Did anybody here know that Dorian Johnson recanted his testimony?

[MohRokTah]

Did you know that Dorian Johnsons recanted his testimony and is now saying that Michael Brown attacked Wilson?

Yeah, I didn't know that either.

I follow Shaun King on Twitter and he was giving some broad tweets about some of the testimony Dorian Thomas gave the FBI. Thinking there might be a report out there I had missed, I googled dorian johnson testimony and came up with about 156,000 results saying Johnson had recanted his testimony and claimed Mike Brown attacked the cop.

Funny thing was, none of these things are older than yesterday and all of the hits are wingnut web sites.

Somewhere at some point a wingnut made up that shit, posted it somewhere, and ended up going viral in the wingnutosphere.

It's weird because it's exactly the same fucking story on every site with all of the sites citing each other.

I don't have time to go down that rabbit hole to find out where bullshit ground zero lies. I just find it odd.

How long before Drudge picks up on it and the MSM feels compelled to report it?

FOR CLARITY, THIS POST IS QUESTIONING HOW SOMETHING COMPLETELY FALSE CAN MAKE ITS WAY AROUND THE WINGNUTOSPHERE SO QUICKLY!

[SummerSnow]

1. threatened by cops to change story=recant story

[MohRokTah]

2. He didn't recant his story anywhere but wingnutosphere

In fact, the Shaun King tweets were about how he was interviewed for 3 hours and the FBI found the testimony so compelling he's an FBI witness now. There were a few other things but nothing really specific which lead me to my google and voila, the wingnutosphere is rife with this bullshit.

[rgbecker]

3. I think the point is, there was no recantation.

Racist lies prevail in the media.

[targetpractice]

4. Johnson's attorney was just on Politics Nation with Al Sharpton (MSNBC)

He confirmed that Johnson is federal witness and has not changed his story.

[MohRokTah]

6. Here's something even better...

Some sites in the wingnutosphere posted this bullshit about a recanting as recently as just a couple hours ago.

[Cha]

11. JHC.. I was freaking out! Thank you, targetp!

[trueblue2007]

20. THE ATTORNEY SAID those saying Johnson has "RECANTED" ARE LYING

The attorney was VERY FIRM and said Johnson's story has stayed the SAME from day he first said. THE COP MURDERED HIS FRIEND IN COLD BLOOD .... SHOT HIM LIKE AN ANIMAL were his words.

[Liberal_Dog]

63. I Saw That Too

But it probably will not stop this nonsense.

[Enrique]

5. apparently originated on a radio show

on a station called "100.7 the Viper" lol.

no reason for any thinking person to take it seriously, unless someone really wants it to be true, which has been known to happen.

[MohRokTah]

7. Could somebody have heard "recounted" and mistaken it for "recanted"...

then made up the rest?

[lunasun]

25. Old wing nut with bad hearing you could be right!!

[Gothmog]

8. The right wingers are relying on some really shady sourcing here

There is a report from a lady reporter who was on family leave and recanted her claims that dozens of witnesses were backing up the officer's version. An idiot named Holt is claiming that the officer has a broken eye socket but that claim is inconsistent with the officer being able to walk after the incident.

Drudge and some of the nutcase sites are very busy smearing Michael Brown

[Cha]

12. Fuck drudge and his slime on humanity.

[Gothmog]

36. You will get no argument from me

[jeff47]

42. Edit: I was wrong.

Here's the statement from St. Louis Post Dispatch about the lady reporter and her tweet and retraction.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/editors-desk/reporter-clarifies-controversial-twitter-post/article_650de303-dffa-5395-b616-649afadd96cb.html

[exboyfil]

52. And I hope they terminate her butt when she returns from FMLA

Needless to say it was the highest level of unprofessionalism.

Another example is the "Josie" story. A real reporter would have qualified her before disseminating her story.

[Anansi1171]

9. Narrative Velocity - thats what I am calling it

Seems part of deliberate strategy with GOP in 2012 and before: play only to the base, establish your own facts to and attempt to gain momentum.

Par example: Before releasing officers name ( an official release) we have "Julies" hearsay AM Hate radio release (not official)

[MohRokTah]

13. Good descriptive term for it. eom

[herding cats]

10. Some people will believe anything that fits into the narrative they want to be reality.

This is just more if the smear to keep the RW haters riled up and attacking the witnesses.

For what it's worth, 40 FBI have been seeking and contacting anyone they think may have witnessed or heard the shooting. They've literally been going door to door in the area. There are going to be a lot of witnesses whose names we won't know for a long time. The good thing about this is the racist won't have a chance to sully their names with their lies and turn public opinion against them before they testify.

[brer cat]

40. It is good that the FBI is going door to door.

Can you imagine how many potential witnesses in Ferguson would not have spoken to the local police? It would take a lot of courage (and no outstanding warrants) to stand up to FPD and contradict Wilson. I hope the FBI is going to make sure that the witnesses they identify aren't intimidated.

[herding cats]

64. I've wondered too if the FBI can insure these witnesses aren't intimidated.

Do they have to share their witnesses with the local police? If so, the people they're interviewing would be in danger of reprisals in that town. No matter what the FBI says to the local police, I wouldn't trust the local PD if I were a person living in Ferguson who had witnessed the shooting.

