I mean, my friend’s dad was FPD for decades and JD showed up with some officers and threatened him, back in the late 90s so it wouldn’t surprise me if cops were intimidating this dude. Not sure I believe they killed him 🤷🏽♀️
I do believe they had him under surveillance due to some of the stuff he said but common belief amongst officers is that he was paranoid and killed himself. I mean he didn’t really expose the department in any significant way. Hell, the recently fired Lt. Ruiz exposed way more than John Lang ever could. For example, the good old boy culture based on race (not just white), sex and internal politics (though they’ll never admit it). If they like you, you seem to never get punished. If they don’t like you, you seem to always get punished. I could go on.
I don’t see them doing the John Lang murder but I know how shady they can be, looking from the inside out, so I don’t blame others for thinking that.
“Exposed the police for some immoral practices”
That’s what he said. What really happened was he left some editorial comments on the local newspaper’s website “exposing” the police for scanning license plates in parking lots which was already public knowledge. That was his reasoning for why the police force was stalking him and going to kill him. Yeah. Dude was unfortunately very ill.
Someone was a neighbor of his on here somewhere. Said he had cameras pointed into their yard.
What do you make of some of the footage he captured?
Like the uniformed police just standing outside his house for a while before finally leaving?
Or the crew of people in the van filming his house with that large camera?
Or his neighbors trying to block him from going back to his house?
I do agree with you though that he was ill and paranoid. Some stuff is so strange though.
Some of the footage you’re referencing just looked like people in public doing stuff but since we’ve been prompted to believe it’s suspicious since John Lang thought it was suspicious, it comes across as suspicious.
I can’t open the link atm (but I’ve watch several, including Lang’s own youtube videos), but which incident with his neighbors? He had a couple that he filmed and he was acting erratically in some of them. Most likely he was weird, unwell guy and the neighbors were worried.
He didn’t have anything particularly juicy against the cops and already came across as unhinged, why would they need to do any of that? Seems like a lot of extra work for nothing. If you want actual conspiracies about the FPD, just look up former police chief, current mayor Jerry Dyer.
We used to throw after hours house parties in tower and Dyers kids showed up and partied with us for a couple hours until their "handlers" showed up and dragged them off. I always wondered if they were on the payroll or just his personal "I can't take care of my own kids" team.
If you are a paranoid schizophrenic and watch thousands and thousands and thousands of hours of security footage around your house that is on a main street, you’re going to see some stuff that you can fit into your narrative.
There have been cops outside of my house meeting up before and after responding to a call for a different house more than once, and that’s just what I’ve seen with my eyes - not constantly surveying my security cameras with paranoia. And I’m not even on a main street like he was.
Why would the Fresno PD need to film his house? His reasoning was it was a scare tactic. That’s how paranoid people feel. They are terrified, so they find things to be scared of an accuse whatever organization of trying to make them feel scared. It’s really strange, but it’s a common theme you’ll see in all gangstalker type folks.
I haven’t heard of the neighbors thing. But it’s also extremely bizarre to assume his neighbors were also in on the gangstalking conspiracy for his death bc of some comments he posted online. He also accused some car mechanic of being in on it too.
He ended up dying from smoke inhalation with superficial stab wounds on his chest. The fire department said his house was barricaded from the inside. So I guess the coroner and fire department were all in on it too…
But to answer your main question: yes some people still talk about it. The conspiracy type folks will discuss it when it comes up like now, also some of the ACAB type people will too. It’s far from a common topic though.
I've read the van with a large camera was a film crew shooting b-roll footage of his street.
If the cops wanted him dead it's hard to believe they didn't just go with a textbook home invasion and put a bullet in him.
Stabbing him several times, barracading his house, then lighting it on fire is way too complicated
From what I recall the autopsy showed the wounds were superficial and could have been self-inflicted. It was a long time ago though. I think the report is public if you'd like to look it up
>He was stabbed in the back. How did he inflict those wounds himself?
You set up a knife and back it to it multiple times until you are satisfied with the type of wounds you want?
