Newly Wed 22-Year-Old Brutally Murdered with Machete While at Work - Why Is No One Talking About This?
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
The new year began in tragedy for one family in northwest Ohio after one of their members was brutally murdered with a machete while working at Dollar Tree.
According to Dayton 24/7 Now, around 4:30 pm Jan. 1, Bethel M. Bekele entered a Dollar Tree in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, waved a machete around inside the store, and hacked 22-year-old cashier Keris L. Riebel to death.
“Bekele entered the store with the machete, approached Riebel, and struck her numerous times with the machete,” Police Chief Jared Lucas said in a statement.
Bekele then drove to the Wyandot County Sheriff’s Office where he surrendered to authorities. He is currently facing one count of murder, and his court date has not been decided.
This tragedy is made all the more horrible by the fact that Riebel had just been married in October and had also recently graduated from college. This was a young woman who was just starting her life, and it was tragically cut short by a lunatic.
Many people have taken to Twitter to express shock and sadness about the story, with some asking why this horrific crime is not a major news story.
On New Year’s Day, Bethel Bekele entered a Dollar Tree with a machete, approached Keris Riebel while she was working, and hacked her to death. Police don’t have a motive and, for some odd reason, this isn’t a national story.
I’m posting the family’s memorial fundraiser below. pic.twitter.com/4G1ZsxVtL4
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) January 2, 2023
Could it possibly have anything to do with the fact that the perpetrator of the crime was black and the victim was white? After all, the media loves to play up the idea that blacks are the victim of racist violence and oppression by whites.
This is especially true when it involves violence by a white police officer against a black person, as we have seen several times in the last few years. These stories are given endless coverage by the media.
But when the demographics are reversed, there is hardly any news coverage at all. This double standard is sickening. It does not matter what the race of the perpetrator or the victim was, these acts are simply evil.
It is not right to focus on evil only when it benefits a certain narrative. All evil should be called out, and everyone who commits evil should face the consequences; otherwise, we can no longer say that we live in a just society.
Following Riebel’s death, a GoFundMe was set up by Amber Geiser, the aunt of Riebel’s husband, to cover funeral expenses and time off of work for Jordan Riebel.
Upper Sandusky is maybe an hour from where I live in Ohio.
You should donate to the family’s fundraiser above. They won’t benefit from the Black Lives Matter network effect. https://t.co/h3aah13b0x
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) January 2, 2023
They exceeded the $30,000 goal, with donations reaching over $81,000 before the appeal was ended.
Wow pic.twitter.com/deap0jjqap
— Pedro L. Gonzalez (@emeriticus) January 3, 2023
This sad story also shows us that, while evil is very real and does exist in the world, goodness and charity are also very real and do exist in the world as well, playing a much larger part in the world than evil does.
You can view the family’s fundraiser by clicking here.
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