“I hope this story with Mr. Smollett will lead to a pivot in our culture where we start to really embrace caution and skepticism again.”
Journalist Andy Ngo has turned owning the libs into a science.
On Tuesday, the Quillette editor launched into day two of a viral, fact-based Twitter rant about what he sees as hate-crime hysteria in the Trump era. Inspired by mounting evidence that actor Jussie Smollett staged a “MAGA”-themed attack against himself, Ngo has so far compiled 27 examples of apparently similar hoaxes – all supported by hard-to-deny reporting.
Right after Donald Trump’s election, the SPLC really stoked panic. A pro-gay Episcopal church in Indiana was vandalized w/“Heil Trump,” a swastika, & an anti-gay slur. Turns out it was the gay organ player who did it. He was only charged w/a misdemeanor. https://t.co/QxeOoBHohC
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) February 17, 2019
Nov. 1, 2016: Ahead of the 2016 presidential election, a historically black church in Mississippi was burned in an arson attack and “Vote Trump” was scrawled on the building. After much outcry about a suspected hate crime, police arrested a black member of the church, whom they said had non-political motives.
WATCH: Kamala Harris Is Asked About Her Jussie Smollett ‘Modern-Day Lynching’ Comments
Nov. 8, 2016: On election night, Chris Ball, a white Canadian man, said he was beaten by anti-gay Trump supporters in Santa Monica, California. His friend shared a photo of Ball’s supposedly bloodied face to social media. Police said Ball never reported an attack of checked into a local hospital.
Nov. 9, 2016: A day after the election, cars and a house on a street in Philadelphia were tagged with racist and pro-Trump messages. A black man was charged with vandalism and related offenses.
- In a dramatic social media post, a black woman recounted being threatened by an armed group of four racist white men outside a Delaware gas station. After the post went viral, she reported that the men had been arrested. Police denied any such incident had even been reported, and the woman refused to speak to reporters.
- Two white Babson College students drove through nearby Wellesley College in Massachusetts waving a Trump flag to celebrate his election victory. They were kicked out of their fraternity and condemened in a letter by faculty over social media rumors that they had spat on a Wellesley student and shouted racist and homophobic slurs. An investigation by Babson cleared them of any wrongdoing.
- A black student at Bowling Green State University in Ohio told police that three white boys in Trump shirts threw rocks at her and called her a racist epithet. Her story got a lot of attention online, but police found it inconsistent, and concluded based on her text messages that she had lied out of frustration with Trump-supporting family members. She was charged with falsification and obstructing official business.
WATCH: CNN Backpedals ”I Was Frankly Surprised’ How Many Believed Smollett”
Nov. 10, 2016: A Muslim student at the University of Louisiana said two white men, one wearing a “Trump” hat, assaulted and robbed her near campus. She said they ripped off her hijab and called her a racist slur. The claims caused a national media sensation, but police later said she made up the story and charged her with filing a false report.
- A black student at Villanova University in Pennsylvania said she was knocked down by young white men yelling “Trump!” However, she refused to cooperate with police or university administrators, who then clammed up about what they had discovered.
- A note saying “Bye Bye Latinos Hasta La Vista” was on a classroom whiteboard and Elon University in North Carolina, prompting outcry that the campus was not inclusive. Administrators revealed that a Latino student had written the message as a joke.
Nov. 11, 2016: After a University of Michigan student told police that man threatened to set her hijab on fire, the Michigan chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations said the attack was “just the latest anti-Muslim incident reported since the election of Donald Trump as president.” Police discovered that the student fabricated the story.
WATCH: NYT” If Smollett Fakes His Hate Crime, “He’s an Insane Person, He’s a Psychopath”
Nov. 12, 2016: Days before Americans went to the polls, a pro-gay episcopal church in Indiana was tagged with “Heil Trump” and swastika graffiti. The gay organ player who reported the vandalism as a possible hate crime was later arrested. He confessed that he had being trying to stir up anti-Trump sentiment.
- A photo shared on Twitter drew opprobrium to a banner on the side of a Bay Area home that said, “You can hang an [N-word] from a tree, equal rights he’ll never see.” Neighbors and commenters were sure that a racist was gloating over Trump’s victory, but it turned out that an elderly black man had been displaying the sign for months as a protest of the treatment of African-Americans. He was ticketed for overlarge signage.
- A stairwell at Williams College in Massachusetts was vandalized with fake blood at the words “AMKKK KILL.” Campus police alerted state police and the FBI before their investigation led them to two students. The young men admitted they had it done to “bring attention to the effects of the presidential election on many within our community,” according to the college president.
Nov. 14, 2016: A bisexual student at North Park University in Chicago said she had received pro-Trump and anti-gay emails and notes taped to her door. An investigation by the university found that she had “fabricated” the claims, and announced she was no longer enrolled at the school.
Nov. 15, 2016: A black man in Boston told police that at least two white men called him a racist slur, referred to lynching, and warned him, This is “Trump country now.” After police launched a hate crime investigation, the man admitted he made up the whole incident.
