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June 3, 2020

Americans are being subjected to an orgy of disinformation

By Andrea Widburg

The expression that “truth is the first casualty in (or of) war” traces back to Aeschylus, but became popular in the early 20th century. As the past few days' riots show, that expression is on steroids now, with many of the worst lies coming directly from the media. This post catalogs some of the lies that swirled around, along with the facts that the media couldn’t be bothered to check lest they interfere with the narrative.

The most consequential lies, as always, are about President Trump. Yesterday, holding his mother’s Bible, Trump walked out of the White House, crossed through Lafayette Park, and headed to St. John’s church, the historic church (founded in 1815) that the rioters had set aflame.

The media and other leftists were not upset about the burnt church. Instead, they asserted that Trump had ordered the military to use tear gas on protesters so that he could cross the street. (New York Times: “Protesters dispersed with tear gas so Trump could pose at church.”) Additionally, an internet rumor started that Trump’s pose, with his mother’s Bible, perfectly matched a pose Hitler had struck with a Bible in the lead-up to his planned world domination and genocide. Both stories, of course, were lies.

Acting Chief Gregory T. Monahan of the United States Park Police corrected the misinformation about teargas – information any half-competent reporter could have and should have found with a small effort (emphasis added):

On Monday, June 1, the USPP worked with the United States Secret Service to have temporary fencing installed inside Lafayette Park.  At approximately 6:33 pm, violent protestors on H Street NW began throwing projectiles including bricks, frozen water bottles and caustic liquids. The protestors also climbed onto a historic building at the north end of Lafayette Park that was destroyed by arson days prior. Intelligence had revealed calls for violence against the police, and officers found caches of glass bottles, baseball bats and metal poles hidden along the street.

To curtail the violence that was underway, the USPP, following established policy, issued three warnings over a loudspeaker to alert demonstrators on H Street to evacuate the area. Horse mounted patrol, Civil Disturbance Units and additional personnel were used to clear the area. As many of the protestors became more combative, continued to throw projectiles, and attempted to grab officers’ weapons, officers then employed the use of smoke canisters and pepper balls. No tear gas was used by USPP officers or other assisting law enforcement partners to close the area at Lafayette Park. Subsequently, the fence was installed.

Then there’s the “Hitler’s Bible” story. Here’s a post both explaining what swept the internet and debunking the story:

One blue-checked leftist admitted falling for the hoax, but gave the Donald Trump version of “fake but accurate” – namely, that Trump is so like Hitler that it was easy to believe Hitler would be like Trump:

It wasn’t only Trump who was a victim of the war on truth. Reuters alleged that a truck driver deliberately "drove into a throng of protesters" on Highway 35W in Minneapolis, at which point the crowd dragged the driver out of the truck and administered rough justice. What’s so bizarre is that the video Reuters posted in the tweet shows that the driver didn’t deliberately ram anyone. He was on the freeway which was shut down after he got on it and he stopped for the protesters:

The lies about that poor man continued afterward because he donated to Trump. In fact, Bogdan Verchirko is a brave and decent man, something Reuters couldn’t be bothered to find out:

Hinting at political motives, other posts pointed out Vechirko had contributed to President Trump’s campaign. Still others mistakenly pointed to a Facebook account showing photos of a different man with the same name wearing Ukrainian military gear.

But some people who know Vechirko quickly came to his defense.

“He’s a great guy. That’s it,” said Lonnie McQuirten, owner of 36 LYN Refuel Station – a BP gas station on Lyndale Avenue in South Minneapolis.

McQuirten says Vechirko has just made a badly needed fuel delivery to his black-owned station – one of only a few stations still open.

The misinformation can cut in other directions if one assumes that the extraordinarily biased Twitter, which incorrectly censored President Trump, is telling the truth here:

A Twitter account claiming to belong to a national “antifa” organization and pushing violent rhetoric related to ongoing protests has been linked to the white nationalist group Identity Evropa, according to a Twitter spokesperson.

The spokesperson said the account violated the company's platform manipulation and spam policy, specifically the creation of fake accounts. Twitter suspended the account after a tweet that incited violence.

As protests were taking place in multiple states across the U.S. Sunday night, the newly created account, @ANTIFA_US, tweeted, “Tonight’s the night, Comrades,” with a brown raised fist emoji and “Tonight we say 'F--- The City' and we move into the residential areas... the white hoods.... and we take what's ours …”

(In the above report, which comes from Yahoo News, did you catch the scare quotes around the word “antifa,” as if the organization’s existence is questionable?)

 President Obama’s former Deputy National Security Advisor is one of the vilest creatures ever to crawl out of the primordial ooze. Still, he was right about one thing (emphasis added):

The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns. That’s a sea change. They literally know nothing.”

What’s happening now is a war, and the truth is on the line. We have to be very vigilant to ensure that what we believe and what we say is based upon accurate information, something that’s hard when you can’t trust our institutions anymore for reliable information.

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