Rumors of post-election “riots” on the Ole Miss campus in Oxford, Mississippi, spread quickly overnight and are still making the rounds this morning.
https://twitter.com/anedders/status/266077588840136704
https://twitter.com/Dat_Dude_Peezy/status/266078911102853120
Students at U of Miss campus riot when election called for Obama. So far, conservative bloggers 0 for 2. http://t.co/g0yajJDQ
— J C (@katosmullet) November 7, 2012
yall white ppl in olemiss started a riot….??
— leahlashae. (@alleuyahhh_) November 7, 2012
Race riots in Mississippi? Yikes.
Riots on #olemiss campus. True or false?
— tylerRedwards (@tylerRedwards) November 7, 2012
Actually, false, according to multiple reporters and eyewitnesses.
Tired of hearing the word riot associated with Ole Miss. I saw the video, that was a drunken protest. A similar thing happened 4 years ago.
— Wes Sparkmon (@WesSparkmon) November 7, 2012
But that didn’t stop the BuzzFeed lapdogs from pushing out an early morning post titled “University Of Mississippi Students Riot Over Obama Victory.”
University Of Mississippi Students Riot Over Obama Victory http://t.co/NdPaoxZX
— BuzzFeed Politics (@BuzzFeedPol) November 7, 2012
BuzzFeed gleefully “reported” the supposed riot over “President Barack Obama’s re-election” and tossed in this sneering line at the end:
Ironically, prior to Tuesday night conservative bloggers had warned of plots by black youth to riot if Obama lost the election, a charge that police dismissed.
But as several media outlets noted, there was no riot. And there were reportedly no injuries or arrests during the student protest. (Editor’s note: The report linked in the previous sentence has been updated to reflect two arrests: one “one for public intoxication and one for failure to comply with police orders.”)
Riots HAVE NOT broken out on campus. Only protests. #OleMiss
— NewsWatch Ole Miss (@NewsWatch_UM) November 7, 2012
Ole Miss police confirm protests on campus overnight following election results; lasted about an hour. No arrests or injuries reported.
— 16 WAPT News (@16WAPTNews) November 7, 2012
We are defining what happened earlier as protests. "Riots" are violent public disturbances, and that did not occur on the #OleMiss campus.
— The Daily Mississippian (@thedm_news) November 7, 2012
@georgemonger seems to have been clash of O and R supporters mixed with alcohol and immaturity. GB
— WREG News Channel 3 (@3onyourside) November 7, 2012
@wshawnlynch I don't know. More and more it sounds like a protest as opposed to rock throwing, cars overturned etc. GB
— WREG News Channel 3 (@3onyourside) November 7, 2012
A number of people on the scene also challenged the idea that violent “riots” had broken out at Ole Miss.
Not trying to be flippant, but if you consider "riot" to be a really long line at Subway OKAY it looks like that around Ole Miss. That's it.
— lolexander (@alexander_pipes) November 7, 2012
https://twitter.com/SheaThrock/status/266080102994022400
https://twitter.com/JaboboRocks/status/266064772158607360
Margaret Ann Morgan, whose Twitter bio describes her as a University of Mississippi journalism student, initially characterized the protests as “riots” and tweeted about violence and racial slurs on campus.
#OleMiss students: We are live tweeting the "riots" on campus. Please tweet at me for updates/info. OAN this is a disgrace to our university
— Margaret Ann Macloud (@Margaret_AnnM) November 7, 2012
Onlookers say people- black, white, etc- throwing rocks at cars #OleMiss
— Margaret Ann Macloud (@Margaret_AnnM) November 7, 2012
Students of all races yelling on rebel drive. Lots of racial slurs #OleMiss
— Margaret Ann Macloud (@Margaret_AnnM) November 7, 2012
She later retracted her tweets and apologized.
I apologize and should clarify that what happened tonight is better described as protests, not riots. #OleMiss
— Margaret Ann Macloud (@Margaret_AnnM) November 7, 2012
Going to bed after a long night of victory for our president and upset on our campus. Thankful that these were nonviolent protests & hope…
— Margaret Ann Macloud (@Margaret_AnnM) November 7, 2012
That all members of the #OleMiss community will move forward with the best interests of every Rebel at heart. We are a family.
— Margaret Ann Macloud (@Margaret_AnnM) November 7, 2012
An image bouncing around Twitter purports to show a University of Mississippi student burning an Obama campaign sign. One despicable Twitter user whose account contains racial epithets claims he appears in the photo.
https://twitter.com/badams619/status/266093016631087104
Twitchy was unable to find a news organization that had verified the photograph was taken on campus. WMCTV (a station that also called the protest a “riot”) was told by an onlooker that a sign was briefly lit on fire, but there was no riot.
“I was there the whole time. No rocks were thrown. There was 1 sign lit on fire. For about 45 seconds,” Carr said. “Mostly, it was 100s of college kids who heard the word riot and ran to take pictures and see what it was about. Again, no rocks or missiles thrown.”
Here’s video of the protest.
https://twitter.com/MistaBspot/status/266142489105297410
Odd how those who immediately cry “riot” despite eyewitness accounts to the contrary are the same sort of media whitewashers who won’t call Occupy bomb plots “terrorism” and refuse to acknowledge the wave of criminality at OWS camps.
If these reporters and eyewitnesses are correct, it’s time to update your post and apologize to the Ole Miss community, BuzzFeed.
Note: This post has been updated to reflect new information in one of the linked reports.
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