Christopher Dorner: Supporters organize on Facebook - latimes.com

Christopher Dorner: Supporters organize on Facebook - latimes.com:

We don't know if Dorner actually killed anyone.

Dorner wasn't charged with a crime.

Dorner wasn't convicted of any crime by a judge or a jury of his peers. Our system of justice had nothing to do with the end of his life.

Dorner's dead from a gunshot wound. Was it from his own gun, or other law enforcement? Would he have died anyway as flames engulfed him?

We also don't know if Dorner was unjustly fired from the LAPD. We don't know if he was justified in any way to take justice into his own hands (against victims who obviously were not guilty of any crime, against him or society).

LAPD has a long, documented history of corruption and racism. We do not know to what extent they are complicit in inciting Dorner (which obviously does not justify his actions, but may illustrate what angered and blinded him). The time to find out what provoked Dorner would have been before he went on a killing spree.

You who were cheering law enforcement to  catch him and bring him down should probably reconsider a few things. Was the collateral damage worth it? Casualties both from innocent bystanders and law enforcement? The huge public expense of a massive manhunt?

Do you also cheer our Federal so-called Kill List and Drone Program? I thought not.

Does the LAPD bring out this kind of full tactical alert whenever anyone is killed and the killer is at large? Of course not.

We need to re-examine how we gauge the worth of each of us. Is the life of a law enforcement officer somehow worth more than civilians? Police officers are simultaneously exposed to danger and far better equipped to protect themselves from it than the average citizen, and we will argue until the end of time if that balances.

One thing for sure: next time something like this happens, let's not turn it into another reality show. Let's let law enforcement do their job instead of turning it into a gladiator spectacle. And, yes, now we have to do the painstaking work of determining what provoked him, whether this kind of behavior continues in the LAPD and will sooner or later provoke another, and provide appropriate support for those who serve, both in the Army and LAPD.