People are sounding off about mainstream media not calling the death of black teen Nia Wilson a hate crime, but is there enough proof that it was? Let's discuss inside...
18-year-old Nia Wilson was randomly stabbed to death by a white man while standing on a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) station platform in Oakland, California last Sunday (June 22nd). Her 26-year-old sister, 26-year-old sister Lahtifa Wilson, was also stabbed repeatedly.
By Monday night (June 23rd), 27-year-old John Cowell was arrested in connection to the stabbing. Since the attack, some people have been vocal that the attack was a hate crime and people are upset that mainstream media isn't calling it as such.
However, CNN reported officials still haven't "confirmed" the reason for what prompted the attack, which a police chief compared to a "prison yard assault." The news outlet posted an article recently with the headline: "Officials still don't know why a white man allegedly stabbed a black woman to death in a subway station"
The headline was enough for activist/journalist Shaun King to call out the outlet for not labeling the incident as a hate crime.
Here's what he posted:
Since the attacker is white and the victim is black, some have claimed the attack was racially motivated. BART police and the Alameda County District Attorney's Office have said they don't have evidence to back up that claim, according to CNN.
John Cowell, the suspect in the murder of #NiaWilson was seen on camera wearing black boots with white laces. This attire is worn by Skinhead groups. In Skinhead culture, once a member kills a Black person, they get red laces to put in their boots. This was a coordinated murder pic.twitter.com/CadKvPbylz
— Tariq Nasheed (@tariqnasheed) July 24, 2018
It's being reported John Cowell is a known racist who is a suggested member of the Proud Boys (some pointing out the fact he's wearing "skinhead attire" wearing the white laces with the black boots). According to SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center), the Proud Boys are a hate and extremist group that was founded in 2016 by Vice Media co-founder Gavin McInnes. Shaun King referred to the group as the "new KKK in a different form."
After Nia's untimely death, nearly 1,000 people reportedly marched in Oakland for a vigil to remember the life of the slain teen. During the vigil, witnesses on the scene claim at least five Proud Boys showed up (allegedly wearing Trump hates) and one of them ended up getting the crap beaten out of him by protestors. Peep the clip that's going around below:
An alleged member of the Proud Boys, an alt-right group, was beaten during yesterdays Nia Wilson protest in Oakland.pic.twitter.com/UtTIOJkjp5
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) July 24, 2018
Here's a detailed account of what went down by someone allegedly on the scene during the vigil:
"A crowd of 1,000 marched from a vigil for Nia Wilson to Make Westing, where five Proud Boys had the stupidity to show up. The crowd chased the Proud Boys, at which point the police intervened to protect them, drove them off in a squad car, and tear-gassed the crowd."
— A G (@nerdiingout) July 24, 2018
Shaun King alsotalked about the Proud Boys:
The utter depravity of white supremacist Proud Boys & Trump supporters showing up to disrupt Nia Wilson’s vigil. https://t.co/KzhCgZJfRe
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) July 25, 2018
In the clip, he said, "White supremacists in Trump hats calling themselves proud boys, a new white supremacist group. It’s like the new KKK. They’ve just put on nicer shirts, but it’s just the KKK in a different form. With Trump hats, [they] show up to disrupt the vigil. Like, show up to interrupt people grieving. How sick do you have to be to show up and interrupt people during their moment of grief?”
A Proud Boys Twitter page issued a statement saying they had nothing to do with the death of Nia and they supposedly do not support racism bigotry:
We, like many in the bay area are saddened by the tragic murder of Nia Wilson. The Proud Boys do not and have not ever supported racism bigotry, or attacks on POCs. We pray for her family and hope justice is swift and that her killer is punished accordingly
— Bay Area Proud Boys (@ProudBoysCA) July 24, 2018
It has also been reported that John Cowell has long suffered from mental illness. His family issued a statement that said he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
CNN reports: "He has been in & out of jail & has not had the proper treatment," the statement said. He's been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, the family said, and they had to get a restraining order at one point "for our own protection." Cowell's been living on the streets since. "This is in no way an excuse for this senseless and vicious attack," the statement said.
Did his mental illness cause him to commit the horrific act, or did it allow him to align with ignorant, disgusting racists and hunt down two innocent black women? Or, is hesimply a a domestic terrorist racist, made up of all of the above? We wouldn’t be surprised that anyone with any sense could definitely believe this is a hate crime based on the circumstances. Could it have been a result of or compounded by a sexist crime, or mental disease? Which, don’t all racists have a form of mental disease as well? Regardless of the answer, we highly doubt this was just completely random, based on the information known.
We're going to leave this here:
So many assuming Nia Wilson was killed by a White supremacist in a racially-motivated hate crime with no real evidence suggesting it
Hardly anyone is assuming she was killed by a misogynist man in a gender-based crime
Black women are women...too
— #GlitterOnTheCash(@FeministaJones) July 25, 2018
Because to assume a Black woman was killed by a man because she was a woman means acknowledging that Black women are actually really women and that their womanhood *gasps* matters and poses a risk
That's hard for a lot of people to accept
—#GlitterOnTheCash(@FeministaJones) (@FeministaJones) July 25, 2018
Also: popular Black exploi--activists don't have much to say about gender-based violence against Black women because they are "race first" trash
— #GlitterOnTheCash(@FeministaJones) July 25, 2018
I'm going to be the Black Feminist who asks why everyone is assuming Nia was killed in a purely racial hate crime without so much as a peep about the strong possibility that her being a woman was a factor?
Where's the evidence either way?
— #GlitterOnTheCash(@FeministaJones) July 25, 2018
Thoughts?
Also, two white Hollywood stars - Anne Hathaway and Reese Witherspoon - finally spoke out against white privilege:
My heart is broken for #NiaWilson family and friends Say her name. #justiceforNia
— Reese Witherspoon (@RWitherspoon) July 25, 2018
Photos: Instagram
