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News Scan

February 19, 2019 9:31 AM | Posted by Michael Rushford | 4 Comments
Another False Hate Crime:  Actor Jussie Smollett's claim, that he was attacked while walking home after the bars closed in Chicago by white thugs wearing MAGA hats and shouting racist and homophobic slurs, fell apart over the weekend.  This City Journal piece by Heather MacDonald notes that Smollett's fakery is just the latest example of the media and Trump-haters reflexively supporting such claims to validate the narrative that America is awash with violent racial and sexist intolerance thanks to the President and his supporters.  "Smollett made a not-irrational wager that a patently preposterous narrative about an anti-black, anti-gay hate crime at 2 A.M. in subzero Chicago would be embraced by the entirety of the mainstream media, leading Democratic politicians, Hollywood, and academia, with no one of these cohorts bothering to fact-check his narrative..."  As usual, the wager paid off until others uncovered the facts.    

4 Comments

notablogger | February 21, 2019 11:56 AM | Reply

There are real hate crimes committed against actual victims every day, and this case does not change that fact. It also doesn't change the fact that many jurisdictions (including mine) have seen an increase in hate crimes since 2016. In my experience, people from marginalized communities are NOT rushing to police stations in droves to falsely report being assaulted by white guys in MAGA hats. If anything, many victims of these crimes are still too afraid to report them to law enforcement.

Taking this bizarre case and suggesting it is part of some widespread phenomenon does a serious disservice to real victims.

Michael Rushford | February 21, 2019 1:19 PM | Reply

Do you not read a newspaper or follow the news? False reporting of hate crimes is a widespread phenomenon. And every time the media and activists go national with an unconfirmed narrative they do a serious disservice to real victims after the truth comes out. You may remember that after months of national headlines screaming that Michael Brown was killed because he was black, Eric Holder's separate investigation (including the statements of black witnesses) determined that the shooting was justified. I can't imagine that the false reporting of racial bias is beneficial to any cause.


notablogger replied to comment from Michael Rushford | February 26, 2019 8:52 AM | Reply

Yes, I read several newspapers and follow the news--thanks for the insulting retort in that regard. I am also a prosecutor, and I am more than familiar with the fact that our jurisdiction has seen an increase in hate crimes and no widespread phenomenon of false reporting.

The Smollett case is newsworthy because it is so unusual. It is a rare case indeed where a member of a marginalized community actively brings him- or herself to the attention of law enforcement for the purpose of making a false report.

Adamakis replied to comment from notablogger | February 26, 2019 9:04 AM | Reply

How many U.S. Senators supported this crazed white supremacist?
Which political party supports him now?
Yet how many major media figures supported the hoax claim on National Television?
From Kamala Harris and Cory Booker, to Robin Wright and Don Lemon, one would have thought that we were looking at Smollett-Weiner 2020!

-- https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-i-believe-jussie-smollett-and-you-should-too
-- https://www.theblaze.com/news/jussie-smollett-is-not-alone-check-out-the-long-list-of-hate-crime-hoaxes-in-the-era-of-trump

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