On Wednesday morning, near 6:15 A.M., Michael Fry drove a rental truck repeatedly into the Fox 4 offices in downtown Dallas, Texas. He was quickly arrested by police and taken into custody.
Almost immediately, the responses came. Twitter was filled with opinions and theories well in advance of available facts.
My eyes are really going bad. I keep hearing about rightwing violence, but I keep seeing leftwing violence. | https://t.co/sP4YbTxYyI
— Mike (@Doranimated) September 5, 2018
Yeah totally doesn't have anything to do with Trump constantly saying the media is the enemy of the people. But sure, just keep that head buried in the sand and blame the dems.
— Robertcop (@orsoscrabble) September 5, 2018
CNN and the democrats continue to incite violence and divide the nation
— Dr. Carl Patrasso (@drcarlpatrasso) September 5, 2018
As the story developed, facts were revealed. The suspect in the attack had been arrested more than two dozen times over the past fifteen years. He had been carrying leaflets which were covered with scrawls about his persecution by women and police.
Sinbad, who was at the station for a scheduled morning show appearance, tweeted one shortly after the attack.
Bout to do good morning Dallas on fox. Hard to get in the bldg because a fool rammed the bldg twice with his truck and police have shut down the street. He had a bunch of these leaflets pic.twitter.com/SdODI79BNJ
— Sinbad (@sinbadbad) September 5, 2018
Fox 4, the venue attacked by Fry, covered his actual statements.
“Please don’t let anything happen to me! I have full coverage. Please don’t let them punish me! I’m trying to stay alive,” Fry yelled as he was being taking into jail. “They committed a high treason against me, they were trying to kill me, and they missed and they killed Roberto Carlos Hernandez! Ever since, I’ve been running for my life! And I don’t know what to do. I’m not smart enough. I’m not powerful enough. I don’t have enough money. I’m mentally challenged. I tried to do what I could to demand questions… to be heard.”
Fry did not make any threats against FOX 4. Instead, it seems he was looking for attention.
“I just wanted to summon the cavalry,” he said. “To get the power of the people and the media to do their job.”
Fox 4
More information followed. He had been the passenger during a traffic stop incident that had resulted in the shooting death of the driver. He had, earlier in the year, spent a month in jail for an assault conviction in Denton County, just north of Dallas. A neighbor spoke on his behalf, attesting that he was a great person when he was taking his medicine. Fox 4 interviewed a neighbor who spoke against him, saying that she believed he was mean and had a drug problem. The police stated that Fry was rambling when arrested.
Despite the large quantity of evidence that had been revealed, the pushing of agendas did not stop.
The truck attack on a Texas news station this morning appears terrifying and conspiracy-fueled, but not a direct attempt to hurt journalists: https://t.co/31r46jvD0W
— Kelly Weill (@KELLYWEILL) September 5, 2018
Some reporters stopped using the name of Fox as soon as it became apparent that the attacker could not be directly associated with a political agenda. This may be interpreted as the subtle bias that left-leaning news sources have long been accused of promoting.
Then there’s the pro-Trump response.
Connection? @ days after @NBCNews @ChuckTodd calls for folks to "fight back" against @FoxNews, a man rams his truck into Fox Affiliate in Dallas. #SalcedoStorm https://t.co/ISdbwYVTR7
— Chris Salcedo Show (@ChrisSalcedoTX) September 5, 2018
Chris Salcedo, for those unfamiliar with him, hosts a morning talk show on a popular talk radio channel in Dallas. He’s got unfettered access to the local news sources and the truth was readily available.
