Thoughts On Shooting Reporting
The murder of the guard is horrible beyond a doubt, but I’m somewhat struck by the coverage
WASHINGTON (CNN) — A rifle-wielding white supremacist entered Washington’s Holocaust museum on Wednesday afternoon, fatally shooting a security guard before being wounded himself by return fire from other guards, authorities said.
Stephen Tyrone Johns, a six-year veteran of the museum’s security staff, later “died heroically in the line of duty,” said Sara Bloomfield, museum director.
Law enforcement sources identified the suspect as James W. von Brunn, an 88-year-old white supremacist from Maryland.
Did you know the shooter was a white supremacist? I guess it’s reasonable to prominently note in a report written just a few hours after the shooting some details that are in fact probably highly relevant to the crime, and here “prominently” means twice in the first three sentences of the story. To be clear: CNN feels that it is very important that the suspect’s political/philosophical world view be stressed; that it was his belief system that led him to act this way. And frankly I think they’re right. The guy is a wacko scumbag.
Meanwhile, last week
(CNN) — An Arkansas man was arrested Monday in connection with a shooting at a Little Rock military recruiting center that killed one soldier and wounded another, authorities said.
Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad — a 24-year-old Little Rock resident formerly known as Carlos Bledsoe — faces a first-degree murder charge and 15 counts of engaging in a terrorist act, Little Rock Police Chief Stuart Thomas said. The terrorist counts stem from the shots fired at an occupied building.
While authorities continued to investigate a motive, Thomas said Muhammad is a Muslim convert and, based on preliminary interviews with him, investigators believe there were “political and religious motives” in the shooting.
CNN’s being a little more coy here, aren’t they? You know, “investigators believe” that this person’s belief system “might” have played a part in what he did – but let’s not get hasty! Perhaps this little nugget buried by the AP yesterday may help them make up their minds
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A Muslim convert charged in the killing of a soldier at a recruiting center in Arkansas says he didn’t consider it murder because U.S. military action in the Middle East made the killing justified.
Abdulhakim Muhammad told The Associated Press Tuesday in Little Rock that he confessed to police that he killed Pvt. William Long outside an Army-Navy recruiting center.
After this murder yesterday it took only a few hours for Obama to issue this statement
“I am shocked and saddened by today’s shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. This outrageous act reminds us that we must remain vigilant against anti-Semitism and prejudice in all its forms. No American institution is more important to this effort than the Holocaust Museum, and no act of violence will diminish our determination to honor those who were lost by building a more peaceful and tolerant world.
“Today, we have lost a courageous security guard who stood watch at this place of solemn remembrance. My thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends in this painful time.”
I agree with every word.
Compare that to the nearly 5 days it took for him to issue this somewhat more tepid statement
“I am deeply saddened by this senseless act of violence against two brave young soldiers who were doing their part to strengthen our armed forces and keep our country safe,” Obama said in a statement issued by the White House.
“I would like to wish Quinton Ezeagwula a speedy recovery and to offer my condolences and prayers to William Long’s family as they mourn the loss of their son.”
A bit of a difference, it seems to me.
Oh, and as a further point of comparison here’s what Obama said, again within hours, not 5 days, of Dr. Tiller’s murder
I am shocked and outraged by the murder of Dr. George Tiller as he attended church services this morning. However profound our differences as Americans over difficult issues such as abortion, they cannot be resolved by heinous acts of violence.
Priorities, my friends.
Media | tree hugging sister | 
June 11, 2009 8:55 am
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Revolting.
I’m in liberal hypocritical overload and can’t take it any more.
(Or did I mean ‘overlord‘…? Hard to tell.)
Also, Mr. Muhammad has said there will be “more incidents” leading investigators to think he’s part of a larger plot.
Think THAT made any news other than Fox?
Can’t claim to have seen it anywhere, Lisa.
Must be Fox making things up again.
The shooter at the Holocaust Museum hated neocons, and Bill O’Reilly, and George Bush. So how long before the talking heads blast Kos and DU and the MSM for “contributing to the culture of hate within which this man flourished?”
And as for “white supremacy” there’s one major political party that officially holds Blacks and other minorities are incapable of competing with whites on a level playing field. And it isn’t the GOP.
We all know why the Holocaust shooting was the top story on every news outlet.The News comes from one source.That source is controlled by a hand-full
of internationalists who want to destroy the Christian culture of the USA.
Sorry, I just went into to my Neo-Nazi mode.
Actually it’s more important news than unimportant soldiers dying in a recruiting center.They probably
would have died in Iraq later, anyway.(they think)
It’s them versus us.And the Media thinks they
know who ‘them’ is.But, it’s all collapsing.
Believe me in two years the USA will be in some
deep critical mass collapse….
Greg… holy shit. You just pole-vaulted the line between damned odd and complete nutjob. NO soldier is unimportant, and to say “they probably would have died anyway” is an outrage. To hell with politics, Sir, that is an outrage to all human decency and frankly, you are a first-class asshole to write such a thing.
Nightfly: You didn’t understand my message.The media feels soldiers aren’t important.They merely pay token homage to their deaths to put on a facade
of compassion.Actually,they only care about the small group
that really matters in their own eyes.The rest of
us are market share,labor pool, neilson ratings,
and the North American market.One Daniel Pearl
equals a thousand mid-western farm boys in their
philosophy.
.
If you were talking about the media’s attitude then I sincerely apologize. It’s the sort of thing that really gets me. Please forgive me for being so hasty.
I love you guys…I’m a jerk, but not really..
I think ‘Fly just misread you, greg. no worries.