Isaac Schorr and Brittany Bernstein describe an unusual aspect of news coverage surrounding the recent killings in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
Darrell Brooks, the suspect in the Waukesha car-collision massacre that killed six people and left dozens wounded, has a lengthy rap sheet: domestic abuse, battery, disorderly conduct, recklessly endangering safety, bail-jumping felony, and resisting or obstructing an officer. As he drove his car into a crowd attending a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wis., last week, Brooks faced multiple pending cases in Milwaukee County involving second-degree reckless endangerment and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
According to Milwaukee County’s Democratic district attorney, John Chisholm, an “inappropriately low” $1,000 cash bond in the pending cases allowed Brooks to leave prison in a matter of days, after which he drove into the crowd.
But you won’t see this in most mainstream news reports. The outlets have turned a blind eye toward Brooks, who exemplifies what can go terribly, tragically wrong when little to no bail is set.
A New York Times headline sums up why many outlets will choose to ignore the story, which sits outside of the progressive narrative: “Waukesha Suspect’s Previous Release Agitates Efforts to Overhaul Bail.” …
… Meanwhile, CNN on Sunday took its ignorance of facts one step further in reporting that Waukesha “will hold a moment of silence today, marking one week since a car drove through a city Christmas parade, killing six people and injuring scores of others.”
While CNN may initially have readers believe that a fully autonomous car plowed through a crowd, it does acknowledge in the final paragraph of the story that it is Brooks who allegedly killed six people, including an eight-year-old boy. The story does not include Brooks’s criminal background or that he was released on unusually low bail when the crime occurred.
