Secrets of the City

the pioneer press says this: “Police on Tuesday said they are looking for two black males between ages 17 and 22 but would not be more specific for fear of hampering the search.”

so, maybe because they’ve got nothing else to work from except the alleged murderers’ race and vague age, and really, what good does it do anyone to know that they’re looking for black men in a five-year age span? that doesn’t exactly narrow it down.

I saw on KARE 11 that they think the suspects might be Somali based on some security camera footage of them trying to rob someone at the Wells Fargo ATM nearby.

You’re right, saying they’re looking for two young black men doesn’t narrow the field enough if you’re talking about every black man in the metro area as a possible suspect. But if you’re just talking about two guys matching that description that happened to be in Uptown that night together, then that is important information. Someone, after seeing the report, might remember seeing two guys matching that description getting into a certain type of vehicle. Then once they report on the vehicle, someone who knows someone who drives that kind of car and matches that description might come forward. There are lots of investigations that are solved this way.

Don Shelby explained our philosophy on this in his “In the Know” segment Tuesday night. You can read it- and watch the video at CCO.com.

Omar Jamal of the Somali Justice Center keeps showing up at town meetings– we asked him why today. He said because of rumors the suspects may be Somali. His group is offering a reward for information leading to an arrest. It is odd that police are being SO quiet on this. Makes me think (hope?) that they know who they’re looking for.

Jason has a good post about a similar topic on his blog. Is it okay to call these guys thugs? Of course it is. They shot someone in the head for no reason.

Shelby is right. Reporting their race probably does contribute to an irrational fear among some readers/viewers. But like I argued above, it’s still worth reporting in case anyone who was nearby might see the report and be able to help the investigation.
At some point, you have to trust people to make up their own minds. Biases will exist, whether this information gets reported or not.

i swear i heard gunshots followed immediately by police sirens at about 2:15 a.m. it sounded like it came from lyndale/34th area. or it might just be pure paranoia. that shooting happened right in front of my old apartment building, plus i’ve witnessed a robbery behind the building outside my bedroom window this past summer. i guess i’ll be checking the news feeds tomorrow morning.

Like in the Sherlock Holmes story, “Silver Blaze”? The clue that solved the mystery was “the dog who didn’t bark”.

Yeah, sure. The STrib’s policy, in other professions, would be considered an actionable error of omission

I really agree with you on this issue Matt.

What’s next, the Strib wont report the gender of the suspects for fear of creating bias toward men or women?

A description of a suspected mugger/murderer should include physical attributes of that person, height, weight, gender, clothing, and skin color and or race should be included. Its just a physical characteristic, that simple.

This same issue came up last summer with all the uptown muggings, I think that there were over 20 reported muggings, mostly at gunpoint, in a very short time span. Most of the local news outlets only described the suspects as a group of 2 or 3 men in there late teens early 20’s. You actually had to go to the Minneapolis police website to get a full description of the suspects.

What possible reason could the strib have for not wanting to describe two murderers who are still at large?

Ooh! Ooh! I know!

Liberal bias!

I don’t buy the liberal bias argument. After all, they are more than willing to let Kersten say the most vile things about gays. Maybe if the gays started robbing people at gunpoint in Uptown? Of course then Kersten would probably object if the report mentioned a “pair” of gay men and demand a constitutional amendment against gays robbing together.

The Strib’s policy is to only report race as part of an overall physical description that includes such things as height, weight, build, clothing, etc. If all they’ve got is race and a vague age range, they won’t print it. It’s not something that’s decided on a case-by-case basis; it’s a predetermined policy that’s applied to all coverage.

I think this is ridiculous. I am Latin and would not have a problem if the suspects were Hispanic and their race was commented on the news, I still would like to know. I think politically correctness is taking over this country.

I have a hard time understanding people that come to this country (like i did) and engage in criminal activity. I don’t think they appreciate the fact that they live in a prosperous country where people actually have a chance to be succesful. I am not saying that these two guys are immigrants, this is just a general comment.

