Frank James, the sole person of interest in the Brooklyn subway shooting attack yesterday, was taken into custody on Wednesday. The attack left ten people injured. But when the attack was initially reported, many American media outlets refused to provide the suspect’s race. These outlets merely listed his height, what he was wearing, and his estimated weight — they wanted to hide the fact that the suspect was a black man.
For example, one of the most highly regarded newspapers globally, the New York Times, initially described the suspect as “a man with a heavy build who had been wearing a green construction vest and gray sweatshirt.” In its most recent update released this morning, the Times described James as “a dark-skinned man,” not a black man.
Another, NBC News initially described the suspect as “a man believed to be about 5-foot-5 and 180 pounds who was wearing a green construction vest during the attack.” This is a vague, unhelpful description and missing an important detail — the suspect’s race. Moreover, the outlet even identified James’s truck and its license plates.
The Associated Press initially reported the suspect as a man wearing a construction vest and a gas mask. Interestingly enough, the AP could list the racial demographics of the neighborhood the train passed through on its route but could not provide the race of the suspect.
“The suspect, wearing a gas mask and green construction vest,” is how the Gothamist described him.
ABC News initially described the suspect as “a man wearing a green construction-type vest and a gray-hooded sweatshirt, with a ‘heavy build’ and about 5 feet 5 inches tall.” But the suspect’s race was omitted. I suppose everyone in New York City was to be on the lookout for 5-feet-5-inches tall, heavyset males in a gray hoodie as a sign of imminent danger.
An NBC affiliate, 9 News, stated that “officials gave officers a photo they believed to depict the gunman” but did not provide any other description of him.
MSNBC detailed the horrific accident and emphasized the importance of catching the suspect. Commentators on the channel speculated that the event was preplanned, citing the suspect wearing a construction vest as evidence of this theory. Yet, they completely skipped over any description of what he looked like.
These were just some of the many examples of media outlets omitting the suspect’s race in their initial reports, despite the fact that police included the suspect’s race in their description.
When a mass shooting suspect is white, his or her race is always identified. But not when the suspect is black. This discrepancy seems to be part of an agenda-driven desire to control the narrative of the news instead of just reporting it.
