The story of a former L.A. cop who has gone on a violent rampage has been fascinating people around the country. To many, it likely seems like something from a movie. Christopher Dorner, the man who has been leading police on a chase, has become something of a bizarre cult hero in some instances. As of Monday this week, the man who was a suspect in a triple-murder, and who reportedly shot two sheriff’s deputies yesterday, had more than 70 fan pages dedicated to him on Facebook. Altogether, there were thousands of "likes" for those pages.
Some were going so far as to call him an American hero, believing that Dorner is fighting for his beliefs and that his actions are therefore justified. Others took to quoting Malcolm X in highlighting his fight against racism, whether real or imagined.
Dorner ranted after being fired that he was wrongly terminated and accused the department of racism. He vowed vengeance against the police officers whom he believed wronged him. Dorner killed a Riverside police officer, attempted to kill three other police officers and killed the daughter of a former L.A. police captain and her fiancée. He then vanished.
"My first thought was this is the stuff movies are made of," said Karen North, a social media expert at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School. Unlike the heroes from some famous movies like "Rambo" and "The Running Man," however, North says that Dorner has no good qualities. "He's killed people who are real people with real families and real friends, and he's terrorized entire communities," she said.
The latest on Dorner is that the cabin he was holed up in, in a remote area of California, has burned to the ground and that human remains are present. A forensics team will attempt to determine the identity of the burn victim, though it seems apparent that it is Dorner himself.
Some were going so far as to call him an American hero, believing that Dorner is fighting for his beliefs and that his actions are therefore justified. Others took to quoting Malcolm X in highlighting his fight against racism, whether real or imagined.
Dorner ranted after being fired that he was wrongly terminated and accused the department of racism. He vowed vengeance against the police officers whom he believed wronged him. Dorner killed a Riverside police officer, attempted to kill three other police officers and killed the daughter of a former L.A. police captain and her fiancée. He then vanished.
"My first thought was this is the stuff movies are made of," said Karen North, a social media expert at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School. Unlike the heroes from some famous movies like "Rambo" and "The Running Man," however, North says that Dorner has no good qualities. "He's killed people who are real people with real families and real friends, and he's terrorized entire communities," she said.
The latest on Dorner is that the cabin he was holed up in, in a remote area of California, has burned to the ground and that human remains are present. A forensics team will attempt to determine the identity of the burn victim, though it seems apparent that it is Dorner himself.