Johntue Caldwell is his name! Johntue Caldwell the father of two boys; Isaiah (5 years old) and Jeremiah (6 years old)! Johntue Caldwell the son of Zaporia Smith! Johntue Caldwell beloved by his family and community! Johntue Caldwell a graduate of Mt. Eden High School! Johntue Caldwell is his name!
THE ASSASSINATION
On Friday, July 15th at a Union 76 gas station parking area in the City of Hayward, CA, Johntue Caldwell was gunned down while sitting in his car; a gold Cadillac.
THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT
On Friday night media reporters had no idea of who the young man slain in his car at a local gas station was. They knew only that the victim was identified as a “young Black man” but not much more was known until the victim was properly identified as the late Johntue Caldwell, childhood friend of Oscar Grant III.
Unfortunately, media has focused more of its attention on the relationship between he and Oscar Grant III rather than concentrating on the life of Johntue.
Although the community is crying for justice and the capture of the person(s) responsible for the senseless murder of Johntue Caldwell – the community and family are crying out for the proper representation of their loved one.
ABC 7 NEWS: GUILTY
ABC 7 News reporter Alan Wang, a seasoned reporter, speaks of the victim for approximately 16 seconds before turning over the report to his colleague John Alston without having ever mentioned Johntue Caldwell’s name. Wang, referencing Johntue Caldwell only by the term “man”, does manage to reference Oscar Grant III by name on at least one occasion. Seemingly, Wang places little importance on the victim outside of his friendship with Oscar Grant III. And he is not alone.
John Alston, reporting from the scene of the crime with information provided by the Hayward Police Department states, “They do not have a motive, but they say this is not random.”
Alston’s report leads to many conclusions – The first being, Johntue’s murder was the result of targeting, insinuating that Johntue could have been involved in illegal activity which led to his death. A critical question which must be asked is– If the police in fact have no motive how can they conclude this crime was “not random?” Johntue Caldwell was a resident of the City of Fremont could his murder have been a case of mistaken identity? Why was this not raised as a possibility? Was this intentional?
One of the motives for this form of slanted journalism is the severing of the community’s consciousness and compassionate in order to neutralize efforts for justice. If the police department has no motives – then they have no intelligence to promote a random theory.
Alston also reports, “Now Caldwell has a $5 million Federal Civil Rights law suit pending against BART claiming he was mistreated by another BART officer on that New Year’s morning. That afternoon an attorney for BART said his death effectively ends that lawsuit and it is unclear if his relatives can pursue it.”
What is the purpose for such a statement? Is Alston using media to speak to the family about "the gig is up?" Is Alston being used as a conduit for BART to tell the family - "this case is officially closed?" What message pr threat does this portion of the report suggest to the other young men - Jack Bryson Jr., Nigel Bryson, Michael Greer, Carlos Reyes, Fernando Anicente Jr. - engaged in a law suit with BART? Is BART "knocking off plaintiffs" to settle dismiss lawsuits?
Alston wraps up his report by stating, “Police say they have no motives, no suspects in the case.” Well, if there are no motives or suspects, how can there be concrete knowledge Johntue was targeted? The term “targeted” suggests Johntue must have been doing something illegal which cost him his life. It further suggests that if he was doing something illegal which ultimately cost him his life – and he was best friends with Oscar Grant III – then there is the likelihood that Oscar Grant III was also involved in illegal activity.
With this sort of erroneous journalistic reporting – the media is attempting to assassinate the character of Johntue Caldwell and in doing so, also attempting to re-assassinate Oscar Grant III.
KTVU CHANNEL 2 NEWS: GUILTY
Who could forget how helpful KTVU was in the opening months of the 2009 New Year’s Day regarding the murder of Oscar Grant III? They seemed like the news station that cared about truth and was willing to publish reports, videos, etc. to force law enforcement to be transparent and accountable.
All of that helpful journaling came to a screeching halt once it was reported that four Oakland police officers were killed by Lavel Mixon. At the time, people in the community began scoring the unfortunate deaths: Police 2, Community 4.
The Lavel Mixon case began the media shift away from the Oscar Grant momentum towards law enforcement sympathy.
KTVU reported, regarding Johntue Caldwell, “The suspect ran away and was not located during a search of the surrounding area, police said.” How could this be so? According to ABC News as was previously mentioned, the police had “no motive and no suspects.”
Who were the police looking for? Was there or wasn’t there a witness?
KTVU even shared quotes from Wanda Johnson, mother of Oscar Grant III, stating, “They did everything together. If you saw Johntue, you saw Oscar.” Why was this noted? Not to generate sympathy for the assassination of Johntue but rather to suggest that these young men were menaces to society and there is no reason to rally for justice regarding them.
What’s further to be noted regarding the KTVU report is the absence of commentary by Zaporia Smith. Zaporia Smith is the mother of Johntue Caldwell, however, she is only important to KTVU because of comments provided by Wanda Johnson. There are no quotes from Zaporia Smith and no indication the media heads sought to connect with her regarding her son. She is the grandmother of Johntue’s children, yet media treated her like a footnote to the 2009 case.
HUFFINGTON POST: GUILTY
The Huffington Post did not even bother to do their own investigation or reporting, they merely took the KTVU report and posted it with a different heading – JOHNTUE CALDWELL DEAD: OSCAR GRANT’S BEST FRIEND SHOT TO DEATH.
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: GUILTY
The Chronicle will always be guilty of these evil character assassination attempts as long as Henry K. Lee is their staff writer. In his article, dated Sunday, July 17, 2011, he reports, “Dale Allen, an attorney for BART, said after the suit was filed then Caldwell had a “significant criminal history” and was one of the three men who cursed at and physically challenged officers as they detained Grant and three others after a fight on the a train.”
Notice how Lee uses the quote of Attorney Allen to introduce a “significant criminal history” regarding Johntue? This is an attempt to leak unnecessary and irrelevant incriminating information regarding the assassinated young man. But why report that? Was it reported to introduce Attorney John Burris’ kind words? Not a chance!
This kind of media assassination is purposeful and it is working. Lee shares there is a “significant criminal history” but does not share when. Johntue was 25 years old – did this “activity” occur when he was a High Schooler? Was it a one-time event? Was he the primary figure in the activity or just someone in the wrong place with the wrong people at the wrong time? We don’t know and Henry K. Lee will not tell us because what he wants to do is tell us this person is not worthy of community support or public outcry.
It should be further noted that Henry K. Lee’s article mentions Oscar Grant III by name in the opening title and opening paragraph, but does not refer to Johntue Caldwell by name until paragraph two. Again, the unfortunate assassination of Johntue Caldwell is being written to render him insignificant and therefore assassinates him via the media.
CONCLUSION
Other news stations were just as irresponsible and should be held accountable also. Mentioned in this article are news organizations that should know better because they are not rookies when it comes to reporting on urban communities.
The people must demand accurate reporting - without spin - and challenge slanted reports that tend to criminalize people who are not criminals. Even in death, a person has the right to be called by their name and not merely recognized by their associates or friends.
The blood of Johntue Caldwell cries from the ground for justice. His memory and legacy prior to death is still worthy of being known. Who he is is more important than how he died, yet if you allow media to control your opinions and mobilization for justice– you will be led towards bystander apathy and will say a quick “LORD have mercy” and continue doing nothing. And that is what many media outlets and law enforcement agencies are counting on.
As we live forward, let us challenge media sources and reports – who for far too long have desensitized Urban People from caring about other Urban People. There is a reason why these cases are reported and sensationalized, but hardly ever any arrests made or justice served for the families.
It’s a new day and time for a new movement – be ready to engage!
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