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Black Serial Killer: Why the Media Indifference?
Townhall.com ^ | January 7, 2016 | Larry Elder

Posted on 01/07/2016 5:01:52 AM PST by Kaslin

Why the near media-silence over the absurdly long-delayed trial of alleged serial killer Lonnie Franklin Jr.? Franklin would seem to represent ideal grist for the voracious 24/7 national media.

There is, of course, murder. He is charged with killing 10 and suspected of killing more. The crimes took place in a big, media-centric city, Los Angeles, as opposed to some obscure small town or rural community in a fly-over state ignored by national media.

There is an unsolved mystery that took place over a long time. Franklin was a former city trash collector who lived quietly in South Central Los Angeles. Neighbors described him friendly and helpful. He is alleged to have committed these crimes over a period of years, from 1985 through 2007. He was finally arrested in 2010.

There is sex. Serial killers who kill women attract a different kind of fascination than serial killers who kill men. The victims were young black women, from 15 to 35 years old -- many thought to be prostitutes and/or drug addicts. Evidence of sexual assault was found on most of the victims, whose discarded bodies were discovered in dumpsters and alleys. Hundreds of sexually explicit photos and videos were found in his home after his arrest, many depicting unidentified women who appeared to be asleep, unconscious or dead.

There are angry family members who show up for legal proceedings only to be informed that, sorry, the trial has been delayed yet again.

And a few years ago the local media even gave the killer a catchy and presumably attention-grabbing nickname, the "Grim Sleeper." The name meant that the killer would kill, lay low for long periods of time, before killing again.

Yet despite an arrest that occurred over five years ago, the lengthy process of jury selection has just begun. By contrast, the trial of Charlie Manson began less than a year after his apprehension. The mere fact that Franklin's trial has taken so long to begin would seem newsworthy. The prosecution has long been ready to try the case, but the defense lawyer throws up motion after motion and requests additional discovery, much to exasperation of the judge and angry victims' families who wonder whether their dead love ones will ever get justice.

Crafty defense lawyers delaying legal maneuvers is one thing. Franklin's attorney argues, of course, that repeated motions for psychiatric evaluations and for discovery simply ensure that Franklin gets a fair trial. But why the yawning indifference by much of the LA local media, and nearly all of the national media? What happened to "justice delayed is justice denied"?

But Franklin is black. All of the victims, as well, are black. Therefore, this is black-on-black murder, an occurrence about which our media -- and the "Black Lives Matter" movement -- are simply less interested. White cops killing black suspects is one thing. But black-on-black crime, well, what's the upside?

Activists and our national media pay far more attention to the rare instance in which a white cop kills a black suspect than the all-too-often black-on-black murders. How rare? In Chicago, for example, in 2011, police killed 23 people. In 2015, the number was eight. The city ended 2015 with nearly 500 murders, more than 40 per month, mostly black-on-black in a city just one-third black.

Nearly half of the nation's homicides are black-on-black. Were the media to focus attention on it, the "Black Lives Matter" activists would then denounce the media and accuse them "of making blacks look bad and trying to destroy their image." White defendants are safer.

The Grim Sleeper case also shatters a myth that seems to give cops, activists and the media comfort: that nearly all serial killers are white. In fact, 20 percent of all serial killers are black. Add in the number who are Hispanic, and there are proportionately fewer white serial killers compared to the percentage of whites in America,

This myth has consequences.

Recall the murdering duo known as the D.C.-area Beltway Snipers. Profilers convinced cops to focus on white suspects. Profilers and pundits appeared on television, repeating the mantra that "nearly all serial killers are white." This misdirection allowed the killers John Muhammad and his accomplice, Lee Malvo, who were black, to continue their killing spree despite having been stopped by cops several times before their eventual apprehension.

In the case of Lonnie Franklin Jr., the notion that "nearly all serial killers are white" likely added to the investigators' failure, for some time, to link these murders to just one killer. So even more people died while the police looked away or looked in the wrong place for the wrong person.

This brings us back to the media indifference. Don't black lives matter?


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Editorial; Government; US: California
KEYWORDS: afroturf; alabama; astroturf; birmingham; blackbrownshirt; blackkk; blackliesmatter; blacklivesmatter; california; courts; deltacollege; emmanuelbowden; emmanueldbowden; governormoonbeam; grimsleeper; jerrybrown; johnmuhammad; leemalvo; lonniefranklinjr; losangeles; mercutiosouthalljr; moonbeam; redistribution; reparations; thegrimsleeper; vesterflanagan; vesterleeflanagan; virginia; wdbj; whiteprivilege; yikyak

1 posted on 01/07/2016 5:01:52 AM PST by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

You can only imagine if it was a white killer of black women.


2 posted on 01/07/2016 5:04:25 AM PST by Hugin ("First thing--get yourself a firearm!" Sheriff Ed Galt, Last Man Standing.)
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To: Hugin

You said it.


