Virginian-Pilot reporters’ beating tests standards for hate crime
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 8:00AM 
Norfolk police chief Sharon Chamberlin said the beating of a white couple by a black mob of teen males was not a hate crime. [Screen snip from video of Norfolk police chief presser]On May 1, The US Report featured commentary about an editorial in The Virginian-Pilot. Columnist Michelle Washington wrote about two reporters who had been attacked by “[w]ave after wave of young men.”
In my commentary I pointed out the story appeared in the opinion section. The patient reader sticking with the columnist would learn in the final paragraphs the mob was black—“a crowd of black teenagers.” Very few national media outlets took note; one of the few who did was pundit Bill O’Reilly on his show The Factor (Fox).
I found the story during my daily search for news across the nation. I don’t pull what I write from Drudge; I actually scan various media, government and interest group sites and decide what to write based on what I find. Sometimes it takes big media years to catch up to what I report despite my indie blog’s scant resources—another case in point is a story I did about fraudulent tax refunds in 2010. There are many others.
Bill O’Reilly followed up on his Monday show, enlisting reporter Jesse Watters to go down to the neighborhood where the beating of Dave Forster and Marjon Rostami occurred. One young man Watters talked to said he thought the crime was inspired by racism.
The police chief in Norfolk, Sharon Chamberlin, said there was no evidence to suggest a racially motivated crime.
O’Reilly said Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli took no interest in the case although Gov. Bob McDonnell said he would look into it.
McDonnell’s response is in sharp contrast to Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s leadership on the Trayvon Martin case.
Most perplexing is the newspaper editor’s response. Denis Finley told Watters the crime was “a street altercation…a simple assault.” Finley’s response was not surprising—after all, he ran the initial report on the op-ed page.
O’Reilly noted during his program that attacking white people gives gangs “street cred,” but the local community may be sidestepping issues around the racial component because of possible damage to tourism in the beach communities.
O’Reilly also said the police department’s gang unit has taken over the investigation.
As media and the public debate whether the beating was a hate crime, there is one point no one can debate.
If a crowd of white teens attacked a black couple, the hate crime issue would be up front and above the fold in every newspaper in the nation. Race opportunists would hold pressers. The dregs of humanity in all skin colors would trade insults on social media.
This case perfectly illustrates the problem with a politically motivated law establishing standards for a “hate crime.” Such laws are actually unconstitutional, conferring rights to select groups of individuals, mostly for political gain, and subordinating rights of others. The term ‘hate crime’ turns the concept of equal rights for all on its head.
Most reporters and writers I know are to left of center, obsessed with niche identity politics.
These so-called watchdogs are in fact not watchdogs. Bias for or against one race creates negative energy in the oppressed race. Media and public officials play a dangerous game when they adopt one standard for a class of victim and deny that standard to others.
I took a look at Rostami’s Twitter feed, just to see what was up. I noticed she mentioned O’Reilly’s coverage of her assault.
One of Rostami’s fellow so-called journalists tossed off a satirical question about how O’Reilly pronounced Rostami’s last name—not a difficult name for anyone with basic intelligence to pronounce, by the way.
Rostami responded that O’Reilly did get her name right.
She might have added that O’Reilly was one of the few to call attention to her story. I’m not one of the pundit’s biggest fans, but I have to give him credit on that one.
Our indie blog also called attention to the beating of the reporters on the same day the first story in The Virginian-Pilot appeared.
Who’s playing watchdog for Main Street?
Not the Leftists in big media—they’re covering more important matters like the pronunciation of someone’s name.
Bernie Goldberg summed up the apathy of media:
“White liberal paternalism…that’s racism.”
Predictably, US Department of Justice head Eric Holder has remained mute about the beating although he has repeatedly fanned the flames of racialism when it comes to the case of Trayvon Martin.
Related/Sources
Three pastors and family advocate file challenge to federal Hate Crimes Act (The US Report)
A beating at Church and Brambleton (The Virginian-Pilot)
Sixteen-year-old arrested after mob attack on white couple (Daily Mail; London)
AG Eric Holder Invokes Trayvon Martin Case in Speech to Detroit NAACP (CNS News)
Backgrounder on Florida ‘Stand Your Ground’ and Gov. Rick Scott’s leadership (The US Report)
(Commentary by Kay B. Day/May 7, 2012)
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Reader Comments (2)
Maybe a few truck loads of 'good ole boys' should travel to Norfolk and beat some black asses. No hate crime just retaliation. Suck on that Chief Chamberlain you spineless piece of crap
That wouldn't help, though. The only solution is to enforce the law equally, to treat each person the same. A race war is the last thing we need. best, KBD