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I Told You It Was a Hoax

(But It Still Contributed to Tearing the USA Apart)

Part Two

By Gary F. Zeolla

This two-part article is continued from I Told You It Was a Hoax (But It Still Contributed to Tearing the USA Apart) Part One.

      Starting with the Kavanaugh proceedings, traditional rules of jurisprudence are being abandoned, as I detail in my book Tearing the USA Apart. That trend is continuing now with regards to Trump and many other issues in the spotlight, like the Jussie Smollett case and the ill-conceived reaction by many here in the Pittsburgh area to the Antwon Rose/ Michael Rosfeld trial verdict. This second part of this two-part article will discuss these two cases and their implications, while tying them back to the Trump/ Russian collusion hoax.

The Jussie Smollett Case/ Hate Crimes Misreporting

      The Jussie Smollett case ties into the Trump/ Russian collusion hoax, as just like with that hoax, there has been much false reporting by the MSM about it, and people have been rushing to judgment without knowing the full evidence on the case, pitting one side against the other.

      When Jussie first claimed he had been attacked by two MAGA hat wearing white guys, the MSM went nuts, declaring this was yet another case of right-wingers attacking left-wingers, which they claim is quite common. Many celebrities jumped on the bandwagon, declaring Jussie to be a victim of right-wing hate.

      Personally, as soon as I heard the story, I found it suspicious, as it sounded too “perfect” from a left-wing perspective. Two white guys wearing MAGA hats attacking a black homosexual, white shouting homosexual and racist slurs, then attempting to lynch him. That just too conveniently filled in all of the left’s intersectional boxes. Then when I heard more details, it sounded even more suspicious.

      This attack supposedly occurred during the polar vortex, when wind chill factors were in the minus-20s. Two men would not just be strolling around in the middle of the night in that weather carrying a rope and then somehow recognize a black man as the “star” of a TV, whom I am sure was bundled up from the cold. Then it was was really suspicious when Jussie refused to turn over his smart phone to the police, which he claimed had video often attack.

      But I did not write publicly about my suspicions, as I knew I did not have all of the facts to make a judgment. And besides, I really did not care much about a story about the star of TV show I never watched and never even heard of before this story broke.

      But then it was reported that the whole story was a hoax, and the right-wing media and right-wing commentators jumped on it as yet one more example of a hoax claim of a crime by right-wingers against left-wingers. There have been many such hoaxes since Trump was elected in November 2016, hundreds of them in fact. These are detailed on the Fake Hate Crimes Database linked to in the References.

      In fact, there have probably been far more hoaxes than real cases of right-wing attacks on left-wingers. But the MSM will only report the initial claim, then not report when it is proven to be a hoax, leaving the impression there is a vast amount of such attacks, when in fact, there are very few real such attacks and very many hoaxes.

      Along these lines, the MSM and Dems have also been repeating the lie that such hate crimes are on the rise. Democratic presidential candidates have especially been repeating this lie. But the fact is the rate of such crimes are actually down. The only thing that has increased is the rate of reporting of such crimes, with more police precincts reporting hate crimes to the national database.

      It must also be noted that anytime a crime is committed against a member of a “protected” class (like blacks or homosexuals), it is almost always initially reported as a “hate crime” by the MSM. But then later, when it is determined the person’s race, sex, religion, sexual orientation, or sexual identity had nothing to do with the crime, that is was just a run-of-the mill mugging or whatever, that later fact is rarely reported by the MSM.

      As a result of all of this misleading reporting by the MSM, the public is left with the impression that a plethora of hate crimes are occurring in the USA. But the facts are far from that impression. There are actually very few hate crimes occurring in the USA.

      But even with those facts, I still was not sure if this Jussie case was one of those hoaxes, so I again did not voice my suspicion that the Smollett “attack” was in fact a hoax. I figured I’d wait for the trial, when all of the evidence would be presented, and then make a decision based on that evidence, then report my opinion on the matter.

      But then the Chicago State’s attorney, Kim Foxx, dropped the charges and declared Jussie would not be tried. That decision by Foxx made no sense, as Jussie was not required to confess to a hoax, but he would be required to forfeit his $10,000 bond. If he were innocent of making a false police report, he should not have had to forfeit his bond. If he were guilty, he should have had to admit to that.

