That may be so, but an honest journalist would report both justification and conclusion, not just the latter, and let their readers decide.
> To think one would disregard their real life experiences and all the individuals they have known
If their experiences are negative, disregarding them is celebrated:
The ideal white response to non-white predation came from the Tibbetts family. Mollie Tibbetts, an Iowa college student, was raped and murdered by an illegal alien in 2018. [..] [Her father] emphasized that his daughter would find anyone using her death to criticize illegal immigration as “profoundly racist.” The family was lionized by the press. - https://highlyrespected.substack.com/p/turn-the-other-cheek-...
> take the results of one poll
You think he should base his views on more comprehensive violent crime statistics instead?