Michael Snyder<\/p>\n
Does it not seem as though events are starting to accelerate significantly?\u00a0 Since I warned that something \u201chad shifted<\/a>\u201d and that things had \u201csuddenly become more serious<\/a>\u201c, we have seen the worst mass shooting in U.S. history in Orlando<\/a>, we have seen the massacre of five police officers in Dallas<\/a>, we have seen the horrifying terror rampage in Nice, and now we have seen the brutal murder of three police officers in Baton Rouge.\u00a0 On Sunday morning, the peace and quiet in Baton Rouge were shattered when \u201cdozens of shots\u201d erupted less than one mile from police headquarters.\u00a0 By the end of it, 29-year-old Gavin Eugene Long had killed three officers and seriously wounded three others.\u00a0 It was a crime fueled by pure hatred, and Long specifically waited for his 29th birthday to launch the attack<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n The shooter who killed three law enforcement officers and wounded three others in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on Sunday was a Missouri man who launched a deadly rampage on his 29th birthday, police sources said.<\/p>\n Gavin Long, who was born on July 17, 1987, was the man who gunned down officers before he was killed in a gunbattle with other officers responding to the shootings.<\/p>\n Two Baton Rouge police officers \u2014 ages 41 and 49 \u2014 died, said Police Chief Carl Dabadie. The gunman also killed a 45-year-old sheriff\u2019s deputy and critically wounded a 41-year-old deputy who is \u201cfighting for his life,\u201d said East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Sid Gautreaux.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n So what motivated Long to commit this horrible crime?<\/p>\n Here is what the Daily Caller<\/a> found\u2026<\/p>\n A Youtube account operated by Gavin Eugene Long and discovered by The Daily Caller reveals key insight into what might have motivated the 29-year-old black man who killed three Baton Rouge police officers Sunday morning.<\/p>\n Videos on Long\u2019s account show that he was a former Nation of Islam member. He also ranted against \u201ccrackers\u201d and made references to Alton Sterling, the black man killed by police in Baton Rouge on July 5.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Did Long actually believe that gunning down innocent police officers would honor the memory of Alton Sterling?<\/p>\n Sadly, it appears that there are a lot of other people out there that feel the exact same way that Long did.\u00a0 In fact, there were a number of people that were openly celebrating the shooting of police officers in Baton Rouge on Twitter<\/a> and calling for more cops to be killed.<\/p>\n This country is starting to come apart at the seams<\/a>, and from now on it is going to be very, very dangerous to be a police officer in America.\u00a0 Perhaps you may not have heard of this yet, but there was actually another plot to kill police officers in Baton Rouge\u00a0that was foiled ahead of time<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n Police in Baton Rouge were on high alert earlier this week after a gang \u2013 including boys aged just 12 and 13 \u2013 were arrested as they tried to steal handguns as part of a \u2018substantial, credible threat\u2019 to harm police officers in Baton Rouge.<\/p>\n Authorities discovered the alleged plot while responding to a burglary at a pawn shop early on June 9.<\/p>\n They arrested one suspect \u2013 Antonio Thomas, 17 \u2013 at the scene with a handgun and a BB gun.<\/p>\n During questioning, Thomas said that he and three other suspects stole the firearms and \u2018were going to get bullets to shoot police,\u2019 authorities said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And another police officer was shot on Sunday\u00a0in Milwaukee<\/a> while he was just sitting in his squad car\u2026<\/p>\n A Milwaukee police officer was shot in a \u201cvicious\u201d attack early Sunday as he sat in his squad car while colleagues investigated a domestic disturbance call, an official said.<\/p>\n The suspected shooter, identified by police as a 20-year-old West Allis man with two felonies on his record, was found dead in a nearby yard, they said.<\/p>\n The incident began as a response to a domestic disturbance call\u00a0near South 17th Street and West Morgan Avenue at about 2 a.m. During that investigation, someone fired shots into the squad car, striking an officer \u201cmultiple\u201d times,\u201d\u00a0Asst. Police Chief William Jessup said in a morning press conference.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Can you imagine the stress that many police officers and their families are feeling these days?<\/p>\n Could you imagine leaving home each day realizing that there is a huge target painted on your chest and that you might not make it home that night to see your family?<\/p>\n I am sure that a lot of law enforcement officers are having some very serious family discussions these days.\u00a0 And I am sure that a lot of them are actually considering leaving law enforcement altogether.\u00a0 All it takes is a single bullet to change your life forever, and right now there are way too many people out there that want to harm anyone in a police uniform.<\/p>\n I think that a recent piece\u00a0by Scott G. Erickson<\/a> put it very succinctly\u2026<\/p>\n What feelings must resonate within the patrolman who is responding to a call of domestic violence or simple larceny? Am I the next target? Is this really a routine call for service or is it an ambush?<\/p>\n No longer can the patrolman simply worry about the reported crime itself but rather he or she must approach these events as though they are potentially walking into the next Dallas or Baton Rouge.<\/p>\n And that is no way to function as a police officer. The stress, strain, and uncertainty would be unbearable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n And it isn\u2019t just police officers that need to be concerned about the rising violence.<\/p>\n The Republican National Convention is next week, and it could be a big, fat, juicy target<\/a> for Islamic terrorists, police haters, or anyone else that is out to make some sort of huge statement.\u00a0 There are going to be thousands of people protecting the convention, but there are still concerns\u00a0that something unexpected may happen<\/a>\u2026<\/p>\n The sunny celebration butts uncomfortably against a massive security operation that shows the other side of Cleveland\u2019s big moment. City and U.S. officials are preparing for the worst, aware that tensions over race relations and police use of force, as well as reaction to Trump\u2019s polarizing campaign, could result in violence on the streets.<\/p>\n Clevelanders are also aware of the backdrop for their convention: the mass shooting in Orlando that killed 50 people in June, the sniper attack that killed five Dallas police this month, and the truck assault that killed 84 this week in Nice.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n Let us hope and pray for safety in Cleveland, and let us hope and pray that tensions ease in major cities all over the nation.<\/p>\n A dark and distressing time has descended upon the civilized world, and virtually everywhere you look anger and frustration are rising to very dangerous levels.<\/p>\n We were warned that this might be a \u201csummer of chaos\u201d, and so far that has definitely been the case.\u00a0 Let us hope that things start to cool off before events start to spiral completely out of control.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n