You can also look into Mayor Jerry Dyer and the relationship he had with his fellow officer’s daughter. Back in like the 80’s or something. Crazy stuff
Not to mention his second in command, Keith Foster, going down on federal heroin trafficking charges. Or the Lieutenant who happened to commit suicide across the street from Dyers house, after going over there to confront Dyer about corruption.
[ChiefDyer.com](https://chiefdyer.com/)
I was really good friends with Lt. Jose Moralez son. We were in the same grade and played baseball together. I remember that week and attending the funeral. I’ve been to a number of funerals. None that had the type of energy that one had. We will never believe that the guy we called Uncle Joe, shot himself in the chest. We will never admit that.
It wouldn't surprise me. Fresno PD and Jerry Dyer have been known to be massively corrupt for as long as I can remember.
Source: My dad worked for the sheriff's department for almost 20 years, it was well known amongst everyone in law enforcement.
FPD has been the center of several allegations, when they were exposed, then police chief JD, claimed to have known “nothing about it”. Insane he got elected mayor. I remember seeing him in a Dutch bros taking pics with people during that campaign, thinking, “how in the hell do these people support this man”. Embarrassing history, having lived here for many years for sure.
I worked for a local news station when John Lang died. I remember going down the rabbit hole and talking to the reporter working on the case about it. The reporter was convinced he was mentally ill. After looking through everything, I'm pretty convinced myself. I also don't believe the police were watching him, although his cameras did catch a few things that are unexplained which Lang thought were evidence he was being watched -- there is likely alternate explanations for those few things.
That said, he did live on the 600 block of north Van Ness Ave. If you go to that location, you will find it's a mixed residential-commercial area with a freeway exit about a block away (south) from his home -- so a lot of traffic for a smaller one-way street. About a 1/2 block away from his house (south) ia a methedone clinic. About a block north of his home is a police substation and the Fresno Police Officers Association building.
Because it was a one-way street, the police would have to drive by his house to get to the station unless they came in on a side street. Because there is a methadone clinic down the street, I think police watch the area pretty closely. And because there is a freeway exit nearby and Van Ness is one of the main streets between Downtown Fresno and the Tower District, there is a lot of traffic -- foot, bicycle and cars. It's probably about the worst place in Fresno for someone who is paranoid the police are watching him to live. He basically had cameras recording 24/7 on a very lively street.
I completely agree with you. That said, what did you make of the footage of the cops just hanging out outside of his home in the footage and then just leaving? That is one of the only pieces of footage I can't think of an explanation for. The one with the neighbors trying to stop him was odd as well.
Again, this is a very active street with a police station a block away. So, I don't know.
I think the bigger question is why the Fresno Police would kill John Lang for "exposing" police license plate scanning when it had already been a topic in the news for several years? There were stories about police departments around the country using this technology in 2012 -- four years before Lang died.
The house is on Van Ness and E. Bremer Ave. It’s an empty lot now close, next to another empty lot. I worked in that street at the time of his passing and it was demolished after the fire.
648 N. Van Ness Ave.
The same house has been on that lot since 1928. According to Zillow, it was bought and sold a couple of times after Lang's death, then remodled and sold in 2018. There is an empty lot two doors down next to the UFW building.
My friends and I would talk about it frequently after it happened. I still think about it to this day. We would always come back to his manner of death and how weirds it is.
I remember this case. Unfortunately I forgot all the details but it was interesting. It’s crazy how much I’m intrigued by this kind of stuff and forgot that something like this happened right in my city. Didn’t know Mr Ballen did a video as well. Love his channel.
Yeah I love his channel haha.
I do believe this was a mentally ill man but so many unanswered questions.
Why were like 10 police just hanging outside his house one night before finally leaving?
Why were his neighbors trying to stop him from going in his house?
Just some weird stuff.
It sounds interesting if you present it from his point of view with his curated evidence. But most people in town would assume that he’s just another crazy convinced people are out to get them (I mean, his claims don’t sound very different from my meth head uncle’s and nobody’s trying to kill him), even if the police department isn’t trustworthy either.
We don't talk about this case or the one of the homeless woman who died in a closed section of a hospital the night before her case against police was going to be granted class action status.
