This week, the murder trial of ex-cop Derek Chauvin continues and is receiving moment-by-moment television coverage by every major news network. The George Floyd story stays at the forefront of the public eye despite others equally or even more horrific being relegated to the sidelines because they do not involve white perpetrators.
In other words, the story fits a specific narrative. At the moment, that narrative remains fixated on people of color treated unjustly by white police officers.
A story breaking eight days ago, the March 23 death of UberEats driver Mohammad Anwar as a result of a fatal carjacking, is receiving nowhere near the same media treatment as the death of George Floyd. Why? Mainly because organizations such as Black Lives Matter are not raising protests, and left-wing news outlets are not demanding answers.
The 66-year-old Pakistani immigrant, a beloved husband, father of three grown children, and grandfather to four, was killed on the job in Washington, D.C., in the early evening last Tuesday, when two teenage girls approached him and tased him in an attempt to steal his car.
According to efficient reporting by none other than the British Daily Mail, “An eyewitness said Anwar put up a fight and the car ended up crashing and flipping on its side. Anwar was ejected onto the sidewalk and sustained fatal injuries, including head trauma and broken bones.”
Reportedly, “two National Guardsmen who were in the area removed the juvenile suspects from the overturned car and detained them until police responded to the scene and arrested them.”
As of this writing, more than $1 million dollars has been raised for Anwar’s family via a GoFundMe page. In their grief, his family describes him as “hard-working”; someone who sought to “create a better life for him and his family, when his life was tragically taken in an appalling act of violence.” He “always provided a smile when you needed one.”
As the sole provider for his family, Anwar “leaves behind a family, near and far, who cherish, love, and miss him dearly.” A traditional Islamic funeral is planned for Anwar and the funds raised via GoFundMe will assist with these plans and the loss of family income.
The two teen girls have been arrested and charged with felony murder and armed carjacking. They are expected to appear in a court hearing today, March 31.
The horrific crime was caught on a graphic video, as was the arrest of George Floyd. But unlike Floyd’s death, there was no massive public outrage. On the recording, one of the girls is heard screaming, “my phone, my phone, get my phone.” She then scrambles back to the vehicle to get her phone where nearby Anwar is lying in his own blood, having been thrown from the vehicle after the girls sped off with him hanging from the door.
CNN reported the crime as “an accident in which [Anwar] was fatally injured.”
Fox News’ leftist reporter Juan Williams, appearing on The Five, said the 13- and 15-year-old girls were “looking to have a joy ride. It went way wrong, way out of control and ended up in a gross tragedy.”
This horrendous act of violence shows these teens have a total disregard for human life. What’s worse is the deafening silence of community leaders to such an atrocious act.
On Sunday, nearly a week after the fatal incident, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser took to Twitter, posting a disturbing video warning about car theft: “Auto theft is a crime of opportunity. Follow these steps to reduce the risk of your vehicle becoming a target. Remember the motto, #ProtectYourAuto.” Bowser was criticized for her insensitive response, and the tweet has since been deleted from her account.
A press release from the D.C. Metropolitan Police stated that Anwar was transported from the 1200 block of Van Street in Washington, D.C., to a nearby hospital where he was treated for life-threatening injuries, to which he later succumbed.
Several Twitter users criticized the media’s handling of the story, noting that had the race of the offenders been white, the spin would have been drastically different.
One Mark Lutchman tweeted: “Two black teenage girls carjacked an Uber driver and he died defending his property. CNN called this an ‘accident.’ This was murder and they only spun the story because the two carjackers were black. It’s sick.”
The mainstream media needs to be held accountable for refusing to tell the truth and publicize the story. This incident was not an accident; the girls, who exhibited a callous disregard for human life, were properly charged with felony murder.