      With this nonsensical decision, Jussie is now free to declare he has been “truthful and consistent on every single level since day one” and even to demand an apology from the Chicago Police Department. But the Chicago police chief and mayor are still claiming it was all a hoax and are even demanding Jussie pay the department the $130,000 they wasted investigating the hoax. Meanwhile, I, and the rest of America, are left with no way to get all of the facts and to make an informed decision.

      However, that has not and will not keep everyone from taking sides in the matter, rushing to judgment without all of the facts. And that again takes us back to not just the Trump/ Russian collusion hoax, but to the Kavanaugh proceedings and my Tearing Apart book.

      Both sides are forgetting the presumption of innocence and right to due process that I harp on repeatedly in that book. Jussie's alleged attackers would have a presumption of innocence, if there were in fact suspects in the case, and Jussie has a presumption of innocence in the charge of making a false police report.

      The Chicago police chief and mayor are upset about the waste of money and manpower over this case, but I am more upset about how it has contributed to the tearing apart of the USA that is the focus of my book.

The Antwon Rose/ Michael Rosfeld Case

      This next case also illustrates the problems of rushing to judgment that was seen with Trump, Smollett, and the Kavanaugh proceedings. It was all over the news for the last several months here in the Pittsburgh area and even garnered national attention.

      The narrative that you might have heard was that on June 19, 2018, a white police officer (Michael Rosfeld) shot an unarmed black teenager (Antwon Rose) in the back as he was fleeing from a traffic stop. The slogan seen on protestor signs and heard chanted at demonstrations here in Pittsbirgh was “Three shots in the back; how do you justify that?” Well, you justify it by looking at the actual facts of the case and not the very misleading narrative of the local and national MSM.

      First, the term “traffic stop.” That makes it sound like the car Antwon was riding in had gone through a stop sign or some such traffic violation, and that is why it was stopped, but that is far from the truth.

      What really happened is that car had been identified as being used in a drive-by shooting minutes before Officer Rosfeld stopped it. In that drive-by shooting, nine shots were fired at the target from the car. Fortunately, only one struck the victim and that not fatally. But it was still an attempted murder. That is why the car was stopped.

      Given that fact, Officer Rosfeld knew that at least one person in that car was armed and dangerous. It was with that knowledge that he cautiously approached the car. It was then that Antwon jumped from the backseat and began to run into the nearby neighborhood.

      Officer Rosfeld had a split-second decision to make. Should he let this potentially armed and dangerous criminal flee into that neighborhood endangering all of its inhabitants? Or, should he stop him using deadly force? He chose the latter, as the safest option for himself and the civilians in the neighborhood. If he had not, then a massive manhunt would have ensued, with the local schools and businesses on lockdown, and those in that neighborhood and nearby being told to stay in their homes. It would have been a dangerous situation affecting hundreds if not thousands of people.

      As it turned out, there were three people in the car. The driver was a paid jitney driver, who had no idea his passengers were armed teenagers with plans to shoot someone. Antwon was sitting in the driver’s side backseat. Another teenager was in the passenger’s side backseat. A video showed the shots were fired from the latter, so Antwon was not the shooter. However, a handgun was found on the driver’s side backseat with Antwon’s fingerprints on it. I heard this vital point on the local news once and never again. But it is vital as it shows Antwon did have a gun, but he left it on his seat when he ran off.

      Of course, Officer Rosfeld did not know any of these details at the moment he shot Antwon. All he knew was that car was involved in a drive-by shooting. As such, someone was armed, and when Antwon ran off, he had every reason to believe he was armed and dangerous.

      All of these details were brought out in the trial, including showing video of the drive-by shooting and the well-publicized video of Officer Rosfeld shooting Antwon. The former was from a surveillance camera, while the latter was from a citizen’s smart phone. Another smart phone video of the Antwon shooting surfaced latter and was also shown at trial.

