Networks Skip Compelling Story of Mom Arrested After Taking Gun Into New Jersey
The three major networks have obsessed over every detail of the football scandal involving Ray Rice and what the NFL knew. Yet, ABC, NBC and CBS have ignored the compelling story of Shaneen Allen, a single mother who faced prison for taking her legally-owned firearm into the state of New Jersey. The football connection? The prosecutor who declined to go after Rice for punching his then-fiancee is the same man who wanted to send Allen to jail for 11 years.
MSNBC has also skipped the story. It's been left to CNN and Fox News to report the details of Ms. Allen's case. On the September 15 edition of Anderson Cooper, Randi Kaye explained that "Shaneen Allen was driving in New Jersey when she was stopped by a police for a simple traffic violation. In the car with her, her brand new handgun." [MP3 audio here.]
Kaye explained what happened to Allen in October of 2013:
KAYE: Shaneen's license to carry was for her home state of Pennsylvania, just across state lines from where she was pulled over in New Jersey. She says, she had no idea it didn't transfer state to state. She had just bought the gun a week earlier after being mugged.
Highlighting the apparent double standard, Kaye added:
KAYE: This is the man looking to put Shaneen in prison. Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain, the very same man who choose not to prosecute Baltimore Ravens star, Ray Rice. Rice was charged in the same county with aggravated assault. He's pleaded not guilty and applied for a special intervention program that gives arrestees a chance to wipe their record clean. In May, prosecutor McClain approved Rice for that program.
On Wednesday, McClain reversed course and announced that New Jersey would allow Allen to avoid jail by entering the same program Ray Rice undertook.
Yet, the networks ignored every twist and turn of the Philadelphia woman's case. Instead, Thursday's Good Morning America spent almost 11 minutes promoting the new ABC program How to Get Away With Murder. CBS This Morning devoted six minutes to ballet. Today showcased a baby kangaroo and other animals for four minutes.
Yet, while these media outlets were very interested in almost every angle of the NFL scandal, they haven't investigated this one. The Washington Post in July pointed out the injustice of Allen's situation:
Allen is a black single mother. She has two kids. She has no prior criminal record. Before her arrest, she worked as a phlebobotomist. After she was robbed two times in the span of about a year, she purchased the gun to protect herself and her family. There is zero evidence that Allen intended to use the gun for any other purpose. Yet Allen was arrested. She spent 40 days in jail before she was released on bail.
Why wouldn't the networks be interested in an African American mom who bought a gun to defend herself and ran afoul of onerous gun control regulations? Perhaps it's because of the mainstream media's opposition to the Second Amendment.
On September 18, ABC, CBS and NBC all covered the NFL, but skipped a jihad killing within the United States.
A partial transcript of the September 15th Anderson Cooper segment is below:
RANDI KAYE: Shaneen Allen was driving in New Jersey when she was stopped by a police for a simple traffic violation. In the car with her, her brand new handgun.
SHANEEN ALLEN: When in went into my purse to give them my license and my registration, I also gave him my license to carry with it that's why I told him I have my firearm on me.
KAYE: Trouble is, Shaneen's license to carry was for her home state of Pennsylvania, just across state lines from where she was pulled over in New Jersey. She says, she had no idea it didn't transfer state to state. She had just bought the gun a week earlier after being mugged. Still, this single mother of two was handcuffed and arrested on the spot, charged with both illegal position of a firearm and possession of hollow point ammunition. She's now facing more than 11 years in prison. How worried are you about going to prison?
ALLEN: Very worried. I'm worried every minute, every day. I have to worry about where my kids are going to go. What is going to happen to them?
KAYE: This is the man looking to put Shaneen in prison. Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain, the very same man who choose not to prosecute Baltimore Ravens star, Ray Rice. Rice was charged in the same county with aggravated assault. He's pleaded not guilty and applied for a special intervention program that gives arrestees a chance to wipe their record clean. In May, prosecutor McClain approved Rice for that program.
The Pretrial Intervention Program or PTI as it's called allows first time offenders to avoid prison and probation. Those accepted into the program have to get counseling, do community service and stay out of trouble. Once the program is complete all charges are dropped.
Rice was facing up to five years in prison when he got into the PTI program. Shaneen is facing more than double that, yet a month before clearing Ray Rice for the PTI program, Prosecutor McClain refused Shaneen's request to enter the same program.
— Scott Whitlock is Senior News Analyst at the Media Research Center. Follow Scott Whitlock on Twitter.
