What Kind of Hate Kills?

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Hate is in America in October 2018, and it seems intent and killing.

A series of pipe bombs were sent a number of prominent Democrats including sitting senators. According to the New York Times, the mayhem and attempt to harm was born of Trump fever.


Front page of The New York Times, October 27, 2018

The lead article on October 27 made clear that “A Fervent Backer of Trump is Seized in Pipe Bomb Spree.” The news painted the rationale in a clear and unambiguous manner as it began the article “An outspoken supporter of President Trump from South Florida was charged on Friday with sending explosive packages to at least a dozen of the president’s critics,” the paper continued, “a federal criminal complaint spells out his contempt for this week’s many bomb targets, noting that Mr. Sayoc’s van was slathered with images and slogans found on fringe right-wing social media accounts.” The paper highlighted that the hatred was from a right-wing backer of President Trump.

Fortunately, no one was injured in the hate-filled mailers.

The situation was much more grave at a synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA, where eleven Jews were gunned down during Sabbath prayers while many people in America were reading the news about the arrest of the pipe bomber.

The opening of the Times’ report stated “Armed with an AR-15-style assault rifle and at least three handguns, a man shouting anti-Semitic slurs opened fire inside a crowded Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday morning, killing at least 11 congregants and wounding four police officers and two others, the authorities said.” The source of the violence stemmed from hatred of Jews (or was it guns?)… at least at the beginning of the Times report. Unfortunately the Times would lead readers into a bit of a misdirection a few paragraphs on:

“The assault on the synagogue unfolded on a quiet, drizzly morning, and came amid a bitter, vitriolic midterm election season and against the backdrop of what appears to be a surge in hate-related speech and crimes across America. It also took place in the wake of the arrest Friday morning of a man who the authorities said sent more than a dozen pipe bombs to critics of Mr. Trump, including several high-profile Democrats….The anguish of Saturday’s massacre heightened a sense of national unease over increasingly hostile political rhetoric. Critics of President Trump have argued that he is partly to blame for recent acts of violence because he has been stirring the pot of nationalism, on Twitter and at his rallies, charges that Mr. Trump has denied.“

A reader of the article could conclude that this anti-Semite who slaughtered eleven innocent people was a “fervent backer of Trump,” just like the pipe bomber and had political motives. However, the murderer was anti-Trump, a point never mentioned in the Times’ 2200-word article. However, the Times website did make sure to include a 2-minute video about “AR-15: The Gun Behind So Many Mass Shootings.” Please don’t suggest that the Times itself is caught in the “bitter, vitriolic midterm election season,” and using the slaughter of innocent Jews to serve its liberal mission.

The Times coverage stood in sharp contrast to other news sites like Reuters, which clearly laid out the evil antisemitism in the murderer and wrote that the killer was anti-Trump.

Reading other new sources would further educate readers about the nature of the “hate-related speech across America” that the Times mentioned but did not discuss. The gunman said that “jews are the children of satan,” and that the US was suffering from a “k*** infestation.” Those were not the utterances of President Trump, but of the leader of the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan, a rabid antisemite that the New York Times refuses to denounce:

  • On October 17, 2018, Farrakhan compared Jews to “termites” in a video and tweet he proudly broadcast
  • On March 9, 2018 the NOI posted a public letter to Gregory Meeks and Barbara Lee who condemned Farrakhan’s antisemitic remarks by saying that they were working on behalf of “Satanic Jews.”

The Times never reported on any of Farrakhan’s hate-filled speeches.

There is a vile stench of hatred in the world and it must be called out repeatedly. It is disgraceful that media outlets like the New York Times will misdirect readers to think that the problem of racism and antisemitism come solely from white Trump supporters, when the problem is widespread and deep within the Muslim community.

We mourn the innocent victims of the horrible event in Pittsburgh and condemn hatred and those that both foment such hatred (like Farrakhan) and those that disguise it and use for their own political purposes (like The New York Times).

Related First.One.Through articles:

In The Margins

Farrakhan’s Democrats

NY Times Discolors Hate Crimes

Covering Racism