I cant stop thinking about Manuel Ellis.
I keep wondering if it werent for the global uprising for racial justice in the wake of George Floyds killing by Minneapolis police, whether Ellis killing would have passed by mostly unnoticed as so many have before him with just the word of the police satisfying a not particularly curious public.
Its high time for the public and the media to interrogate police statements more aggressively.
Tacoma police killed Ellis on March 3, but it wasnt until early June that his case started to get attention. Initially, as is all too common, early stories reported just the Police Departments narrative. Police said Ellis harassed a driver, struck their police car and slam dunked an officer to the ground. They attributed his actions to excited delirium, a term used by police to justify deadly force but described as pseudoscience by critics.
It wasnt until mid-June that it was revealed that the Pierce County Sheriffs Office investigating the case supposedly to create investigatory independence was at the scene of the killing as well. Video began to emerge that showed officers pummeling Ellis as he gasped, I cant breathe, words now tragically familiar. The medical examiner ruled Ellis death a homicide from oxygen deprivation due to physical restraint.
Now under scrutiny by activists, the general public and the media, the governor directed the State Patrol to investigate the killing. The state attorney general is reviewing Ellis case, as well as 30 other police deadly force incidents.
If we have learned anything from the protest movement of the past two months, we should have at least learned what people of color and other marginalized people have said forever: You cant uncritically trust official accounts when it comes to policing and protests.
Efforts to contest and control the Seattle protest narrative began in late May. As my colleague Danny Westneat wrote in early June, the Seattle police chief and mayors efforts to paint property destruction from the first days of the protests as the work of mostly white, outside agitators was not supported by facts.
Later, in mid-June, during the height of the media frenzy around the Capitol Hill Organized Protest (CHOP), an assistant Seattle police chief told the media that protesters were extorting local businesses within the CHOP for money. The claim was repeated by the police chief the next day and then reported by media around the world, including this paper.
The problem was, there turned out to be no police reports alleging extortion.
The source of the claim was a conservative blog citing unnamed police officers. The police walked back the claim, but the damage was done. The extortion claim became a key component in breathless reporting about lawlessness in CHOP by conservative media, resulting in President Trump calling out the governor and the mayor in a tweet to Take back your city NOW. If you dont do it, I will.
The extortion story was one of many police storylines widely reported but unsubstantiated during the weeks of CHOP occupying Capitol Hill. Others included the police chief saying that calls for [police] service have more than tripled, during CHOP, which may have been an accidental misstatement but was nonetheless picked up widely in conservative media. Reporting by The Seattle Times showed that calls near the East Precinct actually dropped 31% in the first two weeks of June.
Seattle police also said in a tweet that improvised explosives were thrown at officers, but their tweeted photo of the device showed a candle.
Misinformation is not new. But the speed, ferocity and impact of misinformation that permeates coverage of the protest movement in Seattle and beyond is remarkable. According to media intelligence firm Zignal Labs, of 873,000 pieces of George Floyd protest-related misinformation tracked, 575,800 were about antifa being responsible for riots and looting. This misinformation led to armed groups descending on cities and towns like Snohomish to protect them from antifa threats that never materialized.
The speed, ferocity and impact of misinformation that permeates coverage of the protest movement is remarkable
Joan Donovan is research director of the Harvard Kennedy Schools Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy. She said the media need to do more to broaden their sources to include community members and not just rely on the official narratives.
I think its really important, Donovan said, not just to print the press release, but to try to substantiate any of the claims of politicians and police and police unions in times of high social unrest, because the struggle over the narrative is a proxy war. Its a proxy war between the protesters and the state.
The media have long been complicit in the police said convention in crime reporting, but that practice is getting an overdue revisiting and reckoning, including in this newsroom. Police should not be exempt from the skepticism and rigor we apply to other sources of information.As I remember being taught as a budding journalist long, long ago, If your mother says she loves you, check it out.
The shift cant come soon enough, as families like Manny Ellis have tried to get people to hear their calls for justice for years, and too few people have listened.
