Jonathan Capehart admits that “Hands up, don’t shoot” was based upon a lie

I have to give this man props for being an honest man. It takes a real man to admit that He was wrong.

Getting down to the meat and potatoes via WaPo:

The DOJ report notes on page 44 that Johnson “made multiple statements to the media immediately following the incident that spawned the popular narrative that Wilson shot Brown execution-style as he held up his hands in surrender.” In one of those interviews, Johnson told MSNBC that Brown was shot in the back by Wilson. It was then that Johnson said Brown stopped, turned around with his hands up and said, “I don’t have a gun, stop shooting!” And, like that, “hands up, don’t shoot” became the mantra of a movement. But it was wrong, built on a lie.

Yet this does not diminish the importance of the real issues unearthed in Ferguson by Brown’s death. Nor does it discredit what has become the larger “Black Lives Matter.” In fact, the false Ferguson narrative stuck because of concern over a distressing pattern of other police killings of unarmed African American men and boys around the time of Brown’s death. Eric Garner was killed on a Staten Island street on July 17. John Crawford III was killed in a Wal-Mart in Beavercreek, Ohio, on Aug. 5, four days before Brown. Levar Jones survived being shot by a South Carolina state trooper on Sept. 4. Tamir Rice, 12 years old, was killed in a Cleveland park on Nov. 23, the day before the Ferguson grand jury opted not to indict Wilson. Sadly, the list has grown longer.

Now that black lives matter to everyone, it is imperative that we continue marching for and giving voice to those killed in racially charged incidents at the hands of police and others. But we must never allow ourselves to march under the banner of a false narrative on behalf of someone who would otherwise offend our sense of right and wrong. And when we discover that we have, we must acknowledge it, admit our error and keep on marching. That’s what I’ve done here.

I have to give the man credit; that is a huge mea culpa and big come down from what was being said before. Honesty is a rarity among the left wing media anymore and I think this guy should be commended; and not scorned.

One thing that Jonathan Capehart does not seem to understand is that these shooting are the direct result of the ever-increasing police state in this Country. As well as the militarization of the local police forces in this Country as well. 40 years ago, swat teams were unheard of and police departments owning tanks and former military vehicles were the things of futuristic novels and paranoid nightmares. Today, it is commonplace.

This is the direct result of the actions of the Democratic Party controlled Congress during the Clinton era. Another was the implementation of a program, which allowed police departments to buy Military surplus equipment. All of this, was done by Democrats, who support a bigger State.

If the black Liberal Democrats want to see less shootings of unarmed blacks; they might actually consider standing up and speaking out against the big state; which has basically killed their people. Now, some of those killings were justified; as noted above. But, some, were not. This is what people like Jonathan Capehart should railing against.

Others: Mediaite, The Daily Caller and Instapundit

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