It’s terrible when rank-and-file party extremists perpetuate or resuscitate an irresponsible and malicious myth. But it’s appalling when so-called mainstream Democratic Party presidential candidates do this. Haven’t they gone too far? Shouldn’t the candidates themselves realize this? Of course, but decorum no longer matters in Democratic politics.
The hands-up-don’t-shoot myth was the basis for the creation of Black Lives Matter. After Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson shot and killed robbery suspect Michael Brown in the line of duty, BLM built their viciously anti-cop activist group upon their fake version of Brown’s death.
You can read how Rush Limbaugh impeccably encapsulated the Ferguson events here.
Democratic Party presidential nomination candidate Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) tweeted: “Michael Brown’s murder forever changed Ferguson and America. His tragic death sparked a desperately needed conversation and a nationwide movement. We must fight for stronger accountability and racial equity in our justice system [emphasis mine].”
Democratic Party presidential nomination candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) 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[emphasis mine].”
The problem with these tweets is they don’t involve facts or even opinions. They are unadulterated defamations. These women are lawyers and sitting U.S. senators. Not only that, but Sen. Warren was a law professor at Harvard (in fact, the first Native American to hold the position). And Sen. Harris, as the state attorney general, served as California’s top law-enforcement official. They both know murder is a legal term. They know what qualifies someone a murderer: only a conviction in a court of law. This did not occur.
However, I guess I can understand the Democrat’s resistance to accepting the truth. After all, when you have the Trump administration’s Department of Justice (DoJ), assisted by his attorney general, clear Officer Wilson of any wrongdoing, of course Democrats would be suspicious of these findings. Oh, wait…
The Trump administration didn’t decline to charge Officer Wilson with murder. It was the Obama administration that thoroughly investigated the incident and found Officer Wilson had done no wrong. It was President Obama’s Attorney General Eric Holder, through his DoJ investigation, who found that prior to the shooting Michael Brown had robbed a convenience store. It was AG Holder who determined Brown had assaulted and attempted to take Officer Wilson’s gun from him. It was AG Holder who established Brown tried to charge at the officer, forcing Wilson to shoot him.
This confirmation of Officer Wilson’s proper actions did not come from Republicans. It came from the Democrat Obama/Holder Department of Justice. But even this isn’t good enough for the leading Democratic candidates for their political party’s presidential nomination.
Think about that. Two sitting members of the United States Senate stomp on the grave of a good police officer’s career by calling him a murderer for having to shoot a robbery suspect to save his own life. And they exploit this officer by knowingly perpetuating —resurrecting— this murder myth. What kind of person can do something like that? The kind of person who should never hold the reigns of presidential power.
