Gavin Eugene Long is being named as the Baton Rouge shooter, according to CBS New York . Long was the Baton Rouge shooter and also a former Marine , reports the website, which notes that Gavin received an honorable discharge in 2010 from the Marines. Reports that Long had been associated with radical groups on Facebook has sent plenty of people to Facebook to search for Gavin’s own Facebook page. However, fake Facebook profiles of Long have been set up as well.
Instead of photos of Long being spread that are being called Gavin’s Facebook page, a photo of “ Eerin the Token Black Guy ” from Photobucket are being spread around that people have tracked down via Google. As seen in the following video from the Twitter account of BuzzFeed reporter Stephanie McNeal, Gavin’s recent YouTube rant can be seen.
Warning: Gavin’s rant video might contain upsetting language.
Shooter Gavin Long recently posted a rant on his YouTube page about standing up to “oppressors” and “bullies” https://t.co/iiR81lJfR6
— Stephanie McNeal (@stephemcneal) July 17, 2016
Other photos of what is believed to be the real Gavin are also spreading on Facebook, such as those photos of a “Gavin Long” who was a former Marine, gleaned from BFHSNetwork.com, or Black Folks Hot Spots Network , and a Twitter account along with a YouTube account that speaks of black consciousness. A “Gavin Swaggin” Facebook page thought to be the real Facebook page associated with Long has been deleted.
According to the Wall Street Journal , Gavin had ties to an anti-government group called the New Freedom Group.
As reported by Heavy , it was the 29th birthday of Gavin when he shot Baton Rouge police officers and killed at least three of them. Three additional cops were wounded, with the latest reports listing one of those police officers in critical condition.
The YouTube videos associated with Gavin feature Long talking about the spiritual revelation he received when he lived in Africa for two years. During that time, Gavin claimed he wrote three books, fasted, and practiced celibacy. One of the videos was recorded only three days ago, on July 14, with Long allegedly giving advice from the books he wrote as he handed the books to people on the street.
The Daily Caller claims that the YouTube account called “I Am Cosmo” belongs to Gavin.
Warning : The videos the publication claims to be of Long feature Gavin using language that might be offensive to some viewers.
One video featured a man who is alleged to be Gavin speaking about what would have happened if Long had been there when Alton Sterling was shot. As reported by Heavy, the shootings happened in the morning on Sunday, July 17. Long was shot dead where protests had occurred over the death of Sterling. However, the YouTube account thought to be associated with Gavin shows a man presumed to be Long talking about not protesting — saying that protesting was an emotional act best left for the women.
In the YouTube videos, which are replete with expletives and seem to intentionally not show Long’s face for any length of time, but only the faces of the people that Gavin speaks with, a man thought to be Long advises other young black men about not having any children that they can’t support “out in the streets,” calling the deed “negative karma.”
The YouTube videos display the voice of a man who speaks of only supporting black businesses and not shopping at stores owned by other races who don’t care about black people.
As reported by WDSU , Gavin lured police into a building and shot the officers.
President Obama condemned Long’s actions, calling them the acts of a coward.
“Today, on the Lord’s day, all of us stand united in prayer with the people of Baton Rouge, with the police officers who’ve been wounded, and with the grieving families of the fallen. May God bless them all.”
A link on a website believed to have belonged to Long recently linked to an article from the Source , which described how the man who recorded the Sterling video had been arrested.
The photo above — not of Gavin — shows Baton Rouge Police taking a man into custody after finding a shotgun in his car.
[Photo by Max Becherer/AP Images]