When the politically fueled murder of a 9-year-old girl in Arizona is NOT national news

[Faygo Kid]

When the politically fueled murder of a 9-year-old girl in Arizona is NOT national news

January 26, 2011 7:27 pm ET by Will Bunch

All of America continues to mourn the unbelievably tragic loss of Christina Green, the 9-year-old granddaughter of former Phillies' manager Dallas Green who was killed, along with five adults, by a murderous madman trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson. The sight of Christina's parents and brother in the gallery at the State of the Union address last night is more proof that the killing of such an innocent continues to resonate with the American people.

You've heard all about Christina Green, but do you know about Brisenia Flores? Like Christina, Brisenia was 9 years old, and she also lived in Pima County, Arizona, not far from Tucson. Like Christina, she was gunned down in cold blood by killers with strange ideas about society and politics.

But there are also important differences. While the seriously warped mind of Christina's Tucson murderer, Jared Lee Loughner, is a muddled mess, the motives of one of Brisenia's alleged killers-- a woman named Shawna Forde -- are pretty clear: She saw herself as the leader of an armed movement against undocumented immigrants, an idea that was energized by her exposure to the then-brand-new Tea Party Movement. But unlike the horrific spree that took Christina's life, the political murder of Brisenia and her dad (while Brisenia's mom survived only by pretending to be dead) has only received very sporadic coverage in the national media. That's a shame, because it's an important story that illustrates the potential for senseless violence when hateful rhetoric on the right -- in this case about undocumented immigrants -- falls on the ears of the unhinged.

This week, Forde is on trial on Tucson, and the details are horrific:

As her mother tells it, 9-year-old Brisenia Flores had begged the border vigilantes who had just broken into her house, "Please don't shoot me."

But they did -- in the face at point-blank range, prosecutors allege, as Brisenia's father sat dead on the couch and her mother lay on the floor, pretending that she too had been killed in the gunfire.

Why did Forde, said to be the "mastermind," and the other alleged killer, Jason Bush, carry out this heinous crime? Prosecutors allege that Forde cooked up a scheme to rob and murder drug dealers, all to raise money for the fledgling, anti-immigrant border patrolling group called Minutemen American Defense, or MAD. . . . http://mediamatters.org/blog/201101260047

Well worth reading the whole thing. You won't hear about it on Fox. The article concludes:

And just as we will never forget Christina Green, America needs to always remember Brisenia Flores.

[somone]

1. Why have they been avoiding this story?

It's symptomatic of the problem we're having with wingnuts

[whathehell]

2. The M$M has definitely been playing it down...If it involved anyone from the Left

This whole freaking country would go over the edge.

[Karenina]

4. The child has slightly brown skin.

[COLGATE4]

6. Cause she's only one of the 'little brown ones', as Shrub Sr.

so nicely put it.

[yellowcanine]

7. Ouch - I think that's a bit unfair. I don't defend George Sr. often but

he was talking about one of his grandchildren in a clearly affectionate manner with grandfatherly pride. I don't think it is useful to try to make anything more out of it - just makes us look snarky.

[GeorgeGist]

9. For the same reason that Obama avoids this one ...

It shows their true colors.

[democracy1st]

3. K & R spread the word!

[alp227]

5. I'm reading Bunch's book "Tear Down This Myth" about Reagan right now

that's a good book right there, and this is an interesting article, I first learned about the Flores case through the Feministing blog...surely telling about the mainstream media right there. By the way does anyone know about the citizenship status of the Flores family? Regardless of their legal status, killing them won't solve any problems and is still a crime...a hate crime. (I've heard of Shawna Forde before though.)

[MasonJar]

8. That woman had bettter not get off. What a precious child.

Can't we insist that the liberal press carry this story and the other story that mainstream is not carrying it?