I whole heartedly agree about the use of sympathetic descriptives. Ms Flores is frequently referred to as both a Christian and a grandmother. Both those descriptives are meant to gain sympathy, but descriptives used this way are often deceptive. We have no idea what kind of person she is just because she claims the titles “Christian” and “grandmother”. Before anyone claims “straw man” at me, I’m not claiming Ms Flores is like these examples - I’m saying these examples exist. So, while a term may give you a mental picture of a person, it may not be the right one.
I just wrote in this parallel thread, how the Christian Science Monitor wrote (in the very first line of an on-line article) an untrue descriptive about a victim. They were also seeking sympathy, and that weakened their story in my eyes - a real shame because I agree that attack was awful. Bloating a story to gain sympathy may work, but it’s an underhanded tactic.
Here’s what the first line of this article says:
Mary Anne Grady Flores, a grandmother from New York State, was sentenced to a year in prison for nonviolently recording a likewise nonviolent protest over the training of drone pilots at Hancock Air Base near Syracuse.
More truthfully, it should say this:
Mary Anne Grady Flores was sentenced to a year in prison for breaking an Order of Protection while recording a non-violent protest over the training of drone pilots at Hancock Air Base near Syracuse.
Note: If I was feeling snarky, I would’ve said, “non-violent (but still illegal by fire code) protest.” after all, I included the fact that it was non-violent.
Here’s an article that has a photo of how the protestors stand. They fully block the road leading to the gates with themselves and signage. This article notes that the 2013 acquittal was the first such acquittal since people had begun protesting in this fashion in 2009. Ms Flores, in her closing argument, was referring to the one time five protestors (a small group) were let go, and that group had no OoP against them. Legally they could be at the base, just not blocking the gates. Ms Flores was ultimately tried on different charges and is blurring the issue.
It was a jury trial,with a six member jury. They found her guilty.
