To many Americans, former Los Angeles Police Department officer Christopher Dorner will be remembered as a killer and a monster. Last week, Dorner wreaked havoc in the LA area for 10 days during a killing spree in which he took the lives of two police officers and the daughter of a former police captain and her fiance. On Tuesday, Dorner shot and killed himself after officers cornered him at his hideout cabin.
Enter New York Knicks forward Amar’e Stoudemire, who was apparently touched by Dorner’s 20-page manifesto that he left on his Facebook page. In the rant, which the former officer addressed to America, Dorner explained how he felt he was a victim of institutionalized racism and urged the black community to stop “digressing.”
“Interesting,” Stoudemire wrote on his Twitter account before linking to the piece. “This is a must read!!”
A number of followers instantly began bashing Stoudemire for promoting the work of a murderer. Dorner said in his manifesto that he was fired for reporting a sergeant for brutality. The LAPD determined that there was nothing to the accusations, but the case reopened as the department was hunting for Dorner.
In Stoudemire’s defense, Dorner’s rant is certainly intriguing and covers a lot of ground. Most of the time we are left wondering what goes through a killer’s head that makes him or her feel that killing people will accomplish something, and Dorner’s manifesto helps answer many of the questions surrounding his bizarre case. Amar’e could have possibly benefited from phrasing his interest in the piece a bit differently but, as this fire extinguisher will tell you, he’s not much of a think before you act type of guy.
