Western Australian teachers, nurses, police officers, cleaners and public servants have been offered a six per cent wage rise over the next two years as a buffer to rising inflation.
The Western Australia government has increased its pay offer for 150,000 workers to three per cent annually for the next two years, along with an additional $2,500 cost of living payment.
Premier Mark McGowan said the move was in response to peaking inflation and would cost the budget an extra $634 million over the next four years.
“Given the current economic climate we’ve listened and reviewed our wages policy,” he wrote on social media on Sunday.
“This is a reasonable and generous policy, but also responsible in these volatile economic times.”
The changes will immediately flow through to industries that have already accepted the government’s previous 2.75 per cent pay increase offer, including teachers and public hospital doctors.
Some workers’ wages will be increased more than the three per cent annual rate, with a patient care assistant who earns just over $55,000 a year set to effectively get a 7.5 per cent wage rise over the first year.
Perth’s consumer price index jumped 1.7 per cent in the June quarter, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, pushing its annual inflation rate well above the national average to 7.4 per cent.
Health workers and other WA public servants were lobbying for a pay rise above 2.75 per cent, with some holding stop-work meetings outside Perth hospitals in recent weeks.
The McGowan government banked a $5.7 billion surplus in this year’s state budget, which included a one-off $400 electricity credit for every household.
Former President Donald Trump apologized to Sen. Ted Cruz for insulting his wife’s looks of him, suggesting his father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, and questioning whether the Texas Republican could legally run for president if he was born in Canada, according to a forthcoming book by Paul Manafort.
“On his own initiative, Trump did apologize for saying some of the things he said about Cruz, which was unusual for Trump,” the 45th president’s onetime campaign chairman writes, according to the Guardian.
During the bruising 2016 Republican primary race, Trump called Heidi Cruz “ugly,” suggested Ted’s father, Rafael, had ties to Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, publicly cast doubt on Cruz’s eligibility to run for president and bestowed the nickname “Lyin’ Ted ”upon the senator.
Former President Donald Trump apologized to Sen. Ted Cruz for comments he made during the 2016 election regarding his wife and father of him.AP Photo/Paul Sancya, FileDonald Trump apologized to Ted Cruz for insulting his wife’s looks and suggesting his father was involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy.Angela Major/The Janesville Gazette via AP
According to Manafort, the real estate tycoon approached Cruz prior to the Republican National Convention that July to secure the Texan’s endorsement.
Cruz, who had finished runner-up to Trump in the nominating contest, responded to the overture by saying he would work with Trump but not endorse him “because his supporters didn’t want him to.”
“It was a forced justification for someone who is normally very logical. Trump didn’t buy it,” Manafort reportedly writes.
Manafort resigned as Trump campaign chair that August after news reports detailed under-the-table payments he received.AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File
Despite Cruz’s cool reception, the author goes on, Trump apologized and told his rival that he “considered him an ally, not an enemy, and that he believed they could work together when Trump was president.”
Cruz notably did not endorse Trump in his convention remarks, outraging the delegates and leading his wife being escorted out of the hall over fears for her safety.
During Cruz’s remarks, Manafort recalls, Trump groused, “This is bulls–t” and walked to the back of the arena, “effectively pulling the attention away from Cruz and undercutting his speech.”
Cruz notably did not endorse Trump in his convention remarks, outraging the delegates and leading his wife being escorted out of the hall over fears for her safety.AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, FilDuring the bruising 2016 Republican primary race, Trump called Heidi Cruz “ugly” and suggested Ted’s father, Rafael, had ties to Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald.AP Photo/Seth Wenig
Cruz was initially upset by Trump’s display of petulance.
“It took months to bring that relationship back,” Manafort writes. “But eventually Cruz came around to support Trump, and Trump harbored no ill will.”
Manafort, now 73, resigned as Trump campaign chair that August after news reports detailed under-the-table payments he received for lobbying work on behalf of Ukraine’s pro-Moscow president, Viktor Yanukovych.
Ultimately, Manafort was sentenced to seven years in prison for tax fraud and other crimes related to his work in Ukraine — charges that emerged from special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. Trump pardoned Manafort in December 2020.
Manafort’s book, “Political Prisoner: Persecuted, Prosecuted, but Not Silenced,” is due out Aug. 16.
California’s Redwood National Park issued a statement last week that anyone who is caught near the tree can face up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
The tree, which is deep in the park and has no trails leading to it, has faced serious environmental degradation from thrill-seekers who have visited since 2006, when it was found by a pair of naturalists.
