The burning of a white woman on a Chicago train would have made national headlines had the races of she and the black serial-criminal suspect been reversed, a conservative commentator claims.
Bethany MaGee, 26, was attacked on the city’s Blue Line on November 17, with investigators naming serial criminal, 50-year-old Lawrence Reed as their suspect.
Reed has 72 prior arrests and was freed months earlier by a judge after he allegedly attacked a social worker.
MaGee’s church community said the young woman suffered the most serious burns on her left arm and hand and is expected to be in hospital for at least three months.
Conservative commentator Victor Joecks wrote an opinion piece for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, with his belief that the attack on MaGee would be ‘as well-known as George Floyd’ if their ‘races were reversed.’
He highlighted how neither The New York Times nor Washington Post had reported the story, despite devoting acres of coverage to the killing of Floyd. Both the Associated Press and Reuters news wires have also declined to cover the MaGee story.
Floyd was murdered in 2020 by white police officer Derek Chauvin, who used his knee to pin the black man’s neck to the pavement for almost 10 minutes.
His death sparked outrage across the country and world, reigniting the Black Lives Matter movement, and saw demonstrators chanting his dying words: ‘I can’t breathe.’
Joecks argued that her horrific attack should have been a national story, labeling Cook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez’s decision to allow the dangerous criminal to walk the streets a ‘scandal.’
The commentator also touched upon the brutal nature of the crime to a ‘young attractive woman’ that the press ‘craves.’
In a horrifying chain of events, MaGee attempted to fight off her attacker while Reed allegedly tried to set her on fire.
Reed approached her and repeatedly screamed ‘burn alive b***h,’ a criminal affidavit filed in federal court alleged.
MaGee was seen running to the front of the train car to escape before her attacker allegedly ignited the bottle in his hand. He ran to the front of the train car and watched as her body was ‘engulfed in flames,’ according to the affidavit.
MaGee attempted to extinguish the flames and collapsed when she arrived at the station with multiple witnesses aiding her before first responders arrived.
Joecks also explained in his piece that the ongoing feud between President Trump and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should be included in the national coverage.
‘[The media is] silent because this crime doesn’t fit the left’s narrative,’ Joecks wrote. ‘It wants you to believe that the criminal justice system is systemically racist against African Americans.’
He concluded by saying: ‘America’s criminal justice system has a systemic problem, but it isn’t white supremacy. It’s the judges and prosecutors who protect criminals instead of the public.’
Others have agreed with Joeck’s view, comparing the horrific incidents involving Floyd and MaGee on social media.
An account posted the comparison of searching MaGee’s name versus George Floyd on Reuters, writing ‘Reuters mentions of Bethany MaGee: 0. Reuters mentions of George Floyd: 1,068.’
One user commented: ‘I don’t think the mainstream media would care about an innocent young white lady getting lit on fire by a violent criminal with many prior arrests as it doesn’t fit their narrative.
‘Sadly poor Bethany is not the only victim of a violent attack that the media doesn’t care about.’
Others pushed back on this belief, writing that her death happened recently and Floyd’s death happened in 2020, so the media coverage wouldn’t be the same.
‘George Floyd’s death happened in 2020 and spurred protests. How could they have similar coverage? I don’t think the event has hit mainstream media yet? If you want similar attention create a movement and hit the streets,’ one Facebook post read.
Reed was hit with a federal terrorism charge after investigators obtained security footage of Reed allegedly filling a container with gasoline at a gas station 20 minutes before the attack.
The 26-year-old’s chilling attack drew comparisons to the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 22.
Zarutska was fatally stabbed in an apparent random attack aboard a commuter train in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Her alleged attacker Decarlos Brown Jr. is also a career criminal who was allowed to walk from court in January despite a litany of arrests for armed robbery and assault.
Zarutska’s boyfriend, Stanislav Nikulytsia, has also blasted the Chicago judge and drew a direct parallel with the murder of his girlfriend and the sickening attack on MaGee.
