Breaking news this morning out of Dallas, where a crazed man reportedly rammed his truck into a local Fox affiliate and prompted a response from a bomb squad.
From a local NBC affiliate:
The driver of a pickup truck appears to have repeatedly rammed into the downtown Dallas studios of Fox 4 KDFW Wednesday morning.
Police said they were called to the 400 block of N. Griffin Street about 6:12 a.m.
In a tweet, the Fox owned-and-operated station reported the man crashed into the side of their building, jumped out of the truck and began ranting, leaving behind a suspicious bag that prompted a bomb squad investigation.
#BREAKING: Driver ran into @FOX4 studios repeatedly in downtown Dallas. Fox4 reports it was intentional & the driver is in police custody. @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/6xCnnyTw2z
— Katy Blakey (@KatyBlakeyNBC5) September 5, 2018
Fox 4 the man who crashed his pickup truck into their TV studio in downtown Dallas “jumped out and started ranting”. pic.twitter.com/nhoB8NLXtq
— Jayson Luber (@Denver7Traffic) September 5, 2018
Breaking: A man is in custody after intentionally ramming a pickup truck into a Fox 4 studio in Dallas, Texas. There are no reports of any injuries. pic.twitter.com/F6IMsVHC6i
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) September 5, 2018
The man was, according to one reporter, ranting about “treason,” a common claim by the left to smear the President.
An employee at FOX4 tells me a truck crashed into their building twice this morning. Papers all over the ground. He says the driver got out screaming about treason. Employees have been evacuated. I have more details I’m trying to confirm. Standby. @wfaa pic.twitter.com/n0jrsgBygE
— Tiffany Liou (@tliou) September 5, 2018
That said, we’re going to trample down on speculation right away: There is no evidence that this was politically motivated. Though the report that the driver started “ranting” is leading many to believe this was one of two things: a violent reaction to President Trump’s aggressive rhetoric on the media or, a deranged liberal attacking a Fox affiliate, trying to harm the larger Fox News brand, which is conservative in reporting.
Here’s something we do know. Remember back when a mentally-disturbed man attacked a local Maryland newsroom? In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, President Trump was blamed for his strong language regarding the media. (RELATED: Trump Declares Media “Enemy” Of the American People.)
The man was apparently teed off by a years-long dispute with the newspaper. It had nothing to do with politics. But the media desperately wanted to blame Trump anyway. (RELATED: Let’s Be Clear: Journalists Wanted to Blame Trump for the Maryland Newspaper Shooting.)
Given the speed of news these days, and the instantaneous reporting that Twitter provides, I think that, by now, had the perpetrator of the Fox attack been another Trump-influenced bad guy, we would have heard about it by now.
Again, we still do not have full confirmation that this was politically motivated. Still, it’s curious that it’s taking this long to confirm it, given how quick to judgment many journalists were in previous press attacks.
