In a short summary, a man was arrested on Tuesday after he clapped in a City Council meeting and would not leave the room when he was asked by Mayor Ginger Nelson. The events were odd but what was even stranger, perhaps, was the media's response to such events.
Another local newspaper in Amarillo immediately took aim at the person arrested and attacked that person for clapping. That newspaper made some type of claim about no First Amendment rights being violated. While that could be up for discussion, it is worth noting that even if no laws were broken, elected officials should at least consider the push back received by citizens. I guess that instead of attempting to back up a position with facts, that newspaper chose to simply repeat the talking points of Amarillo Matters.
In another event, a local radio talking head went on to say later in the week that the man in question was not arrested in the City Council chambers and was obviously arrested for something that took place outside of the chambers. Thanks to an excellent video recording by KVII, it is clear to see that one of the arresting officers pulled the handcuffs off of his belt before the man was even taken outside of the chambers. Video posted to social media showed the man being handcuffed inside of the chambers, as well. Perhaps this person did not actually understand the events that took place before he decided to discuss what occurred.
It is just astounding to me the way in which the media has responded to that incident. Amarillo residents are having to look to outlets like the Fort Worth Star Telegram to get a better representation of what took place than the outlets in Amarillo gave. Has Amarillo's media really gotten to this point?
The facts remain what they are and if you want to dispute any of these facts, I have included the video on this editorial for you to see what happened for yourself. Regardless, media outlets and those in the position where they may be confused for journalists need to understand that the facts do not change and they do not lie.
It does not matter where your political affiliation lands or which elected officials you support. If you cannot defend what you believe using true facts, then why do you believe what you believe?
