Has Charles Manson's delusion of "Helter Skelter", an apocalyptic race war, come to fruition?

   Charles Manson hatched a delusional and diabolical plan to start an apocalyptic race war where blacks would prevail over whites and in the aftermath, HE and his disciples, The Manson Family, would emerge from the rubble and rule the world.  To jump start this delusion of grandeur, he planned and ordered the murder of actress Sharon Tate and several others at the house she and her husband, movie director Roman Polanski , shared. Tate was pregnant at the time.  The next night, Manson himself and other members of his Family butchered Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in their home in the Los Felix section of Los Angeles.  These two acts of evil were some of the most savage murders ever committed.  The key component to both murder scenes were to leave contrived evidence behind that would convince the police and the world that both crimes were committed by black suspects and thus ignite the race war.  Manson, a frustrated musician, called this insane plot “Helter Skelter”, also the name of his favorite Beatles record.  Just this past week, Manson was denied parole for the 12^th and most likely, final time.  It is safe to say this insane scheme fell a little short of the goal.  Or did it?     The recent suspect murders of and instances of deadly force used against African-American males by law enforcement, a self proclaimed neighborhood watch captain and by hate filled suspects does make one wonder if Charles Manson’s sick scheme has come to fruition.  All the victims are African-American males of various ages … with the oldest victim 68 and the youngest two 17.  These developments deserve national scrutiny but considering the racial polarization in America these days, it is highly unlikely. 

Here are the names of the victims and their stories that were chosen for this piece.

• Howard Morgan – On February 21, 2005, Morgan, an off duty detective for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, was pulled over by Chicago Police for driving on the wrong side of the street.  This is where this story takes on a bizarre twist.  According to Chicago Police, Morgan inexplicably drew his weapon an opened fire when police attempted to arrest him.  Four white police officers returned fire, striking Morgan 28 times.  There are far too many questions that come to mind at this point but I do have a few I’ll focus on specifically.

1)    Why did Chicago police attempt to arrest Howard Morgan?  That question remains unanswered.

2)    Why did Chicago Police restrain Morgan from producing identification that he was a police officer when they allegedly snatched him from his vehicle and forced him onto the ground? 

According to Howard Morgan, one of the officers found his weapon in the car, shouted “Gun!!” and the barrage of gunfire ensued.

3)    Finally, the MOTHER of all questions: WHY would an off duty detective, surrounded by four police officers who had pulled him over for a traffic violation, draw his service weapon and start shooting?  Only someone with a death wish would do that. 

   Miraculously, Howard Morgan SURVIVED those 28 gun shot wounds to live and tell his account of what happened that fateful night.  This would indicate that a horrific turn events ended with the victim surviving and then beginning a slow road to recovery, right?  Not so fast.  Howard Morgan was charged with four counts of attempted murder, four counts of aggravated battery against a police officer and two counts of discharging a firearm while he was in the hospital fighting for his life!  The bail hearing was held in a conference room in the hospital he was taken to get treated for his wounds and his bail was set at $2 million. 
    In his trial in 2007, Morgan was not guilty of battery and discharging a firearm.  The jury was hung on the attempted murder charges which resulted in a mistrial.  According to Morgan’s defense attorneys, the jury vote to acquit him of all charges was 10-2.  Morgan was retried in January 2012 and on April 5, 2012, Howard Morgan, now 61 years old was sentenced to 40 years is prison for attempted murder.  How MANY things are wrong with this?  Now, I have never set foot in a law school, but I am an amateur lawyer because I certainly watch enough television to be one.  Because of the Double Jeopardy statute which protects criminal suspects from being tried twice for the same crime, the only counts Morgan could be retried on would be the attempted murder charges since the first jury was hung on those counts.  But if the jury in the first trial acquitted him of battery and of discharging a firearm, how then could there be a second trial on the attempted murder charges when the basis of those charges (discharging a firearm) he had already been acquitted on?  Howard Morgan has basically been given a death sentence (40 years), considering he is now 61 years old, on a case that he shouldn’t have been allowed to be tried on.  Did I mention that ALL of the Chicago cops involved in this travesty are white?  This entire case STINKS six ways to Sunday. 

Mary Mitchell: Chicago has its onTrayvon Martin like scandal 

• Oscar Grant – On January 1, 2009, Oscar Grant, a 22 year black man from Oakland, was on his way home from a New Year’s Eve celebration on San Francisco’s waterfront.  Grant and some friends were returning to the East Bay on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit), the expansive rail system that covers approximately 70 miles of both sides of the Bay Area.  The train actually crosses San Francisco Bay through a tunnel built on the bottom of the bay.  When the train Grant was on reached Oakland there was a report of a fight breaking out on the car he was on.  BART has its own designated police force and so at the Fruitvale Station in Oakland the train was stopped and BART police cleared the car of the train that Grant was on.  Oscar Grant was taken off the train and was thrown on the ground because he was “resisting arrest”.  There were passengers who were, of course, recording the sequence of events with cell phone cameras and the video tape of the incident pretty much speaks for itself.  BART  Police officer Johannes Mehserle, with his knee on the back of Oscar Grant while Grant is clearly on the ground and surrounded by other BART cops, reaches behind his back to pull out what he thinks is a taser and to the horror of everyone looking, shoots Oscar Grant, who was unarmed, in the back with his service weapon.  Again, the tape speaks for itself.  Mehserle was initially charged with murder.  His lawyers were successful in getting a change of venue from Alameda County in Northern California to Los Angeles County.  Los Angeles juries, notorious for being cop friendly especially in cases involving African-Americans (does the Rodney King trial ring a bell?) did not disappoint.  Mehserle was convicted of on the lesser charge of manslaughter.  The African-American community in Oakland, weary of years of abuse and injustices against black people by law enforcement, did not take this idea of justice lightly.  Oakland burned, though not as seriously as it once did during the height of the civil rights movement in the 1960’s, but it burned nonetheless.  By the way, did I mention that Johannes Mehserle is white?

The BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant

Video of Oscar Grant being shot

• Kenneth Chamberlain, Sr. – On November 19, 2011, the 68 year old Vietnam War veteran and a heart patient, accidently triggered an alert to LifeAid, a service that monitors heart patients around the clock.  A LifeAid dispatcher summoned police to go to Chamberlain’s apartment in a White Plains, New York housing project after not being able to reach the Vietnam veteran directly.  When police arrived and knocked on his door, Mr., Chamberlain let them know that he was okay and that he triggered the device accidently.  Police insisted that he open his door to let them in and he refused again.  In an audio tape, one of the cops can be heard saying, “I don’t give a fuck, nigger.  Open the door.”  The police then decided to remove Chamberlain’s front door.  Tonyia Greenhill, Chamberlain’s niece who lived on the floor above her uncle’s apartment, went to see what the commotion was after getting a call from her mother asking her to go and check on her brother.  By now, Chamberlain had become aggravated by seeing a steady stream of officers arriving on the scene with their weapons drawn and by the fact that police were at his door.  Finally, the police forcibly entered his apartment, tased him (remember Chamberlain WAS a heart patient) and then, after claiming he was acting irrationally and that a 68 year old man who had been tased moments before and surrounded by police officers came after them with a hatchet, shot and killed him.  The taser by the way had a camera on it and Mr. Chamberlain can be seen holding both arms down while holding nothing.  There was NOTHING in his hands and yet he was first tased and then executed.  In fact, in the audio tape, one of the officers can be heard saying “turn it off” as in turn off the camera on the taser.  Chamberlain died an hour after he was shot.  White Plains (NY) Police have identified Officer Anthony Carelli who shot and killed Chamberlain.  Carelli is no stranger to controversy.  He is currently a defendant in a federal police brutality case alleging he and 5 other officers brutally beat twin brothers in 2008.  Did I mention that Carelli was white? 

Kenneth Chamberlain case: Killing of veteran senior citizen by police to be probed by grand jury

"Officers, why do you have your guns out?"

• Trayvon Martin – this case has garnered international attention and is the white hot issue in America now and has been and will be discussed ad nauseam.  However, for the benefit of those who may not be familiar with the case, here is a link that you may find helpful: Shooting of Trayvon Martin
• Kendrec McCade – On March 24, 2012, Oscar Carillo called the Pasadena (California) Police Department to report that he had been robbed at gun point of a computer and a backpack by two suspects who were African-American and wearing black sweaters.  Carillo also told police the HE was following the suspects (WHY does this have such a familiar ring to it?).  Pasadena Police was dispatched and saw two young African-American males fitting the description.  One of the suspects, 17 year old Kendrec McCade took off running and after a short pursuit, was cornered by the cops.  According to Pasadena Police, McCade made a move toward his waistband and two officers, fearing for their lives (of course) opened fire, striking McCade multiple times.  The other suspect, also 17, was apprehended and charged with two counts of felony burglary (felony counts), one count of grand theft property (a felony) and a misdemeanor count of failing to register as a gang member.  Kendrec McCade, on the other hand, received the death penalty because he died an hour later after being shot by police.  Pasadena Police did find a computer but not a backpack near the scene.  By the way, BOTH Kendrec McCade and the other 17 year old were UNARMED.  UNARMED?  Didn’t Oscar Carillo say he was robbed at gun point?  He did say that.  As it turned out, the contrived “armed” robbery just happened to be caught on video tape and there was no evidence that there was any contact whatsoever with the robbery suspects.  You guessed it … Oscar Carillo LIED about being robbed at gunpoint.  As a result of the LIE, Carillo was arrested for suspicion of manslaughter.  Kendrec McCade should have been so lucky. 

   The Pasadena Police Department’s account of the event has come into question, too.  The FBI has been asked to investigate this case.  Stay tuned.

Kendrec McCade case: Pasadena Police invite FBI to investigate shooting

Kendrec McCade wasn't the first: 6 more controversial police shootings of unarmed L.A. black men

• Dannaer Fields, Bobby Clark and William Allen – On April 6, 2012 these three men, all African-American, became murder victims in what Tulsa (OK) Police have described as a “possible” hate crime.  The suspects, Alvin Watts and Jacob England, according to police, drove around in the predominantly African-American community of North Tulsa, randomly asked these victims for directions and plain opened fire and killed these three men.  There were five shooting victims altogether and the other two have survived their wounds.  Authorities allege the shootings were hate crimes based on the Facebook posting of one of the suspects expressing anger toward African-Americans because his father had been killed by an African-American in 2010.  Both suspects have been charged with three counts of murder in the first degree.  Stay tuned. 

Why the Tulsa killings are just as important as Trayvon's death

Charles Manson, who for the 12^th time was denied parole on April 11, 2012, may indeed be a mad man.  He likely will spend the rest of his natural life in prison considering that he won’t be eligible for parole for 15 years at which time he will be 92 years old.  He has managed to become one of the most infamous people in American history.  His delusion of grandeur of igniting an apocalyptic race war between blacks and whites back in 1969 would appear to have come up short.

Or HAS it?

Hmm.

Peace, peace in the Middle East!

Craig Riggins

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