Killed on American soil

"That may or may not be the whole truth. In any event, the bomb ended the siege, and Micah Johnson will now go down in history as the first American to die on American soil - killed by a drone."  

Micah Johnson made history in Dallas last week. Not good history, but history. First off, he was responsible for the death of the most police officers at one time since the 9/11 attack. Then he made history in another way. He became the first American to be killed by a drone on American soil. No trial, no jury, just the execution.

Truthfully, I did not shed a tear when I heard that Micah had been blown up by a bomb a drone robot was delivering. After all, in Texas they have the death penalty. After killing five cops, the chances of Micah Johnson getting "the chair" were pretty good. Maybe even a slam dunk. But that due process thing still haunts me. I really don't want us to start slipping down that slope. No Judge Roy Bean actions, please.

Someone had interviewed Micah Johnson's mother right after the incident. The thing she was really torqued about was the fact Micah was so damaged from the bomb explosion, his body was hard to identify. The police said they did not intend to blow him up - just use the bomb to distract him. That may or may not be the whole truth. In any event, the bomb ended the siege, and Micah Johnson will now go down in history as the first American to die on American soil - killed by a drone.

When this story was first developing on Thursday, and I heard some police officers were ambushed and shot in the back, my primal instincts took over. I wanted the perp or perps to be caught and have their skin peeled off, inch by inch. But then I remembered my faith. We are to demand justice, not vengeance. Some might think the police operating the drone took the route of vengeance instead of justice. Maybe we will never know the true answer to that question.

My real question however is this. Now that some of the shock of the mass murder of police officers is starting to sink in, how do we keep this from happening again? Please - no lectures on gun control. That has nothing to do with it. I want to know how the switch was flipped. How this veteran of Afghanistan became a mass murderer. 

Maybe in the days ahead more on that mystery can be learned. As a citizen, all I can do is try and let our police men and women they are appreciated. And even more important, in these days where some police might wonder who has their backs, or their "sixes", it is us. The rank and file, common ordinary citizens that our police protect each and every day. We are the ones that have our police officer's backs.