‘ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GUILTY OF KILLING NUN’

On Nov. 1, the tabloid Washington Examiner splashed this across the top half of its Page 1:

‘ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT GUILTY OF KILLING NUN’

(Hispanic Link publisher Charlie Ericksen takes over from here.)

The editors who composed or approved those provocative words should turn in their press credentials and join the KKK, the Federation for American Immigration Reform or some other publicly identified hate group. The racist composite the Examiner created tells its readers to fear and hate 11 million U.S. immigrants.

The “illegal alien nun-killer” the headline paints is Carlos Martinelly-Montaño. It’s untrue. He is not here illegally. In January 2009, he was granted a Employment Authorization Document (EAD), a temporary work permit issued by Homeland Security. Then he secured an identification card from the state of Virginia. His successful pursuit of a job was vetted by the e-verify process.

His parents brought Carlos undocumented to the United States from Bolivia when he was eight years old. He grew up in suburban northern Virginia and is the father of two small U.S. born children. His parents are now legal residents and he applied for legal residency four years ago. As a teenager, Carlos was twice arrested for misdemeanor driving under the influence. He enrolled in and completed a program to deal with his serious alcoholism problem. Then last year, at 22, he drove his Subaru into a highway guardrail while drunk and crashed head-on into a car occupied by three nuns. One of them, Sister Denise Mosier, 66, was killed. The Examiner chose to write a headline conjuring up a lusting, machete-wielding psycho chasing nuns through our tranquil communities, making readers’ flesh creep.

Carlos was charged with, and found guilty of, murder. This is the first time that a DUI case involving a fatality resulted in a murder conviction in Virginia. He faces up to 70 years in prison.

The Examiner isn’t alone with Its front-loaded “illegal immigrant” headline. On top of the list of news outlets that have routinely depicted Martinelly-Montaño a criminal alien who just sneaked across our border are CBS News, Fox News, the Washington Post, CNN, USA Today, National Public Radio — the list goes on.

While Carlos’ punishment far exceeds the norm, even weighing the tragedy consequences of his act, this is not a plea for mercy.

The Benedictine sisters, along with Carlos’ family, already have done that. The Benedictine sisters also expressed dismay that this case has become politicized as a forum for debate on illegal immigration.

As a journalist, I’ll feel better if media like the Examiner would stop fanning flames of hate and ethnic division and concentrate on journalistic ethics and telling the whole truth.