I’ve been examining these threads with a keen eye, and I’m convinced that Oliver Tuanis is really Tom Bartel, publisher of the Rake and owner of this here fine forum. I have my suspicions about “Slim,” too.
That aint right, guys (or, I mean, guy).

I think this is ridiculous. I am Latin and would not have a problem if the suspects were Hispanic and their race was commented on the news, I still would like to know. I think politically correctness is taking over this country.

And I think it’s instructive that a group of Somalis have set up a reward to catch the perps. Their publicly-expressed fear is that the thugs were members of a Somali street gang. Nope, only white liberals seem to have this struggle with the truth. It’s laughably transparent to the casual observer and so intellectually important for some reason to the liberals that they must …. not …. offend. Lest the alligator eat them now instead of last. Fortunately, we normal people have no such constraints.

andre has an interesting point that sounds as if it’s informed by inside knowledge. there’s a sinister inverse way to read this, too: that we are to assume the thugs are black until they are identified as white, implication being ~that~ would be worthy of note. i think race is always of interest in stories about violent crime. we want to know everything there is to know, it’s human nature. newspapers are always wringing their hands about their responsibility to the community–and probably worry too much about how to tell the news, rather than just telling it like it is. The Strib seems to find itself in this position a lot in recent years, with the radical PCism of the Tim McGuire years, and now the Anders Gyllenhaal overcorrection.

As far as I know, the police have not come out and ID’d the perps as Somali. The Somali community raised a reward based on a *rumor* that the thugs are Somali.

Let’s let the cops do their work and catch these bastards.

Not an issue. ANYBODY here answer this question for me: what knowledge did YOU gain by learning the shooters were black 17-22 year olds? What benefit to the community does that knowledge provide? What positives will result now that we know these two facts?

I can’t think of a single one. But I can think of one other consequence: people like most of us are going to be more afraid of black young people with no rational basis.

Of course, this is a societal problem, not one created by the newspaper. But what it means to me is that there’s no reason to give a damn whether they tell us race he is or not. Anyone who was reading the Strib’s coverage who was asking, “I wonder what race the guy is?”, was really asking, “I wonder if the guy was black.” I’ll admit, that creeped into my head too, and it’s a racist question. It’s something we all need to work to overcome.

When I used to work along side the Mpls Police in the late 80s, the daily crime sheet listed everything that happened was availible, 94% of all crime was committed by black males between 17-22, the few whites listed usually were peeping toms or drunken frat boys, dumb stuff like that. Nothing ever seems to change, I doubt that sending these guys to school or giving them jobs would make a bit of difference, robbing is easier than using your skills or brains.

can you feel it coming? the windy corporate defense/marketing spiel coming from “reader’s rep” Kate Perry?

Here’s the question as I see it. Every media outlet I saw except the Strib identified the killers as black. If the Strib has a different policy, which they seem to, what informs that policy? I don’t necessarily disagree with it, I just thought it was worth talking about. “Why don’t the other media have the same policy?” might be a good question if you agree with the Strib’s take.

andre’s comment on the strib’s policy extends to most other journalistic organizations, i think. i took a crime reporting class last year and the teachers said that most newspapers will only report race if there are other identifying details. there’s no point in saying a suspect is just black or white; however, if you’ve got a black man wearing a red t-shirt who was approximately 6′2″, that narrows it down much more.

What’s next, the Strib wont report the gender of the suspects for fear of creating bias toward men or women?

Someone, after seeing the report, might remember seeing two guys matching that description getting into a certain type of vehicle.

I agree with Paul and Matt, Information IS Important

Not an issue. ANYBODY here answer this question for me: what knowledge did YOU gain by learning the shooters were black 17-22 year olds?

It rules out 94% of the population. Most of police work or any investigative work is the process of elimination, after all.

another question, counterpositive: So why report this sort of tragedy at all? Is it to inform, to titillate, to possibly enlist the public’s help in catching them? As a vehicle for social advocacy? (subtext: See we CAN report a violent crime without mentioning race!) simple answer, of course: it’s news. brutal, cold-blooded, in Uptown. Not something that happens everyday. Plenty of watchdoggers will soon say: Well, what about all the unreported, black-on-black murder in North?

