Even after a militant anti-cop shooter stopped firing a barrage of shots at Dallas police officers in the streets on Thursday, Police Chief David Brown was forced to confront a virtual war on his force and other officers nationwide, as hate-filled posters took aim at cops online.
(FOX)- Brown said Monday that he was the subject of death threats almost as soon as Micah Johnson’s deadly rampage – which killed five officers and wounded nine others – had ended. The threat against Brown was posted by a private Facebook account to the Dallas police Facebook page, and Brown said he was taking the menacing social media message seriously. Dallas police have so far been unable to identify the source of the threat.
“There is a heightened sense of awareness over threats we’ve seen all around the country,” Brown said at a news conference. “We’re all on edge, we are, and we’re being very careful.”
The concern Brown is facing, even days after Johnson’s assault ended with the killer being blown up by a police robot, is mirrored by other officers and other police departments around the country.
Detroit Police Chief James Craig said Sunday that four men in that city were arrested for making Facebook threats against white police officers.
One of the men is accused of posting “All lives can’t matter until black lives matter. Kill all white cops,” The Detroit News reported.
Craig said while his department must consider the free speech rights of Internet posters, direct threats to law enforcement officers won’t be tolerated.
“Social media is new territory, and while it’s been established that hate speech is protected by the First Amendment, we’re talking about people specifically saying on Facebook they want to kill white police officers,” Craig said.