      Due to the publicity here in Allegheny County where Pittsburgh is located, the jurors were picked from across the state, from the country in which Harrisburg, the state capital, is located. It was composed of nine whites and three blacks. That mixed race jury found Officer Rosfeld “Not guilty” on all charges.

      One of the blacks on the jury, Jesse Rawls Sr, was the jury foreman. He gave several interviews after the verdict, one was with WTAE Channel 4, the Pittsburgh ABC affiliate, and another was with Trib Live, the publisher of a Pittsburgh newspaper. In the latter, Jesse said, he “believes Antwon Rose II would be alive today had he not run from police” (Trib Live. Jury). That is a fact. But more fundamentally, if Antwon had not been an accomplice in a drive-by shooting, he would still be alive.

      Make no mistake about it. Antwon was not an innocent bystander as the media is trying to make him out to be. If he had not been killed, he would have been tried as an accomplice in an attempted murder. Given that he was only 17, it was illegal for him to possess a handgun, so he would have been charged with that crime as well.

      The most astute statement by the black jury foreman was in the WTAE interview, in which he said he believes anyone who heard all of the evidence presented at trial would also have come to a not guilty verdict. He also said the verdict would have been the same if all of the jurors had been black. He further emphasized it was a justified shooting based on PA state law. “Rawls said Rosfeld was justified in shooting Rose, 17, based largely on Rose’s involvement in a drive-by shooting earlier that evening” (Trib Live. Jury).

      But again, the fact that Antwon was involved in a drive-by shooting has been brushed over by the media with its constant statement that Antwon was “running from a traffic stop.” That terminology is being used by every news outlet reporting on this case, both local and national. But it very misleading. It was not a traffic stop. The car was stopped because it had been involved in that drive-by shooting, making it a “felony traffic stop” as the foreman more correctly called it.

      It is also very misleading for the media to say Antwon was “unarmed.” Technically, he was at the moment he was shot, but as Jesse put it, “When someone jumps out of a car that you know was just involved in a drive-by shooting, would you assume that they’re not armed?” (Trib Live. Jury). And again, Antwon was armed possibly seconds before, with the gun he left on the backseat of the car when he fled from it. But of course, there is no way Officer Rosfeld knew that when Antwon fled from the car.

      Due to the media’s misreporting of this case, many in the Pittsburgh area have been marching, demanding “justice” for Antwon. That includes hundreds of high schoolers, who skipped out of school one day at noon to march and protest. That, incidentally, is one reason 16-year-olds should not have the right to vote, as Dems are currently clamoring for, as teenagers do not the reasoning ability to understand the nuances of an issue.

      But at least the protests have for the most part been peaceful, and no arrest have been made, at least in the city of Pittsburgh. But in Clairton, a nearby city, there was some ruckus that led to some arrests. Plus, the office of the lawyer for Rosfeld was shot up the evening after the verdict. It was initially reported there were two bullet holes in the building, but that was later increased to 8-9 bullet holes. But thank God, the office was empty at time, and no one was injured.

      The important point is, the protesters are missing the fact that they were not present in the trial and do not have all of the facts. They are instead operating on the misleading reporting of the MSM. They are also forgetting the presumption of innocent and right to due process that everyone has when charged with crime, and that includes Officer Rosfeld. The evidence simply did not prove he was guilty. Consequently, the jury had no choice but to acquit him, as the jury foreman made clear.

      But from the day Antwon was shot, many people here in Pittsburgh prejudged the case, assumed Rosfeld was guilty and that Antwon was this innocent teenager who was shot for no reason other than him being black, all based on the misleading reporting of the MSM. In doing so, they show no respect for the rule of law and our judicial system, which did render justice in the case, just not the decision they wanted. And that is leading to Pittsburgh being torn apart over disputes about this case.

      And in another case of liberals being sore losers, there now is talk of changing the law to make it more difficult for police to shoot suspects. I fear that will have a chilling effect on the Pittsburgh police, causing them to be reluctant to confront potentially dangerous criminals, leading to an increase in crime in Pittsburgh, as has happened in other cities that have had similar controversial shootings.

