Today’s cover of the New York Post bears the headline “Civil War,” while the Drudge Report reacted to yesterday’s shooting with a headline stating, “Black Lives Kill.”
Friday's cover: 4 cops killed in Dallas tragedy https://t.co/NpUskqqtLt pic.twitter.com/tlqx0P721y
— New York Post (@nypost) July 8, 2016
Drudge Report Covers Dallas with 'Black Lives Kill' Headline https://t.co/dEDr9qf0IP pic.twitter.com/8th4eH6Gtf
— Mediaite (@Mediaite) July 8, 2016
Both the Post’s cover and Drudge’s headline were up early this morning, before the police had released statements on the suspects and their motives. This type of coverage—exacerbating already high racial tensions—is both morally reprehensible and plainly irresponsible. The Dallas police has since stated that one suspect said he was not affiliated with any groups.
Contrary to the implications in these headlines, before the shooting happened, the demonstration in Dallas had been orderly and peaceful—the police department even tweeted out pictures of officers posing together with protesters. Dallas’s police is lauded as a model department for the country, due to its focus on community-oriented policing tactics. Between 2009 and 2014, complaints about excessive force dropped by 64 percent.