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Where's the Media Outrage Over the Murder of 5-Year-Old Cannon Hinnant?

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Demanding social justice has become a regular routine for many Americans these days. From sharing political rants, hashtags and memes on social media to marching down city streets and even setting fire to local businesses, we will get our liberty and justice for all — or else.

The mainstream media has been a platform for these voices, broadcasting protests and speeches from community members around the country who want justice to be served.

Outlets such as CNN are still reporting about the tragic events surrounding George Floyd’s death on May 25, commentating on the unprecedented rising up of Americans demanding justice in such cases “more than 10 weeks after a Minneapolis policeman knelt on Floyd’s neck till the life left his body.”

Cannon Hinnant.

Have you heard his name? Are you hearing his name at all from the establishment news organizations that have been so heavily concerned with cases of injustice and the consequent rage of Americans?

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Cannon, 5, was shot in the head Sunday afternoon near his home in Wilson, North Carolina. WRAL-TV reported that police were called about 5:30 p.m. regarding a “shooting in a neighborhood in the 5100 block of Archers Road.”

According to his mother, Cannon was playing outside with his two sisters, ages 7 and 8, just being kids, when the girls saw 25-year-old Darius N. Sessoms, their next-door neighbor, shoot their brother directly in the head.

Another witness, Doris Lybrand, told WRAL that “Sessoms ran up to Cannon, put the gun near his head and fired before running back to his own house.”

The boy died at Wilson Medical Center.

A neighbor said Sessoms and Cannon’s father dined together the night before and that Sessoms even visited his home earlier that Sunday before the shooting.

Police have not reported any details regarding a motive but have said Cannon’s murder was not random.

This is the tragic story of Cannon Hinnant, and it is a story still untold by many major news sources, including CNN, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Online searches using both Cannon’s and Sessoms’ names brought up absolutely nothing from all three of these organizations.

Correct me if I’m wrong.

On Wednesday, Matt Walsh of The Daily Wire called out CNN’s chief media correspondent, Brian Stelter, for the pregnant absence of any reporting on Cannon’s murder.

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Why?

Why do these news organizations believe Ahmaud Arbery’s life matters more than Cannon Hinnant’s?

What is missing in Cannon’s tragedy that makes his life unworthy of media coverage? Is there nothing to be learned from this child’s life being stolen from him?

What is concerning are the possible answers to these questions.

Consider this: Sessoms is black, and Cannon was white.

The earth is quaking with Black Lives Matter, and a story like this disrupts the ongoing narrative being peddled by the establishment media: Black people are absolute victims. All systems are against them. All non-black Americans are racist, whether they know it or not, and must repent of all the oppression they’ve caused historically and personally.

As Walsh said in another tweet Tuesday, what if the races were reversed?

Saying “All Lives Matter” is considered insensitive because, “Duh, that’s obvious. BLM doesn’t mean other lives don’t matter.” But when it comes down to it, justice for all doesn’t seem so obvious anymore.

The behavior of CNN, The Times and The Post is concerning and shows why sharing stories like Cannon’s is immensely important. The establishment media are shaping the way we look at race relations instead of reporting the truth and letting Americans formulate a real and reasonable perspective on such divisive topics in our country.

I stand with Walsh in honoring the life of this child as much as any other innocent life tragically lost.

Please, share and say his name with us.

His name is Cannon Hinnant.

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Joey Pietro is an Arizona native who has spent nearly a decade as a local educator. He holds a bachelor's in English from American Public University.
Joey Pietro was an Arizona native who has spent nearly a decade as a local educator. He holds a bachelor's in English from American Public University.




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