Monday, Robert Dear, the 57-year-old suspect in the Colorado Springs clinic shooting attended an advisement hearing alongside his public defender. Dear will be represented by the same public defender who defended the Aurora theater shooter some months back.
The hearing contained no discussion of motives.
Colorado local news reported:
The man accused of killing three people and wounding nine others spoke only a few words during a 13-minute court hearing Monday afternoon.Colorado Springs shooting suspect Robert Dear, 57, stood alongside the state’s chief public defender, Dan King, in the county jail during the video advisement hearing.Dear spoke only three times. He answered the judge’s questions with only “yes” and “no,” and told the judge he had no questions. There was no discussion of a possible motive for Friday’s attack.Formal charges against Dear will be filed next Wednesday. He is currently being held without bond on investigation of first-degree murder.King, the public defender representing him, defended the Aurora theater shooter during a months-long trial over the summer. The jury was unable to unanimously sentence the convicted mass murderer to death. At least one of them cited his mental illness as a reason not to give him the state’s highest punishment.
Despite the media’s insistence that Dear is a pro-life activist goaded into violence after videos exposing Planned Parenthood’s baby part harvesting surfaced, to date, the authorities involved in the case have made no such determination.
Ben Domenech of The Federalist dug into the latest rush to politicize tragedy (emphasis mine):
Dear has no history of affiliation with the Republican Party or pro-life groups or politicians. He was not affiliated with any party and reportedly had limited interactions about politics with those who knew him. But he proffered anti-Obama literature to a neighbor, had a history of anti-government comments, and The New York Times connects him with online postings seeking partners for BDSM sex and others on Cannabis.com calling it the “End Times” due to AIDS and hurricanes.More important for the media’s context for this story, according to anonymous law enforcement sources speaking with The New York Times, Dear “said ‘no more baby parts’ in a rambling interview with the authorities. The official said that Mr. Dear ‘said a lot of things’ during his interview, making it difficult for the authorities to pinpoint a specific motivation.”
Further investigation may reveal Dear to be a pro-life activist and it might not. At this point, we simply don’t know enough about Dear — and that’s the point. But the damage is already done. Take a look at this Reuter’s report on Monday’s Advisement hearing:
Or this ABC News article on Dear’s alleged anti-Obama statements:
The framework has already been built. Dear is being portrayed as a man who’s beliefs are 100% congruent with right-wing everything and everyone. Any facts to the contrary will be summarily ignored, while those that fit the framework will be over-exploited. And so the cycle will continue.
Follow Kemberlee on Twitter @kemberleekaye
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