See the original post:
- NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week - The Advocate [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2020]
- Antifa, YPG/PKK ties threaten national peace in West - Anadolu Agency [Last Updated On: July 11th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 11th, 2020]
- Is antifa the leftist radical group we think it is? - SC Times [Last Updated On: July 12th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 12th, 2020]
- President Trump in 2020 spews echoes of George Wallace in 1968 - Chicago Sun-Times [Last Updated On: July 13th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 13th, 2020]
- FBI monitors threats against Seattle-area protests - KUOW News and Information [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Investigating the funding mechanisms behind ANTIFA | Columns - Port Lavaca Wave [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Readers Write: Fact checking the fact checker - Blog - The Island Now [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week - Alton Telegraph [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Fact-checking the weeks lies, misinformation - Pocono Record [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Letter to the Editor: There are aspects of life weighted against Blacks - Delaware State News - Delaware State News [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Investigating the funding mechanisms behind ANTIFA - Port Lavaca Wave [Last Updated On: July 14th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 14th, 2020]
- Fact-checking the weeks lies, misinformation - Waynesboro Record Herald [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Letters to the editor - News - The Ottawa Herald [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Fact-checking the weeks lies, misinformation - Echo Pilot [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week - Minneapolis Star Tribune [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Letter to the editor: 'Left-wing' labels misused - TribLIVE [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Chaotic protests prompt soul-searching in Portland, Oregon - The Associated Press [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- No, we're not all antifa now. But we should be. - The Montgomery Herald [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Letters to the editor - News - Leavenworth Times [Last Updated On: July 16th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 16th, 2020]
- Meet the Youth Liberation Front behind a militant marathon of Portland protests - Herald-Mail Media [Last Updated On: July 18th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 18th, 2020]
- Letters to the editor - News - The Kansan - Newton, KS - Newton, KS - Newton Kansan [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2020]
- Matthew in the Middle: Mask it or casket - Eureka Times-Standard [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2020]
- Antifa: What you need to know about the left-wing movement [Last Updated On: July 19th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 19th, 2020]
- Readers Write: Enabling the death and exploitation of illegal border crossers is not compassionate - Opinions - The Island Now [Last Updated On: July 20th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 20th, 2020]
- Loveland man who allegedly held 2 salesmen at gunpoint to appear in court Thursday - Loveland Reporter-Herald [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Think About It: Intimidation prospective - Sequim Gazette [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Lars Thoughts Who Needs ANTIFA To Destroy Portland? Ted Wheeler Is Doing A Good Job All On His Own - 550 KTSA [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- From Antifa to Mothers in Helmets, Diverse Elements Fuel Portland Protests - The New York Times [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Leaked Documents Show Police Knew Far-Right Extremists Were the Real Threat at Protests, Not Antifa - The Intercept [Last Updated On: July 21st, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 21st, 2020]
- Fact check: Metal bar hanging from Scottish overpass is not part of an antifa plot - Reuters [Last Updated On: July 22nd, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 22nd, 2020]
- Portland Black Cop Describes the Racism of BLM and ANTIFA in Fascinating Interview - The Jewish Voice [Last Updated On: July 24th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 24th, 2020]
- Theres idiocy on all sides in the law and order road show | Jonah Goldberg - News-Herald.com [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Amy Siskind calls for the doxxing of federal agents and their families - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- WATCH: Group of Karens form human shield to protect their Antifa kids from police - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- OPINION EXCHANGE | There's idiocy on all sides in the 'law and order' roadshow - Minneapolis Star Tribune [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Portland protests have no goal except violence and anarchy - New York Post [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Letter: Barr: Antifa has role in protests | Letters To The Editor - Gloucester Daily Times [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Trump sends in the feds when mayors let Antifa riots fester, what did they think would happen? - RT [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Federal officer assaulted by Antifa while making arrest during Portland riot - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- SOFREP cartoon of the month - SOFREP [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Antifa-led riots clash with 'Trump's feds' in Portland here's why the media is STILL defending Antifa - TheBlaze [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Leftists claim Portland police set their own building ablazebut Antifa proudly admitted to the crime - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- The FBI has not linked teachers to antifa - PolitiFact [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Antifa is a threat to the American way - The Star Beacon [Last Updated On: July 26th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 26th, 2020]
