Chuck C. Johnson, GotNewsDotCom Wrong Yet Again and Again #BlackLivesMatter
Courtesy of GotNwes.com.
Thanks to snopes.com, our fact-checking crew did not need to work overtime debunking Award Winning journalist™ Chuck C. Johnson’s latest crop of racist lies. But they did need to do a little extra work to see if Johnson’s accusations hold any water.
About as well as a colander.
Before launching into a point-by-point analysis here, we would remind our readers that Johnson’s default assumption is to assume all African-American men killed by police officers somehow deserved their deaths. Typically, he roots through their social media accounts, arrest records (if such exist) and court records (if such exist) for anything that would discredit them — presumably in an effort to counteract any feelings of sympathy others have for their deaths.
Johnson has also resorted to doxxing family members of shooting victims. He is most delighted when he uncovers arrests and other misbehavior by victims and their families, and when all else fails, he will fall back on innuendo and guilt by association to smear them.
Following are Johnson’s claims, the facts in question, and our verdict of true or false.
ALTON STERLING
Alton Sterling was shot and killed by a police officer on July 5 in Baton Rouge, LA, while Sterling was pinned to the ground.
CLAIM #1: Sterling was a member of the Bloods gang, based on a photo showing a five-pointed star “tattoo” on his partially shaved head. (See photo at right.)
FACTS via Snopes.com: The star is not a tattoo, but part of his haircut. While star tattoos may indicate Blood membership, there is no evidence that star-shaped haircuts are gang signs. In addition, there is no corroborating evidence Sterling was a Blood.
VERDICT: False. Besides, why would being a gang member justify being shot dead while pinned to the ground?
—- SNIP —-
PHILANDO CASTILE
Next, let’s look into Philando Castile, who was killed by a police officer in St. Paul, MN, July 6, as part of a traffic stop. Castile was shot while still in the car, and his girl friend recorded the situation on her cellphone.
CLAIM #1: Piggybacking on a post by The Conservative Treehouse, Johnson claims Castile was a suspect in an armed robbery at a convenience store a couple of nights before. Moreover, he claims the shape of the robber’s ear, as seen in a blurry CCTV image, and the shape of Castile’s ear are very similar, so he alleges Castile WAS the robber, who was fleeing the scene of the crime.
FACTS via Snopes.com: “Police who pulled over and killed Philando Castile reported they thought he might have resembled a suspect in an armed robbery case.”
Snopes refers to a recording from police radio of the officers, who said Castile “looked like” the man who had robbed the store.
But while this audio may document that a police officer thought Castile might have resembled a person wanted for armed robbery, that didn’t mean he was a “suspect” in an armed robbery case or that he was “wanted” for armed robbery — at the time he was killed, nothing linked him to such a crime other than that an officer momentarily thought Castile might have looked a little like someone who had committed a robbery.
To clarify, a suspect is someone whom police have referred to by name, and may have issued a BOLO (be on look out) for specifically. “Wanted” for a crime means law enforcement has already determined the identity of a person committing a crime. Being stopped for questioning did not make Castile a suspect or a wanted criminal.
Really, don’t right wingers pay any attention to TV cop shows?
In addition, the robbery occurred a few nights before Castile was stopped, so Johnson’s claim he was “fleeing the scene” is ludicrous.
VERDICT: False. Castile was not wanted for armed robbery, nor was he even a suspect. He was also not “fleeing” a crime that happened a few days before.
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