As Twitchy reported, the police officer who shot Jacob Blake last summer will not face charges, and Wisconsin’s governor has brought in the National Guard as a precaution. It’s interesting to see how the different news outlets are presenting the story in their headlines and tweets; most mention that Blake is black, while some also include the fact that Officer Rusten Sheskey is white. Others, like Newsmax, have left race out of it entirely while still managing to get the facts across.
As we noted in our previous post, the Washington Post — second in influence only to the New York Times — noted in its tweet that Blake was unarmed. (As we also noted, PBS NewsHour announced he’d been killed.) It was reported last summer that Blake admitted to having a knife. While making today’s announcement, the district attorney again mentioned that Blake admitted he was armed.
Will the Post retract its tweet? Will Twitter flag it as disinformation? (Of course not.)
https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1346569231983370248
Flagging for youhttps://t.co/uk5zdCr4kN
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 5, 2021
Kenosha District Attorney Michael Gravely: "Very important, Jacob Blake, while actively resisting, arms himself with a knife. … It is absolutely incontrovertible that Jacob Blake was armed with a knife during this encounter." https://t.co/cTohZ9ntWO
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) January 5, 2021
Mostly Unarmed
— Joe Musser (@aokmuss) January 5, 2021
So "unarmed" and "armed with a knife" are now synonyms?
— The ASMR Reviewer (@AsmrReviewer) January 5, 2021
Pure unmitigated gaslighting. Classic Washpo.
— eric (@eriContrarian) January 5, 2021
He was armed.
— I got your #Unity right here (@jtLOL) January 5, 2021
Recommended
No Twitter label about misinformation?
— Politically Rich (@politicallyrich) January 5, 2021
We saw the video guys…
— Nobody (@seajayt) January 5, 2021
He was armed with a knife
— TheUnusualSuspect (@beerandtokens) January 5, 2021
https://t.co/HwNJF53iG1 pic.twitter.com/Wu7N6hUwTd
— Mrs. Brassenstein (@MBrassenstein) January 5, 2021
https://twitter.com/fuckchinajoe/status/1346580861622382593
Armed
— Lili von Shtupp (@LvS_Redux) January 5, 2021
Having a knife is now being unarmed…
— Samuel Miller (@SamMiller2028) January 5, 2021
We can say, the vehicle and the knife could be considered weapons from a man who abused his girlfriend.
— Anti Viral A ? (@anewjusta) January 5, 2021
*This claim has been disputed
— Force Ghost Burt Reynolds (@ForceGhostBurt) January 5, 2021
Even Jacob Blake says himself he was ARMED WITH A KNIFE.
— KiMiKi (@kdcajt) January 5, 2021
The “unarmed” man had a knife
— Howard_In_CT ?? (@How9876543210) January 5, 2021
Those aren't the events that happened.
— Dave P. ?? (@DavidP17996603) January 5, 2021
The DA just explained how Blake admitted to having the knife in his hands the whole time
— The Nameless Pro-Trump Mobster (@KiwiNamelessOne) January 5, 2021
Great headline.
?
Signed,
23 YO person at Twitter who makes decisions of placing warnings on @realDonaldTrump tweets.
— @_NPOB1 ?️ (@_NPOB1) January 5, 2021
Blake was not unarmed. Blake was carrying a knife. In his hand. He had been instructed to 'drop the knife'.
— Mike Moss (@_MikeMoss) January 5, 2021
He was also shot with a Taser, but that proved ineffective.
Where's @Jack for this disinformation… Blake was indeed armed with a knife.
— Judah’s Lion (@Tony5ohh) January 5, 2021
Knife in hand = armed.
— C. Dawg Knight (@C_Dawg_Knight) January 5, 2021
Ah, yes. An unarmed black man with a knife.
— Brittany Hughes (@RealBrittHughes) January 5, 2021
Just here for the ratio.
— ?? Алєѯандръ (@temporalsin) January 5, 2021
He was literally not unarmed.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 5, 2021
Armed with a knife and willfully resisted arrest
— Chris. (@TheChrisLeeShow) January 5, 2021
Blake himself admitted he had a knife.
WHERE ARE THE FACT CHECKERS?
— The Hodl Depot (@HodlDepot) January 5, 2021
Dear @washingtonpost , misleading and inflammatory headlines like this are the reason for a decline in confidence in the media. A thriving democracy needs good journalism. Please strive to do better.
— lowercase jh (@jimho11) January 5, 2021
The DA is now showing video of Blake WITH the knife
and
audio of people yelling at him to drop the knife.
Then he provided a PHOTOGRAPH of the knife.
That Blake HIMSELF testified later that he HAD!
And the Washington Post IS just GOING Infowars on this.
— sarah k (@wordpower2018) January 5, 2021
Good job trying your best to foment a riot.
— kryptonquaker (@kryptonquaker) January 5, 2021
*Jacob Blake admits he was armed with a knife*
Washington Post: pic.twitter.com/koRt5IhOrI— The Daily Wire (@realDailyWire) January 5, 2021
He was armed. Other than that, great journalisming.
— Brother Seamus (@WaynePelota) January 5, 2021
Unarmed you say? What was he holding the knife with?
— JonathonSnyder (@JonathonSnyder) January 5, 2021
He was actually armed. But don't let that get in the way of the clicks.
— Ben Roberts (@hotplinth) January 5, 2021
“Unarmed” This should be flagged for attempting to incite riots.
— Peter Pilot? #Flyingwithamaskon (@guardpilot) January 5, 2021
Anyone who believed Blake was unarmed has their narrative confirmed now by a major newspaper. The tweet has been up for an hour-and-a-half now — are they ever going to correct it?
* * *
Update:
They took their time about it, but the Washington Post finally issued a correction:
We’ve deleted a previous tweet that incorrectly described Jacob Blake as unarmed. While his family has said he was not armed when shot by police, prosecutors on Tuesday said video evidence depicts him holding a knife. The story has been corrected.
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 6, 2021
So his family is lying.
Related:
Kenosha district attorney announces no officers will be charged in shooting of Jacob Blake https://t.co/6R5p0ynYPC
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) January 5, 2021
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