BROADCAST BIAS: Networks downplay violent attacks on ICE to push immigration agenda
Violent incidents targeting ICE and Border Patrol received limited network coverage, with CBS and PBS offering brief reports on immigration enforcement
On Monday, July 7, Axios published a shocking article titled "Democrats told to ‘get shot’ for the anti-Trump resistance." Anonymous House Democrats claimed their base voters are saying there "needs to be blood to grab the attention of the press and the public."
Well, no one should have expected ABC, CBS and NBC to pick up this report and highlight it. They can hear in this wild chatter a spirit of January 6, that nonviolent politics as usual doesn’t match the moment.
The networks were also averse to spending much time on actual political violence this week, although the intended victims were law-enforcement officials, not elected Democrats.
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On Monday morning, Fox News reporter Bill Melugin relayed an active shooter with a rifle and tactical gear ambushed Border Patrol agents as they arrived at a Border Patrol annex facility in McAllen, Texas. Local police and federal agents returned fire, killing the assailant. That received only a smattering of attention.
That drew more attention than a leftist attack on an ICE facility on the Fourth of July, which should have added outrage to the news soup. A Texas police officer was shot in the neck allegedly by armed anti-ICE wingnuts near an ICE detention facility in Alvarado, Texas, about a half-south of Dallas.
Authorities said Monday it was a "planned ambush" on the building, resulting in 11 people being charged. They said 10 to 12 people in black military-style clothing began shooting fireworks at the facility. One or two others broke off from the group and began to damage vehicles and spray graffiti with words like "ICE pig," "traitor" and profanities. We found just one brief on the "CBS Evening News" on July 8.
"Ten people are charged with attempted murder after allegedly staging an ambush at an immigration detention center in Alvarado, Texas. Investigators say some of the suspects lured officers outside by shooting fireworks at the building and painting graffiti," announced anchor Maurice DeBois. "An officer was shot and is out of the hospital. Authorities are investigating whether the July 4th attack is linked to a shooting yesterday at a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas."
That’s 70 words, lasting 25 seconds.
The "PBS News Hour" report was pretty much the same length. PBS anchor Amna Nawaz noted: "The acting U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas said that last week's events were — quote — ‘an ambush of federal and local law enforcement officers.’"
Then she added, "The charges come as immigration agents just received a major infusion of funding to carry out President Trump's deportation agenda." Their brief was the throat-clearing introduction to lead into White House reporter Laura Barron-Lopez. The segment was given the scary online headline "GOP gives ICE massive budget increase to expand Trump’s deportation effort."
PBS never returned to the violent attacks on ICE enforcers. Nawaz did complain that ICE is too aggressive with innocent non-violent illegal aliens: "President Trump said he was focusing on violent criminals, on public safety threats. We have seen ICE has gone far beyond that already, so who is and will be targeted for arrest moving forward?"
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On Thursday night, ABC’s "World News Tonight" anchor David Muir announced in his typically clipped style: "A major immigration raid unfolding. Masked federal agents raiding two California farms north of Los Angeles at this hour. Clashing with protesters who quickly gathered. Men lined up against a wall under heavy guard."
Reporter Aaron Katersky at least mentioned some people desire violence against ICE: "This kind of immigration enforcement is not only drawing crowds like we’re seeing tonight, David. Online, there are calls for violence with the goal of trying to stop these raids."
On Friday morning, CBS and NBC followed suit with the "chaos" and "angry protesters" trying to interrupt enforcement actions. NBC anchor Craig Melvin noted: "The FBI now offering a reward in the search for someone who appeared to fire a pistol at federal agents during a raid on a farm in southern California." The headline was softer: "ICE Agents Clash with Protesters," not "Protester Shoots at ICE Agents."
CBS at least put the words "Violent Immigration Protests in California," but CBS reporter Carter Evans peppered his story with outraged protesters. "I’m scared even though I’m a citizen and everything," one said. "I’m scared. Really scared." Another ICE protester argued "There’s got to be a better way than the way that they’re acting right now." An unidentified female screamed, "What about the children that are going to be taken from their families?"
These networks clearly want to shower ICE with negative coverage. The illegal aliens are the sympathetic victims. Nowhere in these stories is the reality that illegal immigration has stopped to a trickle. Polls across the media landscape have showed the public supports deporting all illegal immigrants. The liberal networks are promoting the minority viewpoint again.
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