The New York Times hid several key details about the identities of the alleged London bombers in a new report, including their nationalities, refugee status, and their connection to Islamic terrorism.
Instead of mentioning the ties that the suspects have to Islamic terrorism, The New York Times reported that authorities were trying to determine “the events leading up to the bombing” to determine if it was “influenced by extremists” – even though ISIS already claimed responsibility for the attack.
Nowhere in the 11-paragraph report does The Times mention that the first two men arrested on Saturday, ages 18 and 21, were refugees.
In fact, The Times buried the nationalities of both men in the eighth paragraph of the report:
An 18-year-old Iraqi orphan who had a reputation for getting into fights and had been in the foster care of a retired couple, and a 21-year-old from Syria who had escaped the civil war there and was working at a fried-chicken shop.
A troubling note from the report is how The Times portrayed the two suspects. Portraying one suspect as a troubled “orphan” who was in “foster care” while portraying the other suspect as a lowly Syrian who “escaped war” makes it seem like the suspects are the victims.
The Times provided no additional details in the report on the 25-year-old suspect “detained” by police on Tuesday, despite the fact that other news organizations reported his strong ties to Islam. Additional details were also not provided for the two suspects, ages 30 and 48, arrested on Wednesday.