It doesn’t involve a black man killing two police officers. And it doesn’t involve a Muslim killing two police officers.
Before I go further, this is not a “the media is so biased” story. Honestly, for the most part, I think most of the main stream media, with some obvious exceptions, do their best to get stories accurate. But I think this story has died, not because the media doesn’t care, but because readers don’t care. Could be wrong. But let me continue.
If this had been a Muslim killing police officers, it would have been a story for weeks. And the killing would have been termed “terrorism.” Fox News of course, would have had constant coverage of this crime. In fact, while I did not see it myself, I have read that on Wednesday when this killing was first reported, it was all over Fox and other conservative outlets; but when the shooter was found to be white, the story dropped. I can’t verify that first hand, so I might be wrong. But it does come from sources I trust.
Remember the San Bernardino shootings (Muslim shooter)? Or Baton Rouge (African American shooter)? It seems we had long lasting stories about each of those, especially San Bernardino.
But what I find even more disturbing about this story are the facts that weren’t anywhere near the headlines, and sometimes left out completely. I often wonder if major media outlets realize that many people only look at headlines of articles. Certainly anything past the first paragraph or so is ignored by many. Some people only read a story until it confirms what they want it to say. When it does, or when it doesn’t, they move on.
For instance, the killer had been ejected from a high school football game not three weeks earlier. He was waving a Confederate flag in front of a section of black spectators and the police escorted him out. He made a video of the confrontation, put it on youtube, and sent it to a television station: not just the incident, but also a 10 minute argument he had with police. He was angry with the police for kicking him out, because “he was just exercising his constitutional rights.”
A week later, the killer followed a group of African American parents into another football game, accompanied by his dog which was wearing a gun holster and a Confederate flag vest.(1)
Finally, the first killing took place on the same corner as the football stadium.
Oh, and of course, there was also the fact that he had a huge “Trump/Prence” sign in his yard.
Maybe you already know these things. But I don’t think most people do. In fact, I first discovered most of them by reading a newspaper from Jamaica! I did find corroboration of most of these things from other sources, but it was hard to find. So while some of these facts might be wrong, I’m pretty sure they are correct.
This man certainly had multiple family and employment issues as well. But to me, this sure sounds racially motivated. It sounds, although I can’t prove it, as though the killer was retaliating against the police for siding with the African Americans in the crowd. He was frustrated with that, and frustrated that the TV station didn’t do anything with his story. And given the political climate in this country, with a major candidate legitimizing racism and bigotry, intentionally or not, this kind of killing doesn’t surprise me. Unfortunately.
You can’t convince me that if he had been African American, if he had been Muslim, or even if there were a Hillary sign in his yard, this wouldn’t be a bigger story.
Apparently, we care a lot less about crimes committed by white people, especially men. I just really don’t see any other way to interpret it.
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