As you probably recall, last week, a few days after the deadly mass shooting at Covenant School in Nashville, a sea of angry protesters stormed the Tennessee Capitol demanding stricter gun control laws (with some stuff about how Republicans need to stop being so mean to trans kids sprinkled in, of course).
Well, apparently last Friday on her Fox News show, Laura Ingraham played video from the protest — or insurrection, if you prefer to call it — with a chyron that read “Leftist Agitators Storm State Capitols.” Ingraham herself noted that the footage showed protesters flooding the Tennessee State Capitol.
Meta took issue with this alleged misinformation, and PolitiFact evidently thinks they made the right call:
The person shouting with a megaphone on the floor of the Tennessee House of Representatives was not an unauthorized protester. He was an elected official who joined protesters at the state capitol in their calls for action against gun violence. https://t.co/s7xSNd1GcW
— PolitiFact (@PolitiFact) April 5, 2023
It showed Tennessee state Rep. Justin Jones, D-Nashville, holding a megaphone and a “protect kids not guns” sign, flanked by state Reps. Justin J. Pearson, D-Memphis, and Gloria Johnson, D-Knoxville. The three lawmakers took over the lectern on the House floor and led chants echoed by the protesters gathered in the galleries, which are open to the public.
“The people on the floor were elected officials,” said Wes Moster, a spokesperson for Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security, which oversees Tennessee Capitol security.
PolitiFact found no evidence that shows protesters made their way onto the House floor.
Fox News did not respond to a request for comment.
Fox News’ only comment to PolitiFact should be “Get bent.”
Incredible https://t.co/DRI8ixNIjS
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) April 5, 2023
No, really. That’s the perfect word for what this is:
The video showed three Democrats, all elected state representatives, who on March 30 disrupted the legislative session to call for action against gun violence. There’s no evidence unauthorized protesters made their way onto the House floor, however.
We rate this claim False.
“False.” Not even “Half True” or “Mostly False”, but just straight-up “False.”
PolitiFact isn’t just blind; they’re willfully blind. And they think we don’t see it.
Wait, do they have authorized protestors?
— 🇦🇲 Marco The Logo 🇾🇪 (@MarcNazty) April 5, 2023
“Authorized protesters” = “left-wing protesters” = “protesters PolitiFact agrees with.”
this is why no one trusts you. once he grabbed the megaphone and started to interrupt the proceedings he became an unauthorized protester.
— 𝚓𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚑𝚗𝚎𝚛 (@jeremydehner) April 5, 2023
— Plastic Guy (@Secre7Skw3rl) April 5, 2023
Idiots. PolitiFact is a cesspool of partisan hackery and abject incompetence.
No one was "authorized" to disrupt the official government proceedings with a megaphone, elected or not. This just pedantry to whitewash terrible behavior, and classic Politifact. https://t.co/0y2ZNvzBK9
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) April 5, 2023
Classic PolitiFact.
Does carrying the water ever get tiresome for you?
— CaptainWombat (@techroach98) April 5, 2023
The behavior wasn’t authorized. Don’t hurt your back carrying all that water for Dems.
— Taro Tsujimoto (@RCannon74) April 5, 2023
Don’t worry. They won’t stop carrying that water, even if it means they have to crawl on their bellies like the worms they are.
Even Pravda would be blushing at this spin. https://t.co/P5o6f59rqU
— Dr S Maitra (@MrMaitra) April 5, 2023
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Related:
Peaceful trans activists who stormed Tennessee Capitol honor the *7th* victim of Covenant shooting
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