Legal Analyst Fact-Checks Story About Furries Harassing Kids

Our own Grateful Calvin did a VIP post this week on a student walkout in Utah. The students were protesting being

Student Walkout Anti-Furry Protest Mt Nebo Middle School Payson Utah https://t.co/NPFpvBehQZ
— Utah Main Street Media (@MediaUtah) April 17, 2024

The students complain that the furries bite them, bark at them, and pounce on them without repercussion. As Calvin wrote:

Most of the students [reporter Adam] Bartholomew talked to are middle-school-age or younger. Many of them may be exaggerating or even just making up some of the details. Lots of them seemed to be laughing about the issue, so it's possible they're playing this up for attention. Kids do that sort of thing (so do many adults, as social media shows us every day). The school district's PIO Seth Sorenson has denied all of these allegations, calling it all a misunderstanding based on a memo the school sent out asking students to be respectful of others no matter how they dress.
However, Bartholomew DID also speak to some adults and parents during his interviews, who confirmed at least some of what the students said.

The Blaze picked up the story, and cable news legal analyst Jeffrey Evan Gold discredited The Blaze by pointing to a fact-check in The Salt Lake Tribune.

Fact check. No "furries" https://t.co/bfEPDHsfSD
— Jeffrey Evan Gold (@jeffgoldesq) April 18, 2024

Nebo School District spokesperson Seth Sorenson said that claim was false. He also said students at the middle school are not wearing full-body animal costumes to class, as “furries” — part of a subculture of people who sometimes dress up like animal characters but act like humans — are known to do.
But by about 4 p.m. Wednesday, Bartholomew’s video and claims had been picked up and spread by Libs of TikTok, an account on X that shares anti-LGBTQ posts and other clips geared at generating right-wing outrage. Bartholomew is married to Cari Bartholomew, who is running as a far-right candidate for the Utah State Board of Education in District 13.

A “fact check” would involve actual evidence, not citing an article with the district spox issuing a denial. That’s called hearsay at the courthouse. The Blaze article says kids have videos. A proper fact check might actually view those videos.
— time to punt (@4ourthandlong) April 18, 2024

That's not how fact checks work. Makes sense you'd be on cable news - those who know the least know it the loudest.
— Lee (@LCJS) April 18, 2024

Leon Wolf is the managing editor of The Blaze:

Fact check fact check. We have both pictures and video and will be releasing both soon.

A "fact check" does not mean you blindly accept a school district's canned denial statement. https://t.co/g4mY5Srhsu
— Leon Wolf 🇮🇱 (@LeonHWolf) April 18, 2024

I have the feeling that if this was a negative story about Trump, and the sole evidence that it was false was that Trump denied it, you at CNN would not say that a "fact check" ruled it false.
— Leon Wolf 🇮🇱 (@LeonHWolf) April 18, 2024

What boils my blood is that instead of making that argument, the smug "fact checkers" just try to claim that it isn't happening without doing even the most basic work, like contacting the parents at this protest to see if they have any evidence. Then they say WE are fake news
— Leon Wolf 🇮🇱 (@LeonHWolf) April 19, 2024

So there was a story out about school students in Utah protesting furries. A local reporter came out and did a bogus "fact check" and blamed the right wing. Leon and The Blaze produced photos and video footage. Reporter still hasn't corrected. https://t.co/krI5aF9v1S
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) April 19, 2024

To anyone with teens in middle/high school, furries are like the least surprising thing in the world these days; how do “journalists” not know about this?
— Rocky Mountain High (@subsix848) April 19, 2024