Joy Reid recently argued in a spate of tweets that Black Lives Matter (BLM) has not been a part of the violent riots that have spread across the country following the death of George Floyd, who died while in police custody.
On Aug. 29 she wrote: “Let me repeat this for those inventing the idea of ‘Black Lives Matter riots.’ BLM doesn’t ‘riot.’ They march against police violence. And note that those caught setting fires, assaulting and shooting people are consistently of the RIGHT, not the left.”
A quick refresher of some of the things that have happened in the past few months:
- Rioters looted a Target store in Minneapolis.
- Protestors outside the White House injured officers by throwing bottles and historic St. John’s Episcopal Church was set on fire.
- Retired police officer David Dorn was killed while trying to protect a business during looting that followed mass protests against police brutality.
- The entire city of Los Angeles was put under curfew due to violent protests and looting.
- Two people were killed in Seattle’s so-called “autonomous zone,” an area of the city that was taken over by protestors.
- An 8-year-old girl was shot and killed in Atlanta near a BLM protest site. According to authorities, the girl’s mother had attempted to drive past an illegally erected barricade, prompting at least two people in the crowd to open fire on the vehicle. Her father later addressed a press conference, where he said, “They say black lives matter. You killed your own.”
- A Chicago Black Lives Matter organizer referred to looting in that city as “a reparation.”
- In a scene reminiscent of a Maoist struggle session, a mob of white Black Lives Matter protestors aggressively demanded diners at a D.C. restaurant raise a fist in the air to show solidarity with their message.
- An elderly man in Kenosha, WI was severely injured while trying to stop looters following protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
- A man protesting in support of police was fatally shot in downtown Portland. A livestreamer captured the murder on video.
The list goes on, but the point is made. Reid’s claims that those committing violence are “consistently of the right” is factually untrue. It’s revisionist history.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, who led the 1619 Project for the New York Times, does not seem to share Reid’s perspective that BLM doesn’t riot. Jones tweeted in June that “it would be an honor” if the riots were named the 1619 riots. That tweet has since been deleted.
Reid denied old homophobic blogs posts were written by her, claimed she is a victim of hacking
This is not the first time Reid has made claims that fly in the face of common sense. Recall that after a Twitter user dug up old homophobic blog posts attributed to Reid, Reid denied she wrote them and dubiously claimed that she must have been hacked. Reid made this claim despite having previously apologized for other similarly bigoted comments, and despite the fact the old blog posts were found on the neutral 3rd party Internet Archive website. Vox has a good explainer about what happened… and how Reid’s claims of being hacked failed to stand up to scrutiny.
MSNBC allowed Reid to stay on air despite the incident. She now hosts the 7 p.m. time slot.
She doesn’t deliver news, or even serious commentary, everyone knows that. She’s about as significant as “Leave It To Beaver” only a lot less wholesome and truthful.
So the best we can do it is to send her into retirement by avoiding giving any attention whatsoever.
Yes No
She is as stupid and blind as she she can be. Real privilege is being able to distort the truth to others.
Yes No