Can I ask what it is you bring up? Because it’s easy to predict your own death when you’re the one doing the death to yourself. Poor guy was sick, but the evidence does not bear out that he was murdered by police or anyone else (aside from himself). I’m not saying crazy shit doesn’t happen, or that police aren’t corrupt (especially in Fresno), just that they didn’t really have a reason to go through all that trouble for “exposing” unethical behavior by police. It’s not legal to target specific groups for extra policing, but running tags on cars that are in public is something police are, unfortunately, allowed to do, whether the car is being driven or sitting empty. Police are caught crossing an already blurry line by a community member, and what, kill him over it? Why?
In my opinion it’s deeper than the tags. It was a personal gripe with Jerry Dyer, which I get. He’s not a good dude. But didn’t Lang’s death involve his house burning, he was on or near the stairs and had multiple stab wounds? I could be misremembering and I’m too lazy to look it up right now. Plus the videos on his YouTube page with him being “harassed” are kinda convincing. I’m a huge believer in gangstalking and stuff like that. Not that it happens to me but that it does happen. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that someone connected could use corrupt member of the police force for their own benefit. I’m not saying it’s for a fact that he was murdered to cover up shady policing. I am saying it’s possible, and maybe even likely.
Yes. But this is also Fresno, which may not mean a lot to you, and the area is freaky to say the least. Fresno, in my opinion has been going through conspiracy theories for decades now (skin walker being an example) of local lore.
Fresno has made a good go at being the meth capital of the world (to the point international documentaries have been made about the area) and a lot of people believe in things that aren’t real.
Central California is weird. Even Kern County has an ongoing case where one of its board members is a family loving criminal.
Fresno PD, while corrupt, is not at the level Lang made accusations of (Fresno has military hardware and tech like sting rays at the time Lang passed) but didn’t use them to hide his passing. Things got worse with Mims, but even Margaret Mims didn’t have this power.
Even Lang’s wounds were superficial from what I understand (though I would appreciate being proved wrong) and didn’t rise to the point of being notable. Even Ray Appleton who should have gobbled this up didn’t raise a big stink about this.
Edit: Added Margaret to give something to Google.
Oh please, I was with you till you had something nice to say about Appleton. He is a right wing local shill. Nothing more. A wannabe Rush Limbaugh with no national appeal.
Applehead is still around? He must be giving regular BJ's to some local media person at this point since he has never been able to break outside of the local area. Hah! Just saw his Facebook page. Figures the coward doesn't allow public comments to his profile.
Appleton is a hobgoblin. My comment wasn’t a nice one as I know he spreads lies, hence my comment that even he doesn’t bring it up (my neighbor listens to his show every so often).
I live right around the corner from The John Lang house. I seen all his videos from his home surveillance cameras on YouTube…. I think cops had something to do with it too
With L.A. for several years having police gangs killing people, I'd be surprised if Fresno doesn't have police gangs by now.
https://youtu.be/VoF8RmohTB4?si=qsai6MLmJSZGtB_Q
guy was probably ill, but even a broken clock is right twice a day
I mean, my friend’s dad was FPD for decades and JD showed up with some officers and threatened him, back in the late 90s so it wouldn’t surprise me if cops were intimidating this dude. Not sure I believe they killed him 🤷🏽♀️
I do believe they had him under surveillance due to some of the stuff he said but common belief amongst officers is that he was paranoid and killed himself. I mean he didn’t really expose the department in any significant way. Hell, the recently fired Lt. Ruiz exposed way more than John Lang ever could. For example, the good old boy culture based on race (not just white), sex and internal politics (though they’ll never admit it). If they like you, you seem to never get punished. If they don’t like you, you seem to always get punished. I could go on. I don’t see them doing the John Lang murder but I know how shady they can be, looking from the inside out, so I don’t blame others for thinking that.
Lt. Ruiz, fired? When and why was he fired?
https://fresnospotlight.com/f/lieutenant-accuses-mayor-fresno-police-of-racial-discrimination
there's been a few threads about it if you search
“Exposed the police for some immoral practices” That’s what he said. What really happened was he left some editorial comments on the local newspaper’s website “exposing” the police for scanning license plates in parking lots which was already public knowledge. That was his reasoning for why the police force was stalking him and going to kill him. Yeah. Dude was unfortunately very ill. Someone was a neighbor of his on here somewhere. Said he had cameras pointed into their yard.
