This is what we have to put up with in Los Angeles;
Surveillance cameras captured the moment a transient sexually assaulted a woman in broad daylight in downtown Long Beach. The brazen attack occurred on Oct. 20 at 2:15 p.m. in front of Village Market in the 140 block of Linden Avenue, and many residents and local businesses are saying this area of Long Beach has grown increasingly dangerous. The victim was walking down the street when video shows the suspect, now identified by police as 30-year-old Miguel Avila, sitting on the sidewalk before getting up and following the woman. Avila approaches the woman from behind, exposes himself and sexually assaults her as she falls to the ground. “It was horrifying to see,” Long Beach resident Jason Greenleaf told KTLA’s Rachel Menitoff. “I mean, this neighborhood is out of control.”
KTLA News
I agree, there are far too many surveillance cameras these days, and far too few restrictions on using their footage for propaganda purposes.
Or are you aghast at the fact that a person was assaulted in a city of twelve and a half million people? Because if that's the cause of your concern, then I can console you with the fact that it's nothing new, nothing newsworthy, and nothing to worry about - particularly as there's literally nothing anyone can do about it. Certainly, changing the leadership of your state, city, and/or law enforcement departments isn't going to make such things stop.
Of course, such recognition of the reality of large urban areas isn't going to sell many newspapers, or get many votes for populist idiots. Hence the need for this propaganda - when people aren't personally involved, you can use such footage to induce an emotional response as though it had happened to someone they knew personally, as was therefore an imminent threat to themselves and their family and friends.
Psychological manipulation is fairly interesting; But it's something that smart people try to avoid being subjected to (and that dumb people wallow in, presumably for entertainment purposes).
I have struck out the manipulative and pure opinion parts from your quoted article, and now it reads:
Surveillance cameras captured the moment a [man] sexually assaulted a woman in downtown Long Beach. The attack occurred on Oct. 20 at 2:15 p.m. in front of Village Market in the 140 block of Linden Avenue. The victim was walking down the street when video shows the suspect, identified by police as 30-year-old Miguel Avila, sitting on the sidewalk before getting up and following the woman. Avila approaches the woman from behind, exposes himself and sexually assaults her as she falls to the ground.
So, a woman was attacked; The suspect was caught on camera, and has been identified by the police (and presumably arrested and charged). Sounds to me like the system is working.
Why the need for the reporter to tell us to be scared, or to tell us that Jason Greenleaf is scared and imply that we should emulate him? That's not news, it's propaganda.
