insurgent. The scary thing is that you do not have to be a chemist or have taken chemistry to make them. All you need is a search engine or perhaps TOR to search the dark net. The Lunatic James Holmes had set up a powerful bomb in is apartment and he did have a strong background in chemistry, luckily the bomb squad disarmed it. We are so very lucky that he did not decide to use the tactics of Timothy McVeigh, he easily could have with his skills. If anything I guess we can use history: Guy Fox.

Response by SPC James Harsh made Jul 11 at 2016 9:46 AM

2016-07-11T09:46:06-04:00

Not to hijack the post because I assume you are looking for formal responses. One thing that comes to mind though is the deployment of smoke. During large assemblies perhaps every officer should have smoke as a standard countermeasure.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 11 at 2016 2:12 PM

2016-07-11T14:12:26-04:00

You know what I call him? A dead fucking asshole who killed Police Officers. I hope he suffered horribly on the way out! Is that an agreeable term?

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 11 at 2016 8:52 PM

2016-07-11T20:52:15-04:00

William, what benefit to the conversation is provided by the gratuitous corpse?

Response by Lt Col Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 11 at 2016 10:28 PM

2016-07-11T22:28:48-04:00

Insurgency, terrorism (the overall concept, not the tactic), and murder. These all matter of perspective. Our founding fathers were insurgents from the British perspective who conducted COIN. With that being said, these
concepts and categories are not mutually exclusive. I like your overall thoughts. I didn't think about the insurgent angle.

Response by MSgt Ken "Airsoldier" Collins-Hardy made Jul 11 at 2016 11:17 PM

2016-07-11T23:17:33-04:00

1LT William Clardy, Please highlight this detail in your assessment: A robot was used for the first time U.S. police history. I suspect most analyst may overlook the implications of this detail. Racism tends to subdue America's attention and befuddle her psyche. America is practically dodging war, both domestically and internationally. Imagine for a moment that the robot was used to introduce an Hegelian dialectic to avoid this powder keg while conditioning public reaction to law enforcement's use of robots to kill citizens. Consider giving a veteran the benefit of the doubt until the appropriate authorities prove otherwise.

Without stigmatizing them as insurgents, the complexities of war haved led previous veterans to suffer mental incapacities that have gotten civilians killed. I should know. My aunt with three other little Christian girls were killed when an ex-Marine demolition expert bombed Sixteen Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. And then I lost two uncles to fratricide during a card game gone sour. The younger uncle, a Vietnam veteran, shot and killed my elder uncle. My veteran uncle went to prison; my elder uncle we buried.

I totally agree with you that we have a duty to accurately assess threats and implement or recommend effective countermeasures. Call me a doctrinaire but military professional don't apply the military decision-making process (MDMP), intelligence preparation of the battlefield (IPB) and Joint Lessons-Learned (JULLs) to assess ongoing civilian investigations. Plus MDMP involves the counsel of a Judge Advocate General (JAG) charged with helping commanders anticipate and avoid such traps by determining first and foremost if such crimes falls within military jurisdiction.

And for the sake of argument—and heartburn I couldn't subdue—let's say you're wrong. Aren't you concerned that your premature assessment might faintly suggest backhanded racism since Micah Johnson's behavior was arguably induced by metal-illness? Not to mention, prematurely labeling him as an insurgent clearly entertains a common jihadist-terrorist notion of killing infidels. The victims were citizens of the U.S. and public servants of Dallas, TX—not infidel. Allowing ISIS to benefit from the actions of a mentally-ill, unrecruited non-state actor just doesn't strike me as an effective countermeasure.

Thank you and have a great evening, Sir.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/jul/08/police-bomb-robot-explosive-killed-suspect-dallas

Use of police robot to kill Dallas shooting suspect believed to be first in US history

Police’s lethal use of bomb-disposal robot in Thursday’s ambush worries legal experts who say it creates gray area in use of deadly force by law enforcement

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Jul 11 at 2016 11:42 PM

2016-07-11T23:42:52-04:00

1LT William Clardy I appreciate the invite to participate in this professional topic and appreciate you starting the conversation, but at the moment I am too ignorant of the facts to do so responsibly.

Response by SSG Mark Franzen made Jul 14 at 2016 8:53 PM

2016-07-14T20:53:25-04:00

WELL I WOULD SAY THAT HIS MOTHER AND FATHER WOULD HAVE BEEN LOOKING IN ON HIM AT TIMES WHEN NEVER COMMUNCATED WITH ANYONE AND HE HAD NO FRIENDSTHAT MY ASSETMENT