Fan the Flames

Joe Biden stumbles through the primary season offering us gaff after gaff in a way the has any objective observer questioning his recall and his ability to process information quickly and accurately. Bernie Sanders, despite his emotional appeal for hard-core leftist positions is sinking in the Democrat polls. That leaves Liz Warren and others who are trying hard to 'out-Left' Bernie with shrill language and even crazier policy positions. Those positions are the topic for another day, but what is concerning is a number of Democrat candidates are perfectly willing to promote false information to gain leverage with their base.

Sharyl Attkisson discusses the canard that the 2014 shooting of an African American man in Ferguson, MO was an act of murder by police:

... the shooting happened on Aug. 9, 2014. A Ferguson, Mo., police officer named Darren Wilson shot and killed an 18-year-old unarmed suspect named Michael Brown. Brown was black, Wilson is white. Witnesses claimed that Officer Wilson had shot Brown in cold blood while Brown’s hands were raised in surrender. Though without evidence, those accounts were afforded wide credence in the media. They sparked riots. They ignited a movement called “Hands up, don’t shoot!”

If ever there were a time for responsible journalists to carefully mitigate uncorroborated and inflammatory claims, this was arguably the moment. At the time, pockets of the nation were a racial tinderbox.

The problem is, all of the racially-tinged accusations against Officer Wilson were likely false, according to the final analysis by President Obama’s Department of Justice. The report, issued in 2015, found that Officer Wilson’s accounts were corroborated. He’d acted in self-defense. Brown, the report said, had reached into the police vehicle and grabbed Officer Wilson by the neck. And Brown appeared to be lunging toward Officer Wilson when Officer Wilson shot him in self-defense.

The Obama Justice Department investigators concluded that original witness accounts claiming that Brown’s hands were up when he was shot, and other key claims, were “unreliable” and — in many instances — directly contradicted by the forensic evidence, while Officer Wilson’s story was supported by the forensics. “Hands up, don’t shoot,” the Obama Justice Department found, was contrary to reliable accounts — and likely fabricated.

The findings of this important report got nowhere near the news coverage of the original false claims. There were no apologies to Officer Wilson. His career and life were ruined by the false claims.

Apparently, all of this means nothing to the Democratic contenders for the presidency. Attkisson summarizes:

On Friday and Saturday, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), former congressman Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and New York City Mayor Bill DeBlasio, all running for their party’s nomination for president, tweeted out statements containing disproven claims or false implications about the incident.

Booker tweeted: “5 years ago, Michael Brown was killed by a police officer … I have been thinking all day about Mike and his family, and my prayers are with them … I am also thinking about the everyday citizens who stood against this police violence and racism and were tear gassed for their patriotic acts. Ferguson called to the conscience of our nation and inspired a movement that rightly continues.”

[As if on cue, Gillibrand, Ryan, DeBlasio, O'Rouke, Sanders, and Harris, echoed the same lie.]

And [Elizabeth] Warren tweeted: “5 years ago Michael Brown was murdered by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Michael was unarmed yet he was shot 6 times. I stand with activists and organizers who continue the fight for justice for Michael. We must confront systemic racism and police violence head on.”

Every one of those candidates tells us that Donald Trump fans the flames of racial resentment and divides the nation. I have to wonder how their lies about an event investigated by a President and an AG from their own party is anything other than a knowing attempt to fan the flames of racial resentment and divide the nation. Disgusting.