I f one didn’t know better, one might think that certain journalists are intentionally stoking racial tensions, burying critical information in their coverage of certain officer-involved shootings.
And just in time for a presidential election.
Dexter Reed, 26, was shot and killed during a traffic stop last month after he allegedly drew a firearm and shot at Chicago police officers.
The city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), which investigates allegations of police misconduct, a few days ago released the bodycam footage of the incident. The group announced that the footage would “appear to confirm that Mr. Reed fired first.”
The footage shows five plainclothes Chicago police officers surrounding Reed’s SUV after he was allegedly flagged for not wearing his seatbelt. The situation escalated soon after that, as the initially compliant Reed, who is black, refused direct commands. Reed initially rolled down his window. When the officers asked that he likewise roll down the passenger’s side window, he did not comply. In fact, he began to roll up the driver’s side window, which set the officers on high alert. Officers shouted at Reed to stop rolling up his window and roll it back down. They then demanded that he unlock his vehicle and open his driver’s side door. Reed declined to comply.
What happened next is not cut-and-dried, but the bodycam footage, which captured the traffic stop from each of the five officers’ perspectives, suggests that Reed fired first, injuring one officer (who is black) before law-enforcement officials responded with a hail of nearly 100 bullets. Reed died in the exchange.
COPA and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office are investigating the incident.
It’s important to note here that law-enforcement officials claimed at the time of the shooting that officers opened fire only after Reed had shot at them first. The bodycam footage released this week shows that as the gunshots rang out, one injured officer immediately tumbled backward to the ground while two other officers scrambled away with their backs to Reed’s SUV. The remaining two officers maintained contact with the vehicle.
If you were a casual consumer of news headlines and blurbs, you’d know precious little of what I just laid out for you. You’d know only that Chicago police shot a black man.
Take, for example, the Washington Post’s coverage of the shooting and reactions to the bodycam footage in Chicago.
“Police fire 96 shots in 41 seconds, killing Black man during traffic stop,” reads the headline.
The reader doesn’t learn until the eighth paragraph that, according to COPA, Reed appeared to have fired first.
Eight paragraphs. And that’s not even the worst of it. The worst is that the paragraphs that precede that relevant bit of information are a master class in emotional manipulation, including heartbreaking quotes from Reed’s mother and sister.
At the Associated Press, we get this headline: “Deadly Chicago traffic stop where police fired 96 shots raises serious questions about use of force.”
The reader is not informed until the report’s sixth paragraph that Reed likely fired first.
“Seat belt violation ends with a Black man dead on Chicago street after cops fired nearly 100 bullets,” reads the title of a USA Today news report.
The reader doesn’t learn until the fourth paragraph that Reed stands accused of instigating the firefight. When the story does mention this fact, it’s mainly to dispute the allegation ever so gently:
In releasing footage of the shooting Tuesday, the police accountability board said Reed “appears” to have fired first. But attorneys for the family said a deeper investigation needs to happen. They also say the traffic stop was unconstitutional and not the first time that Chicago cops have falsely claimed seat belt violations as the impetus for confrontational pullovers of drivers.
First, the quotes around “appear” seem to imply suspicion of its accuracy. Second, the line of thinking doesn’t even follow. It serves only as an attempt to cast doubt on COPA’s assessment with adjacent grievances. No actual counterclaim is articulated. COPA’s assessment is that Reed fired first, but don’t forget that these police checks may be unconstitutional. Okay, one does not necessarily conflict with the other. Did Reed fire at the police? If so, the rest of what happened on March 21 follows.
Now, for an example of a newsroom that got it right, we turn to the Chicago Tribune, which is naturally invested in getting the story right on its home turf.
In the very first paragraph of a report titled, “Questions could linger after video of fatal police shooting of Dexter Reed roils city,” the newspaper reports, “A day after the release of body-worn camera footage that showed Chicago police officers firing 96 times at Dexter Reed last month after he apparently shot and wounded a tactical cop during a traffic stop, questions remained over the circumstances of Reed’s killing and what effect it could have on policing here.”
See? That wasn’t so difficult — not even a little bit. This leads one to suspect that the newsgroups that buried crucial context paragraphs deep in their reports did so not for lack of reportorial expertise but for a desire to steer the reader’s passions.
This may be a moment where Hanlon’s razor does not apply. It feels an awful lot like there’s actual malice at play.
That this exceptionally deceptive news coverage comes ahead of the presidential election, with Democrats banking on racial tension, genuine or exaggerated, to win them votes, may be more than mere coincidence.