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Indoctrinated hate is a deadly weapon #NiaWilson #SayHerName pic.twitter.com/cMZNchyncn

— rose mcgowan (@rosemcgowan) July 25, 2018

Wilson’s alleged killer, 27-year-old paroled felon John Lee Cowell, has a lengthy criminal history and was released from prison months before Sunday’s attack, BART Police Chief Carlos Rojas told reporters during a press conference Monday.

Rojas said it was the “most vicious” attack he’s seen. He added that there isn’t “any information that suggests it is race motivated,” but the police department is not “discounting” it as the motive.

In the meantime, as law enforcement investigates, Wilsons' supporters say they want to ensure coverage of her death is fair and balanced.

Fox affiliate KTVU received backlash after the local station decided to share Wilson’s story showcasing a picture of Wilson holding a gun in a picture, which the station grabbed from one of her social media accounts.

But Wilson was actually holding a gun-shaped cell phone case.

\"PHOTO:
Lorin Eleni Gill/AP
PHOTO: Jasmine Malone, 23, holds a sign at a vigil held for 18-year-old Nia Wilson, who was stabbed to death the previous night on July 23, 2018, at the MacArthur BART station in Oakland, Calif.
>

The National Association of Black Journalists, the Bay Area Black Journalists Association and the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism collectively condemned the station in a statement for “use of an unauthorized image” hours after she was fatally stabbed. The groups criticized the station of its “embarrassing error” as a violation of “one of journalism’s core ethics: “do no harm.”

Tha affiliate has since apologized.

According to Alana Hackshaw, who teaches African American studies at the University of Maryland, America has a lengthy history of African Americans being negatively depicted as suspicious or criminals in the media.

“When incidents like this happen, it minimizes the innocence of the person,” Hackshaw said. “It allows black men and women to be viewed in a less sympathetic light as if they deserved what happened to them — why does this continue to happen?”

\"PHOTO:
Lorin Eleni Gill/AP
PHOTO: A memorial for 18-year-old Nia Wilson takes shape outside Bay Area Rapid Transit's MacArthur Station, July 23, 2018, a day after she was fatally stabbed on a platform at the station, in Oakland, Calif.
>

Multi-award winning actress Anne Hathaway chimed in on her Instagram to express these very concerns.

\"White people-including me, including you-must take into the marrow of our privileged bones the truth that ALL black people fear for their lives DAILY in America and have done so for GENERATIONS. White people DO NOT have equivalence for this fear of violence\" Hathaway wrote. \"Given those givens, we must ask our (white)selves-how \"decent\" are we really? Not in our intent, but in our actions? In our lack of action? Peace and prayers and JUSTICE for Nia and the Wilson family,\" she concluded.

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