FIVE DAYS LATER: CNN Finally Reports On 5-Year-Old Killed By a Black Man in Broad Daylight, Doesn't Mention Race

Brittany M. Hughes | August 14, 2020
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Even in the wake of a tsunami of criticism calling out media bias, it still took CNN five days – five entire days – to report on the story of Cannon Hinnant, the 5-year-old North Carolina boy who was shot point-blank in the head in broad daylight by a black man last Sunday night.

In their report published August 14, CNN does not mention the race of either the victim, who was white, or the shooter, a 25-year-old black man named Darius Sessoms. Which, in a perfect world, wouldn’t matter one bit, but is a noticeable omission by a “news” outlet that, when covering white-on-black violence, is quick to emphasis the ethnicities of everyone involved (Trayvon Martin, anyone?).

Witnesses said Hinnant was simply riding his bike in the street in his dad's Raleigh neighborhood around 5:30 p.m. Sunday night when Sessoms walked up to him and shot him point-blank in the head in full and direct view of Cannon’s 8 and 7-year-old sisters. The man when ran back into his own home. The little boy was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died.

A GoFundMe set up by Cannon's grandmother alleged that Hinnant was killed because he rode his bike into Sessoms' yard.

Sessoms, who was found and arrested Wednesday in a residence in Goldsboro about 30 minutes away from the crime scene, had a long history of criminal charges spanning many years including multiple felony drug charges, multiple felony probation violations, and possession of stolen firearms. He's been charged with first degree murder and is being held without bond.

 

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