The Story Musk Refers to in His Post
Before understanding Musk’s post, it’s first crucial to learn about the original story written by Sabrina Schnur for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Source: Vegas Chamber
Here’s what happened: On August 14, 2023, 64-year-old Andreas Probst was hit by a car when riding his bicycle and died shortly after. The Review-Journal posted an article that explained that police believe it was a hit-and-run.
The Story Developed Over the Next Few Days
As the police and, consequently, the media learned more about Probst and what happened that day, they continued to update the story. Reporter Sabrina Schnur published another article on August 18th, which included an interview from the victim’s family stating that he was a beloved retired police chief from Bell, California.
Source: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Then, on August 31st, she wrote another article explaining that the police had found a video in their investigation, and that they now believe the “hit-and-run” was actually an intentional homicide, and they have a 17-year-old suspect in custody.
The Horrific Video Went Viral
Sadly, the video showing the homicide supposedly made by the 17-year-old suspect went viral on social media.
Source: Public Policy Institute of California
The video is apparently quite graphic, almost like a snuff film, and was devastating to the victim’s friends and family, as well as to the rest of the world.
Elon Musk’s Response to the Article
But before giving the Review-Journal a chance to update the article with the new information, Musk decided to jump in and comment on the situation on August 17th.
Source: @elonmusk/X
He told his millions of followers, “An innocent man was murdered in cold blood while riding his bicycle. The killers joked about it on social media. Yet, where is the media outrage? Now you begin to understand the lie.”
What Is Musk Referring To?
Musk’s post was, of course, offensive to the Review-Journal, which was doing its best to release the information it had about the situation.
Source: Britta Pedersen-Pool/Getty Images
However, what Musk was really trying to do was point out that the media only reports on murders of violence toward people of color or minorities, as opposed to white males.
Musk’s Complaints Are Ongoing
Elon Musk has been a long-time promoter of what he called “free speech,” but more often than not, his comments, as well as those of his supporters, are using the caveat of free speech to spread hate speech.
Source: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
And in this case, Musk wanted to use his social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, to exercise his “free speech” by calling out a major newspaper for ignoring the murder of a white police officer.
Musk’s Millions of Followers Got on Board
In addition to Musk’s problematic post, now millions of his followers have jumped on the bandwagon and started posting their own take on the situation.
Source: @wanda_hudson/X
One X user, Wanda Hudson, wrote, “The media seems to under report wrong to white males. They seem more likely to express outrage if a “marginalized group is targeted,” to which Musk responded, “1000%.”
Calling Out the Review-Journal Seems Like a Strange Choice
It’s interesting to note that Musk calling out the Las Vegas Review-Journal on X for being too “woke” is a strange choice as the newspaper is quite well known for being conservative.
Source: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
The Review-Journal supported Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election and is owned by the family of Sheldon Adelson, known for his unwavering support and significant donating to pro-Israel politics.
Elon Musk’s Problems with the ADL
This is certainly not Musk’s first foray into what many would call hate speech. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), an organization that has been working to minimize hate speech for more than 100 years, called out the billionaire for allowing bigotry and anti-semitism on his social media platform.
Source: Michael Kovac/Getty Images
Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of ADL, claimed Musk has been “engaging with a highly toxic, antisemitic campaign on his platform—a campaign started by an unrepentant bigot that then was heavily promoted by individuals such as white supremacist Nick Fuentes, Christian nationalist Andrew Torba, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and others.”
Musk Publicly Denounced the ADL
In response, Musk posted a meme on his page that said, “Drop the anti, it’s just defamation league. It’s cleaner.”
Source: @elonmusk/X
And while sadly, millions of people are agreeing with Musk, there are still millions of others who understand just how wrong he is.
Fighting Back Against Hate Speech
Unfortunately, Sabrina Schnur, the author of the Review-Journal articles, is now experiencing “vicious cyber harassment” thanks to Musk’s post. Executive editor Glenn Cook told the press that the entire newspaper has been receiving emails containing “obscenities, racial hatred and wishes of personal suffering, and death.”
Source: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
The Review-Journal is certainly doing its best to stand up and fight against Musk’s inaccurate words, but these days, fighting against hate speech really is an uphill battle.