The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

‘Gun Violence’ Propaganda

Posted on | July 6, 2021 | Comments Off on ‘Gun Violence’ Propaganda

Notice the grammar of this headline from CBS News:

More than 180 people died in gun violence
over the July 4 holiday weekend

They use passive voice in the headline, which is contrary to the rules students of my generation were taught in journalism class. This use of passive voice is dishonest, serving to conceal from the reader just who it was that was pulling the triggers in these holiday weekend shootings. And where was it that all these people were dying from “gun violence”?

Were hillbillies gunning for each other in Appalachia? Were these holiday weekend shootings perpetrated by Italian gangsters? Salvadoran MS-13?

The journalists at CBS News don’t seem much interested in the details — who is shooting whom and where? — and so I, a lone blogger, must sort through the various reports for clues. For example, we know that more than 70 people were shot this weekend in Chicago, which thus accounts for more than a third of nation’s weekend shooting total, and as to the demographics of the shooters in Chicago, I think it is safe to say that probably none of them were Trump voters, IYKWIMAITYD.

Let’s go to Cincinnati:

The two people killed late Sunday at Smale Park shot at each other as a result of an ongoing disagreement, Police Chief Eliot Isaac said.
According to police, one person died at the scene and another at the hospital.
Police identified the two people killed as 16-year-old Milo Watson and 19-year-old Dexter Wright Jr.
“There’s been some kind of ongoing disagreement between the two individuals and believe it just spilled over yesterday evening at the park,” Chief Isaac explained.
Three victims were caught in the crossfire, Chief Isaac said.
A 17-year-old female, who was shot, is in critical condition at UCMC, the chief said.
400-500 teenagers were at Smale Park when the shooting happened, according to Colonel Lisa Davis. . . .
The three surviving victims are not being identified at his time.

That story features a mug shot of Dexter White Jr., and while we have no description of Milo Watson or the 500 other teenagers who were in the park at the time of the shooting, let’s just say it’s not likely many of them were Trump supporters. Or NRA members, for that matter.

How about Baltimore?

Violence continued in Baltimore over the July 4th holiday weekend as 14 people were shot, including a 12-year-old and 16-year-old. Five of those shot were killed – including two teenagers.
A 12-year-old boy was shot in the chest in a double shooting early Saturday morning on Annor Court in SW Baltimore. He’s listed in serious condition at last check.
Just before noon Monday, a 16-year-old was shot on McCulloh Street in Upton. A lieutenant on patrol found him with wounds to his arms and legs. He’s recovering at an area hospital.
The Carrollton Ridge neighborhood saw three homicides in four days.
Two shootings were reported on July 4 and eight shootings were reported on July 5, including the fatal shooting of a 19-year-old.
An 18-year-old was shot in the head and killed Tuesday morning.

Who is doing all the shooting in Baltimore? Well, I can tell you that in the 2020 election, Joe Biden got 88% of the vote in Baltimore. And I can tell you that, on the Baltimore Sun‘s listing of the 100 most recent homicides in the city, only one of the victims was known to be white, because most white people don’t want to go anywhere near Baltimore. And what do we know about the Carrollton Ridge neighborhood?

The area currently known as Carrollton Ridge is a low income residential neighborhood directly west of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. Its boundaries are roughly defined by Frederick Avenue to the north, Carroll Park to the south, Bentalou Street to the west and Fulton Avenue to the east. The neighborhood is racially diverse, though predominantly African American.

Forgive me for suspecting there aren’t a lot of Trump voters in that neighborhood. Maybe it’s a stereotype, but in a city where 88% of voters are Democrats, I don’t think very much of the “gun violence” in Baltimore is being perpetrated by Republicans. How about Philadelphia?

A triple shooting at a Fourth of July barbecue in West Philadelphia left two people dead and and a teenager in the hospital.
Witnesses say, at first, they mistook the gunshots around 10:30 p.m. Sunday at 60th and Sansom streets for fireworks. Then they started to run.
One of the victims has been identified as 23-year-old Sircarr Johnson Jr., the owner of Premiere Bande, a clothing store in West Philadelphia. . . .
More than 100 shots were fired. Police ran out of evidence markers.
Johnson’s 21-year-old friend, Salahaldin Mahmoud, was also pronounced dead.
A 16-year-old female was also shot and hospitalized in stable condition.
Police are reviewing footage from surveillance cameras in the area.
And only a few hours later, police responded to the 5900 block of Hazel Avenue in West Philadelphia for another homicide.
Police say a 21-year-old male was shot multiple times just before 2 a.m. Monday.
He rushed to the hospital where he died.
As of now, there is no word on any arrests or a possible motive in these shootings.

Maybe some readers who are more familiar with the area can give us some demographic details about West Philadelphia, but just watching the video of the news report about this shooting, I’m going to speculate that it’s highly unlikely the perpetrators were Trump voters.

Again, I apologize if I am unfairly generalizing based on a handful of anecdotal evidence here. My point is that the phrase “gun violence” is a sort of verbal camouflage used by liberal journalists to obscure the reality of who is actually responsible for the majority of such crimes in America, and to transfer that responsibility to firearm owners in general, most of whom would never commit such lawless violence. In other words, the phrase “gun violence” is a form of political propaganda.




 

Category: Crime

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