Gavin Eugene Long aka Cosmo Setepenra: Top 10 Facts You Need to Know

An ex-Marine turned self-touted life coach who ranted about government conspiracies in Youtube videos and shared extremist beliefs on social media has been identified as the gunman who killed three police officers and wounded three others in Baton Rouge.

Gavin Eugene Long opened fire on officers Sunday morning in Louisiana on his 29th birthday, just days after posting videos online saying people needed to “fight back” after recent killings of black men by police in Minnesota and Baton Rouge, police sources told multiple news outlets, NBC News.

Long, originally from Kansas City, Missouri, was shot dead at the scene of the shooting, CBS News reports.

He used the name Cosmo Setepenra online and as his pen name for his self-published books. He discussed the Dallas attack on police officers and recent police shootings of black men in social media posts.

“Violence is not THE answer (its a answer), but at what point do you stand up so that your people dont become the Native Americans…EXTINCT?,” he wrote on Twitter on July 13.

State Police Colonel Mike Edmondson said they believe Long was the lone attacker. Edmondson said they are still working to determine if he had any help from co-conspirators and asked anyone with information or anyone who sees something suspicious to contact police.

The state police are leading the ongoing investigation.

Governor John Bel Edwards said it was an “horrific” attack on law enforcement and the Baton Rouge community. He said Long, “came in here from somewhere else to do harm to our community.”

Police said they believe Long had been in the Baton Rouge community for several days. His social media posts show he had also recently been in Dallas, traveling there in the aftermath of the shooting that killed five police officers.

Edwards referenced the killing of Alton Sterling in early July by Baton Rouge police.

He said it was a “diabolical attack on the very fabric of society. … There is nothing more fundamentally important than maintaining law and order. … That is not what justice looks like. It’s not justice for Alton Sterling or anything else that has happened in this state or anywhere else. It’s just pure, unadulterated evil.”

The three slain officers have been identified as Montrell Jackson, Matthew Gerald and Brad Garafola.

Here’s what we know so far about Long and the shooting:

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1. Long Posted on Social Media About Recent Police Shootings & Said ‘Bloodshed,’ Not Just Protests, Was Necessary

Long registered a website, convoswithcosmo.com, and created several social media sites under the name Cosmo Setepenra in April. He said in a tweet that he had been away living in Africa for two years and recently returned:

Long described himself on his Twitter account, @ConvosWithCosmo, as a “Freedom Strategist,” “Radio Host,” Mental Game Coach, “Alpha Preneur, “Author,” “World Explorer” and “Former Marine. He also says he has an “☥Ethiopian Bloodline☥.”

Long went to Dallas after the attack on police officers on July 7, 2016, according to a video he posted to Youtube on July 10. He was there to give out his self-published books and claimed the trip had been planned before the attack on police. But from his hotel room, he commented about how he thought people should react to police brutality.

“One hundred percent of revolutions, of victims fighting their oppressors, from victims fighting their bullies, 100 percent have been successful through fighting back, through bloodshed. Zero have been successful just over protesting. It has never worked and it never will. You gotta fight back, that’s the only way a bully knows to quit, he doesn’t know words,” he said in the video. “He can’t understand words, I promise you. He doesn’t understand protests. If y’all want to keep protesting, do that. But for the serious ones, for the real ones, the alpha ones, we know what’s it’s going to take. It’s only fighting back or money, that’s all they care about. Revenue and blood, revenue and blood, revenue and blood, nothing else. Don’t even think about it.”

You can watch the video below:

In many of his videos and social media posts, Long talked about justice and fighting back against the government. He had previously taken an interest in police brutality cases, including the arrest and death of Sandra Bland, which he posted three Youtube videos about last year.

