Chapter 152: The Crime of Public Opinion

Julia walked out through the door of the headquarters room.

She did not look back once.

Only after leaving the headquarters of the Unity District and reaching the bus stop outside did she turn around and look toward the five-story headquarters building, hundreds of paces away and half-hidden among the trees.

“Travis…”

She murmured the name inwardly, her eyes holding nothing but weariness and deep suspicion.

And—

“Navali…”

Julia clenched her hand into a fist and raised it to her lips. Then she turned away again, lowering her gaze as though trying to conceal her expression.

At that moment, the bus pulled into the stop. She let out a quiet breath, quickly crossed the step, and boarded.

…

The following day.

Massip’s death sent shock waves through the public.

As the founder of the Unity District, he had enjoyed considerable fame and prestige throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area and even across the state of California.

Politically speaking, Massip had also been a figure of enormous importance. As the undisputed leader of the Unity District, he had never shown any intention of running for office, yet he alone could represent the votes of more than a hundred thousand people within the organization. To California’s senators, that was a force impossible to ignore.

That was why, in the past, even when the Unity District faced joint investigations by the FBI and the LAPD, it had still managed to survive. The votes it represented were enough to secure a protective force for it within the legislature.

Now, however, things had begun to change.

At first, many people online remained skeptical about Massip’s death. As Americans, questioning the government seemed almost an instinct ingrained in their bones. For much of the population in this nation of immigrants, anything connected to the police or the authorities was met with scrutiny. They sniffed this way and that, eager to uncover some hidden trickery.

But before long, the police began releasing more and more evidence—including the fingerprints found on the victim, Katherine, and footprints near the scene of the death.

Most crucially, the Los Angeles Police Department released several video recordings.

The first showed the entrances and exits of the café that afternoon. According to the footage, after Massip and Katherine met inside, they left the café side by side, chatting as they went. Yet it was clear that both of them appeared to be in poor spirits.

The second recording came from a road near the trees surrounding the scene of the death. It showed Massip and Katherine arriving together shortly before Katherine’s presumed time of death. But after that time, the surveillance footage captured a panicked figure stumbling out from the area. The figure’s build and appearance matched Massip’s, and it fled in a disordered, staggering rush.

The third and final recording came from the detention cell where Massip had been held. It showed his suicide. He tied his necktie to the bars and fashioned a loop just large enough to fit around his neck. After twisting it repeatedly, he secured it with a final knot and strangled himself to death.

The clues in the case, together with the video evidence, established beyond doubt that Massip had taken his own life out of guilt.

The Los Angeles police then announced what they believed had been his motive. The Los Angeles Times had previously accused Massip and the Unity District of certain “obscure and uninvestigated possible misconduct,” causing him to harbor resentment toward the newspaper and the journalists involved.

After meeting Katherine, the two had clashed during their conversation, causing the hatred in Massip’s heart to erupt. He had then lured her to an isolated location under some pretext and strangled her to death.

But once he was in custody, realizing that he would soon face trial, Massip had collapsed inwardly and chosen suicide.

From the evidence to the motive, every detail was presented as conclusive.

And so, cracks began to appear in Massip’s image and reputation.

Online, countless people condemned him. Some turned photographs taken during his lifetime into memes; others edited them into mocking images.

Members of the Unity District and people who had once benefited from its protection spoke out online in an effort to defend Massip’s reputation, refusing to believe that this could be the truth. But before the flood of public opinion, their efforts were like an insect trying to stop a chariot.

Then matters escalated further, leaving many who had once placed complete faith in Massip bewildered for the first time.

Katherine’s family released a video online.

Through tears, they condemned Massip’s “atrocities” and recounted their daughter’s accomplishments, which had once filled them with pride. She had graduated from the finest high school in her community, been accepted into the journalism program at the University of Chicago, and later joined the Los Angeles Times. She had worked diligently and loved life. She had been their good daughter.

And Massip had destroyed it all.

Most significantly, at the end of the video they mentioned something that had never been brought up before.

According to the police examination, Katherine bore signs of sexual assault, and the DNA found inside her matched Massip’s.

The release of the video caused an even greater uproar.

At that point, the Los Angeles Police Department stepped forward with studied reluctance and admitted that they had indeed discovered this fact. However, Katherine’s family had still been in the depths of their grief, and the police had wanted to spare their feelings. Moreover, the only suspect had already died by suicide. For those reasons, they had not immediately made the information public.

For a time, condemnation of Massip reached its peak.

Even those who had previously tried to defend him put down their keyboards and chose silence.

Across the United States, people seemed to arrive at the same conclusion: all that remained was mockery, fury, and abuse directed at Massip and the Unity District.

Meanwhile, more and more rumors of uncertain authenticity began circulating online.

Massip had once taken members’ children into sealed rooms. No one knew what he had done there, but the children had become deeply withdrawn afterward…

During Massip’s leadership, the Unity District had funneled millions of dollars in benefits to an unknown company, which was suspected of being a sole proprietorship personally owned by Massip…

Several sexual scandals and other negative incidents had allegedly occurred at the elementary and secondary schools established by the Unity District, only to be suppressed single-handedly by Massip…

Within that whirlpool of public opinion, the voices of anger directed at Massip grew increasingly enormous. Even those who had once spoken on his behalf no longer remained silent. Instead, they turned their weapons around and rushed to the front lines of his condemnation.

Public opinion and popular sentiment, deliberately guided, poured toward Massip and the Unity District behind him. Both of their images plummeted, sinking straight to the bottom.

Agitation.

A rising chorus.

A storm.

No one cared about the dead man anymore. “Massip” had become a fixed image, a symbol of the “hypocrite with ulterior motives.”

In an effort to salvage the Unity District’s reputation, its new chairman, Travis, held a press conference. He apologized to Katherine’s family and announced that the Unity District would pay them compensation totaling tens of millions of dollars.

Objectively, the move did restore some of the Unity District’s reputation. But it was also unmistakably an act of severing ties—an announcement that the organization would cut itself off completely from Massip and his ideals.

Massip’s reputation consequently fell into an abyss from which it could never recover.

“Recently, rapper Kanye condemned the hypocrisy of Massip Senanes in an interview with reporters and announced that he intends to write a song denouncing him…”

“Former Black American president Barack Obama stated that although Massip Senanes had constantly claimed that he was ‘fighting for the rights of minorities,’ his actions had in fact dealt a severe blow to the image of Black people. Obama said he ‘deeply regretted’ the matter…”

“When famed NBA player LeBron was asked about the ‘Massip Senanes incident,’ he responded furiously. He believed that removing bad Black people like Massip Senanes and increasing the number of good Black people was the best way to advance Black rights. Afterward, LeBron showed reporters the charitable projects in which he had taken part…”

From ordinary citizens to celebrities, everyone condemned, mocked, and cursed Massip Senanes.

His good deeds in the past were dismissed as deliberate fabrications.

His impassioned speeches were regarded as tools for manipulating public opinion.

From the West Coast to the East Coast, the name Massip Senanes became synonymous with “liar, murderer, sexual predator, and pedophile.”

Almost no one still believed Massip was innocent.

Only a tiny handful of people maintained their original position.

They hid in the shadows, searching for some possibility that might clear Massip’s name.

End of chapter.