IOWA CITY, Iowa — Days before he allegedly killed two Iowa police officers, Scott Michael Greene sent a note to one of their departments apologizing for prior run-ins, saying his “dark days” were over and praising police as “absolute heroes.”
In an online compliment form addressed to the “many officers” of the Urbandale Police Department, the unemployed 46-year-old wrote Oct. 29: “I love you folks.”
“I love the fact that you will give your life for my daughter and myself. You guys are absolute heroes and I mean that from the bottom of my heart,” Greene wrote in the note from his Gmail account. “I’m so proud to have you guys around. I respect each and every one of you with all my heart. I really do.”
Four days after the laudatory email, authorities said Greene shot and killed first-year Urbandale police officer Justin Martin, 24, and Des Moines Police Sgt. Anthony Beminio, 38. The ambush-style attacks took place about two miles apart within minutes of each other as both officers were sitting in their patrol cars. Greene is in jail awaiting trial on two counts of first-degree murder, which would put him in prison for life if convicted.
The Associated Press obtained documents about Greene on Thursday from the Urbandale Community School District. The district initially refused to release them at the urging of Urbandale police, arguing they were part of a police report and confidential. The district reversed course after the AP argued that exemption did not apply to school records.
The records reveal that for two weeks before the shootings, Greene was enraged by the district’s decision to bar him for security reasons from district activities. The district acted after Greene had waved a Confederate flag in front of black spectators at a high school football game Oct. 14. He told the district he targeted those spectators because he was upset they did not stand for the national anthem.
Greene warned school officials in a rambling email Oct. 26 that he wasn’t violent but that “you messed with the wrong guy.” He said the ban was a violation of his civil rights and promised legal action to restore the right to watch his daughter perform on the high school cheerleading team and in other extracurricular activities.
“I will fight you guys like a pit bull who’s been fed gunpowder,” he wrote to the principal and superintendent.
After the flag incident, police escorted Greene out of the game and temporarily banned him from school property. He later posted video of the incident on YouTube. One of the black parents who was targeted told the principal in an email that he expected additional security measures to prevent future harassment, saying many fans were on edge given the racial unrest going on nationwide.
“The last thing I want is for anything ‘newsworthy’ to occur and take focus away from the sporting event,” the parent wrote Oct. 17.
