MESQUITE, Texas — The suspected gunman in the Dallas massacre was expected to be kicked out of the Army after being accused of sexual harassment but was instead given an honorable discharge, according to the military lawyer who represented him.
Micah Johnson, 25, who fatally shot five officers and wounded seven more before police killed him Friday, was sent home from Afghanistan after being accused of sexually harassing a female.
He lived with family members in the blue-collar suburb of Mesquite, where he played basketball for hours at a time and was described as a loner. When authorities searched the home Friday, they found bomb-making materials, ballistic vests, rifles, ammunition, and a personal journal of combat tactics.
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.
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.
That recommendation was ‘‘highly unusual,’’ Glendening said, because counseling is usually ordered before more drastic steps are taken.
‘‘In his case, it was apparently so egregious, it was not just the act itself,’’ Glendening said. ‘‘I’m sure that this guy was the black sheep of his unit.’’
According to a court filing Glendening read over the phone Friday, the victim said she wanted Johnson to ‘‘receive mental help,’’ while also seeking a protective order to keep him away from her and her family, wherever they went. Johnson was ordered to avoid all contact with her.
Glendening said Johnson was set to be removed from the Army in September 2014 because of the incident, but instead got an honorable discharge months later — for reasons he can’t understand.
‘‘Someone really screwed up,’’ he said.
Friends in Mesquite said Johnson 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.
Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown said Johnson told negotiators before he was killed that he was acting alone and was unaffiliated with any group.
Activists with Black Lives Matter, whose peaceful march police were guarding as he opened fire, repudiated the shootings, and it wasn’t immediately clear if Johnson had any connection to the movement, which has disavowed violence.
But one of the groups Johnson ‘‘liked’’ on Facebook, the African American Defense League, posted a message earlier in the week encouraging violence against police in response to the killing in Louisiana.
Among Johnson’s other social media likes were groups that focus on the history and accomplishments of African-Americans, such as Black Love Matters, the Nubian Rootz Cultural Center, and I Love Black Archaeologist, a Web series whose main character uses a time machine to visit famous black people.
