Philando Castile - Armed Robbery Suspect - News Reports False

Philando Castile was killed by a police officer in Minnesota during a traffic stop for brandishing a weapon. He was pulled over because he resembled an armed robbery suspect. The officer reacted to the weapon, not the race of the man. He did not have a concealed carry permit and was not pulled over for a broken tail light. The officer that shot him was not white. These are the facts that are emerging after the shooting has been investigated. Unfortunately this shooting, and the false narrative pushed by headline hungry news outlets, has led to more unnecessary deaths, arrests, and racial tensions. It's not the first time in the last few years that false initial claims have led to violence. The fires of a race-war are being stoked from many angles, and the nation is nervous to say the least.

Hate crimes or perceived racial killings are like liquid gold to the media. They can pull in every facet of anything that's wrong in America and connect it to the current story. The number of interviews, one-off stories, and event coverage means advertising revenue for the news sites. By blaming whites for everything, the media is only taking the course of least resistance. Whites, by nature, are apologetic, afraid of confrontation, and are a large enough group that they can take the hit. White politicians are easy to predict in these moments as they quickly step up with condemning statements and pledges of support for the "victims." White CEO's and community leaders are interested in making money, and protests disrupt business. They will do whatever it takes just to have protests end or be far away from their markets. Business owners don't want their livelihood damaged by unhappy mobs. White students and young people don't want to be branded as racists, so they'll jump in to support protest groups or happily be interviewed, always in support of the victim. The Media understands these facts and exploits them, not in the name of Justice, but in the name of self-aggrandization.

The media has been carefully cultivating the narrative that blacks are constantly under a state of oppression by whites. Stories on shootings by white police officers are over-reported and people are intended believe it happens all the time. In 2016, twice as many whites were killed by police compared to blacks (238 whites, 123 blacks, 79 Hispanic, 69 unknown or other.) The statistics are not favorable for the narrative, so they always get ignored. Most blacks are killed by other blacks. Most whites are killed by other whites. These facts are consistent over time, yet the media continues to stoke an alternate reality. In fact, of all the violent interracial crimes committed each year, 85% are committed by blacks, but the stories seem to try to tell just the opposite. The media is baiting the black community to attack whites. They want bloodshed and violence because it makes them money.

Take a look at the high profile killings that occurred over the last few years and you can see the fingerprints of media distortion all over them. The actual stories don't fit the narrative of "all white cops are killing young black men," so they improvise with disasterous results. It started with the killing of Trayvon Martin, by George Zimmerman, who wasn't a cop but wanted to be one. He shot and killed Trayvon who was unarmed during a physical altercation between the two. Zimmerman did not speak to the media after the incident, but that didn't stop the media. The story remained local to the Florida market until the Martin family attorney hired a publicist to get the story out nationally. In order to gin up the story, NBC news lied and said Zimmerman told 911, “He looks like he’s up to no good, he looks black.” This was later shown to be false when the actual transcript of the call emerged. Regardless, the seeds of racial discord were sown and the national media took the ball and ran with it. This fake story didn’t just ruin Zimmerman’s life, it created racial tension that led to attacks on whites by blacks as a sort of revenge. Ironically Zimmerman isnt white.

Michael Brown, a black teenager was fatally shot by a white police officer in Ferguson, MO in 2014. The disputed circumstances of the shooting led to rioting, looting, and attracted national attention. In this case, the media swarmed the city and relentlessly filled the airwaves with misinformation. By pushing the story that the officer shot Michael Brown in the back in cold blood, and that there were eyewitnesses, the media fanned the flames which led to the hostilities that saw the city reduced to chaos and destruction. The false claim of "Hands Up Don't Shoot," was widely circulated but later proved to be false. Believing that Brown was executed by a police officer while trying to surrender, the peaceful protests turned violent and continued for nearly a week. The Obama administration became involved and the Justice Department stepped in to take over the investigation, adding power to the protestors. Eventually the truth came out and the officer was exonerated and the shooting justified as self-defense. Regardless of the truth, race relations were made worse. The media and the Obama administration involvement made things much worse. Of course, the media cashed in for over a year, just as expected.

Freddy Gray dies in police custody, 6 officers brought to trial and a media narrative of how the police killed him. All were found not guilty, but the media drove a racially charged story during the entire incident. Tamar Rice, a young black youth, points a toy pistol at an officer who shoots him. Eric Garner dies after resisting arrest while selling illegal cigarettes. Thousands of demonstrators take to the streets over four nights when a white police officer wasn't charged in his death.

These killings were all unfortunate but until the media stops trying to hype up the events and make false judgements just to get headlines, things won't get any better. In every one of these cases, the "facts" were being broadcasted before any corroborating evidence surfaced. In each case, the truth was not the objective, but instead only a version of the truth which would advance the false narrative. Add in the social media posts by agitators and that fictitious narrative keeps gaining power, now living a life of its own. Responsible news reporting has gone away, only to be replaced by sensationalism and agenda driven politics.