Red Star sheds tear over cop killer's rough life

Its so easy to find fault with the Strib, even as it appears to be struggling of late to fill its pages with readable content. Why do normal people loathe the Red Star? Check out the May 9, 2005 above-the-fold front page "Shooting suspect's life marked by crime".

Even a casual reader of local media will note that various news sources, led by the Red Star, are publishing articles sympathetic to the cop killer(s). Hard life, rough times, that's what made 'em do it. Rambix and the Red Star responds: Who gives a *%$# about the criminal? Really, who does? The officer's family and community are grieving and the Red Star has the audacity to print an article about the [alleged] killer's hard knocks? It defies belief. The Strib has no moral compass, and is unapologetic. Why don't they title the article "Ex-cons and career criminals continue their evil ways"? Mad yet? Read this snippet:

"She said she was close to Evans growing up. They went to Sunday school together and sang in the choir at Rising Sun Baptist Church, where he received some instruction on possibly becoming a church deacon."

There you have it - he was on his way to sainthood. Here's another example of the expert way the Red Star minimizes criminal behavior. Evans didn't steal the car, he was with kids who stole the car:

"She said her cousin first got into trouble at age 14 or 15 when he was with kids in the neighborhood who stole a car."

The Strib distances Evans from the crime. See how that works? Note the passive voice in the following:

"Ella Greene said Harry Evans' father, Harry Sr., died in a freak swimming pool accident while in the Marine Corps when Harry Jr. was 5 or 6. He was raised by his mother, Beatrice, who died in the mid-1990s, when Evans was serving time in prison for attempted murder and attempted armed robbery. Michelle Greene said she thought the prison sentence had to do with an assault on a pizza delivery man or the driver of an ice cream truck that took place in the neighborhood."

"The prison sentence had to do with an assault on a pizza delivery man"...
How about: "Evans was thrown in prison for attempting to rob and kill a pizza delivery man". That would be truth in reporting. The Red Star should be taken to task for this irresponsible reporting. Dear editors: we don't care about the criminals! Write a story about how quickly we lock them up and throw away the key, but don't subject your readers to this claptrap about their oh-so-rough backgrounds. Get it?