July 10, 2018

"Hey, folks, Francis Carlton Crowley is NOT AN IMMIGRANT. He is an irresponsible, drug-taking WHITE AMERICAN MALE."

"Let's see if Trump tweets about Crowley burying and abandoning a WHITE BABY in the mountains. Then again, babies don't rank high on Trump's list of important people, even American babies. By the way, neither do non-rich white American males. Vote November 2018. Gird [sic] the Trump tree."

That's the second-highest-rated comment on "‘This is what we call a miracle’: A faint cry reveals a baby abandoned in the cold Montana mountains," a WaPo column about a man who seems to have left a baby under a pile of sticks and leaves, where it lay for 9 nine hours in 46° weather.

Also in WaPo right now, "Woman beats a 91-year-old Mexican man with a brick, tells him to ‘go back to your country,'" which is a story based on the testimony of one witness who presented video of the old man after whatever had happened to bloody his face.

The witness has told the Post that the man "accidentally bumped into a young girl while walking on the sidewalk," and that the mother pushed the man down and "repeatedly bash[ed] him in the face with a concrete brick while yelling, 'Go back to your country.'" There is no description of this woman, but, we are told, by this one witness, that after what the woman did, "A group of young men bounded down the street, accusing Rodriguez of trying to snatch the young girl. They kicked Rodriguez, who was already crumpled on the ground, and stomped on his head."

Police were called, there's an ongoing investigation, but no one was caught, and there is no description of the woman or the group of men. I hope I'm not being cynical to assume that since the attackers are not described as white, that they were black. The Post talked to the eyewitness and presents the attack as racist, with this paragraph tossed in:
[The] attack comes after the Department of Justice released its recent hate crime statistics, reported by KCRA. The 2017 California report, which was the first published since President Trump took office, evinced an uptick of more than 17 percent, with anti-Hispanic and anti-Latino crimes soaring over 50 percent last year, according to the Saramento Bee.
At the base of the article are links to 3 recent articles: "A man confronted a teenage neighbor over early morning fireworks — then shot him to death, police say," "#IDAdam, the white man who called police on a woman at their neighborhood pool, loses his job," "A black lawmaker was canvassing door to door in her district. A constituent called 911." All of those stories present black individuals who seem to have been treated as though they were intruders in their own neighborhood.

I look at the comments on the article about the concrete brick attack, beginning with the oldest. The third one begins:
The Daily Mail has a screen cap of the woman that did this...
The link goes to a clear image of a black woman. And here's the whole story in The Daily Mail.

The attack is terrible, but The Washington Post also deserves condemnation for deceptively jamming this story into its racial template and scamming its readers. At least it leaves the comments on, allowing the blatant gap in the story to be instantly filled.

UPDATE: The "Woman beats a 91-year-old Mexican man" article now says "Borjas, a 35-year-old Los Angeles resident, watched the child’s mother — a black woman — push the elderly man to the ground and repeatedly bash him in the face with a concrete brick while yelling, 'go back to your country.'" I wish I'd quoted the sentence verbatim instead of paraphrasing some of it. I wrote: "The witness has told the Post that the man 'the mother pushed the man down and 'repeatedly bash[ed] him in the face with a concrete brick while yelling, "Go back to your country."'" So that's the part of the article where the reference to race now appears. I am sure if "a black woman" had been there when I quoted that part, I would have seen it, and I also used a search-the-page function to check for racial words. I'm trying to find a cached version of the original article, but the usual techniques don't seem to work for me on this one.

ADDED: The part that I quoted is enough to prove that a change was made! I have "the mother pushed the man down," and what's there is now "the child’s mother — a black woman — push the elderly man to the ground." It's the same sentence, rewritten, with "a black woman" added.

81 comments:

Oso Negro said...

Perhaps the racial animus is worse between blacks and hispanics. Wapo can't report honestly on this without stating that the attacker is black. This goes against long held journalistic standards of concealing the race of people in the news if it reflects poorly on a minority. Hispanics are at risk of being promoted to "white hispanic" which is now the apparently preferred Chicago Manual of Style usage if a negro also appears in the story.

tim in vermont said...

I am keeping my powder. dry until Trump blows the mighty dogwhistle.

Gahrie said...

The media can't report acts of Black or Hispanic racism, because they refute the narrative that only White people are/can be racist.

Ralph L said...

If that ain't you're [sic], dont you kneed a second [sic]?

Chanie said...

