THE RACE WAR HAS BEGUN

4 Shot, 1 Killed After Black Gunman Fires At Passing Cars On Tennessee Highway, Targeting Police, Whites

by Tyler Durden
Jul 8, 2016 5:28 PM

The worst case scenario we predicted yesterday, hours before the shocking events in Dallas had taken place, is now in play and the genie unleashed by the recent incidents of police violence – whether unprovoked or justified – and popularized by an aggressive speech by none other than the president in which he collectivized the failings of the US police force as one organic whole, is now officially out of the bottle.

Recall we said that “we believe that the current wave of anti-police sentiment will sublimate into a surge in social violence across the US, especially among blacks who target police, and sadly culminate with deadly consequences for all involved.” While it is not clear if Obama’s speech yesterday was the spark that accelerated precisely this sentiment, but after yesterday’s mass killing of police officers in Dallas and various incidents across the US today, we are convinced that what is on the surface a surge in class/race/occupation tensions between segments of the black community and segments of the police force (because it clearly does not involve everyone in the those two respective groups), is about to escalate into a full blown war.

Case in point, the latest incident in what increasinly more are calling an all out race war was reported moments ago by AP who said that 37-year-old Lakeem Keon Scott, who is black, opened fire indiscriminately at passing cars and police on a Tennessee highway. He later told investigators he was angry about police violence against African-Americans. One woman died and three others, including one police officer, were injured in the rampage.

Lakeem Keon Scott. (Facebook)

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a news release that initial conversations with the suspect, 37-year-old Lakeem Keon Scott, revealed he was “troubled by recent incidents involving African-Americans and law enforcement officers in other parts of the country.”

As AP adds, Scott was wounded in the shootout with police, remains hospitalized and has not yet been charged. All those shot were white, police confirmed.

Scott was shot by police after opening fire about 2:20 a.m. Thursday on Volunteer Highway in Bristol, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a press release. Scott was seriously wounded, but was in stable condition Friday afternoon, police said.

The announcement came just hours after 12 officers were shot at a Black Lives Matter protest in Dallas by a man who police say declared he was angry about police shootings of black men and wanted to exterminate whites. Five of the officers died.

Lakeem Scott was armed with two weapons, an “automatic-style rifle” and a pistol, and had a large amount of ammunition during the Thursday morning incident, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said in a press release.

The shooting spree in Tennessee began around 2:20 a.m. Thursday. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation alleges Scott — armed with an assault rifle, a pistol and a large amount of ammunition — fired shots through the window of the Days Inn on Volunteer Parkway.

Evidence is marked at a crime scene at O’Reilly Auto Parts connected to the
shooting on Volunteer Parkway early Thursday morning in Tennessee

The front desk clerk, Deborah Watts, was struck and injured. Days Inn owner Kiran Patel said he awoke to the sound of gunfire. His wife called the front desk to see what happened, Watts answered and said she’d been shot. She remains in the hospital in serious but stable condition.

Investigators said Scott then “indiscriminately fired at several vehicles driving on Volunteer Parkway.”

He was confronted by officers from the Bristol Police Department. “During that exchange, the investigation shows Scott fired at the three responding officers,” the TBI said. “After which the officers returned fire, striking Scott.” He was taken to the Bristol Regional Medical Center, where he remained in serious, but stable, condition on Friday, police said.

Newspaper carrier Jennifer Rooney, a 44-year-old mother of two, was on her way to pick up papers for the morning delivery when a bullet struck her. The Bristol Herald-Courier reported that her car careened over a median and crashed through a chain link fence.

David Whitman Davis was also injured by flying glass from the gunfire, the TBI said.

Three officers with the Bristol Tennessee Police Department arrived and confronted Scott, who fired on them. Office Matthew Cousins was hit in the leg. He was treated for superficial injuries and released.

