Plenty of people were skeptical Tuesday when, following a chase through Washington, D.C., that ended in a car crash and three arrests, police confirmed to reporters that they had recovered a machine gun that had been tossed from the would-be getaway car.
Full disclosure: we were skeptical too. Far too many people use terms like “machine gun” to describe semi-automatic rifles like the AR-15, a fully legal weapon which reporters gobbled up after the Pulse nightclub terror attack to show how easy it was to purchase. But a full-auto pistol? That’s 50 shades of illegal.
However, reporters stood by their sources, and D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier confirmed that a MAC-11 machine gun was recovered in a tunnel.
Update: MPD says 3 suspectscaught by #USCapitol after 1 of them fired a shot at police while in 395 tunnel, using small automatic weapon.
— Scott Thuman (@ScottThuman) July 12, 2016
1/Chief Lanier: officers chasing 3 suspects at high speed thru 3rd St tunnel get fired upon. Suspects drop Mac 11 & ammo on road. @ABC7News
— Jay Korff (@ABC7Jay) July 12, 2016
2/Chief Lanier: confirms Mac 11 was an automatic weapon and the suspects dropped a lot of ammo. All 3 arrested. No officers hurt. @ABC7News
— Jay Korff (@ABC7Jay) July 12, 2016
The Washington Post, however, reported that the MAC-11 was a semi-automatic weapon “which resembles a machine pistol.”
Emily Miller, senior political correspondent at One America News, on Wednesday night tweeted that she (and, well, just about everyone else) was right to be skeptical.
I was right! DC Police Chief Lanier FALSELY said the MAC-11 gun near Capitol was "fully auto" machine gun. Police now say it is semi auto.
— Emily Miller (@emilymiller) July 14, 2016
semi automatic doesn't fit the narrative.
— Steve Heisse (@hollywoodheiz) July 14, 2016
So Chief Lanier was semi-right? (Asking for a friend.)
— CaseClosed (@wds08) July 14, 2016
ABC7 took a lot of flak (no pun intended) for its initial report that the suspects were in possession of a machine gun but referred critics to the police chief’s statement.
I asked Lanier during presser if it was fully automatic and she said yes. Per ammo all she said was "a lot"
— Jay Korff (@ABC7Jay) July 12, 2016
Miller apologized to Korff yesterday for not having the facts, but it looks like the facts changed. So, was it just a case of the police not knowing what they had in their hands?
Chief either lied or misled. The gun was a semi auto handgun. And @DavidMuir said it was fully auto @ABCWorldNews https://t.co/KP1rkTgslL
— Emily Miller (@emilymiller) July 14, 2016
The police chief is not ignorant. She knows there are NO FULLY AUTO guns on the streets. https://t.co/8xsOEbUTP6
— Emily Miller (@emilymiller) July 14, 2016
So will the media outlets that reported that there was a fully auto machine gun near the Capitol issue corrections? Google to see who…
— Emily Miller (@emilymiller) July 14, 2016
You can forget about that. There are people I interact with daily who think that full-auto = semi-auto = "weapon of war"
— kev (@heylookitskev) July 14, 2016
It’s actually kind of remarkable just how little play this story received from the major news outlets. Whether the weapon was full-auto or not, three suspects shot at police during a car chase through D.C. Now might be a good time to mention that those three suspects, according to the police report, were between ages 18 and 20:
- 19-year-old Keyante Edwards, of Southwest, DC for Assault on a Police Officer (Aggravated Assault), Carrying Pistol Without a License, Discharging Firearms, Presence in a Motor Vehicle Containing a Firearm, and Unlawful Entry.
- 18-year-old Alpha Jalloh, of Southwest, DC, for Fleeing from a Law Enforcement Officer in a Motor Vehicle, Reckless Driving, Presence in a Motor Vehicle Containing a Firearm, and Resisting Arrest.
- 20-year-old Keith Jones, of Southeast, DC, for Presence in a Motor Vehicle Containing a Firearm, and Resisting Arrest.
https://twitter.com/AndStrats/status/753415816096382976
Really? Yes, really, according to Matt Yurus of WUSA.
Keith Jones was allegedly involved in DC police chase. He was allowed to go home today, back in court Friday. @wusa9 pic.twitter.com/rcC2BSKjch
— Matt Yurus (@MattYurus) July 14, 2016
We don’t know what to believe anymore.
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