If ABC News is going to spend precious newscast time on a sex predator that tried to grab and do God-knows-what to three female students on separate occasions, then wouldn’t it be worthwhile to provide viewers with as much information as possible on the suspect so people know what to look for? It appears not.
Here’s the full report, as aired on ABC World News Tonight on Wednesday, December 13th, 2023. Guess what was left out of the suspect description:
DAVID MUIR: To another campus now, and tonight, the FBI is now on the case after several attempted abductions, all of them involving young women being followed at the University of Arizona. Here's ABC's Zohreen Shah tonight.
ZOHREEN SHAH: Tonight, the University of Arizona on edge after the attempted abductions of three female college students in the last week.
CHRIS OLSON, UAPD CHIEF: UAPD is enhancing its patrol capabilities. We're working hard to saturate the campus within the area and outside the area.
SHAH: The three incidents taking place within a mile of the Tucson campus, repeating a similar pattern. A man following the women in his car. One victim attacked from behind, screaming before the suspect fled. A second woman reporting being followed by that vehicle. The third woman groped, but able to get away.
All of the victims describe the suspect as a man 30 to 40 years old, around six feet tall, with a medium heavy set build, and close cropped hair. Police say he is driving an early 2000s dark blue Toyota Camry or Corolla with tinted windows and Arizona plates. Authorities urging students to take precautions while the suspect is on the loose.
STUDENT: I'll have to be on the phone with somebody that's, like, nearby.
SHAH: And David, the FBI's helping local officials, offering to process any evidence at Quantico to help develop leads on the suspect as quickly as possible. David.
MUIR: Zohreen Shah tonight. Zohreen, thank you.
Such is the prevalence of the woke mind virus that it is now racist to provide the apparent race or ethnicity of the suspect when reporting on matters of crime- all in the interest of not offending sensibilities. These are the problems that the Acela Media grapple with.
Closer to the situation, however, there is less concern with propriety. Rightfully so, when a predator is on the loose. From The Daily Wildcat:
UAPD described the suspect as a “male who appeared to be Hispanic” with a “heavy set build” who was approximately 5 feet, 8 inches tall. “He was wearing an orange shirt and jeans.” According to the report, the victim did not see the man enter or leave a vehicle at any point.
There is an available race/ethnic descriptor, but ABC simply chooses to forgo disclosing it to its public.
It is little wonder that trust in the media is so low.
