Dallas cop killer Micah X Johnson grew up wanting to be a police officer his parents reveal in emotional interview
The parents of the Dallas shooter who killed five speak for the first time
The parents of Dallas cop killer Micah X Johnson have broken their silence in an interview just days after their son opened fire on police in Dallas, killing five police officers.
“I don’t know what to say to anybody to make anything better. I didn’t see it coming,' said Micah's father James Johnson in an interview with the right wing American news website .
“I love my son with all my heart. I hate what he did.”
James was joined for the interview by his wife Donna and his ex-wife, Micah's mother Delphine.
Delphine told the interviewer that when her son was younger he dreamed of being a policeman when he grew up.
"He loved his country. He wanted to protect his country," said Delphine.
The FBI and Dallas Police Department officials now believe that the terrorist Johnson had been planning an even larger attack, after finding his home backed with weapons and explosives.
Johnson’s parents revealed that something changed about him after he returned from the military.
"The military was not what Micah thought it would be," says an emotional Delphine.
"He was very disappointed, very disappointed, it may be that the ideal that he thought of our government, what he thought the military represented, it just didn’t live up to his expectations."
She also said that her son began to behave like a “hermit” after returning from his service.
The 25-year-old was honourably discharged from the U.S. Army Reserve in Afghanistan after allegations of sexual harassment emerged against him
Johnson’s Dad says in the interview that it was when his son returned from Afghanistan that he began to express an interest in his black heritage.
It was at this time he is believed to have begun following black militant groups on Facebook, including The African American Defense League, who posted a message Wednesday encouraging violence against police.
Micah also 'liked' the Nation of Islam and the Black Riders Liberation Party.
All four of the groups are listed as “hate groups” by civil rights organisation The Southern Poverty Law Centre.
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His family say Johnson never showed any outward signs of hatred for white people or any other racial groups.
Johnson’s stepmother, Donna, is white.
Johnson had no ties to the Black Lives Matter movement or a criminal record.