His name is Cannon Hinnant
You may not have heard of him. Much of mainstream news has chosen not to report on him. He was 5 years old. Outside playing when a 25 year old man came up and shot him point blank in the head. The shooting happened 4 days ago.Why has much of news turned a blind eye to this horrific murder? For me the answer is simple: because the little boy was white and the alleged murderer (in police custody) is black. Now i don't think it should matter a damn in a situation like this - this story should be front page news everywhere. It is a horrific murder of a very young child. But i think we also know that if the skin colors were reversed there would be a whole different kind of coverage. Now i don't pretend to know if the motive of this murder was a racist one. It certainly could be. The murderer could have been clinically psychotic or off his head on drugs. I try not to assume. Just as i didn't assume motive with George Floyd, i'm not going to assume it here. Let there be a thorough investigation and the facts come out. But really it is very very VERY sad that this story is not getting more coverage. What kind of world are we living in where a 5 year old boy out playing can be shot in the head and many news outlets choose not to report it?
Comments (54)
Three children (not including teens or young adults) die from guns every day in U.S.
Willful ignorance like yours is akin to driving a car with the accelerator stuck on full. You have no steering or brakes and you're heading for a brick wall with a sea of people in front of it. You run over many people before finally being taken out by the brick wall.
No words can describe the cold brutal killing of the child nonetheless, I do have an opinion....
but what does it matter... when I'm NOT black.
Unlike some, his blood is not on my hands.
I was under the impression that they are prominent US news outlets.
What are your sources which suggest this incident in particular has been under-reported and that had the races of victim and perpetrator been reversed that it would have been more widely reported?
I'm not saying there isn't racial bias in the US, I just want to understand how this idea came about.
I saw a youtube video dated 12th August of someone highlighting the lack of reporting. The reports I saw were more recent, so what happened? Were news outlets shamed into reporting this murder, did I see the latest updates only, were journalists requested to delay reporting while initial police investigations took place, were there other stories which took priority, was there a delay in receiving enough information to create a news item, was there consideration of the potential public reaction...?
I have a problem with suggesting that this story doesn't fit the current narrative because of the current focus on division in the US. If there is division, there will necessarily be more than one narrative.
I also have a problem if the under-reporting is being compared to the global reporting of incidences like George Floyd's murder. It cannot be ignored that having video evidence of a murder taking place affects the way information is relayed, public curiosity and 'sales'.
Those of you who ask......why would he kill a little 5 year old boy.
The murderer said he did it because the boy rode his bicycle on his lawn.
One thing is certain if Obama had a son he wouldn't look like Cannon Hinnant.
I'm sorry but I also do believe that if some sweet innocent 5 yr old African American boy
was shot in the head by a Caucasian 25 yr old man, it would be all over the news everywhere.
That's just the way things are these days. BLM would have jumped all over this but turn a blind
eye to the countless number of African American youths that are killed by African American adults.
It happens a lot here.Drive bys and stray bullets, retribution and sometimes revenge. It's just sad.
The above article is from just 2 evenings ago. Cannon Hinnant was murdered 3 days prior to that.
Now maybe some of the above-mentioned news networks have since reported on him, but the fact that the story wasn't front and centre in the days prior speaks volumes, if you ask me.
Make your own minds up.
There appears to have been a delay between the murder of Cannon Hinnant and the event being reported by journalists.
If you come across any further information, I'll be interested in reading and discussing it.
neither is going to prevent another.
A well intended blog
What did they appeal to the public for? Was it for witnesses, a change in the law, funding to help with funeral expenses?
Does it take time to be interviewed by all the media outlets?
Was there a press conference organised so all outlets could hear the appeal at once? Did that take time to set up, or take time for the family to be able to face the ordeal?
Or was it just carelessness in the way he presented the blog with no evidence for his suppositions?
So many questions, I hope you find answers. Peace and stay safe.
A GoFundMe page set up to raise cash for the youngster’s funeral shared a possible motive for the ‘senseless’ killing, saying: ‘A beautiful 5 year old baby boy riding his bicycle was shot by his neighbour point blank in Wilson NC.
Read more:
Plenty more where these came from.
Thankyou for the links, but I'm still none the wiser. I don't see any evidence that the family were reaching out to the media as the only quote which was repeated in different articles was from a neighbour.
The GoFundMe page was launched by an extended family member, but has since been closed. The goal of $5,000 for funeral expenses was far exceeded in two days to a total of over $400,000. I hope that provides the family with an opportunity to create a positive and fitting memorial of some kind which will benefit others and their own healing.
What I did find interesting is that the perpetrator, a neighbour and friend who ate with the family just the night before and visited in the morning before the murder has a history of drug related criminal convictions as well as one for theft of a firearm. Presumably this would have been a different firearm in the man's possession.
There is scant information in the links you provided and the first one relied upon three other reports to cobble together it's own. I'm not sure what anybody expected large news outlets to do immediately after the murder to obtain information.
@Snow...
What evidence do you have such that there is 'no doubt'?
I saw that in one of the articles as well as in the third link, but in neither case is it labelled as a twitter tweet thing.
I don't use twitter myself as you can see.
Can you tell me who, or what 'tank' is please?
I think people fail to look beyond one scenario, one answer, or acknowledge that many factors could contribute to an outcome.
Where I will disagree with you is in your statement that I have quoted above.
Once you attribute a trait, or traits globally to a perceived group it is an act of discrimination.
Not all people who identify as having a conservative perspective will have the same traits and not all people who identify as having a non-conservative perspective will be excluded from exhibiting certain traits.
It's a thing that most of us do, but some of us try harder not to.
To me the most important thing about discussion is to break stuff down so we can begin to understand ourselves and our contribution to how the merry-go-round goes round.
In the UK we have two main political parties like yourselves, but ours are the Conservative Party and the Labour Party. Not that you could really get a cigarette paper between them in the last 25 years, but I have a cultural concept of the word 'conservative' based upon the political party. Seared into my mind from my early years is the idea that the Conservatives serve the individual and the wealthy, Labour serves the collective poor, but now they're both fairly right wing.
I also have the definition: averse to change or innovation and holding traditional values.
I'm sure I can be averse to change and have some traditional values. Thou shalt not kill springs to mind and killing people is not an area where I would relish innovative new ideas. On the other hand I think a lot needs to be changed in society particularly in the areas of self-awareness and emotional maturity.
I can be both conservative and non-conservative depending upon the subject.
I'm not really sure what 'conservative' means to you with respect to it's cultural and political nuance.
Snow,
I think we can all do good things, bad things, neutral things, useless things, productive things, etc.
I do think as a whole we need to shift a gear, though.
I've seen your post to me, not trying to be rude ... but no comment.
Chancer
I've hardly read any comments here so I can't rightly say.....
but I'm not curious enough to see if this blog is still about the boy.
Cannon Hinnant
I haven't got a problem with intuition, or awareness of emotion including those we experience on a visceral level.
But when we communicate in the written word everything has to be translated, or processed cognitively. Even the emojis require a bit of thought.