Last Sunday afternoon in Queens, NY a man was shot dead on a subway platform. A fight between three men and the victim had started on a Manhattan-bound train. As reported by NYPD Chief of Detectives Dermot Shea:
"At some point, this confrontation turns physical, and as the train approached the 90th Street Station, the dispute spills onto the platform. There (on the platform) is what you see in the widely circulated viral video. A gun appears, and we have an individual shot. We believe approximately five or six shots are fired during this incident, striking the victim multiple times in the face."
On Friday morning Fox and Friends aired the graphic video. The shooter turned out to be an MS-13 member, 26-year-old Ramiro Gutierrez — illegally in the US. And, in what for Fox was serendipity, the shooting took place in Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s district — shortly after AOC had demanded that all funding be denied to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) — the law enforcement group charged with tracking down undocumented aliens.
Trump’s favorite Foxers presented this as evidence that liberals were — and here you can pick whichever you like — indifferent to national security; friends of foreigners, enemies to Americans; dedicated to the destruction of America; or whatever other unAmericanism you wish to tar them with.
Steve Doocy repeatedly singled out AOC for his scorn — incredulous that someone would question whether a federal agency was out of control.
Fox and its friends add a bitter layer of hypocrisy to this piece by omitting the damning fact that ICE was involved in the arrest of Gutierrez for attempted murder and conspiracy in December 2018. And they let him go.
How do we know this? ICE itself published a bulletin announcing:
Twelve alleged members of the La Mara Salvatrucha, MS-13, street gang were indicted by a Queens County grand jury Tuesday [12/11/2018] on various charges including attempted murder and conspiracy, in addition to drug and weapons charges.
And who were the “twelve alleged members” of MS-13? The announcement goes on to say;
The 12 defendants – who range in age from 20 to 35 – are alleged to have conspired to kill two people - a rival member of the Latin Kings and a former member of MS-13. Defendants, Josue “Colocho” Levia, 21, Angel “Chamuco” Romero, 20, and Ramiro “Caramalo” Gutierrez, 26, are charged in the third indictment with plotting a home invasion in Kew Garden Hill neighborhood of Queens. (The bolding is mine)
Neither Ocasio-Cortez nor any other liberal let Gutierrez back on the street. The very agency charged with national-security failed to keep Americans safe. And yet Fox would have us believe that it was someone else’s fault. It is time to disband ICE
Doocy also trotted out the tried and true ‘santuary cities’ argument — in which conservatives accuse liberals of being unAmerican; damn national security; we love illegal, gang banger apologists. It’s true many localities do not question the immigration status of defendants, nor do they hold them the extra 48 hours requested by ICE to give the agency time to act. (Which, by the way, they do because it makes their cities safer.)
Regardless, that is completely irrelevant here. ICE not only knew Gutierrez’s whereabouts they announced they knew.
Doocy and his mates in mendacity could have investigated why ICE had not detained an 'illegal alien' who had 12 prior arrests. That would have been informative. But instead, they stuck to their formula of trashing liberals — especial one of the Democrat’s rising stars.
It is typical of Fox addiction to the despicable manipulation of the truth. The organization has become used to its uncritical watchers. It will give them the red meat and violent videos that confirm the message — hammered home hour after hour, story after story — that they should be scared into infancy by the duplicity of America-hating lefties.
But the tide is turning
Fox’s run of rating success has been underpinned by a bedrock devotion to promoting right-wing memes while pouring derision on liberal positions. But that record of achievement is showing cracks. Just how long can the band tour, playing nothing but its greatest hits, when its fans are dying off, and the next generation wants something new?