The media are jackals.
The feds are incompetent.
We’re completely screwed.
That’s the only message we can take from the media’s three-hour tour of the San Bernardino terrorists’ apartment. On Friday, at media request, the landlord of the apartment pried off a board covering the door with a crowbar, and the media, in all of their vulpine glory, rushed forward to feast on material evidence in a terrorism investigation.
MSNBC led the pack, with Kerry Sanders as the tip of the spear:
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) December 4, 2015
They showed a driver’s license, pictures of children, Korans. They showed children’s toys and a calendar. They showed shredded documents – all of which is now evidence that has been tampered with, inadmissible in court.
The landlord said that the media “rushed” into the apartment, denying he’d allowed them in. CNN’s law enforcement analyst, The Blaze reports, explained:
I don’t see any fingerprint dust on the walls where they went in there and checked for fingerprints for other people that might have been connected with these two. You’ve got documents laying all over the place; you’ve got shredded documents…You have passports, you’ve got drivers’ licenses — now you have thousands of fingerprints all over inside this crime scene…I am so shocked, I cannot believe it.
The San Bernardino Sheriff’s office told The Blaze he had “no clue” how the media were authorized to enter the premises. CNN’s legal analyst stated, “They turned a crime scene into a garage sale.” A CNN reporter stated, “this is no longer members of the media…there is a woman with a dog walking through the house.” One man caught on camera carried a popsicle out of the apartment.
Where were the authorities? The FBI said, “The search is over at that location.” That, of course, does not mean the investigation is over at that location. Sanders said the FBI had “presumably” removed all relevant evidence, and Andrea Mitchell added that the landlord had given permission to enter – which is irrelevant under California law, since it’s illegal for the landlord to open the premises under these circumstances.
The media don’t care about open terrorism investigations – after all, they’re not in law enforcement. The feds obviously don’t care about the media contaminating the crime scene.
But we’re supposed to trust both the media and the feds.
We have now officially moved beyond the realm of parody. And it’s frightening.
UPDATE: According to a reporter from the Los Angeles News Group, “Det. Dan Elton of @RedlandsPD says no one other than the coroner and family members legally have a right to be inside the home.” Well, that didn’t stop them, did it?
The landlord has reportedly now been escorted away by law enforcement.