A Black cop brought down the Ft. Hood Shooter but the MSM gave a White cop credit

[xultar]

Why....

discuss.
...snip
Most news outlets for days labeled Munley "the" (singular) Fort Hood hero. It wasn't until two days ago that Sgt.Todd got feature billing, although in a secondary role. Now, in the past day, he is finally getting his due as the original account begins to fall away.

What else will turn out false about Fort Hood claims from military, e.g. the "Allahu Akbar" shouts? And was it just coincidence that a white woman got the credit over a black male?

Yes, Munley is a hero for facing the bullets. And, no, this isn't another Jessica Lynch case, but it does have some disturbing similarities. Fool me once, blame the military. Fool me twice, blame the media. What happens next?

...snip

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/massive-media-fail-female_b_355600.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[gorfle]

2. Who knows?

I don't know what to believe anymore.

[Raschel]

24. Wait until the Enquirer story comes out. They're more accurate.

[SteppingRazor]

3. First off, it sounds like the media reported what the military told them.

Second, the military was probably just trying to get the story out as quickly as possible in a very confusing situation.

And third, if the situation were reversed, how many people would be ranting about the fact that a man, regardless of race, was given the nod instead of the woman who rightfully did it? I'm guessing quite a few.

Outrage is easy when the topic is as basic as race or gender.

[ecstatic]

4. I guess the main eyewitness the military relied on was a very

biased or confused observer. I have no idea why they put out so much false info!

[Captain Hilts]

5. Lots of bullets flying creates confusion. As is always the case, we should just sit

pat and wait for details rather than concurrent observations.

But the Army well knows who made up the Jessica Lynch crap and just isn't telling. Dap to Lynch for saying it's not true. This woman seems to have been in the mix up with the guy and gotten some shots off.

[stray cat]

6. Because women are always given top billing over guys?

:sarcasm: Seriously maybe because witnesses don't all see and remember things identically - thats why eyewitness testimony is not often reliable -especially in the midst of automatic weapon fire in an enclosed area with people screaming and dying all around you and expecting you may be instantaneously next.

[theoldman]

7. My money is on the Black cop.

It will be easy to prove. Just check the bullets to see which gun they came from. Anyone who has watched CSI knows this.

[tanyev]

8. But, but, ABC had computerized graphics of exactly how it happened!

[eppur_se_muova]

31. You've been watching too much History Channel. nt

:evilgrin:

[tanyev]

33. Isn't it sad what that channel has become.

My husband and I gave in and got cable last November after having done without it for many, many years. I was looking forward to having the History Channel, Discovery, Bravo, A&E available again, but my happy anticipation soon turned into disbelief. I wouldn't even recognize them as those channels if it weren't for the omnipresent little logo in the bottom corner. At least I got Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert out of the deal.

[eppur_se_muova]

41. MSNBC is almost the only thing I can watch now ...

and our local TV guide doesn't even list it.

[Caliman73]

9. Definitely a problem with image conscious and ratings based news

"We don't know what the fuck is going on here, but I'm sure it's bad so we're going to stick around. If you don't want to miss it stay tuned after a word from our sponsors."

Ridiculous.

[Are_grits_groceries]

10. I actually think that in this case

her sex and size made it a better story. I'm not saying that there isn't any racial aspect to it. I think in the initial hooha, the sight of Munley running at the gunman and firing caught the most attention.

Then the story got rolling, and those in charge were loathe to take it back. I think that is a disservice to both of them. Sgt. Todd deserves as much credit for his actions as Munley got initially. He was in danger too. He just came in at a different time. I don't believe Munley would want credit for something she didn't do, although I am waiting to see what she has to say. Lynch shot down her story when she got the chance.

I don't know why people think the fact that Sgt. Todd actually shot Hasan devalues Munley's courage. Good lord, if he had died, they weren't going to take his head and mount it on a wall. It sounds like they are argung over who shot the 12 point buck.

They need to tell the story straight, and if they hadn't ignored what they were told fairly early after it happened, they wouldn't be in this mess. They could have said that both officers played a part if they weren't sure, and then issued a factual account when it was sorted out.

"Sgt. Todd took down Hasan after Munley initally engaged him while firing, and she was wounded in the process."

Does that sound about right?

[bullimiami]

11. because someone decided it was a better story than the real one. just like with lynch.

it would be nice to find out where the disinformation was created and by whom.

they wanted us to believe a petite white woman took down a 'terrorist', solo, after being shot several times.

[Are_grits_groceries]

12. I think there were several stories flying around at the beginning.

I don't think the initial witnesses decided to make something up. Some of them probably did think she took him out. Others saw something different.

Then the mess got rolling when they didn't stop to find out the whole story and issue a general statement until it was clear. Then they really made the big mistake at this point, and refused to issue a factual account. Like I said, they could have corrected it without making Munley seem less heroic while ignoring what Todd did.

Courage isn't a zero sum game.