The WaPo article is so wrong. Don't they realize that it's literally impossible for the attacker to be racist because the attacker doesn't posses the historical, systemic privilege and institutional powers of oppression?

David Begley said...

As the lateTom Wolfe wrote in “Back to Blood” blacks discriminate against other Blacks based upon skin color.

Darkisland said...

At the risk of being pedantic, what the Hell is a "concrete brick"?

It can be one or the other, not both.

Stupid fricken reporters. Another reason never to believe the media.

John Henry

iowan2 said...

Fake news...and.

Polls show people have a much higher trust of President Trump than the media.

Reading the "news" with a critical eye, exposes the entirety of reporting, at the very best, lacking in the five W's. Who, what, why, when,where, how. At the worst, lies manufactured to advance an agenda. In the middle are rampant errors of omission, either relevant facts, or entire stories blacked out.

rhhardin said...

Stories are chosen for their ratings value.

rhhardin said...

Would you hit a woman with a baby? No, I'd hit her with a brick.

Early American grammar joke.

rehajm said...

Four Pinocchios.

rhhardin said...

Four Pocahontases.

Darkisland said...

The reason for my nitpicking is to point out that if a reporter is too stupid /reckless/careless or venal to get something this simple wrong, why should we trust them on anything else in the story?

John Henry

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

what the Hell is a "concrete brick"?

It can be one or the other, not both.


Why? Concrete bricks are used a lot in landscaping and driveways.

FIDO said...

Journalists no longer come from the blue collar side of things, so they don't know the difference between a brick and a cinder block.

Jake said...

The comments at the post article are something else.

Ann Althouse said...

"At the risk of being pedantic, what the Hell is a "concrete brick"?"

Wikipedia, "Brick":

"A brick is building material used to make walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Traditionally, the term brick referred to a unit composed of clay, but it is now used to denote any rectangular units laid in mortar. A brick can be composed of clay-bearing soil, sand, and lime, or concrete materials. Bricks are produced in numerous classes, types, materials, and sizes which vary with region and time period, and are produced in bulk quantities. Two basic categories of bricks are fired and non-fired bricks. Block is a similar term referring to a rectangular building unit composed of similar materials, but is usually larger than a brick. Lightweight bricks (also called lightweight blocks) are made from expanded clay aggregate."

Anonymous said...

That's the second-highest-rated comment on...

Glad to see WaPo maintaining its high "stupidest commenters" ranking.

The comments on the other story also upholding that grand tradition with a vengeance.

"The 2017 California report, which was the first published since President Trump took office, evinced an uptick of more than 17 percent, with anti-Hispanic and anti-Latino crimes soaring over 50 percent last year, according to the Saramento Bee."

Only 50%? C'mon "hate crime" tabulators. In the age of Trump you ought to be able to confabulate a greater increase in hate crimes than that. The DOJ's buds at the SPLC must be slacking.

Temujin said...

I dunno. If I saw that coming down the sidewalk with a small slab of concrete in her hands, I'd probably give her an 8' clearance. That is one crazy looking woman.

Michael K said...

When no race is mentioned you assume black.

If the perps are "youths" in Chicago, they are black.

If the perps are "Asian" in Britain, they are Muslim.

It's just the new rules.

I'm Full of Soup said...

i call bullshit on his age too. No way he is 92. "Legal resident who does not speak English" but probably on Medicare I bet.

Bad Lieutenant said...

7/10/18, 6:01 AM
Darkisland said...
At the risk of being pedantic, what the Hell is a "concrete brick"?

It can be one or the other, not both.

Stupid fricken reporters. Another reason never to believe the media.

John Henry

7/10/18, 6:05 AM

Forget it JH, it's London Town. They probably meant cinder block. That heifer looks like she could do a lot of damage with one, too.

Evil elites could make a big thing of pitting blacks against browns.

Bad Lieutenant said...


Blogger AJ Lynch said...
i call bullshit on his age too. No way he is 92. "Legal resident who does not speak English" but probably on Medicare I bet.

7/10/18, 6:55 AM

And that short skirt he was wearing!

rehajm said...

Concrete bricks are used a lot in landscaping and driveways

...where they're generally referred to as pavers. You easily label yourself ignorant of a culture by failing to adopt the language, crazy WaPo news writer person.

Bob Boyd said...

