Typically, when one hears of a tragic mass shooting or a shocking crime or a “hate” crime, the evil perpetrator is quickly splashed across the headlines.
Their friends and neighbors are asked about him (going with ‘him’ for a few reasons,) hence one of the following standard quotes soon appearing:
“He seemed like a nice normal guy,” or, for some reason far less often, “We all knew he was trouble.”
Social media site are scanned, driving history pored through, court records scrutinized (“Man who shot 57 once sued neighbor over fence”) and, in general, his life is picked apart.
And not for an inherently terrible reason – the public has a right to know what caused the chaotic tragedy of the crime.
But recently, a few high-profile, high-awful crimes that would normally have received this exact treatment have been handled by the media and law enforcement quite differently.
Let’s look at three.
First, the stabbing of Detroit Rabbi Samantha Woll. Within hours the public was told it was not a “hate crime.” How did the police know that? It seems they based that judgment on the fact that an Israeli flag on Woll’s property was not defaced - https://news.yahoo.com/samantha-woll-updates-detroit-police-162723391.html .
That was it, an oddly peremptory statement in the midst of incidents of anti-Jewish crimes across the country.
Woll’s suspected stabber was arrested a week or so ago but released without any charges being filed.
Officials will not provide a name for the suspect and the media is not out knocking on doors finding out about the guy (trust me, I covered ‘cops and courts’ for years – I can guarantee you at least the local reporters know who he is.)
Second, we have the case of the transgender person who shot and killed three children and three adults at The Covenant School in Nashville. It was known very early on that Aidan/Audrey Hale had a detailed manifesto and wrote a number of other things – including a suicide note – right before the shooting.
The local police and the FBI refused to release the information, in stark contrast to other shooting incidents in the past; for example, the terrible racist shooter in Buffalo in 2022 had his supremacist manifesto posted publicly within a few days of the incident.
Last week, a tiny part of the Hale manifesto - https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2023/nov/9/why-secrecy-nashville-shooters-leaked-manifesto-fu/ - was leaked to the media. It clearly shows Hale targeted the school because of “white privilege” and specifically intended to “kill little crackers.”
The police are incensed the leak occurred and have already suspended a number of officers on suspicion of being party to the leak.
Also last week, a Jewish man – Paul Kessler – was accosted by a supporter of Hamas/Palestine on the sidewalk during a what could only be called a “dueling protest” situation. The man crossed the street to the Jewish side of the street (that sounds really odd and kinda scary) and started yelling into his megaphone directly at the people he was standing nearest. The man appears to have hit Kessler in the face with the megaphone, sending the 69-year-old man back on his heels and backwards onto the pavement and his head into the sidewalk. Kessler died at the hospital the next day.
Officials have said the megaphone man has been cooperative and even called 911 – how gracious of him! – but has yet to be identified or arrested or charged despite the coroner finding the cause of death as “homicide.” - https://ktla.com/news/local-news/sheriff-lacks-evidence-to-bring-charges-in-death-of-jewish-man-in-thousand-oaks/
It took the Daily Mail to out the guy – pro-Hamas college professor Loay Alnaji: https://www.jpost.com/international/islamic-terrorism/article-772683
What do these three incidents have in common?
Pretty obvious at this point but may as well say it anyway: they don’t fit.
They are counter-productive to the current state of the media and the culture. Trans people are noble victims not crazed killers, supporters of Hamas are not bad or wrong or anything like that, and just because it was a rabbi that got stabbed doesn’t mean it has anything to do with being a Jew.
Now, in your head, flip the scripts – Jewish guy kills Palestinian supporter at protest, gun rights guy shoots up school, cleric in another religion is seemingly randomly stabbed during wave of hatred against said religion?
The public would know everything there is to know about them – from shoe size to the latest colonoscopy results to ever ever having said something mean to anyone about anything: all of that would be public.
And, again, the media wonders why no trusts them.
Speaking of trust, it’s Veterans Weekend.
Technically it was Saturday and most government agencies observed it on Friday, so, close enough to say thank you today.
My father served in World War II and on occasions when he and his friends were at the house for a drink or three, the war would come up. Being a good little 9-year-old bartender, I was tasked to fill drinks and get peanuts and stay out of the way, but one moment from these chats has stayed with me.
The war came up and there was story telling. It started lighthearted, service locales were compared, “hey do you remember?s” bounced around the room and then one stuck. It was not a happy memory, the room got very quiet – even the ice in the drinks dared not move – and then four moments later it was gone. A quick dirty joke was told, naughty things done in Paris and/or Tokyo and/or North Carolina were recalled, more drinks were demanded, and the day went on.
But it was in those four moments that I saw the true forever sacrifice every veteran has ever made and I thank you for your service.