Newspaper Removes 'Socialist' Description of Accused Arapahoe High School Shooter

Joe Newby
December 16th, 2013 4:15 AM
Font Size

An article originally published at the Denver Post on Friday cited a classmate who described Karl Pierson, the alleged Arapahoe High School shooter, as a “very opinionated Socialist.” But the paper edited the article since it was first published, scrubbing the reference to socialism, Twitchy reported Saturday, citing a post at Bearing Arms.

“Thomas Conrad, who had an economics class with the gunman, described him as a very opinionated Socialist,” the Post originally said.

But in a move reminiscent of George Orwell’s “1984,” the description was removed.

The article now says:

Thomas Conrad, who had an economics class with Pierson, described him as very opinionated.

Mediaite also observed what it called a “stealth” edit and said the Post did not remove a passage where Pierson describes himself as a “Keynesian” who regularly took issue with the free market philosophies of economist Adam Smith.

“No one is suggesting Pierson’s political beliefs had anything to do with his crime,” Mediaite said. “But what is the logic for editing out a carefully reported account of who this person was in life? Why does the Denver Post not trust its readers to be able to consume the unvarnished truth?”

“Important questions,” Mediaite’s Noah Rothman added, “but don’t hold your breath for answers.”

The Post did not explain why the edit was made, but Bearing Arms had one possible explanation.

“It’s always about protecting the narrative, and defending the party, comrades,” the blog said.

Screenshots of the article before and after the edits can be seen at Twitchy:

Donor Privacy Policy