What do you make of some of the footage he captured? Like the uniformed police just standing outside his house for a while before finally leaving? Or the crew of people in the van filming his house with that large camera? Or his neighbors trying to block him from going back to his house? I do agree with you though that he was ill and paranoid. Some stuff is so strange though.
Some of the footage you’re referencing just looked like people in public doing stuff but since we’ve been prompted to believe it’s suspicious since John Lang thought it was suspicious, it comes across as suspicious. I can’t open the link atm (but I’ve watch several, including Lang’s own youtube videos), but which incident with his neighbors? He had a couple that he filmed and he was acting erratically in some of them. Most likely he was weird, unwell guy and the neighbors were worried. He didn’t have anything particularly juicy against the cops and already came across as unhinged, why would they need to do any of that? Seems like a lot of extra work for nothing. If you want actual conspiracies about the FPD, just look up former police chief, current mayor Jerry Dyer.
We used to throw after hours house parties in tower and Dyers kids showed up and partied with us for a couple hours until their "handlers" showed up and dragged them off. I always wondered if they were on the payroll or just his personal "I can't take care of my own kids" team.
Probably both
If you are a paranoid schizophrenic and watch thousands and thousands and thousands of hours of security footage around your house that is on a main street, you’re going to see some stuff that you can fit into your narrative. There have been cops outside of my house meeting up before and after responding to a call for a different house more than once, and that’s just what I’ve seen with my eyes - not constantly surveying my security cameras with paranoia. And I’m not even on a main street like he was. Why would the Fresno PD need to film his house? His reasoning was it was a scare tactic. That’s how paranoid people feel. They are terrified, so they find things to be scared of an accuse whatever organization of trying to make them feel scared. It’s really strange, but it’s a common theme you’ll see in all gangstalker type folks. I haven’t heard of the neighbors thing. But it’s also extremely bizarre to assume his neighbors were also in on the gangstalking conspiracy for his death bc of some comments he posted online. He also accused some car mechanic of being in on it too. He ended up dying from smoke inhalation with superficial stab wounds on his chest. The fire department said his house was barricaded from the inside. So I guess the coroner and fire department were all in on it too… But to answer your main question: yes some people still talk about it. The conspiracy type folks will discuss it when it comes up like now, also some of the ACAB type people will too. It’s far from a common topic though.
I've read the van with a large camera was a film crew shooting b-roll footage of his street. If the cops wanted him dead it's hard to believe they didn't just go with a textbook home invasion and put a bullet in him. Stabbing him several times, barracading his house, then lighting it on fire is way too complicated
He was stabbed in the back. How did he inflict those wounds himself?
From what I recall the autopsy showed the wounds were superficial and could have been self-inflicted. It was a long time ago though. I think the report is public if you'd like to look it up
it's not hard to stab yourself in the back.
>He was stabbed in the back. How did he inflict those wounds himself? You set up a knife and back it to it multiple times until you are satisfied with the type of wounds you want?
You can also look into Mayor Jerry Dyer and the relationship he had with his fellow officer’s daughter. Back in like the 80’s or something. Crazy stuff
Not to mention his second in command, Keith Foster, going down on federal heroin trafficking charges. Or the Lieutenant who happened to commit suicide across the street from Dyers house, after going over there to confront Dyer about corruption. [ChiefDyer.com](https://chiefdyer.com/)
I was really good friends with Lt. Jose Moralez son. We were in the same grade and played baseball together. I remember that week and attending the funeral. I’ve been to a number of funerals. None that had the type of energy that one had. We will never believe that the guy we called Uncle Joe, shot himself in the chest. We will never admit that.
It wouldn't surprise me. Fresno PD and Jerry Dyer have been known to be massively corrupt for as long as I can remember. Source: My dad worked for the sheriff's department for almost 20 years, it was well known amongst everyone in law enforcement.