"Bricks are produced in numerous classes"

Brick-making 101

History of Women and Bricks

White Bricks, Black Boards, The Tools of Racial Oppression

Alienation and Walls in Western Society

Alienation and Windows in Western Society

Introduction to Traditional Irish Lovemaking Techniques

alan markus said...

I guess I must be racist for thinking of a black woman right away - have seen too many YouTube videos of black ladies jumping over fast food counters to beat on the workers for shorting them a chicken nugget on their order. Maybe what the media should be pontificating on is how American people of all races and sexes seem to go ballistic upon the merest slight. I noticed the uptick of that during the Obama administration.

Fernandinande said...

Hey, folks, after nominating that judge, Trump flew to Montana and abducted a baby he thought wasn't white from a pitiful mentally ill man and buried it under some sticks and called the cops on the guy, then he, Trump, flew to L.A. and bounded down the street to join in kicking an old Mexican guy in order to inflate California's disappointing hate-crime statistics.

rhhardin said...

You'd think the straw which strengthens brick would do the same for camels.

Jersey Fled said...

Just read about this story on CNN. No mention of the attacker's race.

Along the same lines, Instapundit has a standard headline that they call "Name That Party". If a Republican is accused of misconduct, his party affiliation is mentioned prominently in the first paragraph of the story by the MSM. Usually in the first sentence. If it's a Democrat, no mention of party.

MayBee said...

I would like to know what LA neighborhood this happened in. Because you can't live in LA without being surrounded by hispanic people, and the idea that LA is full of anti-hispanic people is ridiculous.

Michael K said...


Blogger rehajm said...
Concrete bricks are used a lot in landscaping and driveways

...where they're generally referred to as pavers.


In Orange County they are called "Slump stone."

Big Mike said...

Maybe what the media should be pontificating on is how American people of all races and sexes seem to go ballistic upon the merest slight.

In my experience — and my sons went to minority majority schools, the one through 12th grade — there’s only one race that does that.

Tina Trent said...

This is the fruit of hate crime laws.

The inevitable and intended outcome of these divisive and politically deployed laws.

Ray - SoCal said...

LA neighborhood is Willowbrook.

It’s north of Compton, next to 110 and 105.

Took me 3 articles to find that.

Sal said...

"They kicked Rodriguez, who was already crumpled on the ground, and stomped on his head."

A group of males stomping on someone's head while the victim is on the ground is very much a black thing. No photo required.

Dave said...

"Please provide me with a single quote of any leftist saying that black people can't be racist."

This is one of the comments there. This person has no idea about intersectonal feminism or anything else I imagine. You can't even talk to someone like this.

The sad things is that when I try to discuss policy with educated people I know who lean left, they don't know these things either.

Althouse is a gem because she is not willfully ignorant.

Ray - SoCal said...

Compton was for a while Black, and had been changing to Hispanic.

Willowbrook Is patrolled by LA county Sheriffs. Reference to Deputy in the article clued me in.

Per Wikipedia:

Unincorporated, not part of any city.

About 30% Black, 60% Latino.

35% below the poverty line.

Sad you need to go to a Uk paper to find the assailant is Black.

And nothing about the racial make up of the area.

Or of the reports of the forcing out of Blacks in some areas by Latino gangs.

Also there is a hospital there that had huge crony Black issues and was shut down for a while.

William said...

I don't think the dynamics of political affiliation have anything to do with adultery or pedophilia, but your political affiliation has a great deal to do with how such sins are reported. I've been hearing a lot about Jim Jordan and whether or not he was clued in to the predations of that perv doctor. I didn't hear similar speculation about who knew what about the noted rapist and Hillary supporter, Harvey Weinstein........ Sexism, xenophobia, and homophobia are present in all cultures and all races. These are part of the common heritage of humanity, but God help the straight, white male who gets caught voicing such sentiments. I'm sure an in depth analysis of this cinder block incident will reveal that the woman involved was inspired by Trump's hateful rhetoric. Your failure to look beyond the immediate circumstances and to delve the underlying cause, i.e. Trump, is just further proof of your racism.

Seal Of Lion said...

Pravda on the Patomic modifed the story about the beating: "Borjas told The Washington Post. Borjas, a 35-year-old Los Angeles resident, watched the child’s mother — a black woman — push the elderly man to the ground and repeatedly bash him in the face with a concrete brick while yelling, “Go back to your country.”"

Caligula said...

When did UK newspapers start covering USA news better and more completely than USA media?

It just seems so commonplace now to find coverage in UK news media that got routed to the memory hole in newsrooms here.

tcrosse said...

