On December 2, the Associated Press carried a story by Terry Collins with the following headline: "Murder charge filed in Occupy Oakland slaying."
What? I thought that the related November attack, despite a statement from an actual eyewitness, "was unrelated to the ongoing protest of U.S. financial institutions" -- i.e., that it was unrelated to Occupy Oakland. After all, the San Francisco Chronicle and the AP both carried statements to that effect several weeks ago. Surprise, surprise (not):
A fugitive has been charged with murder after a protester was killed last month near the former Occupy Oakland encampment outside City Hall, authorities said Friday.
Norris Terrell, 20, is awaiting extradition to California after being arrested Sunday in Lexington, Ky., for the Nov. 10 slaying of Kayode Ola Foster, 25, who had been staying at the anti-Wall Street site in Oakland for at least two weeks, police said.
B-B-B-But I thought that the murder had absolutely nothing to do with Occupy Oakland or its participants. Why, the San Francisco Chronicle went to extraordinary lengths to debunk what we were supposed to believe was just a silly rumor instigated by ... an eyewitness. Here is how it devolved (references to cited items are here; bolds are mine):
(from an earlier November 11 report)
The man who was shot to death near the Occupy Oakland camp Thursday had spent a few nights there, his cousin said, as city officials and the police union renewed their calls for the camp to pull up stakes.
Madea Williams, who said she was the shooting victim’s cousin, said he had shared a tent with her at the camp.
... Protesters originally said they did not think the man was associated with their month-old encampment.
(a few hours later on November 11)
Oakland police say they have no reason to believe that a man shot and killed outside the Occupy Oakland encampment had ever spent a night there, despite the claims of a camp resident who said he was her cousin and had slept in her tent.
… The man’s name has not been released. Although the woman identifying herself as his cousin said he had slept in the camp, several veterans of Occupy Oakland said they didn’t recognize him.
Officer Johnna Watson, an Oakland police spokeswoman, said today that investigators had found no indication the man was connected to Occupy Oakland.
One day after a man was shot and killed outside the Occupy Oakland encampment, activists said the killing was not connected to their settlement and vowed to remain despite a city demand that they leave immediately.
Oakland police said they did not believe the shooting victim lived among the 180 tents in Frank Ogawa Plaza, regardless of claims from a camp resident who said the man was her cousin and had slept in her tent.
The victim was shot in the head about 5 p.m. Thursday outside a BART station exit at 14th Street and Broadway, on the doorstep of Occupy Oakland. Police have not released his name, and no arrests have been made. Investigators said witnesses told them the suspect was a frequent resident of the Occupy camp over the past several days.
The AP is still carrying three related photos (go here and click through the first three of five pictures in the series), all of which claim the following:
A man was shot and killed Thursday outside the Oakland encampment that anti-Wall Street protesters have occupied for the last month, but an organizer for Occupy Oakland said the attack was unrelated to the ongoing protest of U.S. financial institutions.
The unnamed "organizer" was wrong, and the AP captions never cite the eyewitness's statement.
Over at the San Francisco Chronicle, Staff Writer Henry K. Lee's story on Terrell's arrest opened as follows:
An Oakland man has been arrested and charged with murder, and three others are facing assault charges, in connection with the beating and shooting death of a man near the former Occupy Oakland encampment outside City Hall, police said Thursday.
Disgracefully, Lee and the Chronicle still didn't cite murder victim Foster's now-proven association with Occupy Oakland. We wouldn't want anyone to get the idea that Kayode Ola Foster might still be alive today if he hadn't chosen to participate in protesters' patently illegal "occupation," now would we?
Very few news readers, listeners, and viewers who were told that the murder had nothing to do with Occupy Oakland will ever learn that it really did. For the malpracticing leftist press, that probably goes into the "Mission Accomplished" file.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
