On Sunday morning, news broke that former NFL player and current Fox Sports NFL analyst Mark Sanchez had been stabbed in Indianapolis, where he was scheduled to call that day’s Colts vs Raiders game.
The story circulated quickly, and the prayers and well wishes that serenaded him across social media flowed even faster as fans and the media expressed their concerns over Sanchez’s condition.
But the entire situation seemed strange and the story felt incomplete.
A day prior, the case involving former LSU player Kyren Lacy resurfaced after his attorney presented newly discovered video evidence which showed Lacy’s vehicle being almost 100 yards behind the fatal crash that he was accused of causing in December 2024.
A crash he was vilified for, bullied mercilessly over and found guilty of in the court of public opinion, a verdict that ultimately led the 24-year-old Lacy to take his own life before his trial was set to begin.
Both situations are sad and involved more questions than answers.
Who was Mark Sanchez attacked and why was he immediately deemed the victim?
Why was Lacy charged and attacked by the public so quickly?
These questions exemplify one of the many problems in media, where trending stories are distributed quickly to generate views, regardless of whether accurate information is available.
But even more disturbing is how quickly race is injected into these types of situations, both overtly and subtly.
When news of Sanchez’s incident arose, posts expressing sympathy and “thoughts and prayers” quickly circulated around social media and television.
But when news of the fatal accident reportedly involving Lacy and the death of a military veteran dropped, racists proudly bared their fangs and showed their ignorance with their entire chests.
And it only got worse after LSU honored him in the aftermath of his tragic suicide.
Meanwhile, Sanchez received all of the well wishes possible, no one expressing a shred of doubt of his innocence.
Politicians like Indiana Gov. Mike Braun and Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, both Republicans, quickly jumped in to enflame the situation through racial politics, denouncing the incident and placing blame on local leaders (Democrats) for allowing violence and lawlessness to thrive in the city.
They weren’t alone.
The always ignorant and racist local media personality Dan Dakich went even further, unapologetically placing the blame for Sanchez’s stabbing on “fatherless and armed African American kids descending on downtown Indy every weekend.”
Others quickly rallied to Sanchez’s side to transform the incident into a political one without any facts or proof.
And while those politicians played the game of subtle racial politics, Dakich and his fellow racists eliminated all subtlety and went right for the jugular by blaming Black kids.
Their statements and political and racist tactics resemble those used in the situation involving Lacy.
After his car was seen near the accident, the young, Black (and innocent) star athlete was quickly dehumanized and morphed into a villain, “a coward who fled the scene”, a “piece of s**t” and, of course, a thug.
Blaming and vilifying Black boys/men is an easy and long-utilized “go-to” tactic.
So while it’s disturbing and frustrating, the venom directed at Lacy, both after the accident and infuriatingly after his death, came as no surprise.
Sadly, because he was a young Black man, and a Black athlete at that, it was expected. His melanin and profession make it easier to prosecute him in the public eye regardless of his innocence.
Yet after the release of Saturday’s video, there were no apologies or remorse from those who bullied him into taking his own life.
Instead, there was silence from his accusers and anger from those who supported him.
As those emotions spread across the country, local authorities in Indianapolis announced that Sanchez had been arrested for “his alleged role in this incident.”
According to authorities, Sanchez was the instigator and he was arrested on misdemeanor charges, including battery resulting in injury, public intoxication, and unlawful entry of a motor vehicle.
Turns out the criminal involved wasn’t “fatherless and armed African American kids” but Sanchez himself.
After looking into the situation properly, police realized that Sanchez started the altercation with a 69-year-old truck driver that resulted in the driver defending himself by stabbing the Fox Sports analyst.
Suddenly, the social media posts by the governor and Lt. governor were deleted, albeit minus any apology to local officials.
