Fox on Chattanooga, Charleston: White ‘Shooters’ vs. Muslim ‘Terrorists’

Let’s play spot the difference with two Fox News headlines. Ready?

“Krauthammer: Impulse to politicize Charleston shooting inevitable but ‘is 48 hours too much?'” (foxnews.com, 18.06.15)

“Krauthammer: Tenn. shooting ‘in all probability an example of radical Islam at work’ (foxnews.com, 16.07.15)

Need a hint? Try comparing this pair:

Dr. Ben Carson: Leaders Making ‘Political Hay’ of Charleston Church Shooting (insider.foxnews.com, 21.06.2015)

MORE RELIGIOUS — OR RADICAL? Chattanooga gunman said to be turning more devout — but to what?” (foxnews.com, 17.07.15)

If you still don’t get it, try these:

“It was not a surprise today when the president was among the first to use the (Charleston) incident not to unite Americans in a moment of grief, but to divide Americans over a hot button issue,” Fox host Sean Hannity on his radio show (Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 18.06.15)

“If it’s true that ISIS was taking credit for the (Chattanooga) shooting at the exact same time, or maybe slightly before the shooting commenced, that would be pretty strong evidence of a connection,” Sean Hannity again (17.07.15).

In that last quote, Hannity was referring to a bogus claim, circulated on conservative websites, that the Islamic State group had tweeted about the Chattanooga massacre before it happened. Hannity wasn’t alone in referencing the fake story; Fox’s Bill O’Reilly and Bret Baier both referenced the false claim Thursday. It was almost as though Fox was eager to jump on any tidbit that could be used to politicize the Chattanooga shooting.  

While the FBI was telling the public it “would be premature to speculate on the motives of the shooter at this time,” Fox was peddling this:

.@ScottWalker: “We need to acknowledge that we’re at war and radical Islam is our enemy.” #KellyFile pic.twitter.com/INKyhTahad — Fox News (@FoxNews) July 17, 2015

The key principle should be abundantly clear to everyone: Dylann Roof was nothing more than a lone gunman, while Mohammad Youssef Abdulazeez was a terrorist. Roof was an outlier, and someone we should ignore, while Abdulazeez is proof all Muslims want to destroy Western civilization.

Along with ignoring Roof, we’re encouraged to ignore the fact that white Americans are by far the biggest terror threat in the United States, according to a study from the New America Foundation in June. The study found that over the past 14 years (after 9/11), right-wingers, white supremacists and other white killers murdered nearly double the number of people in terrorist domestic attacks than Muslims. Yet to the Fox narrative, the fact that white racists are far more dangerous than Muslim radicals is irrelevant. Make no mistake, Chattanooga will be milked for all it’s worth by Fox and the rest of the conservative media, and the “let’s not judge” mantra that enveloped Charleston will be put on ice until the next disturbed white boy picks up a gun.

Or to put it more bluntly, Fox only wants to “politicize” tragedies that tessellate with its own agenda.

First published by teleSUR English.