02/17/2010
Robert de Brus writes:The New York Times has done it again. While ignoring yet another major black-on-white atrocity, it has unearthed a white cop’s unfortunate and mistaken shooting of a elderly black man.The first case, well covered here by Nicholas Stix, involves The Pearcy Massacre. In rural Arkansas, three feral blacks slaughtered five whites in one family, a crime reminiscent of the Wichita Massacre and Knoxville Horror. Move along, the Times and MSM said, nothing to see here.
But the paper off record did send a reporter and photographer to Homer, La., population 3,400, to cover the case of hapless Bernard Monroe. Police officers Tim Cox and Joseph Henry murdered Mr. Monroe, the Times wants you to believe. "Left mute from throat cancer," the Times told readers, the kind-looking and 73-year-old Mr. Monroe is yet another victim of overzealous and possibly racist white cops. And an obviously racist town is trying to cover it up. The mostly white grand jury refused to indict the cops.
Apparently, they were making "small talk" at the Monroe home when Mr. Monroe’s son, a convicted felon, showed up. Here’s what happened, according to the Times:
"Shaun Monroe, Mr. Monroe’s son, who had been sitting in his truck in the street, pulled into the driveway. The younger Mr. Monroe, 38, has a criminal record, including charges in 1994 of firearms possession and assaulting a police officer, his last felony charges.
But there was no warrant for his arrest that Friday. Kurt Wall, the assistant attorney general who presented the evidence in the case to the grand jury, said the officers had been told that if they ever saw Shaun Monroe with a black bag, which they say they did, it probably contained drugs.
No other witnesses saw such a bag that day. But when Officer Henry called his name, Shaun Monroe darted behind the house, went back around the front and ran inside. Officer Cox followed and chased him through the house, a chase that, the lawsuit argues, was “without just cause” or legal justification.
Shaun Monroe burst out of the front door and was at the front gate when Officer Henry, who was in the yard, hit him with a Taser. Seconds later, Officer Cox reached the front screen door from the inside, witnesses said, as the elder Mr. Monroe was walking up the steps to the porch.
Officer Cox told investigators that the elder Mr. Monroe had picked up a pistol he kept on the porch and was aiming it at Officer Henry. All of the civilian witnesses say Mr. Monroe was carrying only a sports drink bottle.So Mr. Monroe’s criminal son caused his father’s death.But this is not in dispute: Mr. Cox shot Mr. Monroe seven times in the chest, side and back. Several witnesses said they saw a police officer later place the pistol next to Mr. Monroe’s body, but the police officers said that was because it had been moved when they were checking his wounds.[Homer Journal An Officer Shoots, a 73-Year-Old Dies, and Schisms Return By Campbell Robertson February 14, 2010 ]
No matter. The SPLC filed its usual wrongful death lawsuit against them and the town. And Big Al showed up to register his concerns.
And the Times anti-racist narrative continued. Although the grand jury called nearly two dozen witnesses, which might have had something to do with its decision not to indict the cops, that doesn’t count for much when too many whites are involved. The Times dutifully reported that eight of the 12 jurors were whites. And so is the police chief.
The paper didn’t report the race of even one witness, although it ominously observed that "the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy was never called to testify about the nature of Mr. Monroe’s wounds." The paper revealed that his testimony wasn’t necessary, but the way it framed that fact did nothing to erase the impression that he was a man who knew too much.
All this, of course, led to the Times’s boilerplate script about one small southern town that just doesn’t get it:
"Though Homer has come far from the intense racial friction of the 1960s, a sense of mistrust has lingered, both white and black residents say. And though even some whites in town are privately troubled by the grand jury’s decision, many black residents have come away with bitter resignation."And that little observation segued to this "end-with-a-strong-quote" closer to indict the town:"If it was a black man killing a white man, he’d be in jail, no question,” said Shavontae Ball, 20, whose sisters saw the shooting. “It’s like my grandmother said: “Ain’t nothing ever change in Homer.’”
Now there’s a reliable source: "Shavontae Ball, 20, whose sisters saw the shooting."
Ain’t nothing ever change at The Times.
Robert de Brus is a newspaper editor somewhere in America.
This is a content archive of VDARE.com, which Letitia James forced off of the Internet using lawfare.