Surveillance cameras in Queens, New York, captured a man hurling a Molotov cocktail at a Jehovah's Witness building on Wednesday night. Police say it was one of two attacks on houses of worship that evening — and that the suspect was linked to a third incident as well.
The suspect is Yogesh Sayrange, a 36-year-old Guyanese citizen whose childhood arrival protection had expired, making him unauthorized to be in the country. He targeted at least two churches in Queens: the Iglesia Bautista El Mesias in Ozone Park and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses in Woodhaven. Prosecutors believe Sayrange was responsible for a total of seven incidents in what they described as a disturbing spree.
Sayrange has since been arrested and is being held without bail.
Prosecutors described Sayrange as "a twisted Queens firebug" who was "busted for allegedly hurling Molotov cocktails at two Queens churches late Wednesday — part of what prosecutors believe was a disturbing seven-incident spree."
Seven incidents. Two churches confirmed as targets. Molotov cocktails — not vandalism, not graffiti, but actual incendiary devices thrown at buildings where people gather to worship.
Now run the test we all already know the answer to. If someone had thrown Molotov cocktails at two mosques in Queens on the same night, and prosecutors said it was part of a seven-incident spree, how many networks would have covered it? All of them. Before breakfast. With a chyron reading "HATE CRIME CRISIS" and a panel of experts by noon.
Churches get firebombed and it's treated like a local crime blotter item. One network covers it. The rest apparently had more pressing matters.
The media's defense would probably be that the story was still developing, that local affiliates had it, that national coverage takes time. Except we've all watched the same networks break into programming for far less when the target fit a preferred narrative. Speed has never been the issue. Priority is.
Sayrange's immigration status adds another layer the coverage would rather skip. His childhood arrival protection expired. He was in the country without authorization. He allegedly went on a firebombing spree targeting houses of worship. In a functioning media environment, that combination of facts would generate days of coverage and at least one congressional hearing.
Instead, one anchor on one network gave it a segment because the real story was that nobody else thought churches being firebombed in America's largest city was worth mentioning to their viewers.
Two churches. Seven incidents. One network.
That ratio tells you more about the media than any study ever could.