More recently, Long commented about the Alton Sterling shooting in an email obtained by Buzzfeed:

He also tweeted a photo of Micah Johnson after the shooting and called him “one of us”:

He posted several tweets talking about the Dallas shooting and recent police shootings in Minnesota and Baton Rouge:

His final tweet was just after 1 a.m. Eastern on Sunday:

You can see more tweets at the link below:

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2. Wearing Black With His Face Covered He Began Shooting at Officers Responding to a Call for a Man With an ‘Assault Rifle,’ Police Say

The gunman, identified as Gavin Eugene Long, was wearing black and with his face covered, began firing on officers Sunday morning near Hammond Aire Plaza, WBRZ reports. He was also wearing body armor, police said.

Police said he was using an IWI Tavor SAR 5.56 caliber rifle with a strap on it to keep the rifle in place as he engaged the officers, helping him maintain accuracy. He also was armed with a pistol and a Stag Arms M4 variant 5.56 caliber rifle. The rifle was staged inside his Chevrolet Malibu rental car so he could get to it during the shooting, police said.

State Police Colonel Mike Edmondson told The Associated Press the attacker was “seeking out” police officers.

Edmondson said his “movements, his direction, his attention was on police officers.”

The shooting was first reported about 8:40 a.m., according to police radio transmissions. The audio below, of the first 45 minutes of the incident, is courtesy of Broadcastify.com:

Police were responding to a 911 call from a woman reporting a man walking with an “assault rifle” in the area of the B-Quik gas station on Airline Highway. The caller told police the man was wearing a coat and walking behind the store, according to the scanner audio.

Seconds later, an officer yells “Shots fired, officer down! Shots fired, officer down!”

Police said the shooter was not in sight. He was killed within minutes of officers arriving at the scene.

Edmondson told NBC News that Long did not make the 911, and investigators do not think the woman who made the call was an accomplice.

“It was someone who was calling in,” Edmondson told NBC, saying there “was no indication” the caller was “trying to lure someone here.”

Video from the scene showed a heavy police presence, with SWAT officers and other law enforcement flooding the area after the shooting.

Officers could be seen carrying rifles as helicopters circled above the scene.

The investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

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3. He Declared Himself a ‘Sovereign Citizen’ in Court Documents, Claiming to Be Part of the Washitaw Nation

Long posted a Youtube video on July 8, called “I am NOT affiliated with Anyone!”

He said in the brief video that, “if anything happens with me – because I’m an alpha male, I stand up, I stand firm and I stand for mine til the end, til the last day in this flesh, but I’m not the flesh, I’m not the body, I have a body – but I just want to let ya’ll know, don’t affiliate me with nothing.” He said, “I’m affiliated with the spirit of justice, nothing else.”

The video and that account have since been suspended by Youtube. You can watch the video below:

While Long says in the video he is not affiliated with any groups, CNN is reporting police found a membership card appearing to show he belonged to a black sovereign citizen group, the Washitaw Nation of Mu’urs:

The Southern Poverty Law Center wrote about the Washitaw Nation in 1999. Sovereign citizens believe they are exempt from federal and state laws, including those requiring them to pay taxes. The FBI has classified them as a domestic threat.

Long declared himself to be a sovereign citizen in court documents, obtained by the Kansas City Star, which were filed last year in Jackson County, Missouri:

“No doubt at all, He’s 100 percent sovereign citizen,” J.J. MacNab, an expert on anti-government extremists, told the Star, saying he fell into the Moorish Sovereign category, which includes the Washitaw Nation of Mu’urs. “This group believes that they are indigenous to the continent and therefore above all federal, state and local laws. These documents show Long’s attempt to separate his flesh and blood ‘indigenous’ self from his legal entity self.”

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4. He Served in the Marines, Including a Tour in Iraq, for 5 Years Before He Was Discharged in 2010

Long served in the Marine Corps, CBS News reports. He left the Marines in 2010 with an honorable discharge as a sergeant at the E-5 level. He served for five years, and was deployed to Iraq from June 2008 to January 2009.

He wrote about his time in the Marines on his website, saying, he reached the rank of sergeant “in less than three years as one of the Corps most physically fit and disciplined Marines. During his five years as a Marine, Cosmo spent two years in Japan and did one tour in Iraq. While stationed in San Diego, California, Cosmo became a highly esteemed and sought after nutritionist and personal trainer.”

The 25-year-old gunman who killed five police officers in Dallas earlier this month, Micah Xavier Johnson, had also served in the military.

Long was a data network specialist in the Marines, according to records. He was discharged for medical reasons after spending some time in the hospital with a physical injury, military officials told the Kansas City Star. Details of the injury were not released.

Public records show Long has lived in Kansas City and Grandview, Missouri. He has also lived in San Diego, California, and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. No ties to Louisiana have been found.

A reporter from Kansas City says she went to the address where Long lived and was met by someone armed with a gun:

The neighborhood was later shut down by police and a standoff was reported at the home listed as Long’s last known address, KMBC-TV reported.

No one answered at a number listed for Long.

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5. He Dropped Out of College for a ‘Spiritual’ Trip to Africa, His ‘Ancestral Homeland’

Long was listed as a Dean’s List student at the University of Alabama in 2012, according to the school’s website. The university has confirmed he was a student there for one semester.

He said on his his Linkedin profile that he graduated from Central Texas College in 2011 with an associate’s degree, and also studied at Clark Atlanta University from 2012 to 2013.

On his website, Long wrote that he dropped out of college, sold his two cars and gave away his material possessions to journey to Africa, his “ancestral homeland,” after a “spiritual revelation.” While there, he wrote three books, he said on the website:

While in Africa, Cosmo’s spiritual journey took him across Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Egypt, Ghana and Burkina Faso. During that time he frequented the highly treasured and revered mountainous regions of Africa and was taught by Africa’s native spiritual practitioners and elder holistic healers.

Cosmo has been an avid student of nutrition, health, fitness, personal transformation and spiritual mastery since the age of sixteen. He conducts sports nutrition workshops locally, nationally, and internationally. He has traveled nationally to over thirty States in the U.S., and internationally to The Bahamas, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Maldives (Island country near India), Iraq, and Africa to name a few.

In addition to over twelve years of health, fitness, and nutrition experience, Cosmo also has extensive sports nutrition, life-coach, and spiritual counseling experience with fitness enthusiasts, professional athletes and spiritual seekers. In one-on-one sessions, he coaches his clients on ways to create a daily food plan that is successful and can be maintained over the long-term. He also helps them reach their optimal weight, diet, spiritual and personal growth goals.

No criminal record for Long could be found in Missouri.

Click HERE or on the “NEXT PAGE” button below to read more about Long, the situation in Baton Rouge prior to the shooting, and the officers killed in the attack.

6. Long Often Posted on Websites About Government Conspiracy Theories, Including Gang-Stalking

Long posted on conspiracy theory websites focusing on government surveillance and monitoring, according to CNN.

He was a member of a “support group” called “Freedom from Covert Harassment and Surveillance,” a site about “gang-stalking” that aims to help those “marginalized and abused by” things including “remote brain experimentation” and “remote neural monitoring of an entire humans (sic) body.”

He posted on a website called stopgangstalking.com.

In a recent podcast posted to his website, he talked about an altercation he had with a superior during his time stationed in San Diego. He said that interaction has led to the government blacklisting him from employment opportunities.

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7. He Ranted in His Podcasts & on His Blog About Being an Alpha Male

Several of his posts on his website include misogynistic themes about being an “alpha male.” He also began a weekly podcast in April, which he hosted on iTunes:

Uniting the Entrepreneur and the Alpha Male as One= “The ALPHA PRENEUR”. Convos With Cosmo is the worlds foremost authority on “Alpha Preneurism”. It is an Open Conversation on what it means to be an Alpha Preneur (an ALPHA male/female ENTREPRENEUR). I examine Alphahood in an Educational and Entertaining way….EDUTAINMENT. However, I do so in a NO nonsense approach; Were waging war against Bitchassness, Beta-Males, Complainers and Blamers, Purposeless and Pussy Whipped Men. And anything else that would keep a Man from walking in his complete and full masculinity. Mission Statement: For the absolute annihilation and reformation away from Bitchassness behavior; And for the complete and total reclamation of Alphahood.

