February 25, 2016
Lonnie David Franklin Jr.
That’s what the activists say today. In the early “90s, it was a different story. At the same time”the exact same time”that the Grim Sleeper was in the middle of his murder spree, another black serial killer who preyed on women was also operating in Southern California. And just as in the case of the Sleeper, a general description was provided by an eyewitness. Both killers were described as black, in their 20s, approximately 5’10”, with short hair. In 1990, there was no way to know with complete certainty if these two killers were the same person (it would turn out they weren”t). There were differences, to be sure. The Sleeper (who did not yet have his moniker) raped and strangled; the other killer raped and stabbed. The killings were many miles apart. And there was another key difference”the other killer targeted only white women.
So guess what black activists did in early 1990? They decided it was “racist” for the cops to be so zealous in attempting to find the “black serial killer” (they meant, of course, the killer targeting white women, even though both serial killers were operating at the same time). Enter professional race hustler Wesley Pratt (a.k.a. H. Wes Pratt). In April 1990, Pratt, then a San Diego city councilman, decided to rile up the urban torch-and-pitchfork crowd by claiming that the very act of searching for the black serial killer was “racist.” Pratt issued a series of demands, including that the police must cease stopping “any and all” black males who match the description of the murderer, and black males matching the description and hanging out near the murder scenes must not have their photos taken by investigators.
Pratt demanded that the police not “overreact” to the presence of a black serial killer. And yes, he used that exact word. He specifically demanded that they not “overreact.” And he scolded the media for giving the case too much attention.
Following Pratt’s campaign, the killer who targeted white women (who would later be revealed as Cleophus Prince Jr.) murdered three more times. And Lonnie Franklin, the accused Grim Sleeper? He would end up killing three more women that we know of. Now, there’s no way of knowing if Pratt’s “stop overreacting” demands had any influence on the Prince and Franklin investigations, and I would not insult the detectives who worked those cases by suggesting that they did. But Pratt’s protestations certainly influenced the press. Although the eyewitness description of Cleophus Prince clearly stated that he was a black man, the L.A. Times preferred to claim only that the suspect had “dark skin“ (in other words, be on the lookout for George Hamilton). And the Times would only describe Prince’s victims as “brunettes,” even though they were all white (the Times refers to the Grim Sleeper’s victims as “black.” Why aren”t they called brunettes, too?).
Regarding the Sleeper case, the Times went to great lengths to accommodate Pratt and his protesters. When authorities announced a whopping $500,000 reward for information leading to the capture of the Sleeper, the Times failed to provide the LAPD’s description of the killer. This needs to be restated: The Times reported the reward, but not what the killer looked like, even though investigators had a complete composite sketch. To be fair, other Times stories would later mention that the suspect was black, but failing to mention any descriptive details when announcing the reward offer is pretty damn ludicrous.
“$500,000 reward for the capture of a serial killer, described as a carbon-based biped.” Yep, that”ll bring the miscreant to justice.
Now that the Grim Sleeper is finally on trial, the hustlers are accusing the police of racism because it took so long to catch him. No one remembers”or cares to mention”Wes Pratt’s demands from 1990: Don”t “overreact” to a black serial killer being on the loose. Don”t question “any and all” black males who match the description. If a black male who matches the description is seen in the vicinity of the crime, don”t take his photograph. And don”t report details of the killer in the press. This is what Pratt and his followers in the Southern California black community demanded when the Sleeper was on the loose. And now many of those same people are throwing tantrums over the fact that it took so long to bring him to justice.
Twenty-five years ago, they screamed racism when the police were seen as “too aggressive.” Today, they scream racism because the police supposedly weren”t aggressive enough. Typical leftists (and I”m referring to all leftists, of all colors)”they just want to bang their pots and howl. They don”t understand cause and effect, and they don”t want to. They just enjoy making noise, like small children, unaware that the ceaseless din is keeping intelligent people from doing the important work that ultimately benefits everybody, even the perennially ungrateful left.
