Media Fail: Female Cop Did Not Bring Down Fort Hood Killer

[arcadian]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-mitchell/massive-media-fail-female_b_355600.html

With the publication of an interview with Sgt. Mark Todd, the actual cop who gunned down the killer at Fort Hood -- following its account of an unnamed eyewitness last night -- The New York Times finally underlined what some of us noticed from nearly the start: the media fell hook, line and sinker once again for a military account of what happened during the tragedy.

First, it was the "death" of Major Hasan, not corrected for many hours. Then, for days, the story of how a white female cop brought down the shooter, even as she was receiving serious wounds. Yet I noticed just hours after the attack that scattered eyewitnesses, via the Web and Twitter, were saying that the killer re-loaded after Kimberly Munley went down.


How could he have done that if she had just plugged him four times, supposedly ending the rampage? Some of those witnesses said they yelled at the second cop to shoot Hasan--which he did, and then went up and kicked his gun away. Yet for days the media rarely questioned the military's "official" story of Munley as savior. The New York Times was one of many who put Munley on the front page and declared, on Nov. 7, that she was the person who nailed Hasan. Its headline: "She ran to gunfire, and ended it." It said flatly that she "brought down the gunman."

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[Warpy]

1. She was shot

and I haven't seen any indication that she knows who really dropped him.

Since he was shot several times, I would imagine it was a team effort.

[EFerrari]

8. But the narrative was bought hook line and sinker

and iirc, there was a long thread here about what a hero she was.

You know, she did act bravely and no one can diminish that.

But, remember the Bruce Ivins story that turned out to be cr@p? This story has all the hooks for a public that is being traumatized by this event and who is needing to make sense and gain comfort.

Given that this story plays into all those years of fearmongering, maybe we should be a little careful with how it's being reported.

[daedalus_dude]

2. Guess "the black guy brought him down" didn't fit with the "scary muslim" story.

[paulsby]

20. the race card

on no evidence. it never fails.

if they had went with the guy, i guess the gender card would have been brought out

here's a hint. cops only come in one color: blue

(well, except for those green sheriffs and those tan SDPD cops and...)

well you get my point

[Igel]

25. I actually assumed the military was playing the gender card.

As with Lynch, there's this odd desire to show that minority groups are really and truly important in the military.

Women are more of a minority in the Army than blacks are (unless you look at commissioned officers, then there are more women than blacks).

[paulsby]

26. i think it's a bit premature

to assume that

fwiw, as an analogy a lot of people assume that the reason hasan didn;'t get dealt with by the military despite red flags was because of his religion.

etc. etc.

i'm not saying the military didn't do what you said they did for the reason you mentioned. i'm just saying i see little evidence to assume it's true

[Are_grits_groceries]

3. Here are some thoughts:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x7001503

[TornadoTN]

4. The media failed, but it doesn't lessen the service of Munley

She ran into an active crime scene with the guy firing shots at her and others. Her action may have given the other officer the opportunity to respond with his fire, as I understand they were not together.

Still, the media is horrible.

[Taverner]

6. I can kinda see why the media went with her

She didn't take him down (Todd did) but she was running and shooting, and she got some hits in.

That is straight out of a movie!

[TornadoTN]

7. Yeah, I can see it for the drama aspect, but it still was a rush to create a story

Not to diminish anything she did - she's a hero in my book as is the other officer. And I don't use the label hero lightly.

[Taverner]

9. Rush to create a story? That's journalism

I called in some stories by phone back when I was one!

But yeah, you're right

[LisaL]

21. We don't know if she actually hit him.

[EFerrari]

11. Greg is right to mention Jessica Lynch because it's the same story.

The real bravery of one individual is debased into a story about a white woman defending against the brown enemy. That's pretty awful and it's insulting to the people who were really there and who really performed above and beyond.

[Taverner]

5. From what I heard, they both did

Hunley got some good shots in (while she was running) and Todd took him down after Hunley went down.

[EFerrari]

14. That's right. And the real story was flattened out

for good copy. :shrug:

[elleng]

10. General Clark and others have noted that the FIRST 'war' story is usually wrong.

That's life. Too bad media has decided not to do anything to address it.

[Kalyke]

12. The media didn't fail.

There are things the media does wrong - incredibly wrong, but having been a former on-the-spot crime scene reporter, myself, let me try to explain the mass confusion officials reporting information to the media for publication must feel during an emergency.

The media would NOT have been allowed on the immediate scene to view the carnage themselves for several reasons: their safety, the need for emergency personnel to attend to victims STAT and preservation of evidence. Therefore, the media could only take the word of the authorities responsible for giving the information to them.

Not that the authorities were wrong - but maybe victims, themselves, of mass confusion and miscommuncation at the scene.

In the old days, reporters had days and sometimes hours to get updated and correct information before a paper hit the stands; now, with television and radio, that luxury is gone.

That said: yes, the media is far too often engaged in the titillating than worried about informing, which is how Faux "News" has been successful. The Jerry Springer Mentality.

[bain_sidhe]

13. How sad that her heroism has now been tainted...

by a careless and impatient media. Apparently, she did not bring down Hasan. But, nonetheless, she ran toward the gunfire and into the line of fire to *try* to do so. That's heroism, by any standard. But now the story will be about how she didn't kill him, and didn't "deserve" the credit she was given by the media, instead of what she DID do.

[Kalyke]

15. How sad that her heroism was tainted by some official on the scene

who told the wrong information to the media.

[EFerrari]

16. Because "the media" has no responsibility to fact check?

Right-o.

[peacetalksforall]

17. I want to know more about the early report that two other people were being investigated - I have

seen nothing more about this.

My gut tells me something is very wrong with the news that they were let go. Anyone have the details?

Also, does anyone know anything about Hasan's skill with the gun?

I believe that Sirhan Sirhan was not the one who shot at the back of Robert Kennedy's head.

Quick to say there were two that were suspected and nearly immediately dismissed.
Quick to say that Hasan was dead.
Quick to say that the female cop was dead.
Quick to say that Hasan was a devout Moslem. Not American. Moslem.

Somewhat quick to say that he had poor performace appraisals.

Nothing about him being against going to the area or that he was afraid that there would be an attack on Iran - that came from the family and friends.

Something is stinky here, imo.

[Xicano]

18. Munley is still a brave woman who acted heroically, however

It just goes to show you can't believe shit that comes from our crack news media.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

19. She Still Is As Brave And Heroic As Otherwise, Even If She Wasn't The One.

Do understand the point about the media though.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

22. Of course we could just wait on the forensic evidence, the eyewitness testimony and the report.

[spanone]

23. when the pentagon controls the story and the people involved the truth will suffer

[Judi Lynn]

24. What are the chances Sec. of Defense Gates will take the time to drop by to see Sgt. Todd?

Cherie Cullen/ Department of Defense
Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates met with Sgt. Kimberly
D. Munley at a hospital in Ft. Hood, Texas, on Tuesday.




Ozier Muhammad/The New York Times
Senior Sgt. Mark Todd, of the Killeen Police Department