If it's too bad to be true...
Be extra suspicious of any viral news story that perfectly matches your view of the world.
After a year of horror stories about African-Americans mistreated by police - often caught on video - it is unsurprising that this social media post, from a university student in the very city where George Floyd was killed, caught some attention:
Cases like George Floyd’s get most of the attention, but it’s this kind of thing - where police officers throw their weight around, harass African-Americans on the slightest pretense, and make them fear for their lives for the slightest transgression - is far more prevalent. And it is completely unacceptable.
If this particular incident wasn’t a complete and total lie, I’d say it should push us to have some hard conversations about the issues it raised.
Video released by the police department shows that they were on the lookout for a white robbery suspect in the area, saw that this guy was wearing similar clothing but quickly realised it wasn’t the guy, apologised for taking up his time and said that unfortunately they couldn’t give him a ride. Other than that, his story was completely accurate.
Police should wear body cameras not just because we can see what they’re doing to civilians, but also so we can see what civilians are doing to them.
Hate-crime and police-brutality hoaxes should not be used as an excuse to dismiss the existence of hate crimes and police brutality out of hand, but it’s always a good idea to maintain at least some skepticism whenever a new story goes viral. Especially when that story appears to confirm all of your deeply held beliefs about politics and society.
That’s a lesson I’ve had to re-learn more than once, and it’s one that author and face-punchability adjudicator Reza Azlan should take to heart. God knows there are enough good reasons to savage Flyin’ Ted without relying on obviously fake tweets:
Azlan has since taken down the tweet, but only several hours after acknowledging that it was a hoax. You know my feelings about Ted Cruz, but blatantly lying about him says more about you than it does about him.
You’d think Doctor Azlan would have learned to be more careful about Twitter by now, in any event.
Donald Trump appointed a full one-third of the Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States, and none of them will help him keep his tax returns secret. Bloody ingrates, following their interpretation of the law instead of doing what the Orange God-King wants.
The Supreme Court on Monday rejected former president Donald Trump’s last-chance effort to keep his private financial records from the Manhattan district attorney, ending a long and drawn-out legal battle.
After a four-month delay, the court denied Trump’s motion in a one-sentence order with no recorded dissents.
District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has won every stage of the legal fight — including the first round at the Supreme Court — but has yet to receive the records he says are necessary for a grand jury investigation into whether the president’s companies violated state law.
[…]
Trump has waged an extraordinary battle to keep private his tax records, which every other modern president has released as an expected part of seeking the presidency. The court’s action does not mean Trump’s tax records are to become public — Vance has said they will be protected by grand jury secrecy rules — but is likely to accelerate an investigation that might be Trump’s biggest legal threat.
If the tax returns had been subpoenaed from Trump himself, I suspect he’d just ignore the subpoena and dare prosecutors to charge him with contempt of court. But it’s actually his accounting firm which has to turn over the records, and they’ve said they’ll do just that:
Vance’s office has assembled a large team of investigators, including from outside the office, who are expected to dive into the tax records quickly once they are obtained. They are being sought not directly from Trump, but from his longtime accounting firm, Mazars, which has said it will cooperate with the subpoena once court challenges end.
Forensic accounting experts from FTI Consulting are expected to assist prosecutors in assessing whether the Trump Organization manipulated property values for tax breaks, or to obtain favorable loan rates, The Post previously reported.
The investigation is fairly developed but the tax returns are an integral part of the picture. The Supreme Court order — allowing Vance to execute the subpoena — could mean a lot of work is ahead for investigators as the records are voluminous, spanning eight years.
The big guy himself has issued a statement he pretty clearly dictated between Diet Cokes:
Meanwhile, one of the prosecutors recently appointed to Vance’s team has a long career of going after white collar criminals and mob bosses:
Manhattan's district attorney has hired a top prosecutor who specializes in white-collar and organized crime to join its investigation into Donald Trump and his businesses.
Mark Pomerantz, who has a long career as a federal prosecutor and trial attorney, was sworn in on February 3 as an assistant district attorney, Danny Frost, a spokesman for the Manhattan district attorney's office, told Insider.
The New York Times first reported the hire.
Pomerantz has joined the team assembled by District Attorney Cyrus Vance to investigate whether the Trump Organization committed insurance and tax fraud, and falsified records.
[…]
Vance's investigation is the only known criminal probe being conducted into Trump's business dealings, with a civil probe by New York Attorney General Letitia James investigating whether Trump falsely reported property values to secure loans and tax benefits.
Pomerantz has several decades of experience as a trial lawyer and litigator, having led the criminal division of the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York between 1997 and 1999.
During his time in the job he oversaw the prosecution of several organized-crime cases, including that of John A. Gotti, the son of the Gambino crime family boss John J. Gotti, on racketeering charges. According to The Times, Pomerantz was involved in the 1988 case which established the legal definition of racketeering, which has been used to prosecute organized-crime figures.
When will we get to see what’s in those tax returns? It could be a while yet, but we should be used to waiting by now, and I’m sure the payoff will be worth it. Ol’ Donny Trump can’t wriggle his way out this jam forever.
Right?
Just putting out there right now that I’m totally on Skynet’s side in the war against humanity so you robots can spare me okay?
Glad you mentioned the trucker story, pretty sure I vaguely remembered the part about the evil trucker guy running over protesters but never the "correction" that it was an accident.
Long time ago people used to say "don't believe everything you read on the internet." Such good advice but so easy to forget. That tweet has so many upvotes, it must be true right?
It’s nice to see the lawyers (Justices) sticking to the rules. Too bad the politicians (GOP) would not learn from that.
Is it ironic that a university student has vastly better writing skills than a former President? You can feel the difference in language, logic, reasoning ... Trump sounds trashy. He would fit right in on those crazy shows of people having tiringly dramatic fights over seemingly nothing that my ex used to watch..... :-o :D ;) ...fortunately, I’ve forgotten the names.
That student, on the other hand, reads like he could really get some things done in the world if he decides to stick to the truth.