“Police investigating after a Black woman was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi,” an X post from The Lead on CNN read, accompanied by a reporter hit that aired Wednesday from Omar Jimenez on the death of 29-year-old Tasia Fortune.
Fortune was found hanging from a tree behind an abandoned house earlier this month. Her death is undoubtedly tragic, and the circumstances are being investigated. But CNN appeared to be more interested in trying to insinuate her death is emblematic of racism in America by invoking the imagery of a racist lynching and by breezing past additional reported details surrounding Fortune’s death.
Jimenez stressed that little is known about the circumstances and that police have not said whether her death is considered suspicious, nor have they identified a suspect. But police have also similarly not suggested it was racially motivated either — so naturally, CNN decided to make the crime about race (or at least try).
“The raw imagery of a black person hanging from the tree in the American South evokes a very painful history,” Jimenez said.
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