The coast redwood (sequoia sempervirens) tree is 115.92 meters (380 feet) tall and its name is derived from Greek mythology — Hyperion was one of the Titans and the father of sun god Helios and moon goddess Selene.
Hyperion’s trunk diameter is 4.84 meters (13 feet).
Stephen Moehle/Shutterstock
“Hyperion is located off trail through dense vegetation and requires heavy ‘bushwhacking’ in order to reach the tree,” reads a statement on the national park’s website.
“Despite the difficult journey, increased popularity due to bloggers, travel writers, and websites of this off-trail tree has resulted in the devastation of the habitat surrounding Hyperion,” the statement says. “As a visitor, you must decide if you will be part of the preservation of this unique landscape – or will you be part of its destruction?”
Leonel Arguello, the park’s Chief of Natural Resources, told news site San Francisco Gate that the area has limited cellphone and GPS service, which means it can be very challenging to rescue any lost or injured hikers in the area.
In addition to erosion and damage caused at the base of the tree, there are secondary issues that come from an influx of people.
“There was trash, and people were creating even more side trails to use the bathroom. They leave used toilet paper and human waste — it’s not a good thing,” Arguello said.
Human visitors are not the only risk to these giant trees.
Wildfires are a growing concern throughout California’s national parks.
In 2021, officials at Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks took extreme measures to protect some of the world’s biggest trees from fire.
The risky WA roads motorists fear the most have been revealed, with Farrall Road in Midvale — the scene of a horrific accident where a 15-year-old boy was killed as he waited to cross the road with his friends — topping the list.
The road where Kayden McPhee was struck by a drunk driver in 2018 was identified as the city’s most dangerous by respondents to an RAC survey.
Kayden McPhee. Credit: Supplied by family/SUPPLIED
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The 48-year-old driver Biju Paulose pleaded guilty to a string of charges, including unlawfully killing Kayden, dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm under the influence of alcohol and failing to stop to render assistance.
Kayden was taken to hospital but died nine days later from head injuries after his family made the decision to switch off his life support. His 16-year-old friend of him suffered life-threatening injuries and a 12-year-old was lucky to escape unscathed.
Orton Road, Byford, the scene of another fatal smash in 2020, also made the list for its poor road surface quality and lack of traffic separation.
A 26-year-old man was killed when an Acco rubbish truck collided with the Holden Commodore sedan he was driving near the intersection of Orton and Hopkinson Roads.
Farral Road. Credit: Stewart Allen/RAC
At the time, it was the second crash at the same intersection in two weeks, with locals labeling it a “death trap” on social media.
The RAC survey received more than 10,000 nominations from residents identifying streets and intersections in desperate need of safety upgrades.
Mitchell Freeway. Credit: Stewart Allen/RAC
RAC General Manager External Relations Will Golsby said the survey shone a spotlight on safety issues that were often overlooked.
“Driving or cycling to work shouldn’t be a stressful or dangerous experience, but unfortunately that’s the reality for many in Perth,” he said.
“This survey result shows there’s an urgent need for safety treatments across metropolitan Perth.
Neaves Road. Credit: Stewart Allen/RAC
“There are some great opportunities for low-cost intersection upgrades and better walking and cycling paths.”
Other city roads to appear in the top 10 risky roads include Mitchell Freeway southbound in West Perth, the scene of a smash in December last year that killed one person, injured two others, and led to hours of gridlock.
Respondents also slammed the confusing layout of the Canning Highway interchange on Kwinana Freeway southbound.
The regional road considered WA’s riskiest was the stretch of South Western Highway between Bunbury and Walpole — also picked up in a previous survey — criticized for its narrowness, tight curves and blind crests and lack of overtaking opportunities.
The intersection of Marmion Avenue and Seacrest Drive in the beachside suburb of Sorrento topped the list of Perth’s riskiest road junctions, with residents calling for traffic lights or a roundabout.
Marmion Avenue and Seacrest Drive. Credit: Stewart Allen/RAC
An intersection in Albany, between Albany Highway and South Coast Highway was named worst in the regions.
Mr Golsby said the RAC would work with government and road safety agencies to find solutions to ultimately reduce the impact of road trauma.
“Someone is killed or seriously injured on our roads every five hours,” he said.
“That’s why the feedback from this campaign is so important – it will continue to amplify our calls for safer roads across Perth.”
