West Indian American Carnival Slandered Over Brooklyn Shootings

A New York cop with carnival revelers on Labor Day, Sept. 7, 2015.

News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Weds. Sept. 9, 2015: The West Indian American Day Carnival that occurred between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Monday September 7, 2015 was incident free but you won’t read that in any main stream media. Instead, a number of shootings that occurred in Brooklyn hours before the start of the Carnival have suddenly been falsely linked to the Caribbean cultural event, a move that is damaging to the brand, Caribbean culture and Caribbean Americans.

The New York Times and the Associated Press both led the pack with slanderous headlines that are damaging to the West Indian American Day Carnival and the Caribbean American community after an attorney to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was among several shot in the pre-dawn hours of Monday in Brooklyn.

The AP report, picked up by news organizations around the world including, Yahoo News and US News and World Report, erroneously reported: “New York’s West Indian Day Parade Turns Violent.”

Other news outlets who subscribe to the AP rewrote their headline to match. “1 Killed At New York’s West Indian Day Parade, Governor’s Aide Shot,” screamed WSPA.com while carrying the AP story.

The New York Times took it further as its headline shrieked: “Cuomo Administration Lawyer Is Shot in Head Before West Indian Day Parade” while opening with an erroneous lead.

“The revelers were crowded onto Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn partaking in the annual West Indian American Day celebration early on Monday when the bullets began to fly in all directions,” the writer, Michael Schwirtz falsely wrote.

The annual West Indian American Day parade route is on Eastern Parkway between Howard Avenue and Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn, NY.

The writer further saw fit to add that “The parade has been a source of headaches for the Police Department and often generates grumbling from officers on patrol.”

NBC News carried the headline: “West Indian Day Parade Again Marred by Violence” even though the shootings and a fatal stabbing did not occur at the parade.

There were no reported incidents at the parade, which drew over two million to Eastern Parkway and the violence that occurred before the parade was unrelated despite the reports in the mainstream press.

The Observer News, taking the lead of the AP, tied the Brooklyn gang violence early Monday morning to the annual West Indian Day Parade, even though the shooting and stabbing occurred at J-Ouvert, an event not organized by the Carnival Association and where two gangs and not J’Ouvert revelers had reportedly exchanged gunfire.

“The parade, which brings thousands to Brooklyn’s Eastern Parkway and is regarded as the signature celebration of the city’s growing Caribbean community, has been marred by bloodshed before. Last year, a recent parolee opened fire into a crowd of revelers, killing one man and wounding several others. In 2013, a 1-year-old boy sitting in his stroller was killed by a bullet meant for his father,” wrote the Observer.

Newsday was less damaging but still used its headline to link the pre-dawn shooting of Gov. Cuomo’s attorney, Jamaican-born Carey Gabay and others early Monday to the West Indian American Day Carnival Parade.

Gabay walking with his brother near the J’Ouvert festivities at 3:40 a.m. when he was caught in the crossfire between two gangs, according to police officials. The annual West Indian American parade kicked off at 11 a.m. on Eastern Parkway and is unrelated to other Caribbean parties that occur in Brooklyn on Labor Day weekend.