The Austin American-Statesman, the city’s major daily newspaper, attached an editor’s note to its story about a mass shooting over the weekend that injured at least 14 people and killed one, explaining why they couldn’t release details about the suspect’s identity.
“Police have only released a vague description of the suspected shooter as of Saturday morning,” the note said. “The American-Statesman is not including the description as it is too vague at this time to be useful in identifying the shooter and such publication could be harmful in perpetuating stereotypes. If more detailed information is released, we will update our reporting.”
In its original posting, the city of Austin’s Police Department described one suspect(s) at-large as "a black male, with dread locks, wearing a black shirt and a skinny build."
The police department's website was later updated:
"One suspect is in custody at this time. The second suspect remains at large. The Austin Police Department would like to thank the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force for assisting with the arrest of this suspect. We continue to work on this case and follow up on leads to apprehend the remaining suspect."
As Townhall's sister site PJ Media pointed out, there was nothing vague about the police's description of the suspect, which "in fact, dramatically reduced the suspect pool in the Austin area, narrowing it down to black males wearing dreadlocks—or 50% of the 15% black population in the city, if you’re doing the math." This would be helpful information to give the public considering the suspect was at-large.
The editor who made this call should be fired on the spot. Police have released a description, get it to the public!
— Rep. Jared Patterson (@JaredLPatterson) June 12, 2021
“…one, or multiple suspects involved. There is one suspect described as a black male, with dread locks, wearing a black shirt and a skinny build.” https://t.co/PQZp8r2X7a
Code for he’s not white.???????
— txaggal (@txaggal) June 12, 2021
Yet if he were white, they’d mention it no problem. ??????? https://t.co/k3M3sXx5Uc
Meanwhile, here's the Austin American-Statesman in 2018, when there was an outstanding bombing suspect in Austin. Back then, the paper's stance was: we have no description of this bomber, but our stereotype is that bombers tend to be white males! https://t.co/W7d6hBY6PW https://t.co/HR31EfnCuL pic.twitter.com/NLnOuEDZmG
— Patterico (@Patterico) June 13, 2021
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