Scott was stuck by the officers returning fire. He remains in the hospital in serious but stable condition. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said the investigation is ongoing as they work to understand the shooter’s motive.

Unfortunately, this is only the beginning.

Two Houston Police Officers Kill Gunman Who Aimed At Cops While Obama Tries To Talk Down Social Divide

by Tyler Durden
Jul 9, 2016 1:35 PM

Among the numerous mostly peaceful protests across the country overnight, another deadly incident between a lone black gunman and police took place shortly after midnight on Saturday, one which will further raise tensions and likely lead to more deadly escalation of this week’s events.

According to ACB13, two Houston officers shot and killed an armed man on the city’s south side early this morning. Police says the officers involved were wearing body cameras and they each fired multiple shots.

Houston Police Department officials say the shooting happened on Cullen near Ward around 12:40am. Officers say they saw a man with a revolver standing in the road. There were two officers in one vehicle and they asked the man to put the revolver down. Police say a witness also asked him to drop the weapon. Officers say instead of dropping the gun, the man raised his weapon pointing it in the air. He then lowered it and pointed it at the two officers.

Immediately after, HPD says they each fired multiple shots and he died at the scene.

Bystander Eric Puckett told KTRK-TV that the victim was a black male. The officers’ races were not immediately known.

A woman who says she’s the man’s wife later identified him as Alva Braziel.

KTRK says one of the unidentified officers is a 10-year veteran of the force, and the other is a 13-year veteran. As is routine following any officer-involved shooting, the officers will be investigated by internal affairs, along with Harris County.

Abc13 cites a bystander, Eric Puckett, who told abc13 he thinks black men in the area are being targeted. “It’s like we got a target on our back even if we’re innocent, it hurts,” said Puckett. “You don’t even want to walk outside your house any more. But to all the young black men and young black women out there, all black people, do something positive.” It was unclear if Puckett had anything to say about the alleged shooter pointing his gun at police officers when told to stand down.

A nearby gas station captured the scene and police say the video will confirm what happened, along with witness testimony. Police continue to investigate at the scene where a large crowd has gathered. abc13 writes that its reporters saw shell casings and the revolver among the evidence markers.

Dwight Boykins tells abc13, “The biggest gorilla in the room is very clear. We need to put officers in neighborhoods that reflect the neighborhood.”

* * *

Meanwhile, speaking in Poland, President Obama addressed the ongoing events in the US and said that America is “not as divided” as it was in the 1960s, while admitting this has been “a very tough week” for the nation. Obama added that Americans of all races and backgrounds are “rightly outraged” by the deadly attack on Dallas police officers, and “rightly saddened and angered” by the fatal police shooting of two black men in Louisiana and Minnesota.

“You’re not seeing riots. You’re not seeing police going after people who are protesting peacefully. You’ve seen, almost uniformly, peaceful protests and you’ve seen, uniformly, police handling those protests with professionalism,” Obama said.

“We have to make sure that all of us step back, do some reflection and make sure that the rhetoric we engage in is constructive and not destructive. That we’re not painting anybody with an overly broad brush and we’re not constantly thinking the worst in other people rather than the best.”

“Police have a really difficult time in communities where they know guns are everywhere,” he said. “And as I said before, they have a right to come home and now they have very little margin of error in terms of making decisions. “If you care about the safety of police officers, then you can’t set aside the gun issue,” Obama said.

The president also said that those who protested the killings of the two black men are as outraged as anyone by the killings of five police officers in Dallas.

Obama says that “as tough, as hard, as depressing” as has been the loss of lives this week, “we’ve got a foundation to build on.”

He then proceeded to pivot to his favorite topic, gun control, saying he would continue to lobby for gun control in the wake of the series of shootings, adding that it should be “harder for disturbed people to get guns.” It was unclear if he was referring to US police officers, whose response he broadly criticized on Thursday, and tried to placate today by saying that there has been a “huge drop” in murder rates in the US which is a “testament to smarter policing.”