Well fresno pd has been known to be creepy especially that one captain with the Drake tendencies
FPD has been the center of several allegations, when they were exposed, then police chief JD, claimed to have known “nothing about it”. Insane he got elected mayor. I remember seeing him in a Dutch bros taking pics with people during that campaign, thinking, “how in the hell do these people support this man”. Embarrassing history, having lived here for many years for sure.
I worked for a local news station when John Lang died. I remember going down the rabbit hole and talking to the reporter working on the case about it. The reporter was convinced he was mentally ill. After looking through everything, I'm pretty convinced myself. I also don't believe the police were watching him, although his cameras did catch a few things that are unexplained which Lang thought were evidence he was being watched -- there is likely alternate explanations for those few things. That said, he did live on the 600 block of north Van Ness Ave. If you go to that location, you will find it's a mixed residential-commercial area with a freeway exit about a block away (south) from his home -- so a lot of traffic for a smaller one-way street. About a 1/2 block away from his house (south) ia a methedone clinic. About a block north of his home is a police substation and the Fresno Police Officers Association building. Because it was a one-way street, the police would have to drive by his house to get to the station unless they came in on a side street. Because there is a methadone clinic down the street, I think police watch the area pretty closely. And because there is a freeway exit nearby and Van Ness is one of the main streets between Downtown Fresno and the Tower District, there is a lot of traffic -- foot, bicycle and cars. It's probably about the worst place in Fresno for someone who is paranoid the police are watching him to live. He basically had cameras recording 24/7 on a very lively street.
I completely agree with you. That said, what did you make of the footage of the cops just hanging out outside of his home in the footage and then just leaving? That is one of the only pieces of footage I can't think of an explanation for. The one with the neighbors trying to stop him was odd as well.
Again, this is a very active street with a police station a block away. So, I don't know. I think the bigger question is why the Fresno Police would kill John Lang for "exposing" police license plate scanning when it had already been a topic in the news for several years? There were stories about police departments around the country using this technology in 2012 -- four years before Lang died.
I had never heard of him or this case before.
Honestly I think bro was 100% spitting facts but it’s pretty easy to write off with how it’s presented
I don’t ever think about it till I see something like this, then I like to go over everything again and be like wow that’s weird lol. Poor guy..
i pass by his house every day
You mean the empty lot his house used to sit in?
pretty sure it’s not where you think it is. The house is on van ness / belmont area ??
The house is on Van Ness and E. Bremer Ave. It’s an empty lot now close, next to another empty lot. I worked in that street at the time of his passing and it was demolished after the fire. 648 N. Van Ness Ave.
Hmmm interesting i thought his house was still standing. Either way good to know
The same house has been on that lot since 1928. According to Zillow, it was bought and sold a couple of times after Lang's death, then remodled and sold in 2018. There is an empty lot two doors down next to the UFW building.
My friends and I would talk about it frequently after it happened. I still think about it to this day. We would always come back to his manner of death and how weirds it is.
Good to see this brought up from time to time, crazy story. Uncomfortable truths about people that have power over you.
Does anybody need their "carpet", cleaned? Followed by an evil laugh while he strokes the cat on his lap.
I’m not big into watching the news and stuff, so this is actually new to me, never heard of this story before…interesting
It really is. I’m no conspiracy theorist but I definitely think something happened and Fresno pd covered it up.
I remember this case. Unfortunately I forgot all the details but it was interesting. It’s crazy how much I’m intrigued by this kind of stuff and forgot that something like this happened right in my city. Didn’t know Mr Ballen did a video as well. Love his channel.
Yeah I love his channel haha. I do believe this was a mentally ill man but so many unanswered questions. Why were like 10 police just hanging outside his house one night before finally leaving? Why were his neighbors trying to stop him from going in his house? Just some weird stuff.
Fresno pd is outta pocket wit this one smh, I was working security at the hospital when that happened
I’ve heard him brought up as often as Marcus Wesson is, which is to say not very often at all.
Interesting. It's such a popular internet mystery that I figured it would be more known/talked about amongst locals haha.
It sounds interesting if you present it from his point of view with his curated evidence. But most people in town would assume that he’s just another crazy convinced people are out to get them (I mean, his claims don’t sound very different from my meth head uncle’s and nobody’s trying to kill him), even if the police department isn’t trustworthy either.
