Statue vandalized in California; CBS station buries the lede. See if you can discern the reason

In journalism, the most important part of a story is called the "lede."  Normally the lede is in the first sentence or paragraph.  When a paper publishes a story in which the "real news" is several 'grafs down, it's called "burying the lede." 

Back when reporters were fairly non-partisan this was ridiculed as an error made by newbie reporters.  It'd be like printing an article on the assassination of JFK that said "President's return to DC delayed by hospital visit."

But burying the lede is actually quite useful when the Lying Mainstream Media wants readers to NOT notice the "real" significance of an event.  Here's an example from two days ago:

MISSION HILLS (CBSLA.com) — Several people stopped by a statue of Father Junipero Serra in a park across from Mission San Fernando on Thursday after a photo made the rounds on social media appearing to show the statue had been vandalized.

A picture circulating Facebook showed the statue spray-painted red and the word “murder” written on Serra in white.

While city officials would not confirm the authenticity of the photo or the clean-up, a CBS2 reporter saw red paint on Serra’s arm and a swastika on the statue of the child standing next to him.

The real story here is that some low-IQ revolutionary, following the lead of his comrades who are tearing down statues they don't like, vandalized this one.  But notice how the CBS station wrote the story: The first sentence tells us "Several people stopped by a statue..."

Whoa!  Stop the f'n presses!  If you find that to be...less than gripping, you're right.  That was deliberate.

Next phrase: "...after a photo made the rounds on social media..."  Wow!  "A photo made the rounds on social media," ya say?  Is that really an important element of the story?  Well, maybe to highschool students--cuz everyone knows how Americans are slavishly devoted to whatever appears on "social media."

Finally, CBS clues you to the significance of the photo:  it's "appearing to show the statue had been vandalized."  Not "vandals spray-painted a statue in Mission Hills," but rather that someone posted a photo appearing to show vandalism.

Note how careful CBS is here:  The photo clearly shows the statue spray-painted with the word "murder." Unless you're an idiot, that's vandalism.  But CBS wants to bury that fact.  Why?  Because admitting it up front would validate the predictions of dozens of conservative commenters who warned that vandalizing statues was a "slippery slope" guaranteed to have consequences far beyond what the current mainstream media and Democrats believe.

Conservatives warned Americans about this.  And it took about one day to be proven correct.

In fact, someone who wasn't from California could easily conclude that this "apparent vandalism" was just another example of snowflakes vandalizing a statue honoring a Confederate figure.  Nothing noteworthy about that, eh Sparky?

For those who are still naive enough to think this is paranoia, a brief thought experiment will show you the truth:  If someone vandalized a statue of MLK, what do you think the Lying Media's opening 'graf would be on that event?  Would it be

Several people stopped by a statue of Martin Luther King jr. after a photo made the rounds on social media appearing to show the statue had been vandalized.

Obviously not.  QED.