On Monday's News One Now, far-left host Roland Martin began his show by complaining because last week NewsBusters accurately reported that he ignored the high-profile shooting death of a white woman by police officers in Minneapolis, even while updating his viewers on cases involving blacks who were also killed by police officers. As he finally got to the case of Justine Damond, the News One Now host gloated about a prediction he previously made that "the only way this thing was going to change is when somebody white got shot and killed." He then boasted: "Oh, how a brother was right."
At the beginning of the show's opening tease, Martin announced:
Next on News One Now, all of a sudden, white folks care about police shootings. An Australian woman shot and killed in Minneapolis. The police chief has now resigned. You have protests there as well. Again, I told y'all the only way this thing was going to change is when somebody white got shot and killed. Oh, how a brother was right.
The show began with a clip of Martin appearing on MSNBC and making a prediction: "And I know this sounds really, really bad for some folks, but, frankly, Ari (Melber), it's going to have to take a series of white Americans shot and killed in a similar fashion for America to deal with this issue."
As previously documented by NewsBusters, Martin seemed unaware during his MSNBC appearance that twice as many whites as blacks are killed by police officers each year, in spite of the dominant news media focusing the overwhelming majority of their attention on black victims.
The News One Now host then took aim at NewsBusters as he continued:
It was quite hilarious. NewsBusters -- the so-called media site run by right-winger Brent Bozell -- so they decided to write a piece last week: "Roland Martin hasn't said anything about the woman being shot in [sic] Australia."
Without explaining why it took so long to mention Damond on his show -- even though it would seem to fit in with the Left's narrative that police departments are using too much violence -- Martin added:
But I tried to tell y'all this was going to happen. But this is what happens when a site like NewsBusters -- who doesn't care about black people being shot -- all of a sudden, though, one white woman gets shot and killed, and it should be investigated, and it is heinous. Then, all of a sudden, they realize there's a problem. This is what we call America in 2017. So, NewsBusters, write about that.
The purpose of the NewsBusters item that called attention to the show's omission of the Damond case was to point out that left-wing news outlets are in the habit of focusing much more attention on black police shooting victims, even though white victims outnumber blacks 2-1. Therefore, many liberals like singer Harry Belafonte; CNN's April Ryan and MSNBC's Chuck Todd; MSNBC's Al Sharpton and Paul Butler; and no doubt much of the general population of news viewers are fooled into believing police shootings almost exclusively hit the black population.
A bit later, Martin complained that blacks are treated differently than whites with regard to police shootings:
I made that point for a reason on MSNBC, and that is the whole point of Black Lives Matter is that, when somebody black is shot and killed, America doesn't care. America blames black people for protesting. America says, "Oh, they were smoking weed," or "They have a record," or "They shouldn't have reached for a gun." And I said that because the history of America shows, when something happens to somebody white in America, it's a whole different reaction, and that's exactly what we're seeing in Minneapolis.
But it's true that, in most of the high-profile cases of blacks who have been shot and killed by police which have been touted in the liberal media, there was either a criminal record or provocative actions that created a reasonable doubt that the police officers might not have broken criminal law, thus making it difficult to make a conviction.
After claiming that conservatives have shown a double standard by not vocally defending the police officer in the Minneapolis case, Martin took aim at NewsBusters again:
Anytime I get crazy right-wingers on my website -- excuse me, on my social media feed -- that means some conservative site has written something, and all the trolls come out. And, again, that's what these little trolls when NewsBusters did. Like, well, "Roland Martin just went a whole week and hasn't mentioned her getting shot and killed." NewsBusters, would you like for me to list all the black people who get shot and y'all say nothing and don't write about it?
Eugene Craig III of the Eugene Craig Organization chimed in:
That's the problem I have, you know, we're still waiting for an actual hard, concrete statement from the NRA, from, you know, the Media Research Center, anybody on the hard right on Philando Castile. But, you know, one thing that this particular situation showed is that, you know, Black Lives Matter is more "All Lives Matter" than "All Lives Matter" is.
As Martin recalled that he could make a long list of blacks who have been killed by police officers, he still seemed just as unaware as ever that, if a list of whites killed by police officers were compiled, it would be twice as long as the number of blacks killed. According to statistics compiled by the Washington Post for 2015, out of the 991 people who were killed by on-duty police officers, 495 were identified as white while 258 were found to be black and 178 Hispanic, with 38 of another race and 28 still unidentified by race.
The fact that only a tiny number of the approximately 500 whites killed by police officers get any dominant media attention illustrates the racial double standard that feeds the myth on the Left that nearly all shooting victims are black.
And the fact that Justine Damond was an unarmed 40-year-old woman with no criminal record, was herself the person who called the police for help, and has so far not even been accused by the officers on the scene of doing anything to provoke the attack, her case seems about as sympathetic for her as it gets. Therefore, if a news outlet chooses to devote significant attention to the issue of police killings, hers would be the type that would merit attention if any case does.
A bit later, Martin further complained:
Now, I'm telling you right now, if this were a black victim, this is what we would hear: "I feared for my life -- I feared when the cops in New York got ambushed." That's what I was thinking as well. But, again, though, it's amazing to look at the reaction. The people who are trashing him, and also, let's don't confuse the fact that because he's a Muslim police officer that the action is totally different. Don't act like that had nothing to do with it.
The NewsBusters item in question made no mention of the race or religion of the police officers in the case -- just the significance that a high-profile white victim was ignored while black victims were discussed.
A bit later, Martin even seemed to mock her family's attorney for arguing that "there's been no other victim who has even been more innocent than her" as he added:
It's very telling when you see the reaction, and, all of a sudden, I think her lawyer said there's been no other victim who has ever been more innocent than her. (panel members laugh) And, no, it is shameful that she has lost her life, but, again, what I would say to those people that have been criticizing Black Lives Matter, where were you -- where were you when you were sitting here saying that -- where were you when John Crawford III was gunned down in a Beaver Creek, Ohio, Wal-Mart talking on a cell phone in an open carry state. And, again, though, I'm comparing it because of the reaction. And we know in America, when something happens to an African-American, it's a different reaction than it is when it's somebody white.
The News One Now host notably did not clarify that, regarding the tragic shooting death of John Crawford III at a Wal-Mart in Ohio from August 2014, the victim was carrying a pellet gun that he was planning to purchase, and not just a cell phone, when he was killed by police. Martin also did not mention that the troubling case has been included on some prominent right-leaning websites like Breitbart News , the Daily Caller, Human Events, and NewsBusters sister organization CNSNews, and a lawsuit on the matter is still pending because Wal-Mart had displayed the item for sale without keeping it in proper packaging to make clear it was not dangerous.
