Channon Christian and Chris Newsom
Channon Christian and Chris Newsom

Christian - Newsom Murders - Early Reports Censor Race

by Lewis Loflin

While the national press went into a racial frenzy over the Duke Lacrosse rape trials and Don Imus' politically incorrect comments on the Rutgers ladies basketball team, the details of race and the events surrounding the Channon Christian - Chris Newsom murders were virtually censored until accusations of racial bias with the press. There was an ugly firestorm among bloggers as to why this got no press, but James Byrd, Matthew Shepard, etc. were constantly thrown in the face of every straight white person.

Most contend if the races were reversed and the victims were black and a gang of five whites committed this atrocity, there would be marches in the streets. No doubt All Sharpton and Jesse Jackson would be conducting interviews from the courthouse stairs. Look at the frenzy surrounding the Trayvon Martin shooting in the press.

The couple was carjacked, gang raped, and tortured by a gang of feral blacks January 26, 2007. Because of this near silence on the part of the press and the hesitation of Knoxville authorities to disclose vital details of the case, wild speculation was the order of the day. Typical is the following:

Do you know who James Byrd is? The National media were all over that story, 3 White guys kill a Black man by dragging him from behind a pick up truck. White on Black crime sells. Where was the National media when 4 Black men (if that is what you want to call them) car-jacked the car Channon & Chris were driving in.

But instead of just stealing the car it was fun time in the hood for these subhumans. They took the two to a home and raped and beat booth of them. Now ladies think about this; you are held down by a large Black man and he penetrates you and beats you, but not just 1 Black man 4 Black men over a period of 2 days. You are their sex slave and punching bag. Also they force you to drink household cleaners to help hide their DNA. Now how do you think their DNA got into your belly? They force you watch as your boyfriend is gang raped, prison style.

Then they shoot him, some say they cut off his male member then set him on fire. Again where is the National media in all this? They are silent when perpetrators are Black and the victims are White. If 4 White men would have done this to a Black man and his girlfriend, wow the National media would have a field day with this. Jessie and Al would have marches and then everyone would say racism played a role.

Now let's compare the typical sample press reports below and think back to James Byrd, Duke Lacrosse, Imus, etc. and we see why there is so much anger. Local press pictures in Knoxville revealed the race of those involved, and carjacking being an almost 100 percent black crime was another clue, but was sanitized from the AP reports that few outside Knoxville thought was worth their time.

This finally got into the national press when a hand full of white racists exploited the issue by staging a rally met by near violence by local liberals. That appeared on CNN, etc. and whites were made out as racists by the press for even bringing the issue up. That was what the press wanted. I'll let the two AP reports below stand for themselves.

February 11, 2007 "(AP) Judge orders federal charges dropped in carjacking, slaying"

Knoxville, Tenn. Federal charges have been dropped against three suspects in the fatal carjacking of a young Knoxville couple so prosecutors can concentrate on more serious state counts against them. Prosecutors filed a request to dismiss federal carjacking charges against brothers Lemaricus Davidson, 25, and Letalvis Cobbins, 24, and an accessory charge against George Thomas, 24.

Those charges were the first filed against the suspects after their capture in Knoxville and Lebanon, Ky. All three since have been named in a 46-count Knox County indictment charging them with premeditated murder, robbery, kidnapping, rape and...theft in the January deaths of Channon Christian, 21, and her boyfriend, Christopher Newsom, 23. The murder counts can carry the death penalty on conviction.

U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan approved on Friday a request by the U.S. Attorney's Office to drop the carjacking charges. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Jennings said at a hearing Thursday before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Bruce Guyton that authorities intended to seek dismissal of federal charges because they believe the suspects should stand trial on the more serious first-degree murder charges.

A federal accessory to carjacking charge will remain against Eric Boyd, 34, since he is not charged in the Knox County indictment. Boyd, who faces trial in federal court in July, could receive up to 15 years if convicted. A fifth suspect, Vanessa Coleman, 18, was named in 40 of the 46 state counts, which include legal variations on some of the same crimes. Coleman, previously identified in court records as a witness, was Cobbins' girlfriend.


4th Arrest in Tennessee Couple's Slaying

Jan 12 2007 By DUNCAN MANSFIELD Associated Press Writer

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A fourth person was arrested Friday in connection with the killing of a young man, whose burned corpse was found dumped along railroad tracks, and the death of his date, who was kept alive for days and raped, authorities said. All four suspects were being held on federal charges, Knoxville police spokesman Darrell DeBusk said. Two were arrested in Knoxville and the other two in Lebanon, Ky. The victims, Christopher Newsom, 23, and Channon Christian, a 21-year- old University of Tennessee student, were last seen Saturday night while on a date.

The two had been at a friend's apartment and had left to get something to eat, with the plan of then going to another friend's home to watch movies. They never arrived. Newsom's body was found the next day. He had been shot and his body set on fire along a rail line, Chief Deputy U.S. Marshal Rich Knighten said. His girlfriend's vehicle was found nearby. "The second victim, they kept her for a couple of days and brutally raped and sexually assaulted her," Knighten told The Associated Press in an interview from Louisville. "Then they killed her and dumped her body."

The suspects were arrested Thursday and Friday. Eric DeWayne Boyd, 34, arrested in Knoxville Thursday night, was charged with being an accessory after the fact in a carjacking, DeBusk said. Lemaricus Davidson, 25, arrested at an empty house in Knoxville the same day, was charged with federal counts of carjacking, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and use of a firearm in a crime of violence, DeBusk said.

Davidson had been released in August from a Tennessee prison after serving five years for carjacking and aggravated robbery. The other two suspects - George Geovonni Thomas, 27, and Davidson's brother, Letalvis Cobbins, 24 - were arrested during in a raid on a house in Lebanon, Ky., about 180 miles north of Knoxville.

Thomas was charged with being an accessory after the fact in a carjacking and Cobbins was charged with being a convicted felon in possession of ammunition, DeBusk said. Court papers said Cobbins' fingerprints were found on a firearm magazine containing two rounds of 9mm ammunition. He had been convicted in 2003 in New York state of third-degree attempted robbery. Thomas and Cobbins were to appear before a federal magistrate in Louisville late Friday. Authorities declined to release further information, citing the ongoing investigation.

The victims' families asked for privacy. "The Newsom family has suffered a tremendous and tragic loss because of the apparent murder of their beloved son, Chris," Newsom family attorney James A.H. Bell said. The Christian family thanking the community "for all their prayers and everything that has been done during this time." "We have lost someone who was very beautiful and loving," the family said in a statement. "We are grateful for the outpouring of help that this community has given us and would not be able to get through this without you."



In January 2007 five blacks most convicted felons carjacked and murdered a white Knoxville couple. This came at a time of hysterical press coverage over Duke Lacrosse lynching. Rage exploded over press refusal to cover the Knoxville killings. The press claimed concern over the Knoxville killing was racism and white supremacy.

The press has created a hysterical circus when three white men were wrongly accused of raping a black prostitute. Yet virtually nothing on the brutal Knoxville carjacking, rape, and murder to two white kids. Even my local paper the Bristol Herald Courier wouldn't cover the killings 90 miles away while running reports on nonsense across the country. They were angry when I called them on it. They started carrying the reports.

Regardless of the level of violence inflicted on the white victims the five members of the gang dodged the death penalty they deserved.

Controversy over drug use by the trial judge led to call for new trials. This was rejected.