Fox News Downplays the Holocaust Museum Killing

You could almost see the moment yesterday afternoon when the Fox News team lost interest (or at least lost a lot of interest) in the breaking story about the shooting at the Holocaust Museum. That moment seemed to be when it was revealed that the alleged shooter, James von Brunn, was a white supremacist who, according to a CNN report last night, had strong ties to the Klu Klux Klan.

For some reason, Fox News suddenly pulled back its coverage of the shocking shooting that had political overtones. In fact, the story virtually disappeared during Fox News' primetime block.

Nothing to see here people, just keep moving along.

According to TVeyes.com, Fox News trails far behind its cable news rivals in mentioning "Holocaust" and/or "von Brunn" in the last 21 hours. In fact, Fox News anchors and reporters have used those phrases approximately 40 percent fewer times than their CNN counterparts, and 30 percent fewer than reporters and anchors at MSNBC.

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Holocaust Museum Shooting, Antisemitic Conspiracy Theories, and the Tools of Fear

by Chip Berlet

The alleged shooter at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum Wednesday has an online book excerpt revealing his deep roots in historic White Supremacy and antisemitic conspiracy theories, including references to the hoax document The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. His website includes links to White Supremacist and Holocaust denial sites.

People who believe conspiracist allegations sometimes act on those irrational beliefs, and this has concrete consequences in the real world. The shooting on Wednesday is a prime example of why it is a mistake to ignore bigoted conspiracy theories. Law enforcement needs to enforce laws against criminal behavior. Vicious bigoted speech, however, is often protected by the First Amendment. We do not need new laws or to encourage government agencies to further erode civil liberties. We need to stand up as moral people and speak out against the spread of bigoted conspiracy theories. That's not a police problem, that's our problem as people responsible for defending a free society.

Demagogues and conspiracy theorists use the same four "tools of fear." These are 1) dualism; 2) scapegoating; 3) demonization; and 4) apocalyptic aggression. The tools of fear are a connected constellation of frames, narratives, and processes used by demagogues to mobilize resentment and undermine the democratic process.

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