So now 'It's not about race': The reporter who wrote the story about the mayor of Minneapolis making 'gang signs' now arrogantly claims that everyone but him and the cops are just ignorant: 'Criticism of Mayor Hodges' Photo Report Misses the Point'
After a day of being at the receiving end of outrage and mockery for their absurd story claiming that the mayor of Minneapolis made "gang signs", KSTP.com is tripling down in support of their original story. The news story was a product of white racist prejudices that automatically associate African-American men with gangs.
The doubling-down follow-up statement by KSTP acknowledged no wrongdoing in the original story, and simply claimed that unnamed "law enforcement agencies" contacted them about the 'incriminating' photo:
Law enforcement sources alerted KSTP-TV to a photo they believed could jeopardize public safety and put their officers at risk, especially given the recent increase in gang violence.
Unsurprisingly, no evidence for these claims is given.
Now, KSTP is tripling down, posting a story by the reporter of the original story, Jay Kolls: 'Law Enforcement: Criticism of Mayor Hodges' Photo Report Misses the Point', based only on the claims made by the cop interviewed for the original story, saying that
Michael Quinn, who spent more than 30 years in law enforcement, including 25 years with Minneapolis Police, says the photo is not about race, or police being "alarmists."
The KSTP 'journalist' Kolls writes that
Quinn says there is a reason the man posted the photo on his website and he says, "There could be another gang that would take it as a show of disrespect and commit another crime to solve the dispute."
In the photo, the mayor and the man are pointing at one another. Kolls doesn't even make the effort to prove his claim that this is a "gang sign", he simply accepts the cop's claim that it is so.
The fact that Republicans have won a number of elections around the country does not mean that we will now take racist police actions and racist media reporting lying down.
A luta continua.