Three Police Dead, Three More Wounded in Baton Rouge Ambush. Oath Keepers Offers to Protect Police Families

by Stewart Rhodes

 

 

Local news Channel 4, WWL in Baton Rouge is reporting:

 

   BATON ROUGE, La. - Three officers - two from the Baton Rouge Police Department and one from the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office - have been killed after as many as seven were shot in Baton Rouge Sunday morning, authorities from the East Baton Parish Sheriff's Office confirmed.

 

   One suspect is dead and others may be at large, according to the sheriff's office. Police could be seen checking the deceased suspect with a robot for explosives.

 

   "At approximately 9:00 this morning Baton Rouge Police officers and East Baton Rouge Sheriff's deputies were involved in a shooting incident on Airline Highway near Old Hammond Highway. Multiple officers from both agencies sustained injuries and were transported to local hospitals," said a statement from the sheriff's office.

 

   Authorities are asking the public to call 911 or local law enforcement agencies immediately if they see anything suspicious. Those in the area are advised to stay indoors.

 

   Two hospitals in Baton Rouge are on lockdown with police guarding the facilities with officers checking vehicles trying to enter the facility.

 

   The officers were shot early Sunday - and - as of 9:30 a.m. - a manhunt was on for the suspect or suspects.

 

   A witness told WBRZ-TV that a man was dressed in black with his face covered shooting indiscriminately when he walked out between a convenience store and car wash across from Hammond Air Plaza. Police closed the streets between the police department's headquarters and Interstate 12.

 

   Baton Rouge Mayor Holden is asking for prayers for the officers and their families.

 

   Gov. John Bel Edwards issued a statement on the attack."This is an unspeakable and unjustified attack on all of us at a time when we need unity and healing," he said.

 

   Earlier, Baton Rouge Police spokesman Sgt. Don Coppola confirmed that several officers were shot by gunfire, The Advoate reported. East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office deputies may have also been among those shot, Coppola said.

 

Read the rest here.

 

Breitbart is reporting:

 

Gunman opened fire close to Baton Rouge Police Department headquarters

* Three officers slain, three in critical condition

* One suspect is dead and two others are reportedly at large

* The attack comes two days after the funeral of Alton Sterling, a black man killed by police during an arrest

* Two Fridays ago in Dallas, a black militant named Micah X. Johnson shot and killed five police officers and wounded seven

 http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/07/17/officers-cops-shot-baton-rouge/ 

 

Among the "national news media" Breitbart.com appears to have the best updates, so I recommend you check there often.

 

A Baton Rouge local on Reddit says the attack happened at a local gas station where the police are regulars, down the street from the Baton Rouge PD HQ.   Shooter reportedly had a semi-automatic rifle.   There is a very active Reddit thread you should also monitor, with many Baton Rouge locals posting.   Locals posting on Reddit say that outside groups are the ones who are most militant and trying to stir up and radicalize the locals. We saw this in Ferguson and Baltimore too.

 

Baton Rouge local Redditor Ootika says:

 

   Born and raised in Baton Rouge. I was in town during the shooting. Immediately after the shooting, there were calm and peaceful protests. Local black community leaders were on the news regularly talking about the need to stay calm, that cops aren't a target, that black lives need to matter to blacks too (look at the murder statistics for Baton Rouge, usually 2 or 3 murders a week. Typically black on black. No protests for those people). I remember tuning into the national news a few days later and hearing talking heads almost complaining about the lack of violent protests. That's when the out of town groups came in. That's when I stopped seeing the local community leaders on TV.

 

   One group pointed shotguns at the police. Another group drove around wearing masks and holding posters that said "The purge is happening NOW". More people came in from out of town. The protests started getting more tense. The police started aggressively arresting people. They brought out the military vehicles and riot guns. The family of Sterling asked for peaceful protests on the news. They warned that outsiders were riling up the community. Now we're here. Now cops are being killed. What a tragedy.

 

   At least the pundits are happy now.

 

    

Another Baton Rouge local, Hochizo, replied:

 

   You're absolutely right that outsiders have been coming in. My spouse and I live in Baton Rouge, and my spouse is actually in the media. I remember last week, when the protests moved from the store where Alton Sterling was killed to police headquarters, all the local leaders were taken aback. My husband called the people who were leading the original protests to see what was up and they had no idea. The guy said "I don't know what's going on. We weren't protesting tonight. We had the night off. I don't know what they're doing right now, but I'm going over there now to try and straighten it out." This community was peaceful. Angry, but peaceful. And outside people weren't satisfied with that and came in to change it.

 

   And I can't really speak to the national media, but local media is sick of this shit. They don't like stories like this. These are people they know and interact with. This is their home and it's in chaos. They don't enjoy this. Especially because everyone is pissed at them. They're trying to stay neutral, but as most people know, when you're really neutral both sides hate your guts. The black community and their supporters think the media is taking the cops' side and the cops and their supporters think the media is taking the black community's side. There's no winning and they're exhausted. At least we are. We were finally getting some time to recoup this weekend. Got through two episodes of Stranger Things this morning before the phone started blowing up.

 

Again, this is exactly what we saw in Ferguson, MO too. Outside agitators came in and looted, burned, and shot at the police, leaving the locals holding the bag.   Natalie, of Natalie's Cakes and More told us "these people are NOT locals" which explains why they had no problem trashing her bakery and then trying to burn it down later.

 

 

LOUISIANA OATH KEEPERS RESPONSE AND CALL TO ACTION:

 

I am in direct communication with Oath Keepers in Baton Rouge and and our Louisiana chapter leadership (Duncan Simmons, our LA Coordinator, is a retired police officer).   At a minimum our LA chapter will be offering our assistance in protecting officers' families while the officers are on duty (under our existing "Family Safe" Program and as part of our new "Operation Backstop") so the officers can focus on doing their job with less fear for their families. We will offer this protection for police families not just in Baton Rouge, but all over Louisiana, because the threat is all over the state, and we will coordinate with each local police department on what else we can do to help.

 

In addition, I urge all Oath Keepers members and chapters to do likewise in your local communities nationwide. Reach out to your good local cops and offer to protect their families whenever they are in danger. Offer that now, and begin the process of coordinating with your local police on how you can work together to keep the whole community safe going forward. We have credible information that New Black Panther Party extremists in Louisiana intend to hold armed protests in small towns with small departments where they will outnumber the local police. Don't think that trouble can't come to your sleeply little town. Whether it is racist, Marxist wanna-be cop killers, or a jihadists, bad guys may target your little town specifically because you have few cops and are all warm and sleepy, thinking you are safe.   The interstate is right there ...

 

We will post more updates as information comes in.

 

For the Republic,

 

Stewart Rhodes