The Capital Gazette has now joined the Left in politicizing the ghastly shooting at their Maryland office last week that left five innocent journalists dead.
Even though the suspect in the Capital Gazette shooting had no known political motive for his attack but rather had a long-standing personal grudge against the newspaper, an editorial published days after the shooting hints that President Trump’s intense rhetoric toward the “fake news media” is partly to blame.
The editorial begins by rightly remembering those lost in the shooting and those who mourned over the deadly tragedy. Five innocent people were mercilessly gunned down; that fact should not be lost in the rush to politicization.
“Thank you for the outpouring of sympathy for the terrible tragedy that took place Thursday in our Annapolis office,” the editorial reads. “We will never forget Rob Hiaasen, Gerald Fischman, Wendi Winters, John McNamara or Rebecca Smith, our five co-workers who were gunned down in a senseless attack.”
May God grant the five names mentioned eternal rest.
The editorial then shifts into a “speaking truth to power” message that hits at President Trump for calling the “fake news media the enemy of the people” and makes sure to mention mean-spirited trolls who celebrated the shooting.
“Here’s what else we won’t forget: Death threats and emails from people we don’t know celebrating our loss, or the people who called for one of our reporters to get fired because she got angry and cursed on national television after witnessing her friends getting shot,” the editorial continued. “We won’t forget being called an enemy of the people. No, we won’t forget that. Because exposing evil, shining light on wrongs and fighting injustice is what we do.”
“Our community has rallied around us to show they understand who we are, and that we are not the enemy of the people,” the op-ed reads. “We are your neighbors, your friends. We are you.”
Following the deadly shooting, the mainstream media rallied around the idea that Trump’s rhetoric somehow contributed to the shooting with zero evidence to back their claims. It is also important to note that President Trump never referred to journalists or all of media as the “enemy of the people,” only the “fake news media.”