The original draft of this email was sent to Washington Post reporters Derek Hawkins, Paulina Firozi and Toluse Olorunnipa, as well as veteran Columbus Dispatch writer Randy Ludlow, with whom The Post collaborated on a front page story this morning that willfully distorts the circumstances surrounding the recently tragic but plainly justified police shooting of a knife-wielding Ohio teen. A similar email was sent to reporters and anchors at NPR per their Morning Edition coverage, as much of our media and the progressive cognoscenti they turn to for moral guidance on Twitter have apparently decided it’s time for our society to accept teenage knife fights as no big thang and for them damn pigs to just back the hell off.
Dear Randy, Derek, Paulina and Toluse,
I realize that the young lady in the pink sweatsuit whose life likely flashed before her eyes as fatherlessly out-of-control Ma’Khia Bryant was about to plunge a sizable knife into her chest has probably been advised by investigators, family and/or manipulative Ben Crump-like lawyers not to talk to media [“Fatal shooting of Ohio teen sparks new outcry,” front page, Apr. 22]. But it seems to this daily reader that she has First Amendment rights, too, and The Post could make a great contribution to our national dialogue by asking her if she thinks police used “excessive” force in saving her life.
You might also ask her if she agrees with Obama counselor Valerie Jarrett (@ValerieJarrett), million-dollar-homeowner and BLM leader Bree Newsome (@BreeNewsome), and other notable Lord of the Flies devotees who’ve popped up on Twitter in the past 36 hours, effectively arguing that “PO-lices shouldn’t be shootin’ nobody to break up no knife fight. Knife fights is just part of growin’ up, a’ight?”
Your readers and all Americans are eager to hear this particular young lady’s unique point of view. And if any of you at The Post is still more interested in producing real journalism instead of dutifully divisive propaganda, you ought to be working hard to get her side of the story.
Darren McKinney, Washington, D.C.
@ValerieJarrett Apr 21 A Black teenage girl named Ma’Khia Bryant was killed because a police officer immediately decided to shoot her multiple times in order to break up a knife fight. Demand accountability. Fight for justice. #BlackLivesMatter