The latest such example concerns a recent quadruple homicide in Chicago. A Wisconsin man, James Larry, allegedly shot and killed his pregnant wife, his 7-month-old son, and his two nieces. Why? Well, according to the Associated Press, Larry was "hearing voices telling him to kill his family."
But according to one source cited by the Chicago Tribune, Larry told police that "he needed to take his family back to Allah and out of this world of sinners." That conspicuously escaped mention in both the AP piece published Wednesday -- the day the Tribune reported that fact -- and another short article on Friday (h/t Robert Spencer).
The Tribune reported on Wednesday that Larry
told police that he needed to take his family back to Allah and out of this world of sinners, a source said. A police report quoted him as saying, "I wish I had more bullets. I wish I had more bullets."...
Family members said the suspect had been acting strangely. The wife's sister, Shirina Thompson, said the suspect had been talking about "going to Allah." Both Thompson and a neighbor in Wisconsin said the man had fought with his wife in recent days because she refused to wear Muslim garb.
Both AP pieces were very short, but don't facts so integral to the alleged killer's motives merit at least a mention? The AP noted that Larry was "hearing voices," so they obviously felt that motive was worth reporting. Why did the possibility that this man was acting out of a radical -- if misguided, even perverted -- Muslim faith.
In contrast, Associated Press has not been shy to note the Christian beliefs of perpetrators of similar crimes.
For instance, in reporting on the gruesome 2009 murder of an infant child by his mother Otty Sanchez, the AP noted that she had "told officers the devil made her do it."
In 2001, the AP readily stated that Andrea Yates had killed her five children out of a belief that it was "the only way [they] could be saved from hell."
The AP should not be faulted for noting the motives in these awful killings. Neither should readers judge religions based on the crazies that invoke them in committing these heinous crimes.
But the Associated Press noted -- indeed, stressed -- the tremendously misguided Christain beliefs of these two homicidal mothers, while completely ignoring the Muslim faith of the recent Chicago murderer.
That is a glaring double standard.