3 posted on 01/07/2016 5:10:18 AM PST by Kaslin (He needed the ignorant to reelect him, and he got them. Now we all have to pay the consequenses)
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To: Kaslin

#TheIssueIsNeverTheIssue


4 posted on 01/07/2016 5:21:45 AM PST by Blue Collar Christian (Ready for Teddy, Cruz that is.)
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To: Kaslin

Because #CertainBlackLivesDontMatter


5 posted on 01/07/2016 5:25:38 AM PST by Vigilanteman (ObaMao: Fake America, Fake Messiah, Fake Black man. How many fakes can you fit into one Zer0?)
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To: Kaslin

The DC Sniper was ‘blackish’ he was an illegal alien from Haiti or something, was deported, then came back with a black accomplis to kill lot’s of folks.


6 posted on 01/07/2016 5:26:19 AM PST by BBB333 (Q: Which is grammatically correct? Joe Biden IS or Joe Biden ARE an idiot?)
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To: Kaslin
...also shatters a myth that seems to give cops, activists and the media comfort: that nearly all serial killers are white. In fact, 20 percent of all serial killers are black.

20% are black, while only 13% of the population is black, once again, blacks show that they do have the ability to excel and exceed expectations. Talk about self esteem.

BLM

7 posted on 01/07/2016 5:36:26 AM PST by USS Alaska (Exterminate the terrorist savages, everywhere.)
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To: BBB333

“The DC Sniper was ‘blackish’ he was an illegal alien from Haiti or something, was deported, then came back with a black accomplis to kill lot’s of folks.”

Actually John Allen Muhammad was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. However:

“Muhammad kidnapped his children and brought them to Antigua around 1999, apparently engaging in credit card and immigration document fraud. It was during this time that he became close with Lee Boyd Malvo, who later acted as his partner in the killings. Williams changed his name to John Allen Muhammad in October 2001.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Allen_Muhammad


8 posted on 01/07/2016 5:48:17 AM PST by vladimir998 (Apparently I'm still living in your head rent free. At least now it isn't empty.)
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To: vladimir998

Thank you very much for the correction.

Great information.

I just remember the Chief of police saying that they were looking for a ‘white van.’

Once the shooter was black. Plop. End of the story (mostly)...


9 posted on 01/07/2016 5:58:29 AM PST by BBB333 (Q: Which is grammatically correct? Joe Biden IS or Joe Biden ARE an idiot?)
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To: Blue Collar Christian

the issue is always the revolution


10 posted on 01/07/2016 5:58:52 AM PST by ColoCdn (Neco eos omnes, Deus suos agnoset)
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To: Kaslin

Because the media has collectively decided that white men are an enemy to be marginalized and eliminated.


11 posted on 01/07/2016 7:04:44 AM PST by skeeter
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To: BBB333
I just remember the Chief of police saying that they were looking for a white van.

The rampage was perpetrated by John Allen Muhammad (then aged 42) and Lee Boyd Malvo (then 17), driving a blue 1990 Chevrolet Caprice sedan.

Nothing like assumptions...

12 posted on 01/07/2016 7:19:38 AM PST by Dubh_Ghlase
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To: Dubh_Ghlase

The (incompetent) Chief of Police was black.

When he said: ‘white van’ it rhymed with ‘white MAN’...

I guarantee that his officers were not looking for two black men in the trunk of a domestic sedan...


13 posted on 01/07/2016 8:00:55 AM PST by BBB333 (Q: Which is grammatically correct? Joe Biden IS or Joe Biden ARE an idiot?)
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To: Hugin
YThe mere fact that Franklin's trial has taken so long to begin would seem newsworthy.

The MSM PROTECTS members of dem victim groups... the guy's black - and even if he's a serial killer being black trumps the rest.

If it weren't for blacks bloc voting white liberal elites would NOT be able to stay in power. So this killer will be protected from public scrutiny by the much despised members of 'the press'...

14 posted on 01/07/2016 8:59:08 AM PST by GOPJ (Are Hollywood liberal elties like Ron Burkle paying John Kasich to 'rough up' Donald Trump?)
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To: Kaslin

I’m glad I read this, because actually, I thought nearly all serial killers were white too.


15 posted on 01/07/2016 9:00:19 AM PST by A_perfect_lady (Welfare: It's a Safety Net, Not a Hammock.)
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To: A_perfect_lady

I’m glad I read this, because actually, I thought nearly all serial killers were white too.

Sounds like you need to check your White Privilege.

16 posted on 01/07/2016 9:03:37 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: dfwgator

I’m glad I read this, because actually, I thought nearly all serial killers were white too.....I remember a serial killing that I was involved in, peripherally, and a black preacher/activist saying “PLease, please, please don’t let it be a black man.” It was and nothing more was said about it.


17 posted on 01/07/2016 9:17:02 AM PST by Safetgiver ( Islam makes barbarism look genteel.)
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To: BBB333

The DC sniper and the grim sleeper are ready made scripts for Hollywood. /not


18 posted on 01/07/2016 9:21:16 AM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
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To: Kaslin
Recall the murdering duo known as the D.C.-area Beltway Snipers.

I remember them often. Through most of October 2002, two Nation of Islam serial killers terrified Washington D.C. and nearby areas of Virginia and Maryland. I won't say that the area was paralyzed, but many people were afraid to go outside. The murders were endlessly discussed, privately and in the media.

It showed me just how vulnerable urban America really is. Two people affected the lives of millions.

So when I hear that only a small percentage of Muslim immigrants are actually terrorists, I don't find that particularly reassuring.

19 posted on 01/07/2016 7:30:19 PM PST by TChad
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