[Maat]

13. Perfectly put.

They were BOTH very courageous; in fact, there were probably several courageous ones there.

I think that I'll just be happy that a WOMAN and an AFRICAN-AMERICAN were heroes here, and that lives were saved due to their actions.

[vadawg]

18. you know you are saying a woman and an african american

the point you are missing is that they were two cops and americans who put their lives on the line to save others. what does their sex or race matter unless its gonna be part of an agenda...

[Number23]

19. Yep. And I think the "petite white woman" angle was possibly an extra kick in the balls

to the Muslim man that she was supposed to have taken down.

[vadawg]

20. rofl then we should tell him she was menstruating and jewish

he will probuably expire on the spot....

[nsd]

15. +1

[cali]

14. what crap.

first off, I doubt this had jackshit to do with race, but congrats on muddying the water. Unrecced and boy do you deserve it for this pile of dogshit.

[xultar]

17. Wait. I post a link to news and you blame me? ROFFPNMFPLMFAO!!!

[cali]

34. bwahahahahaha, sweetie. You did NOT fucking post a link to news

you posted a link to an opinion piece. do try and learn the difference.

[xultar]

35. OK, it is an opinion piece. I said discuss. Discuss.

[Obamanaut]

39. +1 nt

[Gormy Cuss]

40. Muddying the water?

The initial media frenzy was directed at the white woman officer solely. Now that it's clear that a different officer, who happens to be an African-American, deserves credit for actually taking down Hassan, he should at least get equal billing with Munley or even more credit, but the story is persisting that she's the one who gets credit. Why?

The obvious differences are race,gender, and stature. Hard to tell which is the reason that Munley gets nearly all the credit. Jumping to the conclusion that race isn't a factor is like burying your head in the sand.

[malaise]

16. Did you ever see a 1990s Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis and

Andy Garcia movie called Hero?

[Broken_Hero]

21. Very good movie nt

[Nailzberg]

27. Saw it? I worked on it.

[EFerrari]

22. I've always liked Greg Mitchell. He does some of the best media watch dogging

around.

[Obamanaut]

23. If one were to read only the huffpo article at the link in the op, it might

appear that the white cop, a woman, shot hasan four times, hasan went down and was reloading, bystanders told the second cop, a man, to shoot him and the second cop did so then kicked the weapon away.

"...she had just plugged him four times, supposedly ending the rampage? Some of those witnesses said they yelled at the second cop to shoot Hasan--which he did, and then went up and kicked his gun away..."

From this account, the second cop, a man, shot an evildoer who already had four holes in him and was on the ground reloading. It is easy to see why some would say the woman cop had done the lion's share in resolving the situation.

[LisaL]

25. It's been reported that Hasan was shot four times total.

That sort of account where she shot him four times, and then he shot him some more would not be possible then.

[LostInAnomie]

26. Maybe because the media was going off of what the Military thought the story was at the time.

They were reporting Hasan was dead for the majority of the day. The media was latching onto any news they could. Racism wasn't at play.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. Wait for the BALLISTICS report?

Yep that will tell the story. Yes each round fired has a unique mark from the GUN that fired it.

So who got bullets on Hassan was the one that brought him down.

Given that BOTH fired, if they find bullets from both weapons then both get the full credit...

But yes, we have a lot of things that have not made any sense or have changed from day one.

[Cali_Democrat]

29. Can't trust anything the US military or the media says

Very sad.

[BoneDaddy]

37. like lemmings

right off the cliff.

[LooseWilly]

30. Was she a "white woman"?

In the photo I remember seeing, she definitely seemed to have some brown going on. Maybe it was a bad photo.

Of course.... most of the time I was following the story, Major what's his name (Hassan something or other, I'm too lazy to look it up) was dead... and then suddenly he went all Lazarus and came back to life... and Munley (whose name I also would've been too lazy to look up if it weren't listed in your post) seemed to suddenly come back to life as well... Maybe the media just assumed that her resurrection implied that she'd been the one to "take him down"....

I think, in this case, it was a matter of mass confusion, combined with Media Fear of being scooped.... so they all just reported whatever rumors they heard, sort of implying uncertainty to cover themselves if their rumors were wrong, but not willing to take the chance on waiting, lest their rumors prove right but they get scooped anyway while looking for confirmation.

Just a guess. I mean... in terms of military judgmental prejudices, who's lower in the "pecking order"? White women? or Black men?

:shrug:

[Jack Fate]

32. This is stupid. He just had to go and make it about race, had he?

It seems to me this MALE writer is trying to diminish the woman's actions and heroism in favor of the male's, and hiding behind the race card while doing so.

[BoneDaddy]

36. I tell ya it is a conspiracy

Do you really think that the news media gets together and decides to give credit in this way?

The level of paranoia with some people is laughable.

What if it was just bad reporting?

[slackmaster]

38. The media often gets it wrong at first

I never put much faith in an initial report of a rapidly developing story.