But, Mom. He started it!

I love it when someone starts a fire, then steps back and innocently says, “What happened?”

That fire is the shit storm that NBC6 “reporter” Willard Shepard caused in North Miami Beach with his National Enquirer-like “story” about NMBPD cops using mug shots of black men for target practice.

Without reporting both sides of the story, Willard not only unnecessarily created havoc for the North Miami Beach (and it’s unfortunately named neighbor to the south) Police Departments, he has also endangered the lives of the two police officers he served up as potential human sacrifices for nut jobs with a grudge against cops.

Journalism doesn’t get any more irresponsible than that!

Of course, this story went viral. How could it not? It has all the perfectly timed elements of the trendy anti-cop mantra du jour, with a heaping spoonful of “racism” on the side.

Despite the protestations of one Gianmarco Paranzino (@Gman_twbd), who claimed to be the “reporter’s” son, Willard Shepard knew exactly the kind of reaction this sensationalized “story” would receive. So he ran with it!

When I tweeted my first blog about this story on January 15, 2015, Gianmarco tweeted an accusation that I was playing the race card! I responded with:

@Gman_twbd @myNMBPolice @WillardNBC6 How did I play the race card! Did you see the teaser and @WillardNBC6 tweet?

— Stephanie Kienzle (@dwightyoakamfan) January 15, 2015

I had no idea who he was, but when he claimed to be Willard’s son, it was obvious he would defend his father’s story. Gianmarco then went on to tell me that his father served in the armed forces, which everyone already knows, to which I responded:

@Gman_twbd @myNMBPolice @WillardNBC6 oh now I get it. I know of your father’s service. That doesn’t make this story responsible.

— Stephanie Kienzle (@dwightyoakamfan) January 15, 2015

Then when I tweeted:

@myNMBPolice Hack Journalist @WillardNBC6 Playing race card! #NoShame #JournalismIsDead vhttp://wp.me/p20gv9-5R0 pic.twitter.com/UUDZIzLCqK — Stephanie Kienzle (@dwightyoakamfan) January 15, 2015

Willard’s son tweeted back:

His father didn’t “pull any ‘race’ card?” Oh, really? I guess the young Gianmarco Paranzino somehow missed his father’s race-baiting tweets when he first broke the “story:”

Police shoot photos of African American men at gun range. Chief says no profiling. WATCH: http://t.co/FgX8vmbJcq pic.twitter.com/sH8YzDFBk9

— Willard Shepard (@WillardNBC6) January 15, 2015

And:

Police shoot pics of African American men at gun range. Chief says no racial profiling. At 11. #humantargets @nbc6 pic.twitter.com/lnip2aMF82 — Willard Shepard (@WillardNBC6) January 16, 2015

In BOTH tweets, Willard used the words, “African American men.” If that’s not “pulling” the “race” card, I don’t know what is!

Mysteriously, Gianmarco’s Twitter page has now been deactivated.

In case Willard decides to delete his own race-baiting tweets for the purpose of plausible deniability, no worries. I took screen shots for posterity.