A Bay Area journalist and activist said on Monday that the online manifesto of former Los Angeles Police officer Christopher Dorner should spur an investigation into his claims of corruption and racism in his former department, regardless of the charges being brought against him.
"It's either opened up old wounds or it's reaffirmed what people have long suspected or have experienced in terms of brutality," Davey D told Democracy Now host Amy Goodman. "I think what stands out for me and many of the people that I deal with is the fact that there are these troubling allegations. And those things need to be further investigated, irregardless of what we feel about Dorner, whether or not he’s a psychopath or any of the words that they want to put on him."
Dorner, who was fired from the department in 2008, is accused of killing three people and wounding two others as part of a campaign of revenge against his former colleagues. Davey D made clear that looking into his claims did not equal supporting his actions.
"When the question is raised about, 'Let's look at what is going on here, what he's raising, let's investigate that,' the immediate response is like: Are you supporting a killer of innocent people? Are you supporting a cop killer? No, he named dates, times and places," he said. "Let's check these out, because those allegations are pretty serious."
On Sunday, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced a $1 million reward for information leading to the capture of Donner.
The hunt for the former officer and naval reservist has already led to police accidentally shooting two women and one man. Rumors had been spreading that unmanned drones were being used to find him, until they were refuted on Monday by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection department. The sheer volume of authorities' response, Davey D said, indicated that they were not just dismissing his online statement as ramblings.
But the activist and radio host also said the document, which details what Dorner describes as a step-by-step marginalization leading to his dismissal, also calls into question the LAPD's promises of better service.
"We were led to believe that when the consent decree was lifted after Chief [Bill] Bratton took over, that there was marked improvement, that this was a new department," he said. "You've heard the mayor, you've heard the [current] chief, [Charlie] Beck, say that it’s a new department. Well, if it is, let's check it out. That's what we should be focused on."
Watch Davey D's interview with Goodman, aired Monday on Democracy Now, below.
