[quote]ST. LOUIS — A top National Rifle Association official levied sharp criticism against the national media on Saturday, accusing it of sensationalizing the Trayvon Martin case and ignoring other crimes that happen across the country every day.
NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre didn't mention the Martin case by name during his speech at the group's annual meeting in St. Louis, but he accused the media of "sensational reporting from Florida." The 17-year-old Martin was unarmed when he was fatally shot Feb. 26 in Sanford, Fla., by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, who claimed self-defense.
Police initially didn't charge Zimmerman, prompting nationwide protests. Zimmerman was charged with second-degree murder last week.
The case has drawn new attention to self-defense laws that give people a broad right to use deadly force without having to retreat from a fight. The NRA strongly supports such statutes, known as "stand your ground" or "castle doctrine" laws, which are in effect in about 30 states.
Until Saturday, LaPierre had declined to comment on the Martin case, citing a need to learn all the facts. During the NRA gathering, he called the news media "a national disgrace." LaPierre said violent crime is an everyday fact of life in every American city.
"But the media, they don't care," LaPierre said. "Everyday victims aren't celebrities. They don't draw ratings, don't draw sponsors. But sensational reporting from Florida does. In the aftermath of one of Florida's many daily tragedies, my phone has been ringing off the hook" with calls from reporters.
Some gun-control advocates have seized on the shooting to renew debate about guns. Officials with the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence have pledged to use the case to fight proposed federal legislation that would force states with strict gun laws to recognize concealed weapons permits granted in other states that have fewer requirements.
"George Zimmerman is the NRA," the group's president, Dan Gross, said in a statement earlier this week. "And Florida's `Shoot First, Ask Questions Later' law and the paranoid mentality it promotes are products of the NRA's vision for America, where just about anybody can get and use a gun just about anywhere."
Messages left with the group Saturday weren't immediately returned. Rallies against Missouri's "stand your ground" law were held ahead of and during the NRA gathering, though efforts to overturn the law seem unlikely given its strong backing in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
NRA Executive Director Chris Cox defended such self-defense laws during Saturday's meeting, recalling the case of Sarah McKinley, who was alone with her baby in her rural Oklahoma home when an intruder armed with a hunting knife broke down the door. McKinley shot and killed the man.
"Castle doctrine can literally save your life," Cox said.
Zimmerman, 28, told police that he was attacked by Martin and believed he had no choice but to shoot him in self-defense. The teenager's family believes Zimmerman singled out Martin as suspicious because he was black. Zimmerman's father is white and his mother is Hispanic.[/quote]
[url=http://www.policeone.com/media-relations/articles/5408482-NRA-official-Media-sensationalizing-Martin-case/]Source[/url]
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About time someone said something about this. The media had distorted the case so much.
No shit.
Oh wow thanks NRA.
You've been subtly manipulating media for years, now that it could potentially tip against your cause you suddenly label the media "a national disgrace".
[quote]During the NRA gathering, he called the news media "a national disgrace."[/quote]
This may be a bit unfair and my apologies if it is but isn't this the same organization who held a pro-gun rally in the town where Columbine High school was located only days after Harris and Klebold went apeshit?
Pot and kettle, pot and kettle...
Well duh
it's just a repeat of OJ Simpson and Casey Anthony. I swear it, the Media is fucking stupid yet, very good at sensationalizing things. this is why I purposefully have not been following it and the only reason I know as much as I do, is because of the thread titles.
I read this as "martian case", being linked to that life on mars thread.
Also, the way that the media has been manipulating all this is disgraceful.
The media sensationalizes everything. I am a positive man, and there are few things I hate, but the way the [American] media works now - Fox, MSNBC, CNN - you name it - is just abysmal, sensationalist and dumbed down to a cringable level. All littered with pointless news, sensationalism and bias.
Watching Lawrence O'Donnell and Al Sharpton cover this just makes me rage.
[QUOTE=Thom12255;35585025]Watching Lawrence O'Donnell and Al Sharpton cover this just makes me rage.[/QUOTE]
yeah how dare people get upset about something AND disagree with you at the same time. those big fuckers
They turn a legitimate topic into a media circus to justify their egos, and afterwards nothing can get done because it's now a race issue.
NRA; even though I'm pro-gun, I don't always agree with your other policies, but here you hit the nail right on the head and said what noone else would. I respect that.
[QUOTE=Ridge;35588079]They turn a legitimate topic into a media circus to justify their egos, and afterwards nothing can get done because it's now a race issue.[/QUOTE]
I like how your baseline assumption is that nothing is about race until the terrible mainstream media decides to make it about race, and that talking about race is inherently non-productive.
Didn't you hear man? Racism disappeared in 1967 when MLK assassinated Brown vs. The Board of Education. Racism is over. Now the only racism left is reverse-racism. Let me link you to a video....
[QUOTE=Ridge;35588079]They turn a legitimate topic into a media circus to justify their egos, and afterwards nothing can get done because it's now a race issue.[/QUOTE]
said the person who bashes Obama on everything.
[QUOTE=SigmaLambda;35588499]Now the only racism left is reverse-racism.[/QUOTE]
No such thing, it's still racism.
[QUOTE=thisispain;35588674]said the person who bashes Obama on everything.[/QUOTE]
I don't bash him on everything. I've applauded his actions on a few occasions.
[editline]16th April 2012[/editline]
[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;35583803]This may be a bit unfair and my apologies if it is but isn't this the same organization who held a pro-gun rally in the town where Columbine High school was located only days after Harris and Klebold went apeshit?
Pot and kettle, pot and kettle...[/QUOTE]
If I remember correctly, the rally had been scheduled for several months, long before what happened at Columbine.
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