CNN Uses Santa Fe Shooting To Spread Misinformation on School Shooting Statistics
Following the school shooting in Texas on Friday, CNN reported that the U.S. has averaged over one such incident a week in 2018, but the statistic is very misleading.
The Daily Wire’s Ben Shapiro noted that CNN used very broad parameters to define a school shooting to get the total number of 22 they reported to have occurred this year.
The network’s parameters included any shooting (intentional or accidental) that occurred on a school ground — elementary school through university — even if the incidents were related to gang or domestic violence.
“None of these events meet the more typical definition of a school shooting: a multiple-murder attempt on a school campus directed at children,” Shapiro said.
He added, “CNN merely broadens the definition to include typical murders that happen to take place on school campuses, or in parking lots, or including non-students.”
CNN Says There Have Been 22 School Shootings This Year. That’s A Lie. https://t.co/ytV694QKFF pic.twitter.com/cYbETKWHoi
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 18, 2018
Among the 22 counted in CNN’s total are a student shot by another student with a BB gun in New York in April, a non-student who was shot at an apartment on the University of South Alabama campus in March, two non-students who were shot at Central Michigan University in a domestic dispute also in March, and two teenagers who shot a third teen in a robbery attempt outside a school in Maryland in February.
Shapiro said that when all the shooting incidents that do not meet the commonly understood definition are removed, the number remaining is seven.
“That doesn’t mean these incidents are unworthy of reportage,” Shapiro wrote. “But it’s plainly dishonest to state, as CNN does, that there have been 22 ‘school shootings’ this year.”
“CNN has an agenda, and they won’t let facts get in the way,” he concluded.
This isn't just unhelpful, it's intentionally dishonest.
This list includes a "shooting" with a BB gun, an accidental discharge during a safety class, a shooting at an apartment building that happens to be on campus, at least 3 other shootings were at dorms etc. etc. https://t.co/s9l63RbZaR
— AG (@AGHamilton29) May 18, 2018
Fox News reported that Friday’s school shooting left 10 people dead and 10 wounded.
A suspect, Dimitrios Pagourtzis, 17, has been taken into custody.
Photos show the scene of the Santa Fe High School shooting, where a student unleashed a hail of bullets inside one of his classes early Friday morning, gunning down eight to 10 people, police said. https://t.co/WOH0pq8Xii pic.twitter.com/EQvUAkpDi5
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 18, 2018
President Donald Trump began a White House event concerning prison reform on Friday by taking a moment to acknowledge the shooting and ask God to be with the victims of the tragedy.
We grieve for the terrible loss of life, and send our support and love to everyone affected by this horrible attack in Texas. To the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High School – we are with you in this tragic hour, and we will be with you forever… pic.twitter.com/LtJ0D29Hsv
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 18, 2018
“We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack to the students, families, teachers and personnel at Santa Fe High,” Trump stated. “We’re with you in this tragic hour and we will be with you forever.”
The president pledged that his administration would do everything it can to protect students and keep guns out of the hands of those who could harm themselves or others.
“Everyone must work together at every level of government to keep our children safe,” Trump said.
“May God heal the injured and may God comfort the wounded, and may God be with the victims and with the victims’ families.”
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