Road Safety Commission figures show there have been 80 deaths on WA roads in the past 12 months.
The teen who stabbed a 15-year-old girl to death as she walked home from school on the NSW Central Coast has walked free nearly 17 years after her murder.
Tania Burgess was stabbed 48 times after she hopped off a school bus and walked through the car park of Forresters Beach Resort on July 19, 2005.
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Now Tania’s family are calling for the identity of their daughter’s killer to be revealed to the public.
The convicted murderer, known to the public only as “DL”, has been in custody since he was 16, and because the offense occurred when he was a minor he cannot be named for legal reasons.
With the killer now aged 32, Tania’s parents believe the suppression of her killer’s name should be lifted in the interest of “public safety”.
Tania’s parents Mandy and Chris Burgess told Sunrise last month they felt frustrated that her killer was to get a second chance at life.
“I felt anger and helplessness because it’s really like riding as a backseat passenger in a car for the last 17 years,” Mandy said.
Tania Burgess was stabbed 48 times after she hopped off a school bus in 2005. Credit: 7NEWSThe convicted murderer, known only as ‘DL’, has been in custody since he was 16. Credit: 7NEWS
“We had this most beautiful 15-year-old daughter, and she was taken away from us and now he gets to have his life back.
“He gets to have a second chance at life, and we can’t do that for Tania.
“She’s not going to get a second chance at life.”
The devastated parents admit they felt “a lot of anger” when seeing their daughter’s killer again in court.
“I was just such a hard thing to do, to see his face again,” Mandy said.
Mandy and Chris have also met with a handful of ministers to discuss the suppression order.
“They’re all very much all about releasing the name because it gives accountability for their crimes,” Chris said.
“And it’s not like they stole a car, they did something significantly more serious, so they should be accountable for their crimes, not just able to hide behind anonymity. “
Tania’s family are calling for an end to the suppression of her murderer’s identity. Credit: 7NEWS
DL was convicted back in 2005 by a jury and was jailed for at least 17 years, with a maximum term of 22 years.
This was reduced on appeal by four years in 2018, meaning he has been eligible for parole since mid-2018.
During a hearing, Justice James Wood accepted the expert advice from the Serious Offenders Review Council that strongly advised DL should be released with supervision before his full-time sentence expired.
“The priority is now supervision to foster his reintegration and the protection of the public,” the council report stated.
DL must provide authorities daily notifications of all his movements and undergo treatment by a forensic psychologist, along with other strict conditions.
West Aussies are being told to brace for a second cold front with swell heights forecast to hit a two-year record and up to 51mm of rain falling in the wettest part of the State.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for the southern part of WA, including the regions surrounding Perth, Mandurah the South West, Katanning, Manjimup, Merredin, Mount Barker and Northam.
Heavy rains and damaging wind likes are being forecast — and it isn’t expected to subside for at least another two days.
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“A second front will move across the coast later this week, prolonging the severe weather conditions in WA through to Wednesday,” the Bureau said.
Perth has been smashed by heavy rains and wild winds. Credit: ross swanborough/The West Australian
By 5pm Monday, State Emergency Services volunteers had been bombarded with calls from distressed residents struggling with leaking roofs and flooding.
Walpole, in the State’s South West, was the wettest region of WA with a whopping 51mm of rain in the gauge over the past two days.
In Perth, the hills suburb of Bickley received the most rain on Monday, recording 30.6mm by 6pm.
Roads were waterlogged in the Perth CBD on Monday. Credit: ross swanborough/The West Australian
The coast also got a battering, with 22.2mm falling in the Swanbourne rain gauge and 89km/h wind gusts recorded at 4.12pm.
Wind gusts have been relentless across WA with 90km to 100km winds recorded at Cape Naturaliste, while Geraldton Airport recorded 87km/h winds.
And while surfers are being told to stay away from the water during the weather warning, the swell is rapidly rising.
Huge swell is being forecast for the Perth coast this week. Credit: matt jelonek/The West Australian
On Rottnest Island, an enormous swell height of 9.5m is being forecast — the biggest in more than two years — and monster wave heights are expected in other areas too.
“Significant wave heights exceeding 7 meters are expected in exposed locations. Waves will arrive from West to South Westerly directions,” the Bureau said.
The wild weather has prompted the RSPCA to issue a warning to pet owners to comfort their animals.
