The FBI is racist

[Ming]

We have seen many, many, many examples of how racist the Trump administration is.
But the FBI has sunk to new lows.
When Charlie Kirk was killed, the FBI offered a $100,000 reward for information on the Killer(s)
But when four people were shot and killed at a birthday party, they offered only $50,000. The victims in Saturday's shooting were 8, 9, 14 and 21 years old. They were attending a birthday party for a 2-year-old, and attendees said the group was gathering around the cake when the gunshots began.
Oh, and it was black family.

$100,000 for one white guy, but only $12,500 per victim for black kids and one adult. And the total is half of what was offered for Kirk.

There are tons of examples on how the Republican party feels about non white Americans.
I'm sure you can all come up with a lot more.

[Dauphin]

I think a different reward here can be explained by how high profile the respective crimes were. Racist motivations may exist, but I wouldn't have jumped to that conclusion in the absence of other supporting evidence.

[Ming]

I disagree... Kirk was just some white guy who lead a group of right wing activists who just happen to support the President.
On the other hand, we have 4 black people murdered while being ambushed at a birthday party for a two year old.
4 people dead with three of them being children. That seems pretty high profile to me.
I guess it all depends on your priorities.
Maybe if it had been a Maga gathering...

[Ming]

The FBI offered a $50,000 reward for a suspect sought in the 2025 shootings of state lawmakers Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark. She was the the leader of the state House Democratic caucus. A high profile ELECTED OFFICIAL, but still just a Democrat. I bet it would have been higher if it had been a Republican.

[Geronimo]

it makes sense to offer rewards based on expected estimates of ROI with ROI measured in terms of convictions. that estimate could vary wildly based on a lot more than just racism. In any event racism is generally just another particular kind favoritism if we imagine it to make any sense in explaining the reward amount. it would make as much or more sense for the decision makers to favor solving the kirk case for any number of other incentives instead of racism.

[Ming]

Yeah... like Kirk was one of theirs, and nobody really cares about 4 black people

[Geronimo]

Yeah... like Kirk was one of theirs, and nobody really cares about 4 black people

solving a high profile case is good for their careers and solving the murder of 4 unknowns of any race is just another tally mark on their career records. if 8 white homeless guys were found dead in a shootout I can't imagine you'd be surprised if they also had a 50K reward. If a shooter killed Al Sharpton in public would you be surprised if the FBI offered the same reward as they did in Kirk's case? Explain why you are so confident that the deciding factor is racism.

[Ming]

If it was 4 white kids, their response would have been far different... just look at their history.

[pchang]

The entire justice system in the US has long demonstrated racism. You might recall the time when the punishment for killing and Asian man was a fine.

[Ming]

You can find many many examples of how little their care about people of color.

[Dauphin]

It's generally accepted that law enforcement skews racist. And I can believe there is plenty of evidence for the claim of racism against the institution en masse, but it you want to apply to the claim to a specific case, or specific case decisions, I'm not seeing convincing evidence based on what little is presented here.

[Dauphin]

I think Kirk is the upscale outlier, and a bad comparator. Kirk's death was global news. I'd have not heard about the other case unless I saw this thread, and I suspect few outside of the US would have reason to notice.

[Ming]

Yeah... why would anybody have a reason to notice 4 black kids shot at a birthday party