Think about it this way: If the police were looking for a car that was being driven by a suspect, would it make sense to report that it was a red early-’90s model, if those were the only details they had? Not really. Sure, it rules out all the white and brown and green and blue cars, but it doesn’t provide enough of a description to be helpful. It’ll have people doing a lot of double-takes at red cars all day, but that’s about it. Now, if you tell me its a maroon 1992 Honda Accord with a little rust and a “Dump Bush” bumper sticker, we’re onto something, and it’s worth reporting.

In general, I don’t think it’s liberal PC hysteria to err on the side of caution when the details are few. It’s common sense.

Ever since the newspapers reported that the suspects fled in a white car, I cross the street whenever I see a white car parked nearby.

Joking aside, in reference to the “Falls” bar murder in NYC, a Manhattan woman wrote a piece explaining that whenever a man/men are approaching her late at night, she crosses the street unless they’re black. If the strangers are black, she continues on her path in order not to offend them.

I would equate her confessed illogic with the media’s decision to omit the suspects’ race. If the suspects’ race is reported, it can only aid prosecution of the crime and subsequently promote public safety. If the suspects’ race is omitted, the incisive reader will infer the suspect is black since most homicides in Minneapolis, particularly those committed by strangers, are committed by African-Americans.

In fairness to the Strib, WCCO didn’t report the race either. Shelby explains the station’s view in this link.

I admire the spirit of WCCO’s policy, but in my cynical view, Shelby’s explanation is disingenuous. According to the 2000 census, 18% of Minneapolis’ population is black or African-American, 18% is between the ages of 15 and 24, and 50% is male, so if the suspects are indeed black males between the age of 17 and 22, the description reduces the possible suspects (assuming they live in the City of Minneapolis) to 1.6% of the population (.18 x .18 x .50).

Caveat: The methodology is admittedly crude since there is a likely correlation between race and age. Moreover, I realize that 1.6% of the population constitutes more than 6,000 people, all but 2 of whom are innocent of the crime.

Nevertheless, eliminating 98.4% of the population is worthwile information that the broadcast media are obligated to report.

Nevertheless, eliminating 98.4% of the population is worthwile information that the broadcast media are obligated to report.

Excellent deduction Watson. Nevertheless, to some people, it’s more important to appear fair and impartial than to actually solve the crime. After all, solving the crime may make some people of the perp’s community feel uncomfortable. We can’t have that.

Wow, it gets a little over the top here, huh? Geez.

It’s part of the charm, Andre. Most of us keep it cool.

If it were sweeps week, we would all be enjoying wild speculation about a khat tie-in a la the 2004 murder of a Somali woman. Perhaps the Pioneer-Press, being “for sale” and all, will lead the charge since the Roseville sex tape story will only sell so many papers.

Yeah, you never can tell where the random bj evidence will end up…like on a blue dress or a video tape.

On second thought, allow me to lead the charge (though I suspect my mic was cut several hours ago) and point out that police seized 22 pounds of khat in Moorhead less than three weeks ago. If it turns out that the shooters were hopped-up or strung-out khat addicts looking for money to get a fix, just remember, you heard it here first.

I have a hard enough time taking the Tribune seriously as it is given the way they’ve basically ignored the crime wave that grips their city.

As far as what they should report about the suspects, I have a different take: whatever the police tell them. Their standard should be that if it is good enough for the police to go public with then it is good enough to belong in the newspaper.

Would we be discussing this in such great depth had this crime occurred on 31st & Bloomington?

Just take it easy guys, an idiot thought they were somalis that’s it. The Star Tribune did the right thing like any credible news media would and that is not to report the ethnicity of the criminals just because someone dislikes somalis and thought that it is a good time to start something. It seems that most of you are fogetting the main issue, a crime was committed by thugs and who cares what ehtnic group they belong to, thugs are thugs period. The main thing is to arrest them, and for the rest of us to stick together and not be so narrow minded.