Today I am here to write the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Some of you may find this hard to swallow as you cling onto the next word of news reports, awaiting the next tell of gossip you can spread to belittle and break a man’s reputation.

For those of you who are unaware of the person I am about to write of, I will fill you all in. Mr Anwar Teriaki was found shot dead outside a Roxburgh Park home on Coronet Avenue. Many believed this was the result of “Gang wars” or a “Drug dealing gone wrong.”

Now, this is ultimately where they took a wrong turn on reporting ‘Oh falsified’ news sites. A man was murdered near his home and his parents had to discover that their first born son’s body was lying on the street. To not only discover your son dead but to also discover him in such a condition… and yet reporters wasted no time on claiming that Mr Teriaki was an evil person. This is a way to state, without initially stating, that he deserved to die that way.

Imagine sitting across from his grief stricken mother. She cannot stand on her own feet, her face is red, her eyes are swollen and her body is shaking. She is crying out his name like a broken record as she holds his photograph against her heart. What could you possibly say to her? Try to imagine approaching a woman who has just lost a part of her and asking her if she thought her own son was dealing in the underworld crime gangs or if she had known he was dealing drugs to end up being shot dead on the street outside her home. You wouldn’t and thats why reporters have kept their distance from the main family. I don’t believe it was out of respect. It was so they could report on the matter, in their own biased way, without being emotionally attached to the murder of Anwar Teriaki.

That is why, when quoting his sister when she posted a photo of her brother on social media and wrote that her brother had a “heart of gold”, they had quoted that a “friend” had said that and not his sister. They did that because quoting a direct family member would make the readers feel sympathy for Mr Teriaki. Instead the words of a “friend” was used. How much can we believe from a friend of the victim? How much could they have known about Mr Teriaki compared to a family member who grew up with them?

That is why they took several photographs of his male friends and relatives gathering in groups. It was done not to report on his passing but to make it look like a a gang related incident. The initial and obvious thought was “let me quickly photograph these rowdy middle-eastern boys and we will state that they are grieving but these images will portray the exact opposite.” As long as the story sells, right?

A persons life does not amount to the way they die and many people already know this for a fact, but the only reason this has been ignored is because the man who died was of middle-eastern decent. Yes, I said it. It’s hard for anyone reading this to swallow because they know it is true. Even if the drug-related rumours were true and he was involved in something, it did not mean he deserved to be shot dead on the street.

Nobody, not even the police at this point are aware of the initial reason of this fatal shooting. To open up a social media site and see false news report linking him to the Tiba family and claiming he was an “underworld figure” made my skin crawl. “Why oh why were they trying to paint this man as a bad guy?” I thought to myself. “Was he not just  murdered in cold blood? Why couldn’t they just leave his family alone? They were all in so much pain. Where was the respect they deserved in this horrific time?”

It was as I had predicted, they had painted Mr Anwar Teriaki with a single stroke. One of a violent and evil nature. They had initially linked him to two other shootings that occurred in Roxburgh park days after Mr Teriaki’s passing. There was no initial evidence that linked him to these shootings and no police statements had been released and yet news outlets reported on the possible link. Now this is not the problem. It was fine to report on the link, however, how they reported on it was wrong. They claimed he was an “Underworld Figure” and after reading that sentence I was taken back. A 21 year old kid who worked at McDonald’s until recently, who on most occasions was a respectful and great uncle to his nieces, who as family members claim was “very family oriented”, was an “Underworld figure?”

I am not usually one to not jump to conclusions but this just wasn’t making sense. Even after news outlets reported on the link being false, no form of apology was made to their family for their ill words. Is it just an “Oops, my bad?” situation or did they not realise that what they reported could be heard or read from his mother, his father, his sisters and his only brother? Did they not realise their words affected his aunts, his uncles, his cousins, his friends and even his neighbours? What of the people who knew him inside out? To hear news outlets speak of a completely different person, how do you think they would have felt? Or is it okay because he’s just another “Arab boy” who got shot?

I can only hope the media starts reporting actual facts regarding the case and not just spreading lies and ludicrous theories.

May you rest in peace, Anwar Teriaki.