18-03-2016, 10:46 PM
(This post was last modified: 18-03-2016, 11:19 PM by Rolf Zaeschmar.)
BACKGROUND
Mark James Robert Essex was born in Emporia, Kansas, graduating from Emporia Senior High School in 1967. He enlisted in the United States Navy in January 1969 and was trained as a dental technician, stationed in San Diego, California.
He initially received high marks as a sailor, but suddenly his attitude seemed to change for the worse around his 21st birthday in August of 1970. According to his commanding officer, "the change was very sudden; it seemed to come in a matter of weeks.... ...he started listening to some of these hard core militant types, I think he really got involved in the movement." Among the angry militants Essex would meet in San Diego was a New Orleans native named Rodney Frank. Later Essex would move to New Orleans to join his old friend.
He went absent without leave (AWOL) for a month in late 1970. After being court-martialed, he was given a general discharge on 10 February 1971--two years early--for "character and behavior disorders." Exactly why Essex became so alienated is a mystery. Bucolic Emporia was hardly known as a racial hotbed, and the few racially charged incidents he was involved in while in the Navy seem rather minor. Yet both his parents and his minister said his disaffection was deep and genuine.
After his discharge, he traveled to New York City where for about three months he became involved with the Black Panthers before heading home to Kansas. In August 1972 Essex moved to New Orleans. What he did there in the last four months of his life is murky, though he didn't pop up on police radar in their monitoring of radical black elements in that city.
From the NOPD's Final Report into the incident:
"..no firm, physical evidence was found which would link to any of the known subversive or militant groups... ..Essex was well trained, both in firearms and in urban guerilla tactics... ... The scope of Essex's activities lends substantial credence to speculation that he was trained to accomplish what he did.. ...there is some evidence to indicate that he did undergo a period of training shortly after his release from the Navy.. ."
Are we to believe Essex got all this training by reading a couple of manuals and hanging around the BPs? The sniper was a skilled marksman--where did Essex learn how to shoot like that? He had had only one day's instruction in firearms while in boot camp.
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I can see one or two cops being injured by friendly fire, but nine, all at one time? Given all the reports of another gunman, this scenario strikes me as being very unrealistic. My hunch is this was a final shootout with the other sniper(s), in which the other sniper(s) were shot and killed. But why didn't they report that? I can only conclude that they knew this other participant had close associations with the police/intelligence/military, links that would have come out, and they figured it would be best if this were not known. Possibly they were embarrassed because this guy--an informant or even an undercover cop/agent--was one of their own who had gone over to the other side. Of course, for this theory to be viable they would have had to have known ahead of time that he was the other gunman. Maybe one of the cops saw him during the rampage and recognized him.
Or maybe this was some deep cover intell/military special ops guy, who was somehow extracted from the scene before or after it ended. Or maybe he thought he was supposed to be extracted, only to find out he had been betrayed and was supposed to be now shot to death.
The New York Times January 9, 1973 (the day after the siege ended)
"Earlier, the police had reported 10 persons dead(at the hotel), but this morning they discovered they had been counting several bodies twice."
Officially, eight(8) bodies were pulled from the hotel, including Essex. But a couple of more dead snipers would account for the initially reported toll.
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Louisiana Attorney General William Guste, while the siege was still underway:
"I am now convinced that there is an underground, national, suicide group bent on creating terror in America. Their purpose is to cause the people to be dissatisfied, to bring race against race, young against old, to cause internal national chaos."
Did someone say chaos?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_CHAOS
Operation CHAOS or Operation MHCHAOS was the code name for an American domestic espionage project conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency.
/
Mark James Robert Essex was born in Emporia, Kansas, graduating from Emporia Senior High School in 1967. He enlisted in the United States Navy in January 1969 and was trained as a dental technician, stationed in San Diego, California.
He initially received high marks as a sailor, but suddenly his attitude seemed to change for the worse around his 21st birthday in August of 1970. According to his commanding officer, "the change was very sudden; it seemed to come in a matter of weeks.... ...he started listening to some of these hard core militant types, I think he really got involved in the movement." Among the angry militants Essex would meet in San Diego was a New Orleans native named Rodney Frank. Later Essex would move to New Orleans to join his old friend.
He went absent without leave (AWOL) for a month in late 1970. After being court-martialed, he was given a general discharge on 10 February 1971--two years early--for "character and behavior disorders." Exactly why Essex became so alienated is a mystery. Bucolic Emporia was hardly known as a racial hotbed, and the few racially charged incidents he was involved in while in the Navy seem rather minor. Yet both his parents and his minister said his disaffection was deep and genuine.
After his discharge, he traveled to New York City where for about three months he became involved with the Black Panthers before heading home to Kansas. In August 1972 Essex moved to New Orleans. What he did there in the last four months of his life is murky, though he didn't pop up on police radar in their monitoring of radical black elements in that city.
From the NOPD's Final Report into the incident:
"..no firm, physical evidence was found which would link to any of the known subversive or militant groups... ..Essex was well trained, both in firearms and in urban guerilla tactics... ... The scope of Essex's activities lends substantial credence to speculation that he was trained to accomplish what he did.. ...there is some evidence to indicate that he did undergo a period of training shortly after his release from the Navy.. ."
Are we to believe Essex got all this training by reading a couple of manuals and hanging around the BPs? The sniper was a skilled marksman--where did Essex learn how to shoot like that? He had had only one day's instruction in firearms while in boot camp.
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starviego Wrote:MORE SHOOTERS
pg250
2pm, Monday afternoon, 8 January(just before the incident was considered to be over):
The last room that had not been searched was the boiler room on the roof. Police formed a semi-circle in front of the louvered doors and opened fire. Nine police are injured, blamed on bullets ricocheting off the metal door.
I can see one or two cops being injured by friendly fire, but nine, all at one time? Given all the reports of another gunman, this scenario strikes me as being very unrealistic. My hunch is this was a final shootout with the other sniper(s), in which the other sniper(s) were shot and killed. But why didn't they report that? I can only conclude that they knew this other participant had close associations with the police/intelligence/military, links that would have come out, and they figured it would be best if this were not known. Possibly they were embarrassed because this guy--an informant or even an undercover cop/agent--was one of their own who had gone over to the other side. Of course, for this theory to be viable they would have had to have known ahead of time that he was the other gunman. Maybe one of the cops saw him during the rampage and recognized him.
Or maybe this was some deep cover intell/military special ops guy, who was somehow extracted from the scene before or after it ended. Or maybe he thought he was supposed to be extracted, only to find out he had been betrayed and was supposed to be now shot to death.
The New York Times January 9, 1973 (the day after the siege ended)
"Earlier, the police had reported 10 persons dead(at the hotel), but this morning they discovered they had been counting several bodies twice."
Officially, eight(8) bodies were pulled from the hotel, including Essex. But a couple of more dead snipers would account for the initially reported toll.
--------------
Louisiana Attorney General William Guste, while the siege was still underway:
"I am now convinced that there is an underground, national, suicide group bent on creating terror in America. Their purpose is to cause the people to be dissatisfied, to bring race against race, young against old, to cause internal national chaos."
Did someone say chaos?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_CHAOS
Operation CHAOS or Operation MHCHAOS was the code name for an American domestic espionage project conducted by the Central Intelligence Agency.
/