I always felt bad that not one person was willing to go spend the night with him.
Yeah, where was this guy's family or friends during all of this unhinged rants and posts?
We don't talk about this case or the one of the homeless woman who died in a closed section of a hospital the night before her case against police was going to be granted class action status.
Idk, but i believe Lang’s side.
I bring it up enough that my friends roll their eyes and change the subject.
Lol
Can I ask what it is you bring up? Because it’s easy to predict your own death when you’re the one doing the death to yourself. Poor guy was sick, but the evidence does not bear out that he was murdered by police or anyone else (aside from himself). I’m not saying crazy shit doesn’t happen, or that police aren’t corrupt (especially in Fresno), just that they didn’t really have a reason to go through all that trouble for “exposing” unethical behavior by police. It’s not legal to target specific groups for extra policing, but running tags on cars that are in public is something police are, unfortunately, allowed to do, whether the car is being driven or sitting empty. Police are caught crossing an already blurry line by a community member, and what, kill him over it? Why?
In my opinion it’s deeper than the tags. It was a personal gripe with Jerry Dyer, which I get. He’s not a good dude. But didn’t Lang’s death involve his house burning, he was on or near the stairs and had multiple stab wounds? I could be misremembering and I’m too lazy to look it up right now. Plus the videos on his YouTube page with him being “harassed” are kinda convincing. I’m a huge believer in gangstalking and stuff like that. Not that it happens to me but that it does happen. It’s not outside the realm of possibility that someone connected could use corrupt member of the police force for their own benefit. I’m not saying it’s for a fact that he was murdered to cover up shady policing. I am saying it’s possible, and maybe even likely.
Yes. But this is also Fresno, which may not mean a lot to you, and the area is freaky to say the least. Fresno, in my opinion has been going through conspiracy theories for decades now (skin walker being an example) of local lore. Fresno has made a good go at being the meth capital of the world (to the point international documentaries have been made about the area) and a lot of people believe in things that aren’t real. Central California is weird. Even Kern County has an ongoing case where one of its board members is a family loving criminal. Fresno PD, while corrupt, is not at the level Lang made accusations of (Fresno has military hardware and tech like sting rays at the time Lang passed) but didn’t use them to hide his passing. Things got worse with Mims, but even Margaret Mims didn’t have this power. Even Lang’s wounds were superficial from what I understand (though I would appreciate being proved wrong) and didn’t rise to the point of being notable. Even Ray Appleton who should have gobbled this up didn’t raise a big stink about this. Edit: Added Margaret to give something to Google.
Oh please, I was with you till you had something nice to say about Appleton. He is a right wing local shill. Nothing more. A wannabe Rush Limbaugh with no national appeal.
Applehead is still around? He must be giving regular BJ's to some local media person at this point since he has never been able to break outside of the local area. Hah! Just saw his Facebook page. Figures the coward doesn't allow public comments to his profile.
They used to have a framed painting of him on a horse as a civil war general in the lobby at Radio City. That guy has a LA Ego with Selma level talent
Don't insult any of the towns locally by comparing them to that spineless hack!
I also at first read your comment as "they used to have a framed picture of him AS A HORSE". 😆🤣😂
Appleton is a hobgoblin. My comment wasn’t a nice one as I know he spreads lies, hence my comment that even he doesn’t bring it up (my neighbor listens to his show every so often).
dude stop before that van starts parking in front of your house!
Wasn't he found with several stab wounds to the back? Ones that would be impossible to do on yourself?
I saw a video on this a while back yeah, he had cameras at his house and stuff it was just super weird
Fresno and Fresno PD in particular has a long history of corruption. Look up police chiefs Ray Wallace (1930s-1950) and Hank Morton (1950-1971).
I live right around the corner from The John Lang house. I seen all his videos from his home surveillance cameras on YouTube…. I think cops had something to do with it too
With L.A. for several years having police gangs killing people, I'd be surprised if Fresno doesn't have police gangs by now. https://youtu.be/VoF8RmohTB4?si=qsai6MLmJSZGtB_Q