When did UK newspapers start covering USA news better and more completely than USA media?

It's not the UK newspapers that changed.

Birches said...

The Sacramento Bee won't post the woman's picture either. Strange. You'd think they'd want to find her....

Michael K said...

Also there is a hospital there that had huge crony Black issues and was shut down for a while.

It was called "Killer King" for a while and was closed.

It is now reopened as "MLK Community Hospital."

Since Big County was closed and the new County hospital is much smaller than the old one, that seems appropriate.

William said...

Here in NYC there's a story about a homeless man who, on a whim, took out a pipe and bashed some poor guy who was just sitting on the subway, The homeless man had a Hispanic name, and the elderly white guy had a white ethnic name. There was no speculation about any racial motivation to the crime, and there probably wasn't any, Stiill, you just know if the races were reversed that would certainly be a subject of interest.........There's a kind of subliminal white supremacy to the way some crimes are reported. Only white people are sufficiently evolved to be guilty of racism, sexism, or homophobia. Third world people are too childlike to be guilty of such crimes.

Robert Cook said...

"Police were called, there's an ongoing investigation, but no one was caught, and there is no description of the woman or the group of men. I hope I'm not being cynical to assume that since the attackers are not described as white, that they were black."

When I read the story yesterday, I assumed the attackers were white.

President-Mom-Jeans said...

"When I read the story yesterday, I assumed the attackers were white"

Of course you did, you unrepentant Stalinist. Logic and facts are counter revoluntionary.

Jim A said...

The Post article now refers to the attacker as a "black woman" -- was that a late edit or was it in the article originally?

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I would like to know what LA neighborhood this happened in. Because you can't live in LA without being surrounded by hispanic people, and the idea that LA is full of anti-hispanic people is ridiculous.

Similar dynamic here in Texas. My family and friends up north think this place is seething with Bull Connor types who are itching to beat up and deport Hispanics. I roll my eyes at their ignorance from my city which is 65% Hispanic, has had almost exclusively Hispanic mayors for a century, and whose municipal government, police force, schools and courts hum along nicely staffed mostly by Hispanics. A. you'd have to never leave your house to be anti-Hispanic here, and B. I keep looking around for the malevolent white supremacists who keep Hispanics from positions of power and influence. I guess I can't see them behind my kids' Mexican-American teachers, school principals, and pediatrician and the Mexican-American district attorney and judges and all the Mexican-Americans on the city council and the Mexican-American chief of police and the Mexican-American county sheriff. *shrug*


Jupiter said...

Shouldn't we at least consider the possibility that he did try to snatch the girl?

Ray - SoCal said...

>The Post article now refers to the attacker as a "black woman" --
>was that a late edit or was it in the article originally?

A few Guesses...

1. A late edit, Althouse I would trust to notice that little tidbit.
2. They are probably being called out for making it seem to be part of a tide of White Racism.
3. The US articles I read looking for the name of the area, did not mention the race either in the articles from CBS, KTLA, and the Sacramento Bee.
4. Making it seem like White Racism was also why the demographics and history of the area this occurred in where not mentioned. Who knows, it could have been Beverly Hills or Hollywood! They are also in LA County. Instead of the location is between Watts on the North, and Compton on the South.

eric said...

I couldn't read the link Althouse provided so I googled the story and was able to read the Washington Post article from there.

In the article I read it says

Rodriguez accidentally bumped into a young girl while walking on the sidewalk, Borjas told The Washington Post. Borjas, a 35-year-old Los Angeles resident, watched the child’s mother — a black woman — push the elderly man to the ground and repeatedly bash him in the face with a concrete brick while yelling, “Go back to your country.”

Very clearly saying the woman was black.

Gk1 said...

Reminds me of a Chris Rock standup where he says you don't have to give the race to figure out who did what in the newspaper. "If its a story about an old lady pushed down a flight of stairs for her welfare check, thats a Black guy. If its someone caught playing pool with someones eye balls, fingers and toes that's a White guy"

Yancey Ward said...

I read the story earlier- the "late edit" is exactly that, a late edit. Someone at WaPo eventually realized how the omission made them look.

Yancey Ward said...

Robert Cook obviously read the earlier version, too. My own assumption was that she was black, but I am so deeply cynical, I am hard to fool by omitting the race the way most newspapers in the US do it. To fool me, you have to play it the opposite way.

Yancey Ward said...