Commuters were hit by wet conditions on Monday. Credit: ross swanborough/The West Australian
“The winter months can put pets at risk, but luckily there are simple steps we can take to prepare, and make sure our animals stay warm and protected from the wind, rain and cold,” she said.
“Cold and wet weather conditions bring a new influence of cruelty reports to our Inspectorate.
“Last winter, RSPCA WA received over 1500 reports, with common issues being insufficient food, water and shelter, abandonment, and animals in need of vet treatment.
“Protecting your pet this winter could be as simple as providing some extra bedding, food, and somewhere warm and dry for them to escape.”
PERTH WEATHER FORECAST
monday – 20C – Showers, possible afternoon storm, 15-20mm
American woman living in Sydney is left baffled by the seemingly obvious action Aussies use to park a car – and she can’t believe we do it every time
US woman living in Sydney said she never puts on her car’s handbrake
She asked if other Americans did, noticing that most Aussies used the brake
TikTok commenters came out in force asking how she got her driver’s license
While others were amazed,’the car literally rolls away if we don’t use the brake’
By Jade Hobman For Daily Mail Australia
Published: | Updated:
A US woman living in Australia has revealed she never puts the handbrake on when she parks her car.
The American driver known as Brit made the surprising claim in a now viral TikTok, and admitted she was shocked Sydney motorists relied on the brake so heavily.
‘If you’re American, do you use the parking brake when you drive? Or when you park, I suppose?’ she said in the video.
‘Because I’ve never used one in my entire life. But I think everyone uses them in Australia.
The American driver known as Brit made the surprising claim in a now viral TikTok, and admitted she was shocked Sydney motorists relied on the brake so heavily
‘And my boyfriend asks me to drive and I have to look at it and say ”Is it on? I don’t know”.’
She captioned the video: ‘They’re so safe here I love it’ but copped an onslaught of criticism from fellow TikTokkers.
‘How did you get a license to drive here? Handbrake use is in the driving test, you either get ticked or failed on it,’ one commenter said.
‘The car literally rolls away if we don’t,’ said another.
‘Yeah if you want to find your car where you left it,’ someone added.
Another said they were ‘flabbergasted’ every time they heard an American person say they don’t use a handbrake.
Brit later clarified that cars ‘are not just rolling away’ in the US, and said the parking brake was only used if the driver stopped on a hill.
She added once the car is put in park, it didn’t need the handbrake on.
‘When you put it in park, you can lean on it, you can push it, it doesn’t roll anywhere,’ she said in another video.
‘We don’t need to put the parking brake on unless you’re on a really steep hill – that’s what we’re taught.’
But many were still unconvinced.
‘Using the park break not only is a failsafe it’s to take away stress and strain from your gearbox/transmission,’ one commented.
‘My sister literally got run over by her own car. It was parked without the hand brake on,’ said another.
‘Using the park break not only is a failsafe it’s to take away stress and strain from your gearbox/transmission,’ the man wrote on her TikTok post
Beer drinkers are being warned pubs could soon slug $15 for a pint after the biggest tax hike in more than 30 years, with the cost of a slab also going up.
Twice-yearly indexation happens on February 1 and August 1, and the latest was a record increase of about 4 per cent, Brewers Association of Australia chief executive John Preston said, making us the world’s fourth highest beer-taxing nation behind Japan, Norway and Finnish.
Mr Preston said $15 for a pint of regular, non-craft, full-strength beer was on its way, with prices in WA pubs already “up there”.
“That’s where we’re heading,” he told The West Australian.
The tax on a carton was about $18 and was set to rise by about 80 cents, he said.
“Whether you drink at home or whether you drink in the pub, you’re going to get slugged.”
Mr Preston said the industry had asked the Federal Government to consider cutting the rate for draft beer on tap in the March budget given the tough times pubs had endured throughout the pandemic.
“In the end, they didn’t do it… we were really disappointed,” he said.
“It’s a big cost for pub owners and this was a way to give some targeted support to them as they tried to recover from the pandemic and deal with increased wage bills, increased electricity bills.”
Pub owners agreed they were copping it from all sides, with the excise hike on top of frequent increases for all other supplies.
They tend to resist jacking up beer prices, knowing the cost of a pint is the main measure by which punters judge their watering holes.
But third generation publish John Parker of The Royal, The Standard and Dandelion said the higher tax would have to be passed on to consumers, tipping $10 schooners and $14 pints.
Froth Craft Brewery co-owner and head brewer Tyler Little said the excise hike was inevitable. Credit: Ben Yew/TheWest
He described the hike as a “kick in the guts”.
