What happens when the bomb plotter is white?

Today's Jackson (Tenn.) Sun brings this stunning piece of news:

Demetrius "Van" Crocker of McKenzie, convicted in April of attempting to obtain a chemical weapon and possession of stolen explosives, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday by U.S. District Judge James Todd in Jackson.

Crocker, who told undercover FBI agents of his desire to explode a briefcase bomb while Congress was in session, was found guilty by a jury in about 90 minutes in April.

The 40-year-old farmhand and father of two was convicted of accepting what he thought were ingredients to make Sarin nerve gas and a block of C-4 explosive from undercover agents in October 2004.

The maximum penalty Crocker could have faced for the convictions would have been a life sentence. Todd did order lifetime supervised release for Crocker once he gets out of prison.

Funny, I haven't heard much about this story. But I bet I would have if the story read like the abridged version Russ posted at Pam's House Blend (which has a great new look):

Ali Muhammad al-Bulshiti of McKenzie (TN), convicted in April of attempting to obtain a chemical weapon and possession of stolen explosives, was sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday by U.S. District Judge James Todd in Jackson.

Al-Bulshiti, who told undercover FBI agents of his desire to explode a briefcase bomb while Congress was in session, was found guilty by a jury in about 90 minutes in April.

The 40-year-old immigrant and father of two was convicted of accepting what he thought were ingredients to make Sarin nerve gas and a block of C-4 explosive from undercover agents in October 2004.

I think Russ is right: change a few words to fit the "war on terror" frame, and the Department of Homeland Security alert system would be at Code Red -- and the media hype would be full-tilt.

Two readers who joined the Jackson Sun's "StoryChat" agree:

Yeah, not to mention the fact that if he'd been muslim, or had a foreign-sounding name, he probably wouldn't have even gotten a trial -- he'd be down in Gitmo being tortured and being held indefinitely without even being told what he's accused of. But then again, the "War on Terror" isn't set up to go after homegrown terrorists like this or like Timothy McVeigh, only the foreign terrorists whose countries have resources we want like oil or drugs or real estate.
- Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:12 pm

I bet this story would have been on every newstation across the nation, a headline in every newspaper and a cover story in at least one news magazine. But if you're not a muslim, planning to blow-up congress isn't news worthy. It just goes to show how prejudiced the media is.
- Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:42 pm