Mainstream media outlets have yet to cover the brutal Sunday night execution of a five-year-old North Carolina boy named Cannon Hinnant, allegedly at the hands of 25-year-old Darius Sessoms, sparking the hashtag #SayHisName to trend on social media Thursday morning.
As The Daily Wire reported on Tuesday, Sessoms, who is black, allegedly walked up to young Hinnant, who is white, and shot him in the head at point-blank range in front of the child’s 7- and 8-year-old sisters.
Sessoms lives next-door to the victim’s father in Wilson, North Carolina.
CNN, NBC, CBS, ABC, New York Times, NPR, The Washington Post, and MSNBC, as of Thursday morning, have yet to cover the attack. Fox News has covered the tragic news.
Some have argued that the lack of coverage is because of the races of the victim and the alleged murderer.
On Tuesday, author and Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh brought attention to the murder via Twitter, using the now-viral phrase, “say his name.”
“Say his name. 5 year old Cannon Hinnant was executed in cold blood while riding his bike,” posted Walsh. “The accused killer is Darius Sessoms. He allegedly walked up to the boy and shot him dead in front of his sisters.”
“Reverse the races and this is the only thing anyone talks about for a month,” he argued.
Say his name. 5 year old Cannon Hinnant was executed in cold blood while riding his bike. The accused killer is Darius Sessoms. He allegedly walked up to the boy and shot him dead in front of his sisters. Reverse the races and this is the only thing anyone talks about for a month pic.twitter.com/5V72YhAOlI
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) August 11, 2020
The hashtag took off by Thursday, as people grew frustrated from the lack of coverage.
“Have any mainstream media outlets covered Cannon Hinnant yet?” asked Informed Dissent host Leonydus Johnson. “The deception in selective reporting is their most potent weapon because it drives availability bias which, in turn, distorts reality. It is the same as lying. Just imagine if the races were reversed. #SayHisName.”
Have any mainstream media outlets covered Cannon Hinnant yet?
The deception in selective reporting is their most potent weapon because it drives availability bias which, in turn, distorts reality. It is the same as lying.
Just imagine if the races were reversed. #SayHisName
— Leonydus Johnson (@LeonydusJohnson) August 13, 2020
Actors James Woods and Antonio Sabáto Jr. posted, “Cannon Hinnant #SayHisName.”
Cannon Hinnant #SayHisName
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) August 13, 2020
Cannon Hinnant #SayHisName https://t.co/nkdCykb1Cg
— Antonio Sabáto Jr 🇺🇸 (@AntonioSabatoJr) August 13, 2020
“You should know who Cannon Hinnant is and it’s an absolute disgrace that you don’t,” said radio host Jesse Kelly. “The American media is putrid.”
You should know who Cannon Hinnant is and it’s an absolute disgrace that you don’t.
The American media is putrid.
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) August 12, 2020
Cannon Hinnant
Say his name.@CNN @NBCNews @CBSNews @ABC pic.twitter.com/fDn9c9fYjB
— Jason Howerton (@jason_howerton) August 12, 2020
Yesterday a 5 year old was riding his bike playing outside his house with his two sisters. His neighbor with already multiple felony charges walked up to him and shot him dead at point blank. FIVE YEARS OLD JFC. Where the hell is the media coverage?
Say his name. Cannon Hinnant
— Kyle Kashuv (@KyleKashuv) August 12, 2020
5-yr-old Cannon Hinnant was executed point blank in front of his 2 sisters in broad daylight while they were riding bikes. Because a violent criminal felt like shooting a boy in the head.
National media remains SILENT on this heinous murder.
It doesn’t fit their narrative. pic.twitter.com/uyX4zReX3t
— Gina Bontempo (@FlorioGina) August 13, 2020
As noted by The Daily Wire, Sessoms, who took off in a black vehicle after the shooting, was not apprehended until Monday by U.S. Marshals Service Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force, Goldsboro Police, and the Wayne County Sheriff’s Office, according to a report from WRAL.com.
The suspect has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held without bond at the Wilson County jail.
Sessoms reportedly had dinner with the victim’s family on Friday night, two nights before the shooting, according to WRAL.com, and was over at the family’s house the afternoon preceding the murder.
“Our neighbor saw it,” one neighbor recalled, according to ABC 11 Eyewitness News. “She said he (Sessoms) just — the young man just walked up to the little boy who was just sitting on his bike.”
“I just don’t understand why he did it,” she said. “How can you walk up to a little boy point-blank and put a gun to his head, and just shoot him? How can anyone do that?”
Hinnant was supposed to start kindergarten next week.
Update: CNN Finally Covers Alleged Murder Of 5-Year-Old Cannon Hinnant In 200-Word Blurb