British papers have fooled me, though, by substituting "Asian" for "Muslim". It took a British reader to clue me in a few years ago.

Anonymous said...

Anybody know why the assailant isn't in jail?

Scott M said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jim at said...

When did UK newspapers start covering USA news better and more completely than USA media?

During the Iraq War and I found myself finding more and more accurate news from overseas. That'd be where I'd start.

john burger said...

The article states that the assailant was a black woman:

"Borjas, a 35-year-old Los Angeles resident, watched the child’s mother — a black woman — push the elderly man to the ground and repeatedly bash him in the face with a concrete brick while yelling, 'Go back to your country.'”

The other attackers are not described, though, just a group of young men "bounding" down the street.

The comments to the article are fascinating: They blame Trump. Yes. They blame Trump because some vicious individual beat the snot out of a defenseless 91 year old man. When all else fails, blame Trump.

jvb

stever said...

This is how Microsoft debugs its software. Put out crap and let the consumers tell them what's wrong with it.

Gospace said...

"Please provide me with a single quote of any leftist saying that black people can't be racist."

Did you never take a standard race relations class in the 1970's? Verbiage straight out of the textbook.

Spaceman said...

The Brits will publish "the rest of the story" that the US media won't touch

tim in vermont said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike Sigman said...

The Washington Post gave up all pretense of legitimate journalism once Trump was elected. They should not be labeled as journalism, but should be labeled purely as a P.R. firm for the DNC.

glacial erratic said...

Why the [sic] after "gird"? It is a perfectly respectable usage. To gird a tree is to cut off the bark in a complete circle, stopping the normal flow of nutrients. Result, the tree dies. Slower than chopping down a tree, but much used in more primitive times or by primitive people today.

Unknown said...

"They kicked Rodriguez, who was already crumpled on the ground, and stomped on his head."

Par for the course in a ghetto beating.

tim in vermont said...

That's "girdle" you "gird your loins" or whatever, but you girdle a tree.

Last I checked, 40 odd years ago, but i am just going from memory of my high school history of New York State, so I am open for correction.

Ann Althouse said...

I put a link on the “sic” to be clear about why.

Ann Althouse said...

Can anyone help me get to the cached original story so I can double check my original observation that the race of the attacker wasn't mentioned? I am trying my normal technique and cannot get to it. Is there some way WaPo could have hidden the edit from the normal cache preservation?

I've tried to get the URL to display with a little green arrow in a Google search and the article doesn't show up.

I've gone to "the wayback machine" which says this URL has not been archived.

Is that evidence that steps were taken to cover up the edit, or am I doing something wrong?

Bad Lieutenant said...

Robert Cook said...

When I read the story yesterday, I assumed the attackers were white.

7/10/18, 9:34 AM

Do you blame the media, or yourself?

Bad Lieutenant said...


Dave said...
"Please provide me with a single quote of any leftist saying that black people can't be racist."


Who are you quoting? That's total doctrine. Top of Google :


Reverse Racism? Mmmm… Not A Thing – Youth Radio
Youth Radio › journalism › its-almost-ml...
Jan 12, 2018 · Many argue whether or not reverse racism actually exists, partly because they struggle to define what racism is.
Reverse Racism, Explained - The Root
The Root › reverse-racism-expla...
Mar 22, 2018 · Again, there's no such thing. The phrase “reverse racism” suggests it is a slur equivalent to offensive acts ...
Affirmative Action and the Myth of Reverse Racism - The Atlantic
The Atlantic › archive › 2017/08
Aug 5, 2017 · While the Times's focus on “reverse racism” may not have entirely captured the actual policy issue in front of ...
Reverse racism - Wikipedia
Wikipedia › wiki › Reverse_racism
Reverse racism or reverse discrimination is a concept that portrays affirmative ... of minority groups. There is little to no empirical evidence to support the idea of reverse racism.
Dear White People, Please Stop Pretending Reverse Racism Is Real - Vice
Vice › en_us › article › kwzjvz
Oct 2, 2016 · It's literally impossible to be racist to a white person. ... But he's not alone. It seems the more we talk about ...
Casual Reminder: There's No Such Thing As Reverse Racism | Complex
Complex Magazine › 2017/02
Feb 15, 2017 · Stop taking conversations about racism personally and start listening to valid points about systemic ...
Reverse Racism - Myth or Reality? | Calgary Anti-Racism Education ...
University of Calgary › ca › cared › myt...
Reverse Racism is a Myth. Assumptions and stereotypes about white people are examples of racial prejudice, not racism

Ann Althouse said...

