Fox "news" implies Pretti deserved to be killed
Headline justifies murder because he kicked and may have spat on a vehicle
For a few reasons I don’t critique Fox “news” headlines: it’s too easy, it’s a waste of time, and it isn’t even a real news organization but a propaganda wing of the Republican party. But the audacity of today’s headline about Alex Pretti was too much to overlook.
The headline seems to equate Pretti’s kicking of a vehicle — described in over-the-top “violently damage” what turns out to be a tail light — with his murder. The headlines in the Associated Press and the NYTimes pointed out that the event took place 11 days before Pretti was killed, clearly distancing cause and effect.
Videos Show Alex Pretti in Confrontation With Agents 11 Days Before His Death (NYT)
New videos show Alex Pretti scuffle with federal officers in Minneapolis 11 days before his death (AP)
Not so with the Fox headline, which screams Pretti deserved what he got without explicitly saying so.
The readers certainly said so in the comments section. They understood what the headline and story were getting at, as the screenshot below demonstrates:
