The most despicable news segment of 2021 (so far)

Strong “enemy of the people" energy.

Related highlights:

• Media angling for a repeat of last year's violence with their coverage of the Columbus shooting

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A Utah-based ABC News affiliate has produced what may be the most irresponsible and detestable news segment of 2021.

ABC4 Utah reports this week that a local paramedic donated a whole $10 to a defense fund set up for Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old Illinoisan who stands charged in the shooting deaths of two protesters last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

That’s it. That’s the entire story. A civil servant privately donated a mere $10 to Rittenhouse’s defense fund. There is nothing more to report.

It gets worse.

ABC4 Utah reported the donor’s name, their place of employment, and actually broadcast images of the paramedic's home during an evening newscast. The ABC affiliate did everything but paint a literal target on the donor’s back.

There’s no way around it: This was a doxxing.

ABC4 Utah even sent an investigative reporter to the paramedic’s home to confront the individual about the donation (the paramedic didn’t answer the door for all the obvious reasons). Naturally, the affiliate’s attempt at confrontation was captured on tape and included in the evening newscast.

Especially troubling is the fact ABC4 Utah knows about the $10 donation only because the crowdfunding website hosting Rittenhouse’s defense fund was hacked and donors' names were dumped online for the public to sift through. So, yes, the affiliate broadcast hacked personal information. There are times when public interest outweighs personal privacy. This was not one of them.

It’s not an exaggeration to say this is one of the more despicable recent examples of media malfeasance. Watch for yourself:

The lead reporter on the story, Jason Nguyen, has since deleted his social media account following angry pushback on the donation “news” segment.

What else can one say? We’ve entered some weird, Twilight Zone territory, where newsrooms have taken it upon themselves to police things as small as $10 donations, going as far as to name names and confront people in their homes.

“The news station wanted to put a bullseye on the paramedic’s back by letting Rittenhouse’s local critics know there’s a sympathizer in their midst, nothing more or less,” Hot Air’s Allahpundit rightly notes.

He adds, “They might as well have titled the segment ‘Sleep With One Eye Open.’ Which, I suppose, is the actual ‘public interest’ served in the minds of the people responsible for the report. They just put viewers on notice that if they donate to Rittenhouse, they might open the door one day to find a reporter on their doorstep too.”

Indeed, the subtext of the ABC affiliate's reporting seems clear: Be careful what you do with your money, what you believe, and what you think or else.