The Nieves Incident vs. The Carnahan Incident

KMOX reported today that police are wrapping up their investigation of State Representative Brian Nieves:

The Washington, Missouri police department has completed its investigation into the alleged assault by State Representative Brian Nieves involving the campaign manager of a political rival.

Washington Missouri Police chief Ken Hahn says the final report has been forwarded to the Franklin County prosecutor for possible charges. Hahn declined to comment on the report’s findings.

Now, naturally, it's fair to say that Nieves is suspected of assault based on the allegations by Bell. However, it would be completely irresponsible, at this point, to say that Nieves assaulted Bell. Why? Because as of yet, we don't have the facts to make that decision. The police are assembling the evidence, and they will make a decision once they're done.

Similarly, in the case where a former campaign worker is/was suspected of firebombing Carnahan's office but then released because of a lack of evidence, it is irresponsible to claim that the person did the firebombing. Why? Because as of yet, we don't have the facts to make that decision. In fact, in this case, the police picked up the suspect the night of the incident, but still couldn't find evidence that connected him to the crime and so had to release him.

As I mentioned previously, no blogger or member of the media ever accused the tea party of committing the firebombing. As far as I know, no blogger or member of the media ever said that Nieves assaulted Bell. However, numerous bloggers and public figures, from Jim Gateway Pundit Hoft, to Adam Sharp, to Lt. Governor Peter Kinder, to Mark Reardon, are saying that the suspect is guilty despite the fact that no charges have even been filed (let alone tried in court). In other words, they are about to spend the next several days accusing reporters of "bias" and "irresponsible journalism" despite the fact that no one has behaved nearly as irresponsibly as they have on this issue.