“Beer has already gone up because of higher transport costs,” Mr Parker said.
“I can’t speak on behalf of other publicans but I’m pretty sure we won’t be absorbing the increase ourselves.
“Everybody has had it tough for the past few years but hospitality has been hit particularly hard.
“We’ve had lockdowns, forced closures, reduced trading capacity, mask mandates. We did what we were asked to do and it was tough – a lot of us lost money – but I stayed open as much as I could.
“I felt, being a publican, you’ve got a responsibility to be a place where people can come and still catch up. But then for them to increase the tax, it’s like ‘c’mon’.
“People have been locked away for so long. Give us a break.”
King Road Brewing Co head brewer Steve Wearing agreed.
“We’re facing pretty huge increases in our materials, transport costs and all of our servicing costs so we definitely have a great deal of other increasing costs at the minute to add to this hike,” Mr Wearing said.
“At the minute, we’re absorbing all these costs but it’s getting to the point where we are going to have to look at increasing our prices soon.
“We obviously avoid doing that as much as possible – we don’t want to put the price of beer up but we’ve got no choice.”
Froth Craft Brewery co-owner and head brewer Tyler Little said the excise hike was inevitable.
“But you just have to find creative ways to enrich your product and your brand because you can’t get away from tax increases,” he said.
“Every aspect of running a brewery is indefinitely going up. We increased our beer prices last year by $1 just because we saw our profit margins going down.
“You’re not going to run a very successful business if you’re going to take the brunt of increasing costs of things.”
A 3m piece of space junk from Elon Musk’s spacecraft has crashed into a farmer’s property in NSW at around 25,000km/h.
The object – which was part of the SpaceX Crew-1 craft – was found in a sheep paddock by a farmer living on a large property in the Snowy Mountains.
Farmer Mick Miners said he discovered the space junk, which resembled a tree from a distance, after his family heard a loud bang.
The bang was also reportedly heard by residents living in southern NSW, with some alleging they saw an explosion.
SpaceX has been in space for almost two years. Supplied Credit: NCA NewsWire
Neighboring farmer Jock Wallace also reported a similar foreign object that had been torpedoed into his land.
Luckily for both farmers, the space waste – which came from one of the craft’s fins – was located a fair way from their homes.
Upon investigation, Australian National University space expert Brad Tucker was called by authorities to inspect the object.
“This is most definitely space junk which was part of the SpaceX Crew-1 trunk,” he told Ben Fordham on radio on Monday.
“SpaceX has this capsule that takes humans into space, but there is a bottom part … so when the astronauts come back, they leave the bottom part in space before the capsule lands.”
Musk determined to be on Mars in five years.
Musk determined to be on Mars in five years.
The spacecraft, which costs $62m per launch, has started to deorbit after almost two years in space.
Mr Tucker said the craft was originally planned to break apart and land in the ocean.
“We saw most pieces land in the ocean, but clearly some hadn’t because this 3m piece was speared into the ground from space,” Mr Tucker said.
“In photographs of the debris, you can clearly see charring, which you would expect from re-entry (into the atmosphere). It is very rare to see because they don’t usually land on land but in the ocean. People often think they find small pieces of space junk, but they would burn up on re-entry, so it’s more likely to be large pieces like this.”
The spacecraft, which is a stainless steel rocket, was more than 50m tall.
SpaceX is an American aerospace company founded in 2002 by Mr Musk that helped usher in the era of commercial spaceflight.
Broward Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Richard Van Der Eems describes the scene he encountered at the school after the mass shooting as he testifies during the penalty phase trial of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz, Friday, July 22, at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. (Mike Stocker, South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Few Americans outside law enforcement and government ever see the most graphic videos or photos from the nation’s worst mass shootings — in most states, such evidence is only displayed at trial and most such killers die during or immediately after their attacks . They never make it to court.
That has made the penalty trial of Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz for his 2018 murder of 17 people at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School unusual.
As the worst US mass shooting to reach trial, the surveillance videos taken during his attack and the crime scene and autopsy photos that show its horrific aftermath are being seen by jurors on shielded video screens and, after each day’s court session, shown to a small group of journalists. But they are not shown in the gallery, where parents and spouses sit, or to the general public watching on TV.
Some online believe that should change — that to have an informed debate on gun violence, the public should see the carnage mass shooters like Cruz cause, often with high-velocity bullets fired from AR-15 semiautomatic rifles and similar weapons.
