A Cop-Killer's Best Friends

The Media Research Center doesn't want to talk about how its operations earned Facebook likes from cop-killer Jerad Miller, and WorldNetDaily doesn't want to talk about how its anti-police rhetoric mirrors that of Miller's.

By Terry Krepel
Posted 6/19/2014

But the MRC doesn't want to talk about the fact that a recent mass shooter has ties to it.

Jerad Miller, along with his wife, Amanda, went on a rampage in Las Vegas in early June, killed three people, including two police officers, before he and his wife committed suicide. Turns out he was a big fan of Brent Bozell's empire.

Among the 107 entries on Miller's Facebook "likes" page are the MRC's NewsBusters and CNSNews.com, as well as Bozell's quasi-super PAC operation For America.

Needless to say, the MRC is showing no interest in holding itself accountable for rhetoric that may have inspired a cop-killer. To the contrary -- it got offended when anyone dared point out the fact that the Millers had links to right-wing ideology:

• A June 9 NewsBusters post by Jeffrey Meyer complains that Michael Eric Dyson tried to "connect the shooting in Las Vegas to conservative media and politicians."
• A June 10 NewsBusters post by Laura Flint grumbled that MSNBC's Joy Reid said that the shootings proved the rise of “right-wing extremism.” Flint groused: "MSNBC is leaning forward so heavily on this meme that it’s falling over itself to paint blood on the hands of mainstream conservatives for the violence of mentally-disturbed extremists who have nothing to do with the conservative movement."
• A June 10 MRC item by Kristine Marsh complained that a CNN writer cited the Southern Poverty Law Center -- which is somehow an accessory to terrorism because "when Floyd Lee Corkins tried to shoot up the conservative Family Research Council in 2012, he later admitted he targeted the conservative organization because the SPLC listed the FRC as a 'hate group' for it’s 'anti-gay' stance on marriage"-- in "blaming the right for the deadly cop shootings in Las Vegas."Marsh continued, "It’s pretty rich to talk down to conservative media for using hateful and negative language while on the network that employs Al 'White Interlopers' Sharpton, but again, nobody ever accused liberals of too much self-awareness."
• A June 13 NewsBusters post by Jack Coleman huffed that an MSNBC guest said that "conservatives rush to make totalitarian comparisons but run from responsibility when blood hits the ground."

All of these MRC writers failed to note that Jerad Miller's Facebook page includes likes for MRC operations.

* * *

The MRC isn't the only part of the ConWeb that got some love -- well, a like, anyway -- from Miller's Facebook account. A couple of WorldNetDaily's friends can be found there too.

One is the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the far-right medical group that opposes mandatory vaccinations -- a stance that is undoubtedly contributing to the return of formerly conquered diseases like measles -- and has dabbled in Clinton conspiracy theories. WND has been a reliable promoter of AAPS' conspiracies, at one point even having a top AAPS official, Lee Hieb, write a column.

Another entry on Miller's Facebook likes page is the Facebook page of perpetual Oregon candidate Art Robinson, a close friend of WND managing editor David Kupelian. Kupelian and WND have long boosted Robinson's losing campaigns by glossing over issues that hurt his candidacy -- like his building a homeschool curriculum around a series of decidedly racist 19th-century adventure novels or unsubstantiated claims of political retribution against Robinson's children. WND has also uncritically promoted Robinson's anti-global warming petition by avoiding the fact that many, if not most, scientists who signed the petition have degrees bearing no relevance to climate science.

While WND itself didn't show up on Las Vegas cop-killer Jerad Miller's Facebook like list, it might as well have. After all, both WND and Miller share a disdain for the police having too much power.

WND's archive is strewn with recent headlines like these:

• 9-year-old led away in handcuffs by police
• Court upholds '1st Amendment' right to film cops
• Welcome to Suspect City, Florida
• Anger over police shooting -- man was walking away
• 1 killed during anti-police riot
• New armored tank for town police sparks fear, anger

Those headlines were partially in service of promoting the new WND-published book "Police State USA," in which Washington Times reporter Cheryl Chumley fearmongers about "the militarization of the police," complete with melodramatic description of the erosion of citizens' rights:

In five years, we will really start to wonder what happened to America. In 10 years, our kids won't know the America of our youth. And in 25 years, we won't recognize America at all.

The Constitution will be a relic, tossed on the same trash heap as the Bible. The notion of God-given rights will be replaced by government control, and privacy rights will have crumbled along with Fourth Amendment guarantees that protect us from warrantless searches of home, possessions and self.

“Police State USA” chronicles how America has arrived at the point of being a de facto police state, and explains what led to an out-of-control government that increasingly ignores the Constitution and exploits 9/11 security fears to justify spying on its citizens. Stunning new surveillance technology now makes it easier to keep tabs on people. The acquisition by police departments of major battlefield equipment emboldens officials to strong-arm those they should be protecting. The failure of the news media to report government violations of citizens’ rights sets the stage for this slippery slope.

That attitude doesn't seem too far removed from that of the Millers. TPM reports that a sheriff's deputy said of the Millers: "We believe they equate government and law enforcement with fascism and those that support with Nazis. ... They believe that law enforcement is the oppressor and they are associated with the Nazi movement."

Yet despite the obvious overlap in interests, there's virtually nothing about the Millers on the WND website. They're mentioned in only two places on WND, and both link to articles elsewhere and are not original WND reporting.

That, however, is two more mentions at WND than that of Brent Douglas Cole, who shot a California highway patrolman and a Bureau of Land Management ranger on June 14. You may recall that WND was an enthusiastic backer of Cliven Bundy in his standoff with the BLM over his decades of refusal to pay grazing fees.

Cole is a huge conspiracy theorist, embracing such WND-endorsed concepts as birtherism and the sovereign citizen movement. But since Cole is even closer to WND's far-right agenda then the Millers were, look for WND to do everything possible to avoid acknowledging his existence.