FBI kills Muslim radical — Washington Post’s 1-Sentence Story
“Radical Muslim sect leader killed in FBI raid” declared the headline above The Washington Times’ top “Nation” page article on October 29. The lead paragraph noted that “the FBI … fatally shot the [Detroit] leader [Luqman Ameen Abdullah] of a radical Muslim sect who preached a violent, separation theology and, authorities said, once remarked that law enforcement would have to shoot him before it could arrest him.”
USA Today also played the news atop its “Nation” page on the 29th, under the headline “Radical Muslim leader killed in raid; FBI charges 10 men in Mich. Tied to possible jihad scheme.”
The New York Times also covered the shooting in an article headlined “F.B.I. Raid Kills Islamic Group Leader in Michigan” on page A-20 of the newspaper’s October 29 edition. It added that “the Ummah’s top leader nationally is Jamil Abdullah al-Amin, formerly known as H. Rap Brown, the [1960’s and ’70s] black power activist, who is serving a life sentence for murdering a sheriff’s deputy in Georgia in 2000.”
The Washington Times and New York Times assigned their own reporters to the story. USA Today, a Gannett Corp. newspaper, used coverage by three reporters for the Detroit Free Press, also part of the Gannett chain, and from Associated Press.
And The Washington Post? It squeezed the AP dispatch about the killing of Abdullah into a one-sentence news brief, the last of five items in a “Digest” on that day’s “Politics & The Nation” page, A-3. The Baltimore Sun, which also briefed wire service coverage of the killing, gave it four paragraphs in a similar digest.
The Post recurrently minimizes, comes late to, and/or softens coverage of domestic Islamic radicalism, non-violent as well as violent. CAMERA has pointed this out previously, for example in the case of Virginia’s Esam Omeish. Yet such extremism — including the under-reported phenomenon of religious conversion and radical recruitment in prisons — remains newsworthy. Though variety in newspapers’ news judgement may ensure broader coverage, in cases like that of Luqman Ameen Abdullah, The Washington Post should follow the leaders.
More from SNAPSHOTS
Double Standards: Boycotts and Discrimination in MassLive
May 16, 2025
Anti-Israel activists, including Harvard University’s Lara Jirmanus, a clinical instructor, seem to struggle with the concept of “discrimination.” Quoted in a May 14 MassLive article, “Harvard ‘failed to respond’ to 450 discrimination complaints. Staff hand-delivered [...]
Swarthmore Students Are Learning: It Was Never About Palestinian Rights
May 14, 2025
Students at Swarthmore College are so close to understanding the conflict. An article in the Swarthmore Phoenix details the frustrations of student activists with the college’s Students for Justice in Palestine. The gist of their criticism is [...]
AFP Arabic Stops Mislabeling Northern Israeli Communities ‘Settlements”
August 10, 2021
A view of Metulla, northern Israel (Photo by Hadar Sela)After failing to set the record straight last May when Agence France Presse's Arabic service repeatedly referred to Jewish communities in northern Israel as "settlements," the [...]
NY Times Praises Ilhan Omar’s Book While Glossing Over Her Antisemitism
August 19, 2020
A recent New York Times book review boosts Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) autobiography while glossing over her antisemitism. In the paper’s Aug. 16, 2020 edition, NYT reporter Christina Cauterucci writes: The memoir offers breathing room [...]
When TV Interviews of Ilhan Omar Constitute Journalistic Malpractice
August 11, 2020
Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) documented animosity toward Jews and Israel was ignored in recent interviews by MSNBC and C-SPAN. MSNBC’s The Beat for July 23, 2020 included host Ari Melber’s 10-minute conversation at 6:16 [...]
Boston TV Station WCVB Teamed Up With Terrorist Supporter CAIR
July 7, 2020
WCVB-TV (channel 5) (Boston’s ABC network affiliate) recently misled area viewers about a matter involving antisemitic propaganda. This occurred on its local Sunday show Cityline hosted by Karen Holmes Ward who is described by the [...]
Harper’s Magazine Echoed Palestinian Propaganda Condemning Israel And America
June 2, 2020
Writing in Harper's, Kevin Baker condemns the U.S. Middle East peace plan [“The Striking Gesture,” Easy Chair, May 2020], mischaracterizing it as, “Give up all your [Palestinian] hopes and your holiest places, embark on a [...]