The Austin American Statesman, the city’s largest newspaper, refused to publish a physical description of the suspect in the early Saturday mass shooting that left 14 people injured.
Austin interim Police Chief Joseph Chacon described the suspect as a Black male with a “skinny build” wearing a black shirt and dreadlocks-style hair.
The Austin American-Statesman reported that law enforcement had “two suspects” they believed to have been involved in the shooting but intentionally left out Chief Chacon’s description.
The paper ran an editor’s note saying: (emphasis added)
“Police have only released a vague description of the suspected shooter as of Saturday morning. The Austin American-Statesman is not including the description as it is too vague at this time to be useful in identifying the shooter and such publication could be harmful in perpetuating stereotypes. If more detailed information is released, we will update our reporting.”
Bottom line, the woke editors at the paper did not want to report on the suspect because he was identified as black. This is not journalism, it’s advocacy masquerading as “news’.
LawOfficer.com that the newspaper had no problem in the past identify or even speculating on the race of suspects:
"For example, following the death of two Austin residents in 2018 by a package bomb, law enforcement didn’t give out a suspect description because at the time they didn’t have one. This did not stop the did not stop The Austin American-Statesman newspaper from speculating about telling the world exactly who they believe did it:
- “…In England, David Copeland’s 1999 bombs targeted blacks, Asians and gays. Still, researchers have identified some broad characteristics that police turn to in trying to identify deadly bombers. All have been white men. While they have varied educational attainment, they were of above-average intelligence and mechanically inclined. Almost always, they were furious.”
Indeed, without a suspect description or a motive, The Austin American-Statesman told that this crime could be motivated by racism—and the suspect is likely your stereo-typical “angry white guy.”"