Long was divorced, according to court records. He filed for divorce from his wife in 2011 in Kansas City, Missouri court. He and his wife did not have children at the time of the divorce and it is not known if Long has any children from other relationships or if he had re-married.

Long filed for divorce on February 14, 2011, and it was finalized on May 24, 2011.

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8. All 3 of the Slain Officers Were Husbands & Fathers, Police Say

The slain officers have been identified as Baton Rouge Police Officers Montrell Jackson and Matthew Gerald and East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Deputy Brad Garafola. All three were husbands and fathers.

Jackson recently posted a heartfelt message on Facebook about being a police officer.

“I’m tired physically and emotionally,” Jackson wrote. “Disappointed in some family, friends, and officers for some reckless comments but hey what’s in your heart is in your heart. I still love you all because hate takes too much energy but I definitely won’t be looking at you the same. Thank you to everyone that has reached out to me or my wife it was needed and much appreciated. I swear to God I love this city but I wonder if this city loves me.”

Jackson’s son was born in March.

The 32-year-old was a 10-year veteran of the Baton Rouge Police Department.

Gerald served in the Marine Corps and was married with two children.

He graduated from the police academy in March.

Garafola, 45, was a married father of four.

He had served as a deputy in the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff’s Office for 24 years.

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9. The Shooting Came After Threats Had Been Made Against Police & Several Days of Protests Following the Shooting of Alton Sterling

The shooting came after several days of protests over the death of Alton Sterling, who was fatally shot by police on July 5. Video of the shooting recorded by a witness was shared on social media.

The investigation into that shooting is ongoing.

The large protests have led to hundreds of arrests in Baton Rouge.

During the protests in Baton Rouge, police uncovered a “credible threat,” against officers.

Baton Rouge Police announced last week that they had arrested multiple people involved in a burglary of a pawn shop tied to a threat against police officers, The Advocate reports.

Four burglars broke into a pawn shop and stole eight handguns, police said. One suspect told police they were looking for bullets to kill officers, police said.

Police arrested four people, including a 12-year-old boy, in the case.

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10. The Governor Called the Shooting Deaths of the Officers an ‘Unspeakable & Unjustified Attack’

Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards called the attack an “unspeakable and unjustified attack.”

Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden called the shooting an “ambush” and asked for prayers for the wounded officers.

The mayor, governor and police officials were at the hospital Sunday afternoon to support the wounded officers and their families.

President Barack Obama issued a statement on the shooting Sunday afternoon:

I condemn, in the strongest sense of the word, the attack on law enforcement in Baton Rouge. For the second time in two weeks, police officers who put their lives on the line for ours every day were doing their job when they were killed in a cowardly and reprehensible assault. These are attacks on public servants, on the rule of law, and on civilized society, and they have to stop.

I’ve offered my full support, and the full support of the federal government, to Governor Edwards, Mayor Holden, the Sheriff’s Office, and the Baton Rouge Police Department. And make no mistake – justice will be done.

We may not yet know the motives for this attack, but I want to be clear: there is no justification for violence against law enforcement. None. These attacks are the work of cowards who speak for no one. They right no wrongs. They advance no causes. The officers in Baton Rouge; the officers in Dallas – they were our fellow Americans, part of our community, part of our country, with people who loved and needed them, and who need us now – all of us – to be at our best.

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.

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump reacted to the shooting on social media. The presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Hillary Clinton, has not commented on the shooting.

Dallas Police Chief David Brown shared a message of support on Twitter.

Five officers were fatally shot in Dallas in an ambush attack earlier this month.