Domestic Terrorist Jason Dalton, Kills 6 in Kalamazoo
Domestic terrorist, Jason Brian Dalton killed six people and wounded two more during a Saturday evening shooting rampage in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Preliminary evidence indicates that Dalton’s victims were selected at random, and the shootings took place in three separate locations. When police arrested him around 12:40am, a semi-automatic firearm was found in his car. Über executives informed investigating officers that according to their records, Dalton passed a criminal background check, was employed as a driver, and likely picked up passengers in between shooting sprees. Dalton, a 45-year-old white male is married and has two children ages 10 and 15. In addition to driving Über, Dalton was an insurance adjuster.
When the Kalamazoo tragedy was initially reported, it was assumed that seven people were killed. One of Dalton’s victims, a 14-year-old girl, was pronounced brain dead, but she squeezed her mother’s hand moments before doctors were scheduled to harvest her organs. As of Sunday morning, six were dead and two severely injured including the 14-year-old who continued to respond to questions from physicians by squeezing her hand. The team at Bronson Methodist Hospital in Kalamazoo, believe the girl’s survival ‘is a miracle’.
Mass shootings like this have become commonplace and expected in this country. The reality of our increasingly dangerous gun violence epidemic is a stain threatening the strength of our republic. Unfortunately the problem will not be reconciled nor diminish in the near future because the country’s central lawmaking body – U.S. Congress – is filled with politicians too beholden to their gun lobby benefactors and special interests like the National Rifle Association to vote against necessary gun safety measures.
When tragedy like this strikes, people turn to local news for immediate, pertinent information. The role of the national corporate media is to put situations like this into perspective for the country. At the very least, citizens should be able to expect their news to offer a fair and equal representation of the facts. During yesterday’s shooting spree, dozens of media outlets missed the opportunity to properly label Jason Dalton as a terrorist. When it comes to media coverage of violence in the United States, the word “terrorist” is reserved for one group of people – Muslims.
Where is the journalistic integrity in this blatant double standard? It is time for authorities and the media to end its endless search of non-controversial euphemisms to describes the terroristic actions of white perpetrators of violence. A lone-wolf gunman killing half a dozen people that he selects at random should not be limited to an identifier of “shooter” or “on a rampage” or “crazy” or “sick” or “demented.” He is a terrorist. The six people he killed, ranging in age from 17 to 74 deserve to have their murderer exposed for the terrorist that he is. Not given a universal pass in the media because of an alleged mental illness. The only mental illness that mattered in this circumstance is the widespread obsession with guns in the U.S. and the carnage that obsession creates.
No, a “good guy with a gun” would not stop a person who is unexpectedly shot while sitting in a parked car outside of a restaurant. Carrying a concealed weapon would not have protected a father and son who were looking at cars in a dealership. Their focus would not be on entering a theatrical gun shootout. Folks can fantasize about participating in a Lethal Weapon style gun battle, but the reality and statistics disprove the possibility of this fantasy ever taking place.
The six people that Dalton killed are: Mary Lou Nye, 63, of Baroda, Michigan; Mary Jo Nye, 60, of Battle Creek, Michigan; Dorothy Brown, 74, of Battle Creek, Barbara Hawthorne, 68, of Battle Creek, Rich Smith, 53 of Kalamazoo; and, Tyler Smith, 17, of Kalamazoo.
Often Mason Report™ writers are asked the motivation to start an independent media outlet. Cowardice and disingenuity from corporate media elites and their affiliates yesterday demonstrates why there is a need for Mason Report™ and others like it that are unafraid to report facts, regardless of potential audience or sponsor fallout. Some may claim it is just semantics, and the label attached to terrorist Jason Dalton is irrelevant. Wrong. Words matter. Several people died and were directly harmed by this terrorist. The city of Kalamazoo will never be the same, and for eight victims of terroristic violence, eight lives in particular, will never be the same. The root cause is 45-year-old terrorist Jason Brian Dalton. But the following factors are also liable: lax gun laws, Congressional apathy, lobbyists and special interest groups.
From a purely literature perspective, the creativity with which the media labeled him was impressive. But as a citizen genuinely concerned with the quality (or lack thereof) of media coverage of tragedies, this was yet another abject failure.
*Below you will find a gallery of national headline debacles. You will notice one consistent theme; NONE of the headlines use the term “Terrorist” or “Domestic Terrorist” to describe Jason Dalton. Instead, most described him as an Über driver, as if his profession supersedes his deeds.
