I would tell the Atlanta community we were duped. We were all duped. It's a bitter shame.
As of February 26th, 2012, O'Brien and GLAAD have yet to devote the same time, energy and zeal to updating this investigation. When hoards of White people first trumpeted this crime, they echoed Brandon White's claim that he did not know his assailants and had no prior contact with them. WGCL in Atlanta, GA reports that this is not true. Atlanta residents, disgusted by White's beating, investigated the attackers in hopes of aiding the pursuit of Justice. They uncovered evidence that produced an entirely different conclusion. They assert that Mr. White knew his attackers and this is not a "hate crime". The investigators argue that White had threatened to expose his attackers as being secret - "down low" - "homosexuals"; they contend that White possessed incriminating video - possibly sexual in nature - of the three attackers. The motivation for the assault was to recoup the video footage.
We hope additional, accurate information will be released. Violence against black and non-white people should never be condoned or minimized. If anyone has earned a beating, it's Racist Man and Racist Woman.
However, CNN, GLAAD and other major media outlets who enthusiastically amplified false information do not get a pass. CNN is a multimillion dollar conglomerate with its headquarters in Atlanta. They are trained and expected to double-check their information and verify sources. At minimum, they should dedicate an equal amount of time to updating this incident as new details surface - especially when new information refutes their original report.
As the White people at CNN and GLAAD have not done this, their entire involvement in this case is suspect. White people display a daily and global indifference to the suffering and tribulations of black people. The fact that they concerned themselves with a battered twenty year old black male is cause for alarm in and of itself.
As White people escalate their efforts to get increased numbers of dark people to accept homosexual behavior, non-white people should expect White people to manipulate and fabricate news reports to aid their homosexual, White Supremacist agenda. We should observe the glaring patterns in recent years. Isaiah Washington, Tracy Morgan, Kobe Bryant, Robert Mugabe and most recently Roland Martin. Black males from around the world castigated/castrated for opposing sexual deviance.
As with Proposition 8 in California, White Supremacists with rainbow paraphernalia and gay pride pins mercilessly assault black people who do not endorse "gay rights". Contrary to Racist rhetoric, gay is not the new black. It's 21st White Supremacy. Keep black people confused about gender, sexual activity, and what is in the best interest of black people for the next 500 years. There is no evidence that the acceptance of and/or participation in homosexual activity will be an improvement. It's contempt for gender and a centuries old tradition of Racist genital mutilation.
Let's not be duped, bamboozled again.