- Theres idiocy on all sides in law and order road show - Boston Herald [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Crowds launch fireworks at brewery, draw guns on drivers as riots spread from Portland to smaller Oregon city - Fox News [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Ana Tijoux's Antifa Dance is just what the revolution called for - AL DIA News [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Waiting for the Counterrevolution - National Review [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Fact check: FBI did not state that being a teacher was the most common occupation among Antifa members - Reuters [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Antifa is 'very real' and 'very dangerous,' Rep. Jordan says, reacting to Rep. Nadler's claim the movement ... - Fox News [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Police chief believes Antifa, Boogaloo boys were at Richmond riot - wtkr.com [Last Updated On: July 28th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 28th, 2020]
- Minnesota Attorney General in favour of using law to shutter businesses, but not to help victims of rape - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Time to defund the defunders | TheHill - The Hill [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Has Antifa finally Arrived in the Jewish State? - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- These are not fireworks: Antifa accused of throwing real explosives at feds in apparent major escalation in Portland - RT [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Before Portland, Trump's Shock Troops Went After Border Activists - The Intercept [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- OPINION: Rachel Brougham I went to an antifa meeting and this is what I learned - Petoskey News-Review [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Letter to the editor: BLM, antifa treasonous radicals - TribLIVE [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Police chief believes Antifa, Boogaloo boys were at Richmond riot - wtvr.com [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Cruz calls hearing on antifa and political violence as Dems denounce Trumps show of force against - The Dallas Morning News [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- Anti-fascists linked to zero murders in the US in 25 years - The Guardian [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- LETTERS: On deaths of officers; Protect the food; Thoughts on Antifa; Group critiqued - Monitor [Last Updated On: July 29th, 2020] [Originally Added On: July 29th, 2020]
- James Woods Goes After Jerry Nadler For 'Antifa Is A Myth' Comments - The Union Journal [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2020]
- Who is Andy Ngo? From photographer at a used car dealership to one of America's most polarizing media figures - MEAWW [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2020]
- Dem Senator walks out of Ted Cruz's Antifa hearing: 'I don't think you listen' - Fox News [Last Updated On: August 4th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 4th, 2020]
- Left-wing journalist alerts Antifa to Andy Ngo's location, then they try to blind him with lasers - The Post Millennial [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Cruz's antifa hearing erupts in sniping as Democrats accuse him of giving Trump cover for abusive tactics - Newsbug.info [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Communist ISIS Antifa: Homeland Security's Confused Pursuit of Pro-Kurdish Americans - The National Interest [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Cruzs antifa hearing erupts in sniping as Dems accuse him of giving Trump cover for abusive tactics - The Dallas Morning News [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Antifa Is Mostly Made Up Of Privileged White Dudes [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- What or Who is Antifa? [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- ANTIFA.COM | Join Us & Take Action Now [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Democrats refuse to condemn Antifa in domestic terrorism hearing, Andy Ngo says - Fox News [Last Updated On: August 5th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 5th, 2020]
- Anti-Trump messages, BLM and Antifa references spray-painted in Lansing - WLNS [Last Updated On: August 6th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 6th, 2020]
- Trump badly miscalculated in Portland and even he knows it - The Guardian [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- Right-wing extremists kill 329 people since 1994, antifa have killed none - Business Insider - Business Insider [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- They Held a Hearing So Ted Cruz Could Say 'Antifa' a Bunch on C-SPAN - Esquire.com [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- Page A4 | E-Edition | thetandd.com - The Times and Democrat [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- They Held a Hearing So Ted Cruz Could Say 'Antifa' a Bunch on C-SPAN - Esquire [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]
- Tough Guy Antifa Bomber Arrested After His Trump-Loving Grandma Turns Him In - The Union Journal [Last Updated On: August 7th, 2020] [Originally Added On: August 7th, 2020]