When Truthtelling Becomes Deadly

Reporters are no enemies of the state. People with whom this reporter-turned-minister shared newsrooms throughout Illinois, didn’t come to work intent on bringing down the United States government or the president out of malice. They are compelled by calling to spread the news — good and bad.

Like my colleagues and journo friends, then and now, most reporters walk into newsrooms with a central commitment to the truth. They search for truth, even when some sources wouldn’t know the difference between truth and a golf club. Contrary to propaganda and inflammatory rhetoric, journalists are only the enemy, when you can’t handle the truth.

Jarrod Ramos, 38, couldn’t handle the truth. Ramos couldn’t handle being outed in a 2012 Capital Gazette column as someone who pled guilty to harassing a woman and losing a subsequent defamation suit. That was his alleged motive for turning a newsroom into a war zone and ending five lives Thursday.

Witnesses said he pulled the trigger. There’s no rhyme or reason why he waited six years to exact revenge. However, the President of the United States has repeatedly labeled journalists enemies of the state. Queer conservative blogger Milo Yiannopoulos called for vigilantes to hunt and kill journalists only days ago.

Yiannopoulos claims he was only joking. Like Black lives, words matter, too. Claiming they’re enemies and calling for their murder (jokingly or not) are dangerous reactions to alleged fake news.

Here’s some breaking news. Calling what you don’t want to hear “fake news” doesn’t transform the information into a falsehood. Murdering messengers won’t stop the truth’s revelation. Let me be clear, Yiannopoulos and the President didn’t pull the trigger. They just provided the paint for the target on the backs of five Capital Gazette employees.

Laments of slaughtered journalists and thoughts and prayers for their survivors (colleagues and loved ones alike) ring hollow when one source fans the flames of hatred toward people just doing their jobs. This reporter stands with the survivors as they mourn and put out a newspaper. Today, I am a Capital Gazette reporter.