Media Mostly Ignore Bloody Pig's Foot, Anti-Semitic Message Sent to Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.)

On Monday evening, the AP reported that a suspicious package destined for Rep. Peter King's (R-N.Y.) Washington congressional office was intercepted at an off-site mail facility and "contained a pig's foot and a note laced with several anti-Semitic references, according to a person with knowledge of the incident who requested anonymity because of the ongoing police investigation."

King, the AP noted, is "[t]he Republican congressman [who] chairs the House Homeland Security panel which held hearings last month on Islamic radicalization."

But a search of Nexis reveals that major newspapers like the New York Times and Washington Post failed to report the story. The same appears to be true of the three broadcast networks: ABC, CBS, and NBC. ABCNews.com's "The Note" blog, however, did report the story Monday evening.

A search of network transcripts failed to yield any mention of the package or its anti-Semitic language which suggest the sender harbors the erroneous belief that the New York congressman is Jewish.

Politico's Jennifer Epstein reported in the April 5 edition that:

King and his staff haven’t seen the package, but a congressional source told POLITICO that the pig’s foot was bloody and that the letter was “a rambling type” of message conveying anti-Semitic sentiments. At one point, it refers to King as a “Jew,” though he is Catholic.

 

“Somewhere in the message it says ‘all the babies in America will be named Mohammed,’” the source said. The letter also says “kiss my black Muslim ass.”

 

The source said: “I guess you have to interpret it as a threat. It’s certainly not a sign of affection.”