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| Provoked mourners attack "photojournalist". |
Sacramento, California -- February 22, 2011, around 2:45 a.m., 27-year-old Chester Jackson was shot and killed in an IHOP parking lot at 2941 Advantage Lane, in the Sacramento, California Natomas neighborhood.
Jackson's murderers were described as two African-American men in their twenties. Investigators said the shooting in the parking lot was sparked by an argument inside the restaurant.So far, no arrests have been made.
Hours later, around 4 p.m., a FOX40 news crew showed up while a makeshift memorial, decorated with candles and balloons, was assembling in the IHOP parking lot.
When FOX40 reporter John Lobertini and photojournalist Rebeccaa Little infiltrated the seemingly peaceful gathering, tempers flared and a full-on assault was waged against the news crew.
Little's hair was pulled and she was knocked to the ground. The photojournalists said someone in the crowd kicked on the left side of her face. Lobertini also sustained a few punches.
While most people are focusing on the FOX40 news crew being attacked, few people have bothered to review the disturbing footage with an unbiased eye. But I did, and here is what I saw.
John Lobertini and Rebeccaa Little walked into an emotional situation and stuck a camera in people's faces. I saw no indication FOX40's news crew asked the mourners for their permission to be filmed.And if they did, there request was obviously denied.
When one of the women in the crowd vehemently objects to being videotaped, John Lobertini provokes her by suggesting she leave the memorial. In additional video footage reviewed by Chicago News Report, Lobertini can be heard telling the angry crowd they have "no f*cking sense".
After all the hair-pulling and punching is over, Rebbecca Little and John Lobertini remain on the scene; taunting the crowd. Toward the end of the video, you can hear Little threatening to have one of the mourners arrested.
Later that evening, Little told a Phoenix news reporter that she went to school with some of the people in the grieving crowd. She also said she wasn't sure if she was going to press charges, because she is afraid of "retaliation".
See, that's part of the problem with mainstream media, they do not care about people who are mourning and angry at the same time. they don't care about a persons privacy(which, thanks to BUSH we have none) It's all about getting THE story no matter who they trample on to get it. There is just NO respect in this world anymore! If people don't want a camera in their face, if they don't want a news crew around and are asked to leave, than respect that request. Having a camera and a press badge doesn't give you "carte blanche"
ReplyDeleteTowanda, the tributes are what cemetaries are for. It's a public way and the media folks have as much of a right to be out there as the mourners who decided to set up their tribute on the public way rather than in a cemetary, where that sort of thing is supposed to be. If I were the manager of IHOP, I'd be out there dismantling all the little empty 40 oz bottles and teddy bears and helium balloons. That stuff is suitable for the cemetary. News crews have every right to be on the public way. What the mourners should learn is to keep their hands to themselves. They're again...ON THE PUBLIC WAY, so if they don't like it, leave. Shame on the media for not signing complaints and have the aggressive mourners arrested. It's showing them that it's okay to place hands on people, and in the state of Illinois, it's a battery to place your hands on another person without permission.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, I agree with a lot you said. However, for some strange reason, people feel the need to set up memorials wherever someone died as a reminder to all who pass by there. It's very similar to the crosses on the highways. Personally, I don't like it and you're right, it is a public area. I do think the news crews should be respectful of the mourners loss and feelings. Timothy is right in saying they should have asked if it was alright to put camera's in their face. Why is this news anyway? Why do we have to read or watch someone else's tragedy? We are a country of sensationalism. There is very little GOOD news that is reported and, personally, I think the mainstream media misses out on reporting more of the good things that people do rather than putting the bad things in our faces day & night. It's like these so called news reporters were paparazzi or something. They were wrong to intrude on these mourners and the mourners were wrong manhandling the news reporters, public property or not. This would not even be "News" IF the reporters would have shown some respect. We seem to be eliminating the word "respect" from our vocabulary in this country. Showing just a little respect goes a very long way.
ReplyDeleteAs a TV news cameraman for the past 25 years, I can tell you that I would have approached the mourners with my camera down and backwards until myself and my reporter had a chance to make our presence known and speak with someone from the group. You can get pretty far when you show respect. You also need to know when to pull the plug and walk away. This isn't the kind of story that is worth going toe to toe with people who exhibit a mob mentality.
ReplyDeleteEach commenter presented really good arguments, but I have agree with Towanda and the anonymous commenter who posted a comment at 3:36 p.m. on Feb. 23, 2011.
ReplyDeleteThat news crew walked into an extremely emotional situation. Chester Jackson, the young man who was murdered in the IHOP parking lot, hadn't been dead 24-hours before the altercation at the memorial erupted.
In my opinion, the crew's actions were callous and unprofessional.
What was the family doing at the scene of the crime? That's not normal. Usually when someone gets murdered, it IS news. The poster who asked why it's news must be desensitized to the fact that more and more people are getting killed. Both had a right to be there. I guess the family felt that they were entitled to take up run of the front of the IHOP because their kin folk was kilt there. The cameras weren't in their face either. They apparently felt that they had some sort of "privacy" on the public way. There is no privacy on the public way. If they wanted privacy, then they should have stayed in their homes and grieved like normal people do.
ReplyDeleteNo, I cannot agree with the emotional expression on this page.
ReplyDeleteYes, I have lost close family. Yes, I have lost close family to needless violence. Yes, I have lost my brother, my dear brother who was only trying to help some piece of shit SE DC garbage ahole extricate his stolen car from the poor family's home he wrecked it into.
I'm jaded, but my reasoning and logic are not. So, let's try being not only realistic, but logical as well.
Realistically, it was an emotional situation. However, everyone involved was obviously an adult. As adults, everyone involved should have understood that their emotions are less important than law, logically speaking. This is what happens in Norman, OK, or, Pittsburgh, PA. This is the thought, emphasis on "thought," process when people value their brains and thing BEFORE they act. THIS is what separates, elevates, humans over animals (yes, I know we're technically animals).
Fatty in purple, Hispanic talking with her hands, and everyone else closely involved here appears to be in the wrong. Sorry, facts are facts. Fat purple dude is lucky he isn't serving time, should be, I'm guessing it wouldn't be a first anyway though.
There are clear lines to separate humans from the lesser animals, this video muddied that water, however.
For the record, I'm a liberal guy who spends at least eight weeks every year tutoring minority students English. That's free tutoring, by the way, while I could be charging $75/hour to tutor rich kids in Potomac, MD.
The problem is YOU. Sorry, thems the facts!
Timothy,
ReplyDeleteYou're a tool and an idiot. These animals, upset or not, cannot punch and push people while in public. The memorial is not a private event when it is constructed on public property. You're obviously biased by your "report", or lack there of. Violent jackasses need to be in prison, and these assholes are no different.
I feel this report is totally racist in nature. Public property or public access is not a there for just one race of people. Perhaps the writer of this story should get back to the orignal story two black men killed a third black man and they black mourners were more racist towards whites then they were at the loss of a Mr Jackson. I did watch this from another angle from the other new crews there and Ms Little was kicked and dragged to the ground by her hair. The reporter was upset as I can imagine he would be after being attacked by a bunch of racist black people. Unless the author of this piece of trash reporting has a better take than I do I could not hear any insults or provocations by the Fox reporter. Irregardless of the taunts or even if there were taunts or remarks that still does not justify one person laying hands on another, that is what courts are for.
ReplyDelete