Fox contributor Rod Wheeler, a former homicide detective, acknowledged that police shootings have declined in the past year. But he dismissed the “actual numbers” and came up with a fact-free accusation that President Obama and #BlackLivesMatter are the real culprits in the murder of a Fox Lake, Illinois police officer. UPDATED
Host Martha MacCallum gave the setup: “We have seen it’s been a hot summer, a long one for police violence - from people being killed in these incidents and these police officers. We saw a huge outpouring of support. Here are the four individuals that have been lost in just the last nine days. Are we hearing more about these incidents because of what has happened in recent months or is it happening more, Rod?”
Wheeler acknowledged that judging from the “actual numbers… it may look like it’s not happening as much as it did last year.” But who needs numbers or evidence when you can go by a hunch, especially if it’s an anti-Obama, anti-#BlackLivesMatter hunch? Wheeler announced that the difference between last year and this year is, “We have a lot of this anti-police rhetoric going on across this country right now, Martha. That is definitely playing a role in some of these shootings.”
Wheeler continued with his proof-free indictments.
WHEELER: Look at this shooting, just down in Texas this past week, of that police officer gunned down in cold blood. You can’t tell me and you’ll never be able to tell me that that wasn’t the result of some of this rhetoric that’s being exposed (sic) by some of these groups like #BlackLivesMatter. They are calling for the lynching, they are calling for the killings of police officers. And when you have an individual that’s already mentally unstable, people tend to react to that kind of crap and what we’re gonna continue to see are these kind of shootings until we hear something come out of the White House and the Justice Department clearly stating that this will not be tolerated and we haven’t heard that yet, Martha, out of anybody at the Justice Department at all.
And yet Fox actively promoted the anti-law enforcement sentiments coming from law-breaking, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy. Fox also virtually ignored the subsequent assassination of two Las Vegas police officers by Bundy associates.
Instead of challenging Wheeler about anything he had said, MacCallum followed up with a question designed to elicit more of the same from Wheeler. “Why is that, Rod?” she asked.
“I don’t like to get into the political thing,” Wheeler laughably said. This, from the guy who suggested that the looting in Ferguson was Obama’s fault, too.
Sure enough, Mr. “I don’t like to be political” blamed Obama again, despite acknowledging again that there was no evidence.
WHEELER: I don’t know the reason for that but I can tell you this. A lot of people in these communities were promised hope and change. I mean it is what it is. Did they get hope? Yes. They’re hope-less. Did they get change? Yes, their change for the worse. So I think because they were not given what they were promised - no jobs, the educational system is really screwed up, all of these things play a role in this. Unfortunately though it’s misdirected in terms of what the #BlackLivesMatter movement is doing. You know, their aggression is directed towards police officers. They are clearly misdirected. It should be directed at the government and at some of these politicians but it starts at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. That’s were it starts.
Again, MacCallum offered no challenge to anything Wheeler said.
There you have Fox News' "fair and balanced" perspective. People are killing the police because they did not get the hope and change Obama promised six years ago. This former cop “just knows.”
Watch it below, from the September 2 America’s Newsroom.
November 3, 2015 update: The shooting death of Charles Joseph Gliniewicz has been determined to be a suicide.
Black Lives Matter is an important force in rallying the African-American (god politically correct gets old for an old anti-racist like me) vote against White Republica.
The anti-BLM rhetoric from Fox must be logically stopped in its tracks now. It is bad news.
So nobody has figured out Rabbit and Fox yet?
Conejo
Just like that rookie cop victim of #BlackLivesMatters hatred in Millis, MA who got shot at by a passing car and barely escaped his burning vehicle with this life. It’s open season on cops!!! But wait… he lied about the entire incident to cover up his car accident so got fired… never mind. ;^)
Anyhoo… I’m ever so grateful at Fox News for not exploiting this killing like those darn mean-spirited liberals do all the time following mass murders and bringing up gun-grabbing! ;^)
I mean we know this is clearly tied to #BlackLivesMatter because 2 of the 3 suspects is white… errrr… well, maybe not. But there’s other evidence like… errrr… well he was a cop and shot at. Plus reasons. It’s what I want to believe and you can’t convince me otherwise. So there! ;^)