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A gunman opened fire in Austin’s downtown entertainment district early Saturday morning leaving at least 14 people injured.
Interim Police Chief Joe Chacon provided a detailed description of the alleged gunman.
“It is a black male wearing a black shirt with a skinny build and with dreadlocks – dreadlock-type hair,” he told reporters during a live briefing.
While local television stations broadcast the description so that citizens could protect themselves, the Austin Statesman-American took a very “woke” approach.
Police described the Austin gunman as "a black male wearing a black shirt with a skinny build and with dreadlocks – dreadlock-type hair."
— toddstarnes (@toddstarnes) June 12, 2021
The Statesman-American said it would not publish the "vague" description because it "could be harmful in perpetuating stereotypes."
The newspaper chose not to release the alleged gunman’s description because it “could be harmful in perpetuating stereotypes.”
In other words, it was because the suspect was identified as a black man.
Following is the editor’s note that was posted to the original story about the mass-shooting:
Editor’s note: Police have only released a vague description of the suspected shooter as of Saturday morning. The Austin American-Statesman is not including the description as it is too vague at this time to be useful in identifying the shooter and such publication could be harmful in perpetuating stereotypes. If more detailed information is released, we will update our reporting.
I have no doubt that had the gunman been a white guy the description would have been included in the lead paragraph of every story in that newspaper.
The police chief praised officers who rushed to the scene and immediately began life-saving measures — without giving any thought to their own safety.
Gov. Greg Abbott offered prayers for the injured and vowed to bring the person responsible to justice — and “punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
Police have identified at least two suspects in the attack.
“We’re gonna solve this case,” Chacon said. “We’re not going to spare any resources, any time. We’ve called in all of our resources to begin working on it, they are dedicated to getting this done and we are actively working to those responsible in custody.”
We must pray that the gunman will be captured before he decides to shoot even more people. Heaven forbid that happens, but their blood will be on the hands of the journalists who work at the Austin Statesman-American.
NEW: This is video of the aftermath of the downtown Austin shooting showing officers performing first aid on the wounded.
— Tony Plohetski (@tplohetski) June 12, 2021
pic.twitter.com/gkUuFLn9up