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Tag: Gun violence

FAIR: Alex Jones and the Post-Truth Landscape

Posted in Austin, FAIR, and Journalism

To lose a child to violence is already one of the most traumatic things a human being can experience. To compound that by seeing those deaths made the center of a seemingly limitless conspiracy theory pushes that suffering to a level that is almost inconceivable.

The Truth vs. Alex Jones, a documentary released last month from HBO/MAX, immerses us in the immense pain—and equally momentous bravery—of the parents and other surviving relatives of the victims of the 2012 Sandy Hook shooting, as they take on perhaps the most notorious conspiracy theorist of our age. Through exclusive courtroom footage and numerous emotionally vulnerable interviews, director Dan Reed (Leaving Neverland, Four Hours at the Capitol) brings the viewer inside the survivors’ legal efforts to force Alex Jones to face the consequences of his actions.

On the morning of December 14, 2012, a 20-year old man entered the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newton, Connecticut. Over the course of about five minutes, he systematically slaughtered 26 people, mostly young children, then killed himself. He had murdered his mother earlier that day.

Honor the Sandy Hook Families

Posted in Journalism

“A lot of folks are centering Alex when they should be centering the  bravery and catharsis of Neil Heslin and Scarlett Lewis,” said Dan  Friesen, cohost of the Knowledge Fight podcast, which has devoted more than 700 episodes to critically examining Jones.

This is a tall order, because making himself the center of attention  is one of Jones’ most carefully honed skills. He’s an expert at saying  and doing things so outrageous that the progressive left can’t help but  share them—always in horror and disgust, but reaping him new viewers and more clicks nonetheless. (Even the Texas Observer is not immune from dwelling on Jones’ antics.)

In Dallas & Baton Rouge, Media Ignores That Veterans Pulled The Trigger

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

In the wake of shocking, deadly acts of violence, many in the media have been quick to tie the recent slayings of police officers in Dallas and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to the Black Lives Matter movement, which advocates for the civil rights of those disproportionately affected by police violence.

Reporters even asked the family of Alton Sterling, the black man whose death at the hands of Baton Rouge police on July 5 ignited days of protests around the country, to condemn violence against police, a move widely criticized on social media.

But while the killers in Dallas and Baton Rouge were both black men who had expressed anger over police violence prior to their deaths, they had something else in common: Both were U.S. military veterans.

US Police Have Killed Nearly 9,000 Civilians Since 9/11

Posted in Journalism, and MintPress News

Despite a number of high-profile attacks that have resulted in the deaths of thousands of Americans both in the United States and abroad, police continue to pose a far deadlier and more immediate threat to Americans than terrorists.

At least 8,882 civilians have been killed by police since 9/11. This figure is based on government data and civilian- and media-run databases of police killings, although experts agree that the true number could be far higher. By contrast, the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, still the deadliest act of terrorism committed on U.S. soil, claimed the lives of 2,996 people and injured over 6,000 others.

Even including the “Global War on Terror,” in which about 6,879 U.S. servicemembers were killed in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan which were a direct result of 9/11, and more recent terrorist attacks like the San Bernardino shooting (14 deaths), the Orlando nightclub shooting (49 deaths), or even Thursday’s attack on Dallas police officers protecting a Black Lives Matter march (five deaths), those who receive public funds to “protect and serve” are proving to be deadlier than terrorists.