Last weekend’s tragic event at the Waukesha, WI Christmas parade left six people dead and countless dozens injured, as of this writing.
The assailant Darrell E. Brooks, Jr, 39, who boasts an extensive criminal rap sheet and was released from jail just days before on a $1,000 cash bond, was charged with five counts of intentional homicide thus far.
Given the amount of carnage he caused, what transpired should be categorized as a massacre. Nothing less.
Naturally, many in the media downplayed the severity of Brooks’ actions by referring to the Waukesha massacre as a mere “crash” or deliberately blamed the SUV, not the assailant, for plowing innocent parade-goers to death. In doing so, they engaged in textbook media malpractice. Here’s how.
Media Deliberately Downplayed Waukesha Christmas Parade Massacre
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As expected, many media outlets parroted the “crash” label to describe the Waukesha massacre. And for what reason, exactly? To downplay last Sunday’s tragic events? To shelter Brooks from criticism?
CBS News fanned the flames by classifying the vehicular mass ramming as a “parade crash.” But they weren’t alone in the act. Fox News noted other examples:
PBS previously wrote "Waukesha parade crash devastates holiday favorites ‘Dancing Grannies.’" USA Today repeatedly wrote about the "Waukesha parade crash" going so far as to label Brooks as the "Waukesha parade crash suspect." Newsweek also updated news on the tragedy under the banner "Waukesha Deadly Christmas Parade Crash."
If they were truly objective, they would label this tragedy a vehicular mass killing or an “attack”—not a “crash.”
Even “Will & Grace '' actress Debra Messing wasn’t having it. She called out the media for their terrible reporting—earning her rare praise from conservatives.
She tweeted:
“Dear Mainstream Media—a man intentionally drove his car through a parade killing 6 and injuring 50+.
It was not an ACCIDENT.
Call it by its name #WaukeshaMassacre
And it was a domestic terror attack.
Don't minimize. Please.”
Messing is correct here. Will others in her position follow suit?
SUVs Aren’t to Blame, Either. The Perpetrator Is.
In typical fashion, left-leaning news outlets and commentators insinuated the SUV Brooks used—not Darrell Brooks himself—is to blame for last weekend’s tragedy.
The Washington Post originally tweeted this headline:
Here's what we know so far on the sequence of events that led to the Waukesha tragedy caused by a SUV. https://t.co/FWwYFEjits
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) November 25, 2021
They continued in their article (as reported by Fox News):
"A quarter-mile from the rotary building, at 4:39 p.m., an officer told a dispatcher a maroon Ford Escape ‘just blew by [him]’ at White Rock and Hartwell avenues, the intersection where barricades blocking traffic to the parade were removed just a minute before, according to police audio and time codes provided by Broadcastify," the Post wrote in the report published Tuesday. "A few moments later, the SUV rammed through the parade participants, killing five and injuring more than 40 people, including children."
Due to backlash, they deleted the offensive tweet and offered this weak explanation, writing, “We’ve deleted a previous tweet for this story that included language that was changed after publish.”
In a now-deleted tweet from “journalist” Shane Ferro, he similarly echoed Washington Post and remarked, “What if instead of asking whether a tiny bit more jail would have fixed this person we ask whether fewer cars (SUVs) in America would lead to fewer people killed.”
No shame.
SUVs don’t have a mind of their own. They are operated by drivers. Had Brooks not been behind the wheel, the attack wouldn’t have happened. End of discussion. It’s time to put these “car control” talks to bed.
Conclusion
This isn’t the first time the media have botched vehicular mass killing coverage.
After my grandpa and nine others were rammed to death by an elderly driver in 2003 at the Santa Monica Farmers Market, CNN downplayed the assailant’s actions as a “crash.” The perpetrator, who never expressed remorse for his actions, was charged with numerous vehicular manslaughter charges and only served probation until his death.
The media also weren’t afraid to label the tragic Charlottesville car-ramming an “attack.” It was an apt description—one that should be equally applied to the Waukesha massacre, too.
Downplaying this massacre as a “crash” isn’t simply media malpractice; it’s a disservice to the victims and their families whose lives are forever altered by it.
If journalists wonder why their approval is at historic lows, they need to look in the mirror. Their shoddy reporting is exacerbating the problem and creating distrust in the industry.
