The AP Continues a False Lynching Narrative with Arrest of Second Suspect

Associated Press Lynching Canard

Rational people would expect that in the face of blatantly disqualifying details one would drop a preferred narrative. Apparent rationality is in short supply at the Associated Press. The news syndicate is back to pushing the fraudulent storyline of a woman “lynched” recently in Mississippi.

As the case of the death of Tasia Fortune continues, a second individual has been arrested for what authorities have concluded was her murder. 25-year-old Earnest Floyd Jr. was taken into custody, as police believe him to be the one who hanged Fortune, with three others also believed to be involved.

Already arrested was Jarques Ratliffe, and that kicked off the Associated Press veering down a path of journalism malpractice. After Ratliffe’s arrest the outlet put out a video that was filled with accusatory language that a lynching had occurred with Tasia’s death.

The AP was insisting this was the case, even as it listed Ratliff’s name, a clear indication it was aware of all of the facts in the case. But never mentioned, and never shown, was the fact that Ratliff’s race is that of a black man.

And the Associated Press is back at it with the arrest of Llloyd.

Police in Mississippi have arrested a second man in the death of a Black woman found hanging from a tree and have issued an arrest warrant for a third suspect. https://t.co/aK96HkkNmL

— The Associated Press (@AP) September 23, 2026

This time, in handing out the barest amount of earned credit, we have to acknowledge that the report does mention that Lloyd and Ratliffe are Black. And yet…the syndicate could refrain from bringing up its preferred subject matter regarding Fortune’s death.

Although police haven’t suggested a possible motive for the killing, the case has attracted widespread attention because the manner of death recalled lynchings in the Southern state.

Also in a photo caption was this rather contorted sample of logic:

The death of Tasia Fortune, a Black woman found hanging in Mississippi, stirred distressing memories of the grim U.S. history of lynchings. Jarques Ratcliff, who is also Black, has pleaded non-guilty to murder in the case.

This appears to be a desperate effort to retain the narrative, or to at least downplay the previously unacceptable approach to this case. Sure, the Associated Press mentions the suspects are Black, but this FEELS like a lynching to them! The manner of reporting seen now in the development of a second Black individual connected to this murder takes on the effect of saying, “Okay… but still…”

This insistence in clinging to this approach is made all the more unacceptable when you consider this is a news syndicate feeding numerous news outlets. Papers across the country that have shaved down their newsrooms are more likely to resort to cut-paste insertions of Associated Press wire reports, so this unacceptable crafting of a false news item is more pernicious.

The question now has to be, why? One does not need to be imbued too deeply with cynicism to cast an eye on the impending midterm election as a motivator. This false lynching storyline feeds into many of the tropes seen from one party. The Associated Press appears unbothered that it is seen clearly pushing a fraudulent news item.

This is an opinion piece. The views expressed in this article are those of just the author.

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