Let’s start with the most egregious example of media talking head bloviating: CNN’s Erin Burnett gratuitously referring to the obviously non-white Mr. Tamura as "possibly white."
As one of our X friends put it, CNN is not only stupid, they are dangerous. During an #ActiveShooter search, CNN egregiously decided to throw "possibly white" into their description of the (black) man police were looking for which could've aided his escape. Fortunately, Shane Tamura decided to kill himself.
What could have possibly motivated Burnett to report something so obviously wrong as news? Even based on the first low resolution image of Tamura the assessment that he was "possibly white" seems to us to be a largely fact-free conclusion.
It seems quite possible that CNN was preparing to tee-up the usual Leftwing media narrative of mass murder by “white nationalist with big scary gun” only to be overtaken by the facts as Tamura’s social media and Nevada concealed carry permit quickly appeared online to reveal he was not “possibly white.”
But much as we detest CNN, the dying Leftwing network wasn’t the only source spewing obvious nonsense during their live coverage of Tamura’s tragic murder spree.
We lost count of how many times FOX News brought on commentators – all of them former New York Police Department, military or FBI – who characterized Tamura as being armed with an “automatic” rifle.
During a segment on Jesse Waters former NYPD officer Paul Mauro, normally a solid commentator, referred to Tamura as being armed with an “automatic” rifle. So did several other FOX commentators. During Jesse Waters, retired NYPD lieutenant Richie Mack was the only one we saw correctly identify Tamura as being armed with an AR-15.
But it got even stranger when New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during an official briefing that Tamura was seen getting out of a black BMW between 51st and 52nd streets “with an M4 rifle.”
The New York Post and other outlets quickly picked up Commissioner Tisch’s characterization of Tamura’s firearm as the U.S. military’s current standard select-fire (automatic) rifle. Based on the original M16, the smaller, lighter M4 started out with a 3-round burst mode, many modern M4s, like the M4A1, are capable of automatic (full auto) fire. As a machine gun M4s are highly regulated, there are relatively few in private hands and to legally own one requires a background check, payment of a special $200 tax and registration with the ATF.
However, characterizing the rifle as a M4 makes Tamura’s act of “gun violence” as New York Mayor Eric Adams put it, sound all the more frightening when mentally translated by the average laymen watching TV or reading the newspaper: “Madman sprays New York office building with Army’s automatic assault rifle.”
Except, it wasn’t a M4, it was, as Richie Mack observed to Jesse Waters, a run-of-the-mill AR-15, or more correctly, a “modern sporting rifle.” The gun was apparently manufactured by Palmetto State Armory, a well-known manufacturer of midmarket firearms beloved by first-time gun buyers and weekend plinkers. There are literally millions of similar guns legally in private hands or available for purchase in your local gun shop, none of them are “automatic.”
There are a lot of unanswered questions about how a promising young football star came to perpetrate the savage killing of four complete strangers in a city 2,500 miles away from his home. How did someone with Tamura’s documented mental health condition pass a background check to purchase a rifle and the pistol found in his car? How did he pass a background check to obtain a Nevada concealed carry permit? Did he obtain the guns through a straw purchaser or other illegal means? Did anyone know of his apparent grudge against the NFL? Was he under the care of a mental health professional with whom he shared thoughts of murder and suicide? Did anyone have foreknowledge of his trip to New York?
Let’s hope in answering those questions, and many more that might cast light on the roots of this tragedy, the media and officials in New York do a better job of getting the details right than they did in their initial Monday night reporting.
- National Football League at 345 Park Avenue
- Media bias
- Media coverage
- New York City shooting
- Shane Tamura
- CNN Erin Burnett
- Possibly white
- Assault Weapons
- Concealed Carry Permit
- Automatic rifles
- New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch
- Eric Adams
- AR 15
- M4
- Second Amendment
- Background Checks
- Mental Health
