MSNBC Leads Media in Ignoring Politically Motivated Killing of 18-Year-Old Republican

An 18-year-old was run over and killed in North Dakota over the weekend. The alleged killer told police the attack followed a “political argument.” He was charged with vehicular homicide, DUI and leaving the scene of an accident. By Tuesday, he was released from jail after posting $50,000 bond.

Yet, MSNBC didn’t cover this tragic act of political violence, despite the network’s (and the media’s) years-long obsession with political violence.

Why? It’s hard to come to any other conclusion than the fact that the victim was a Republican.

The news is both straightforward and well-documented. It’s also dead center of the topic of political violence in the country, which media has purported to care a great deal about.

According to North Dakota-based Valley News Live:

Court documents say at 2:35 Sunday morning, 41-year-old Shannon Brandt called 911 to report that he had hit a pedestrian because he was threatening him. Brandt told State Radio that the pedestrian was part of a Republican extremist group and that he was afraid they were “coming to get him.” The pedestrian has been identified in a GoFundMe page as 18-year-old Cayler Ellingson.

After visiting the scene where the incident happened, deputies went to Brandt’s house in Glenfield, ND, which is about 12 minutes from the crash scene. Brandt admitted to consuming alcohol before the incident, and stated he hit Ellingson with his car because he had a political argument with him. Brandt also admitted to deputies that he initially left the crash scene, then returned to call 911, but left again before deputies could arrive.

There is just zero question that, if the roles had been reversed, CNN, MSNBC, and other mainstream and left-wing media would have been all over the story. More than all over it, they would draw conclusions from it, assign blame for it, and ask every Republican to answer for it. While MSNBC hasn’t covered the story at all, CNN published one story on the killing on Thursday.

MSNBC is the most blatant offender, leading the way in the blackout, but it was by no means alone in biased lack of coverage.

The New York Times, NBC News, NPR? Nothing, according to searches of each site at the time of posting.

The Washington Post, ABC News and CBS News? The syndicated Associated Press story.

There is no excuse for major, national news outlets ignoring the story of the politically-motivated alleged killing of a Republican in any political climate. But with an election looming, and the media all but saying outright they want Democrats to win to “save democracy,” it is especially unforgivable and impossible to chalk up to mere selectiveness or attribute to constraints of time or abundance of other news.

The media has an obligation to consistently report the news, to commit to facts over ideology, and most of all not to commit propaganda by omission. This almost-blackout is just another instance of malpractice.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.