The Lynching of a Lodi Family

Everybody took at face value the veracity of an FBI affidavit and the most imaginative headlines started to come out of the editor's brains. The San Francisco Chronicle, northern California biggest paper, went along with the FBI version with astonishing words; quotes and statements: terror cell, training with al-Qaida, how to kill Americans, terrorism inquiry to spread, number of people committed to al-Qaida have been operating in and around Lodi, to carry out his jihadi mission, targets include hospitals and food stores, and could have poisoned the ice cream.

But later, The Lodi Terror Investigation, as the Chronicle put it, could not be sustained by its own merits and started to crumble down to became just a single count of making a false statement and a simple case of immigration violation.

Although the paper was careful in citing every quote and fact, it committed the mistake of falling into the sensationalist reporting. A terrorist cell in our backyard is a very appealing headline for today's American psychic. Just the word terror can sell a lots of things, a word that bring some kind of consensus, and now, a word that has become the media's green light to mud anybody's reputation.

We cannot assert that the desecration and public condemnation of this modest working family was premeditated, nevertheless the social insensitiveness shown by the media is extremely worrisome. Defense comments, neighbor's positive remarks, the human side of the story started to come out, three, four stories later. Pictures of bin-Laden were published next to the Lodi men. What does that tell you? What does a Lodi resident is thinking now of her Pakistani family next door?

What happens if the FBI puts out a press communiqué and the media releases it? Thousands and thousands of people will know about it. But what happens if the charges are unfunded, and some "facts" are later erased as the FBI did? Who will restore the reputation of the innocent people affected? Who will bring back together a divided community? Who will erase the bigotry stamped on Lodi's walls?

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