Nolan Wells: Legacy News Outlets Seems To Be Victim Blaming

When it comes to the mysterious death of Nolan Wells, white America has been, if nothing else, predictable. As soon as the story broke of a Black teen going missing after traveling with an otherwise all-white friend group on a trip to Horn Island, only to turn up dead days later, Black people already knew we would be at the “why make everything about race?” portion of the discussion right out of the gate, just as we knew it was only a matter of time before the “blame the victim for his own death” portion would rear it’s ugly, racist head.

To be honest, I’m surprised it took this long for that shoe to drop, but now several mainstream news outlets are reporting that Wells, 18, had been “drinking heavily” prior to his death, according to witnesses, and for many of our Caucasian counterparts, that’s all they needed to hear.

Now, it appears that ABC News was the first outlet to break the “news” that witnesses said Wells was drinking, as TMZ, the New York Post, and other publications all cited ABC for their stories. Interestingly enough, though, Wells’ alleged drinking is only mentioned in the headline and the very first sentence of ABC’s article, but it’s not mentioned again anywhere in the body of the report. It also isn’t mentioned past the headline and the lede in the articles published by TMZ and the Post.

All three publications go on to report on other parts of a document with preliminary information from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, which mentions the alleged drinking. ABC went on to describe the document as “a description sent on July 5 by the Marine Patrol as part of attempts to find Wells after he went missing,” and that it “was an email that listed basic information for Wells, including his physical description, as searchers scanned the island for signs of him after he went missing on July 4.” The article also mentions that “the official autopsy report from the state Medical Examiner’s Office and the toxicology tests are still pending,” and that Wells’ family had an independent autopsy done that has preliminarily ruled his cause and manner of death as “undetermined pending investigation,” as we reported last week.

But, again, only two mentions of Wells’ alleged drinking: one in the articles’ headlines, and one in the very first sentence of their reports. It’s almost as if the mundane occurrence of teenagers consuming alcohol during an unsupervised island trip was completely pointless, outside of its usage for clickbait, and, of course, to get white America doing what white America does best: put Black victims on trial for their own deaths.

To ABC’s credit, it did at least somewhat address the thing Black people and other Wells supporters are actually questioning: Why did Wells’ friends return home without him?

From ABC:

A police report from the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources said, “several friends that traveled to the island on the vessel with Nolan” told authorities “that when they left he was in the company of an unknown female and that he chose to remain at the island.”

Friends have said they did not abandon Wells but needed to return to shore because their boat was taking on water.

ABC News obtained GPS data from the boat Wells rode to Horn Island, which showed the boat set off for the island at 9:56 a.m. on July 4 and arrived at 11:14 a.m. The data showed the boat was “stationary” from that point until 4:30 p.m.

At 4:31 p.m., the boat left Horn Island, moving slowly at no more than 4.2 knots for nearly 3 miles. At 5:25 p.m., the boat “regains normal operation” with a speed of 30 to 35 knots and arrived on shore about 20 minutes later, according to the data.

TMZ also published audio from a 911 call reportedly made by a “friend” of Wells, who called in an apparent panic about the boat sinking.

Of course, that audio did nothing to stop folks online from questioning why Wells wasn’t on that boat, speculating that the call might have been a cover-up, and, again, asking what Wells’ supposed alcohol consumption had to do with any of it.

Look, when it comes to stories like these, sensationalism is going to come from all sides, but there’s a difference between sensationalizing a story because it will pressure authorities to get to the truth of the matter and doing it for clicks and to reinforce inherent anti-Blackness. These reports about Wells’ alleged drinking are doing the latter, and it’s shameful.

SEE ALSO:

Nolan Wells’ Family Met With DA, Agree To Investigate Phone Together

Nolan Wells Autopsy Results Will Be Withheld Until Grand Jury Sees Them First, DA Says

Ben Crump Calls For ‘Urgency And Transparency’ In Nolan Wells Case – But Do Investigators Have Either?

Nolan Wells: Judge Ashlee Cole Claims Family Is Getting Death Threats

Nolan Wells: Family Confirms Identity Of Body Found As Nolan

Nolan Wells’ Father Said ‘If You Go With A Group, You Stay With A Group’ — Black Parents Know Exactly What He Meant

Nolan Wells Independent Autopsy Findings: Here’s What We Know

Nolan Wells: Judge Posts Message To Dispel Rumors About Her Son

Rev. Al Sharpton Calls For ‘Full And Thorough Investigation’ During Emotional Funeral For Nolan Wells

What Happened To Nolan Wells?: 5 Questions We Still Need Answered About His Death