I wonder if WaPo did something to prevent the usual caching mechanisms from showing their work, but I have convinced myself that I didn't miss the racial identification of the mother.

As I put in an update on the front page:

The part that I quoted is enough to prove that a change was made! I have "the mother pushed the man down," and what's there is now "the child’s mother — a black woman — push the elderly man to the ground." It's the same sentence, rewritten, with "a black woman" added.

h said...

You are correct that the WaPo originally had this linked from their banner headlines as "racist attack". Which becomes awkward because (as we all know) "racist" implies a power imbalance, and now we need to look at this as the (powerful ?) welfare mom attacking the (victimized?) 92 year old. THose of us who can view the world without needing to "intersectionality-ize" everything can clearly see that no one (perhaps no one under the age of 88) should attack a 92 year person with a brick. But the Washington Post and its allies do not want to buy into commonsense (when it interferes with intersectionality), so they are left flailing away: "don't beat up 92 year olds." " Yes but don't blame the victim and the poor black welfare mom is the victim". "So let's agree its all the white patriarchy that created the system in which a poor black welfare mom can be duped or influenced by the system to pick up a brick and beat a 92 year old Hispanic." (Oh yeah: It's just the war and that lying son of a bitch Johnson. Forest Gump.)

Unknown said...

I think the WaPoo folks gave up any pretense of objective journalism a long, long time ago, since long before Katherine's husband left her the paper. It has a proud history of bias and sneering contempt for Americans and their lack of intelligence, that goes well beyond what any Brit of the peerage (or Labor) has for a Welshman.

Anyone who'd read the Poost without a skeptical and jaundiced eye has the same contempt, and just seeks to have their contempt confirmed. It's for people who imagine themselves to be the peers of the Kennedys.

But when it comes to the left denying that minorities can't be racists and women can't be sexists, they're of the opinion that when they grab it, they always pick up the turd from the clean end. It's amazing how well the left is at rationalizing bigotry when it suits them.

aschweyetzer said...

the newsdiffs.org website shows a change between the 310am and 956am archived versions of the story.

see
http://www.newsdiffs.org/
diff/1765487/1766002/https%3A/
www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/07/09/woman-beats-a-91-year-old-mexican-man-with-a-brick-tells-him-to-go-back-to-your-country

Robert Cook said...

”Do you blame the media, or yourself?”

The media failed to provide sufficient information. Perhaps they didn’t have all he information when they filed the story...or they simply failed at their job.

Ken B said...

Robert Cook,
The UK paper has a pic. The WaPo is simply suppressing the assailants race, and your reaction is why.
You are both at fault, them for enabling the kind of confirmation bias laziness you are guilty of, and you for not ever having even tried to notice that bias of yours. Despite it being pointed out repeatedly.

MayBee said...

Thanks, Ray. I'm trying to imagine a story about New York just saying "A New York Neighborhood". LA is so huge!

Yancey Ward said...

Ann,

I read the same version of the story you read- the identification was missing at one point, but then added later- I am almost 100% sure of it because I searched the text using control F looking for race. I do this regularly whenever reading such a story these days.

Bill R said...

This is interesting. The key paragraph has phrases like "repeatedly bashed him in the face with a concrete brick" and "They kicked Rodriguez and stomped on his head."

Normally, if the perpetrators are black people, this is written in the passive voice or an inanimate object or an abstraction is used as the subject of the sentence. "Violence erupted", "shots rang out", "fighting started", "bricks flew".

If the perps are white people, the story is written in active muscular prose - "Fraternity members rape...", for example.

Reporters know their readers are well aware of this convention. The reader knows that when violence erupts, black people are involved. When people bash other people with a brick, white people did it.

Here, the victim was an Hispanic person and the moral of the story is the victimization of Hispanic people in the age of Trump so the passive voice is abandoned to lead the reader into thinking white people are the perps. Clever, no?

Rick67 said...

I am willing to believe this man was bashed in the face repeatedly with a concrete brick. However, as someone who fell 15 feet onto concrete, landing on my head, I am significantly more skeptical about such accounts. I know how much damage is caused by one blow from concrete. (Like on screen, when somebody knocks someone out with a blow to the head? I hate such scenes with visceral hatred.)

I appreciate how often you spot and explicate the problems with media reporting.