Iowa Cop Shooting Suspect Scott Michael Greene Was Angry With Police Over Confederate Flag, Had Trump Sign On His Front Lawn And Restraining Order Against His Mother

The man charged with gunning down two Iowa police officers while they sat in their cars has a history of arguing with the police over the confederate flag and harassing African Americans. In addition, he had a Trump sign posted in the front yard of the home he shared with his mother and recently obtained a restraining order against her.

Scott Michael Greene, a 46-year-old Iowa man, allegedly ambushed two Des Moines metro police officers early Wednesday morning. The Des Moines Register reports that Greene gunned them down without warning as they sat two miles apart in their patrol cars.

Police officials report that the two officers, Urbandale Officer Justin Martin and Des Moines police Sgt. Anthony Beminio, were both taken by surprise in their patrol cars and had no opportunity to defend themselves.

Police say Scott Michael Greene, suspect in Iowa ambush shootings that killed 2 officers, has been captured. https://t.co/9UpUbyxqjI pic.twitter.com/qO9NIWuEV9

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) November 2, 2016

Greene was taken into custody by an Iowa Department of Natural Resources officer at around 9:30 a.m. the same morning as he was walking on a rural Iowa road about 35 miles west of the shootings. Sergeant Paul Parizek said in a press conference that Greene flagged the officer down, showed him his identification, and asked him to call 911. When Greene complained about a “flare-up” of an existing medical condition, he was transported to a Des Moines hospital, police say.

Scott Michael Greene lived in Urbandale, a suburb of Des Moines, in a home owned by his mother. Neighbors report that he posted a large Trump sign in his front yard about two weeks prior to the shootings.

Heavy reports that a man named Scott Greene, who matches the description of the suspect, recorded himself being kicked out of an Urbandale football game about two weeks prior to the shootings. The stadium is at the intersection where Officer Martin was killed.

“I was offended by the blacks sitting through our anthem,” he wrote in the comments section. “Thousands more whites fought and died for their freedom. However this is not about the Armed forces, they are cop haters.”

During the video, Greene is heard interacting with Des Moines and Urbandale police officers who tried to get him to leave the area. Greene also said that he was assaulted in the stands and that his flag was stolen from him.

“I’m a citizen of the United States of America and I would like my property back that was stolen from me,” he said in the video. “I want to report the theft of property from myself. I was actually assaulted. I would like to report an assault.”

“I think I’ve been assaulted by you,” Greene also said to the officers. “You grabbed me and shoved me around.”

An officer directed him to a public sidewalk off of the high school property, at which point Greene kept arguing with the police about his stolen flag.

“Someone behind me hit me and they stole, it was almost like a mugging, because I had my property and I was holding it and they stole it from me.”

Greene said he was standing there “holding a flag” during the National Anthem when he was attacked by “African-American people” who took his flag. He also told the police that he wanted to press charges.

One of the officers told Greene that he was asked to leave because he was causing a disturbance.

“You came just to fly the flag and possibly cause a disruption tonight. You have to understand in the current social climate we’re in, when you fly a Confederate flag standing in front of several African-American people, that’s going to cause a disturbance, whether you intended to or not.”

Greene also posted a 10-second still photograph to his YouTube page, showing himself waving the confederate flag and an American flag at the local game in front of African-American attendees.

The Des Moines Register reports that Greene has had other altercations with the police in recent years.

He was charged with interference with official acts in April of 2014 when he resisted an attempt by officers to pat him down for weapons at a local apartment complex where he lived at the time. According to a criminal complaint, officers wanted to search Greene after noticing that he had a pouch on his belt that resembled a holster but he was “noncompliant, hostile, combative and made furtive movements toward his pockets.”

Two days later, Greene reportedly threatened to kill a man in the parking lot of the same apartment complex. He was accused of approaching a man in the parking lot, shining a flashlight in his eyes, and calling the man the N-word. He allegedly told the man “I will kill you, (expletive) kill you.”

Greene was charged with first-degree harassment but pleaded guilty to a lesser harassment charge. He was sentenced to one year of probation.

Greene was also listed as a victim in a domestic dispute with his mother, whom he was living with, about two weeks prior to the shootings.

According to the criminal complaint, Greene called the police and reported that his mother had struck him in the face during a dispute about his daughter’s service dog being in their home. The officer reported that he saw an abrasion on Scott Greene’s face and saw video that Greene had taken of the incident.

Greene’s mother was charged with domestic abuse assault causing bodily injury and a no-contact order was issued.

It is unknown whether Greene has mental health issues, but the Des Moines Register noted that his probation officer wrote in 2015 that he had received a mental health evaluation and “reports to have complied with the medication recommendations.”

[Featured Images by Des Moines Police Department/AP Images]