Weeks of shootings involving Kansas City motorists as targets brought back memories of the 2002 Beltway sniper, John Allen Muhammad. Like Muhammad, the suspect apprehended in Kansas City – Mohammed Pedro Whitaker – is Muslim. Also like the 2002 shooter, the mainstream media is going out of its way to identify the shooter as such or has moved on entirely.

In one CNN report, the word “Muslim” is referred to not once in the article but multiple times in the comments. Posted in the article is a video (below) of the country prosecutor announcing the charges against Whitaker. Like the article, the prosecutor makes no mention of Whitaker’s religion, nor did Kansas City Mayor Sly James, who spoke afterwards. James actually spoke of taking “bold” and “brave” steps to reduce violence, saying that it’s “better than living in fear”.

Mr. Sly has a history that includes a desire for tougher gun control laws so it’s quite likely that this was an attempt by him to nudge the debate in that direction. Someone should tell him that when the shooter is Muslim, the gun control debate is generally not a good idea for the left (contrast Sandy Hook with the 2009 Fort Hood shootings). What Mr. Sly also avoids is that one of the ways to stop “living in fear” is to admit the truth about what motivates Muslims to kill.

Here is Mr. Sly calling for tougher gun controls back in March:

One news report blurts out: “Mohammed Whitiker: 5 Facts You Need to Know”. Not one of those facts identifies Whitiker as a Muslim.