Remember last month when blue-check celebrities like actor Ron Perlman smeared as a Nazi a veteran of the Marine Corps and double amputee who now works for ICE as a computer forensics analyst? Why? Because of the Iron Cross tattoo on his arm.
After Perlman and others spread the false claim far and wide, ICE issued a tweet clarifying that the tattoo is a symbol of his platoon in Afghanistan.
Justin Gaertner is a combat wounded U.S. Marine who continues to serve his country as an ICE computer forensics analyst, helping solve criminal cases & rescue abused children. The tattoo shown here is the symbol for his platoon while he fought in Afghanistan. pic.twitter.com/BaOBxaAMHS
— ICE (@ICEgov) June 18, 2018
Among those giving steam to the idea that ICE had hired a Nazi was former New Yorker fact-checker Talia Lavin, who this week tweeted that she’s found a new gig with Media Matters for America researching right-wing extremist groups. Great hire, guys.
Some personal news: I'm delighted to be joining Media Matters (@mmfa) next week as a researcher on far-right extremism and the alt-right, part of a brand-new team. I'll be working full-time with some of the smartest, most passionate people in media right now and I'm psyched.
— Talia Lavin (@chick_in_kiev) July 20, 2018
Wow.
ICYMI: Media Matters has hired Talia Lavin (@chick_in_kiev) as a "researcher" on "far-right extremism," despite the fact that her only claim to fame here was falsely accusing a disabled war veteran of sporting a Nazi tattoohttps://t.co/wwLOdWIaDm
— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) July 21, 2018
Jon Levine writes at The Wrap
Media Matters for America has hired Talia Lavin, a former fact checker for The New Yorker, less than a month after she left the magazine over a tweet falsely accusing a disabled ICE employee of having a Nazi tattoo.
The liberal media watchdog group will employ Lavin as a researcher on far-right extremism, she said Friday in a tweet.
Maybe she’ll do as good a job at reporting on right-wing extremism as the reporters at ABC News. Not that we’re endorsing either group, but we couldn’t help but notice ABC News’s explainer on the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys relied on just two sources: the SPLC and CAIR. What a shocker. That’s just flat-out lazy, guys.
"Racist street fighters and an anti-government militia": Understanding the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers. https://t.co/mzw5hunwgR pic.twitter.com/aLM8nHz6CF
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) July 19, 2018
If only they’d waited a few days they could have gone to Media Matters for even more thorough fact-checking.
Related:
Chutzpah ALERT! Michelle Malkin DROPS New Yorker fact-checker for 'apology' to ICE agent /disabled vet https://t.co/HiQIDr14Cj
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) June 24, 2018
