The News & Observer of Raleigh joins The Los Angeles Times in the effort to downplay the Muslim background and, as some evidence suggests, the motive, of Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan in yesterday’s shootings at Fort Hood. The N&O ran a New York Times wire service story that never mentions Hasan’s religion. In fact, the Times story, in a disingenuous paragraph, says:
Military records indicated that Hasan was unmarried, born in Virginia, had never served abroad and listed “no religious preference” on his personnel records.
The only mention of Hasan’s religion is in an info box on the jump page, where it is used to portray him as a victim:
[Hasan] started having second thoughts about his military career a few years ago after other soldiers harassed him for being a Muslim, he told relatives in Virginia.
That sounds like a religious preference to me, but apparently the Times‘ editors felt differently.
UPDATE: I guess the mountain of evidence that there was a religious motive involved has become too huge to ignore. The N&O’s Web site now has this Associated Press story on its home page: Army: Suspect said `Allahu Akbar!’ before shooting.
UPDATE 2: Headline of the day: The Media Will Downplay His Religion, But God Help Us if His Car Had a Talk Radio Station On.
