Dallas Sniper Was Facing Other Than Honorable Discharge

Dallas Sniper Was Loner; Army Sent Him Home From Afghanistan
ASSOCIATED PRESS
By WILL WEISSERT, REESE DUNKLIN AND MITCH WEISS
MESQUITE, Texas — Jul 9, 2016

In May 2014, six months into his Afghanistan tour, he was accused of sexual harassment by a female soldier. The Army sent him stateside, recommending an "other than honorable discharge," said Bradford Glendening, the military lawyer who represented him.

The Dallas sniper had been sent home from Afghanistan after being accused of sexually harassing a female, and was described as a loner who followed black militant groups on social media.

Micah Xavier Johnson, who fatally shot five officers and wounded seven more before police killed him with a remote-controlled bomb on Friday, lived with family members in the blue-collar suburb of Mesquite, where he played basketball for hours at a time.

Friends there said the 25-year-old black man didn't seem interested in politics, but his Facebook page suggests otherwise: He "liked" black militant groups including the African American Defense League and the New Black Panther Party, which was founded in Dallas.

His photo showed him wearing a dashiki and raising his fist over the words "Black Power," and his cover shot carried the red, black and green Pan-African flag.

For six years starting in 2009, Johnson served in the Army Reserve as a private first class with a specialty in carpentry and masonry, the military said.
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UPDATE

Army soldier accused Dallas gunman of sexual harassment
Associated Press
Published: July 9, 2016

DALLAS — A military lawyer says the man who fatally shot five officers in Dallas was accused of sexual harassment by a female solider when he served in the Army in Afghanistan in May 2014.

Lawyer Bradford Glendening says Micah Johnson was sent back to the U.S. with the recommendation he be removed from the Army with an "other than honorable" discharge.

Glendening, who represented Johnson at the time, said Friday that the recommendation was "highly unusual" since generally counseling is ordered before more drastic steps are taken.

Johnson, who was killed by a police remote-controlled bomb early Friday, had learned about the military in the ROTC program at the high school he attended in Mesquite, a blue-collar suburb east of Dallas. During his military service, he was a private first class with a specialty in carpentry and masonry, according to the military. Officials said he served in the Army Reserve for six years starting in 2009 and did one tour in Afghanistan from November 2013 to July 2014.
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