Others disagree. They say the public display of such videos and photos would add to the harm the victims’ families already endure and might entice some who are mentally disturbed to commit their own mass shooting. They believe such evidence should remain sealed.
Liz Dunning, a vice president at the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, doesn’t believe releasing such videos and photos would have the political impact some think. Polls show that most Americans already support stronger background checks for gun buyers and bans or restrictions on AR-15s and similar weapons, said Dunning, whose mother was murdered by a gunman.
“Public perception is not the issue,” Dunning said. “We should be asking more of the powerful.”
Since most of the worst US mass shooters were killed by themselves or police during or immediately after their attack, it is rare for anyone outside government to see such surveillance videos or police and autopsy photos. The public didn’t see such evidence after the Las Vegas shooting in 2017, Orlando in 2016, Sandy Hook in 2012, Virginia Tech in 2007 and others.
Medical Examiner Dr. Wendolyn Sneed describes the wounds of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School victims as she testifies in the penalty phase of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz’s trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, July 25 (Photo: Carline Jean, South Florida Sun-Sentinel via AP)
But Cruz, 23, fled after his shooting and was arrested an hour later. He pleaded guilty in October to 17 counts of his first-degree murder-his trial is only to determine if he is sentenced to death or life without parole. The videos and photos are part of the prosecution’s case.
Since the trial began July 18, everyone in the courtroom and watching on TV has seen and heard heartbreaking testimony from teachers and students who saw others die. They have heard the gunshots and screams as jurors watched cellphone videos.
But when graphic videos and photos are presented, those are not shown. Usually, they only hear medical examiners and police officers give emotionless descriptions of what the jury is seeing.
Then at the end of each day, a group of reporters reviews the photos and videos, but are only allowed to write descriptions. That was a compromise as some parents feared photos of their dead children would be posted online and wanted no media access.
Miami media attorney Thomas Julin said in Florida before the internet, any photos or other evidence presented at trial could be seen and copied by anyone. Newspapers didn’t print the most thick photos, so no one cared.
But in the mid-1990s as the internet boomed, Danny Rolling faced a death penalty trial for the serial murders of four University of Florida students and a community college student. The victims’ families argued that the publication of crime scene photos would cause them emotional harm. The judge ruled that anyone could view the photos, but no one could copy them. Such compromises have since become standard in Florida’s high-profile murder trials.
The surveillance video of the Stoneman Douglas shooting is silent. It shows Cruz moving methodically from floor-to-floor in a three-story classroom building, shooting down hallways and into classrooms. Victims fall. Cruz often stops and shoots them again before moving on.
The crime scene photos show the dead where they fell, sometimes on top of or next to each other, often in contorted shapes. Blood and sometimes brain matter are splattered on floors and walls.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooter Nikolas Cruz is led into the courtroom during the penalty phase of his trial at the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on Monday, July 25. (Photo: Carline Jean, South Florida Sun-Sentinel via P.A.)
The autopsy photos show the damage Cruz and his bullets did. Some victims have massive head wounds. One student had his elbow blown off, another had her shoulder blown open. Another of her had most of her forearm of her ripped away.
Yet, despite their grossness, Columbia University journalism professor Bruce Shapiro says most autopsy and crime scene photos wouldn’t have a lasting public impact because they don’t have context.
The photos and videos that have a strong effect on public opinion tell a story, said Shapiro, who runs the university’s think tank on how journalists should cover violence.
The photos of Emmett Till’s battered body lying in its coffin after the Black teenager was tortured and killed by Mississippi white supremacists in 1955. Mary Ann Vecchio screaming over Kent State student Jeffrey Miller’s body after he was shot by National Guard troops in 1970. Vietnamese child Phan Thi Kim Phuc running naked after being burned by a napalm bomb in 1972. The video of police officer Derek Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck until he’s dead in 2020.
“They work not just because they are graphic, but because they are powerful, stirring images,” Shapiro said.
And even if the graphic photos and videos were released, most major newspapers, wire services and television stations would be hesitant to use them. Their editors weigh whether the public benefit of seeing an image outweighs any prurient interest — and they usually pass.
That would leave most for only the most salacious websites. They would also become fodder for potential mass shooters, who frequently research past killers. cross did; testimony showed he spent the seven months before his attack making hundreds of computer searches about committing massacres.
“The images of the carnage will become part of their dark fantasy life,” Shapiro said.