Back to Trump

      The inability of some Pittsburghers to accept the Rosfeld verdict takes us back to the Mueller investigation and the Trump/ Russian collusion hoax. It is due to the constant attacks on President Trump and his family and close associates in the MSM that surveys are showing millions of Americans still believe Trump and his associates are guilty of colluding with Russia, despite Mueller’s report declaring there was no evidence of such.

      The MSM coverage of the President has been 91% negative since he took office, with most of it pursuing the false collusion narrative, and an almost complete lack of reporting on his many accomplishments. Those many accomplishments are detailed elsewhere on this website and in my Tearing Apart book. Two new ones you might not have heard about are first, the final defeat of ISIS, with all of the lands it formerly held in Iraq and Syria being reclaimed  by US and allied forces. That is huge, but the MSM has barely mentioned it. The second is President Trump recognizing the Golan Heights are a part of Israel. That is huge for Israel, as that tiny nation is indefensible without the high ground and territory of the Golan Heights, as also discussed elsewhere on this site. But if the MSM mentioned this important move, they only did so with a spin to make it sound negative.

      But rather than apologizing for its false reporting on the Trump/ Russia collusions hoax and its lack of coverage of Trump’s many accomplishments, the MSM has now turned to attacking Trump and the Republicans over health care, just as Nancy Pelosi called for, while ignoring their role in pushing the false Trump/ Russian collusion hoax and the effect it has had in tearing the USA apart.

Conclusion

      The idea of a Trump/ Russian collusion is and always was a hoax. It began solely because Dems and the MSM are sore losers and could not accept that their preferred candidate lost the 2016 election. Rather than accepting Hillary lost because she was a horrible candidate, they invented the idea of a Trump/ Russian collusion. That hoax has put a serious drag on the Trump presidency and has torn the country apart, as have the other cases discussed in this two-part article.

      But in regard to the Trump/ Russian collusion hoax, it is now time for those pushing that false narrative to stop and for those responsible for it to be prosecuted. We also need to get back to a respect for the rule of law, as outlined in the Bible and the US Constitution, as I discuss at length in my Tearing the USA Apart book. Only then will we be able to get back to being the United States of America.

References:

Standard References, plus:

Antwon Rose/ Michael Rosfeld Case:

CBS Pittsburgh. Office Of Michael Rosfeld’s Lawyer Shot Up Overnight After Acquittal.

CBS Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Public School Students Protest Rosfeld Not Guilty Verdict.

NBC News. Protests continue in Pittsburgh after officer acquitted in fatal shooting of Antwon Rose II.

New York Times. Antwon Rose Shooting: White Police Officer Acquitted in Death of Black Teenager.

Trib Live. Jury foreman in Rosfeld trial says ex-cop ‘has a right to do what he did’.

Trib Live. Letters to the editor: Readers weigh in on Rosfeld trial, protests.

Jussie Smollett Case/ Hate Crimes Misreporting:

American Spectator, The. The Media’s ‘Climate of Hate’ Myth.

CBS News. Charges dropped against Jussie Smollett, attorneys say.

CBS News. Smollett police reports cast doubt on actor's claim he paid $3,500 for training sessions.

Dan Bongino. The Truth About “Rising Hate Crimes.”

Fake Hate Crimes: A Database of Hate Crime Hoaxes in the USA.

Federalist, The. Top 4 Anti-LGBT Myths Of 2017.

Defeat of ISIS/ Golan Heights:

Ambrosy Media. President Trump proclaims final defeat of ISIS group.

Sun, The. Soldiers celebrate wiping out ISIS in Syria as Theresa May hails victory an ‘historic milestone.’

Vox. Kurdish-led forces stomp out final ISIS stronghold in Syria.

Golan Heights:

Fox News. Trump signs proclamation recognizing Israeli sovereignty over Golan Heights.

Time. President Trump, With Netanyahu by His Side, Officially Recognizes Golan Heights as Israeli Land.

WhiteHouse.gov. Proclamation on Recognizing the Golan Heights as Part of the State of Israel.

I Told You It Was a Hoax (But It Still Contributed to Tearing the USA Apart) Part Two. Copyright © 2019 by Gary F. Zeolla (www.Zeolla.org).

The above article was posted on this website March 30, 2019.

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