- A white University of Michigan student reported that a Trump supporter scratched her face, saying that the attack was part of a surge in hate crimes following Trump’s election. She later pleaded guilty to filing a false report and admitted in court that she scratched her own face with a pin. She said she had been depressed.
WATCH: Smollet’s Racial Claim On GMA Looks To Be Wrong
Dec. 1, 2016: A young Muslim woman claimed that three men screaming “Donald Trump” attacked her on a Manhattan subway. She said they called her a terrorist and tried to pull off her hijab. But police found that she was lying, reportedly to get attention, and charged her with filing a false report.
Dec. 20, 2016: Swastikas and KKK graffiti found on the Nassau Community College campus on Long Island were widely attributed to Trump’s election. Police arrested an Indian-American student, who they said was motivated by grievances with the local Jewish community.
January-March 2017: A wave of nearly 150 bomb threats to US Jewish institutions was widely blamed on Trump’s rhetoric. A left-wing black journalist and a US-Israeli man were ultimately jailed for their roles in the scare.
Jan. 20, 2017: Racist slurs, a swastika, and “#muslimban” were found spray-painted outside a Muslim student’s dorm room at Beloit College in Wisconsin. The student later confessed to targeting himself. Police said he sought to compete with a real anti-Semitic act of vandalism days earlier. He was charged with obstructing, disorderly conduct, and criminal damage.
April 6, 2017: Someone firebombed a grocery store run by Indian immigrants in North Carolina and left a note saying “Trump is our nation builder for White America.” Based on surveillance footage, a black man was charged with related crimes, including ethnic intimidation.
WATCH:Trump-Blaming Jussie Smollett Crushed by President’s Unexpected Response to His Attack
April 29, 2017: Mass protests against “institutional racism” shut down classes at St. Olaf College in Minnesota after a black student found a racist note on her car and posted photos of it to social media. College President David R. Anderson later announced the message was a hoax by a student who wanted “to draw attention to concerns about the campus climate.”
Nov 1. 2017: The car of a young black man in Kansas was covered in racist graffiti and a threat. He later admitted he had defaced his own vehicle, but was not charged with a crime.
Ngo’s “#HateHoax” Twitter thread won him plaudits from a number of critics of liberal culture.
Daily Caller editorial director Vince Coglianese called it a “stunning list.”
This is a stunning list.
Far too many incidents of people taking advantage of the fundamental goodness of Americans to hurt political opponents or fulfill some perverse selfish goal. https://t.co/AQwReSC3lX
— Vince Coglianese (@VinceCoglianese) February 18, 2019
Fox News host Greg Gutfield hoped against hope that a small percentage of “the media” would read the thread.
it would be wishful thinking to hope that maybe 10 percent of the media might read this entire thread. https://t.co/hiM070TsGJ
— GregGutfeld (@greggutfeld) February 18, 2019
Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson advised his more than 1 million followers to contribute to a Patreon account that Ngo set up to monetize his efforts.
Worth supporting, even on Patreon. Maybe @MrAndyNgo will join our new platform when we get it going? https://t.co/BzP78MwabF
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) February 18, 2019
Even as he outlined a mini-moral panic, Ngo found time to call out some of the journalists, academics, celebrities, and Democratic politicians who credulously amplified Smollett’s claims.
While largely ignored by the US media, Ngo list also earned him an appearance on UK talkRADIO, during which he explained the thinking behind the project.
WATCH: Jordan Peterson: APA Makes Me ‘Ashamed’ to Be a Psychologist
“When I was looking into hate crime hoaxes that have happened in the past couple of years, they mostly centered around right after the election, where there was this panic – many instances of people making up attacks blamed on white Trump supporters,” Ngo said. “I hope this story with Mr. Smollett will lead to a pivot in our culture where we start to really embrace caution and skepticism again.”
He added: “I particularly resent that Mr. Smollett, in his only interview on ‘Good Morning America,’ sat down and said that those who [didn’t believe him] were likely motivated by racism.”
Was the alleged assault on US actor Jussie Smollett one of several 'hate crime hoaxes' to smear Donald Trump supporters?@toadmeister | @MrAndyNgo | https://t.co/sv3MZUm41c pic.twitter.com/s8IhlJx5q2
— TalkTV (@TalkTV) February 18, 2019
According to FBI stats, the number of reported hate crimes has risen significantly in recent years, including a 17 percent increase to more than 7,000 in 2017. While liberal activists have argued that such incidents are still underreported, many conservatives see the whole category as largely subjective and subject to inflation. Ngo has made that view hard to ignore.
About Post Author
You may also like
-
Tips For An Adventurous Trip To Australia: Your Ultimate Guide to Thrilling Experiences Down Under
-
Perspectives from Houston’s Leading Disability Attorneys Regarding SSDI Claims
-
Unpacking Workers’ Comp Laws: How Alpharetta Lawyers Fight for Your Benefits
-
Top Reasons Personal Injury Claims in Arlington Get Denied
-
What You Need to Know About Car Accident Reporting, Insurance Impacts, and Legal Consequences in Texas