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ThreadToday Jacob Blake conceded he was armed with a knife when he was shot by police.
A lot of people insisted this wasnât the case in order to fit their narrative. Thatâs bad. And weâve gotta talk about these things - I try to explain why below. https://www.nationalreview.com/news/jacob-blake-himself-blows-up-unarmed-media-narrative/
First and foremost, this situation is awful. A man was paralyzed. His children surely traumatized.
But as Iâll go into more depth on later, itâs also important that media and others report these sorts of situations accurately.
Itâs clear that @cnnbrk didnât.
But as Iâll go into more depth on later, itâs also important that media and others report these sorts of situations accurately.
Itâs clear that @cnnbrk didnât.
The actual reporting on this was actually better than I think a lot of conservatives realize - lots of outlets couched their coverage by saying that it had been reported that Blake was unarmed.
@Reuters didnât.
@Reuters didnât.
We saw something similar from @politico. Many outlets have made corrections or updated their headlines, too, as they should when theyâve reported something that proves not to be accurate.
There were plenty of individual actors in media who also used their platforms to say something that simply wasnât true. That includes @AprilDRyan. Reporters should know better than to rush to judgement on these kinds of things.
A lot of the commentary around Blake and other Black men who are shot and killed by the police is terrible & often deliberately tries to obfuscate the culpability of cops.
But what @WajahatAli does here is just the inverse of that for his own narrative. Thatâs really bad, too.
But what @WajahatAli does here is just the inverse of that for his own narrative. Thatâs really bad, too.
But the worst offenders here were the elected officials who ran with unconfirmed reports or speculation because it fit with their narrative.
That includes @RepSwalwell.
That includes @RepSwalwell.
Thatâs particularly important when youâre going to make sweeping claims about the police based on an incident you donât understand, something @IlhanMN does. Her city, Minneapolis, has paid a high price for the riots (and policies) this narrative helped fuel.
All of our prayers should be with Jacob Blake and his family. But @tedlieuâs contention about what the police did is simply not true, even if it may advance his particular political narrative.
One politician who did this that really stuck with me was @chicagosmayor, whose city has its own host of problems related to crime and policing.
The last thing any of those problems need is an inaccurate accelerant to be added to the situation.
The last thing any of those problems need is an inaccurate accelerant to be added to the situation.
There are, unfortunately, a lot of other examples of this from elected officials. Hereâs @SenatorDurbin, @MondaireJones and @ReverendWarnock doing the same thing as many others.
Iâll pause here to repeat that conservatives - particularly Christians - need a lot more charity and empathy when it comes to issues of race and policing. This situation was and remains a tragedy. We should - must - be concerned about those impacted.
And none of this should be read as an excuse or a rationalization for what happened to Jacob Blake, or to say that people of color in this country donât have a right to be mad about their shared experience in Americaâs past and present.
But the truth has to count for something in all this.
We canât hope to improve concerns among people of color - particularly Black men - related to the police if weâre building a narrative on things that simply arenât true.
We canât hope to improve concerns among people of color - particularly Black men - related to the police if weâre building a narrative on things that simply arenât true.
Anyway. It wasnât just politicians and the media, of course. Surely anyone and everyone remembers the way that @espn framed this issue.
A lot of activists used this as a moment to push a narrative. I wish they would realize that, more than anything, playing fast & loose w/ the facts detracts from the work theyâre doing for racial & police justice. Hereâs @MsPackyetti, someone whom I really respect, for @MSNBC.
This, from @marwilliamson, is a perfect encapsulation of the mentality that motivates some people within and beyond politics when it comes to talking about these issues.
I think whoever had said that âwe donât have all the facts yetâ was wise.
I think whoever had said that âwe donât have all the facts yetâ was wise.
I wonât pretend that I think all of those who pushed this talking point were necessarily doing it in good faith.
In particular, I think that @DrIbram tends to operate in bad faith, in this case and more broadly.
In particular, I think that @DrIbram tends to operate in bad faith, in this case and more broadly.
This is equally true from a lot of people on Twitter who tend to run with stories for likes and clicks, accuracy be damned.
Here weâve got @ananavarro, @cmclymer and @MaryLTrump.
There were plenty of others.
Here weâve got @ananavarro, @cmclymer and @MaryLTrump.
There were plenty of others.
Thereâs no joy in this situation. And we desperately need a robust conversation about policing in this country.
But it doesnât help when those with platforms push falsehoods to fit their perspectives. That seems like what happened here. It only pulls us further from a solution.
But it doesnât help when those with platforms push falsehoods to fit their perspectives. That seems like what happened here. It only pulls us further from a solution.
These are difficult, heavy subjects to discuss. The last thing we need is for people to dump gasoline on a combustible situation. Youâll remember the damage - including 2 deaths - the riots following Blakeâs shooting led to. There are real world consequences for these things.
And again none of this is to say that the cops did the right thing (I have no idea if they did) or that Black men are treated fairly by the police in this country.
But if weâre going to make progress on these issues, I think that starts with telling the truth.
But if weâre going to make progress on these issues, I think that starts with telling the truth.
We can either face our shared problems in this country for what they are or what we wish they would be.
I think we should start doing a lot more of the former.
I think we should start doing a lot more of the former.
