I think race could be an underlying issue for the perp; we'll never know. The perp had been in trouble with the law since he was a teen. I'd guess authority and personal responsibility issues supercede any race issues that he might have had. I wouldn't doubt he'd play his race card, as in, "look at me, poor black victim of the Man." However, I speculate that had he walked into the coffee shop and there were four police officers, three white and one black, that he would have spared the black one. It reads like the Man and the justice system had done him wrong, and he had it in for cops, regardless of race. The fact that most copys are white and that blacks are disproportionately represented in crime doesn't help the situation any, but the racial issues are tangential to this event and run a lot deeper in our society, and likely most or all societies.

Sg