[tblue37]

14. Maybe you could put a note at the bottom of your post to clarify that you

are actually calling BS on that crap,because a lot of people read one or two lines, a lot read just the subject line, and a lot won't understand a less than emphatically worded disclaimer about your own stance toward the nonsense--and then they run with the lie and spread it everywhere.

Unfortunately, there are some people here on DU who defended Zimmerman and smeared Trayvon Martin, and some people who would probably be delighted to take your subject line and/or the first lines of the post as truth and run with it, thus giving the lie even more currency to muddy the waters.

[MohRokTah]

16. I thought I was pretty clear about some wingnut making up that shit.

[tblue37]

17. I found your comment clear enough, but I am pretty sure that those

who are eager to get it wrong won't understand it unless they are smacked upside the head with the verbal equivalent of a two-by-four.

I teach college English. I have learned the hard way how easy it is for people to completely misunderstand anything one says, even to the point of taking it to mean the exact opposite of what you intend.

One time I assured a classroom full of struggling students that they could do what I was teaching them to do. I said, "There is absolutely nothing wrong with your brains--they are just as good as mine or anyone else's, so you can do this."

I actually got two comments on my student evaluations that term that said I told them that something was wrong with their brains and that my brain was better than theirs.

[MohRokTah]

19. How does my edit look? eom

[tblue37]

21. Looks good. Some people will always willfully misunderstand, of course,

it is my mission to never make that easy for them.

[heaven05]

54. oh I was really,

should I say, SHOCKED when i saw the headline. RWNUTLIEOSPHERE is going all out. The last 14 years have been a downward spiral, with a couple weeks, no more, of light shining in a very dark tunnel. Still don't see no light at the end of that tunnel, yet, if ever I will again.

[msanthrope]

15. The wingosphere is going into overdrive because they are scared shitless

of this one.

Scared shitless....as in the FBI/DOJ/Treasury response to this one was not only completely unexpected, but these assholes are realizing they got caught with their pants down. And they are turning on each other.

The wheels of justice will grind slow but exceedingly fine on this one.

[1StrongBlackMan]

18. How are they turning on each other ...

from what I've seen, the PD, the Prosecutor, the Mayor, the Governor all have been on the same page.

[BaggersRDumb]

30. And if the DA doesnt recuse or if the Gov doesnt replace, it is a disgrace

And the result should make what has happened in the streets up until now seem like a god damn picnic.

Do these motherfuckers think we wont go god damn ape-shit if this shit continues?

[msanthrope]

32. You are looking at the wrong end of the pyramid....the FBI

will go after the smallest possible defendant and work their way up. And the federal grand jury in St. Louis is a powerful tool. Intrepid reporters would take a look at that docket.

Holder is meeting with Nixon, without McCullogh. Shit's going down.

[BronxBoy]

22. Funny....

Is it me or are we seeing more or this bullshit since they hired the pr team?

[Jim__]

23. Apparently this is muddying the water for the "news" that Wilson will not be charged.

?w=640


It muddies the water. Did anyone ever believe that McCulloch was going to indict Wilson?

[BaggersRDumb]

31. Even if he did exactly that, shooting him to death while running away is murder or at a minimum

manslaughter

[progressoid]

24. Fox is already quoting a "source close to the department's top brass".

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2014/08/20/missouri-cop-was-badly-beaten-before-shooting-michael-brown-says-source/

Darren Wilson, the Ferguson, Mo., police officer whose fatal shooting of Michael Brown touched off more than a week of demonstrations, suffered severe facial injuries, including an orbital (eye socket) fracture, and was nearly beaten unconscious by Brown moments before firing his gun, a source close to the department's top brass told FoxNews.com.

[tblue37]

26. And as in the Trayvon Martin case, the liars are claiming

that Brown "threw MMA style punches" at Wilson.

Could they be any more obvious?

[lunasun]

35. Wow with propaganda like this being broadcast even though a video shows him right over

Browns body after the shooting yet the cop was almost best unconscious . If it wasn't for video it would already be fact for more than just Fox viewers

[passiveporcupine]

56. what video shows Wilson standing over Brown

right after the shooting?

Do you have a link?

[lunasun]

57. Crenshaw video

http://www.ibtimes.com/new-video-mike-brown-shooting-released-witness-paiget-crenshaw-they-killed-him-1661840
Also see post #45

[passiveporcupine]

60. Yeah, I just found the video.

It was not what I was expecting to see. The other officers were already on the scene. I thought it was a video of him standing over Brown's body, gun drawn, right after the final shot.

This video does not show anything of any relevance, unfortunately.

[lunasun]

62. Yes he looks beaten and almost unconscious

[Half-Century Man]

39. You don't need the B and R

it's "source close to the department's top ass".

Tokoro-de, orbital fractures take a long time to heal, so to prove anything the defenders are saying is true. Let's see the medical report and an interview with Officer Wilgun (conducted by, say the FBI).

[ThoughtCriminal]

65. Isn't it amazing

that a man can suffer severe facial injuries, eye socket fracture and get nearly beaten unconscious, can hit a target with a handgun six times?

Straight out of a Clint Eastwood western!

Who would buy that?

Oh... Fox News viewers. Never mind.

[lunasun]

27. NO!

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. "A lie will go round the world while truth is pulling its boots on."

[d_r]

29. yeah but they'll believe it

and it will be true to them always.

[Spider Jerusalem]

33. What "testimony"? Did he make a sworn statement under oath? I wasn't aware of that.

[elleng]

38. Of course if he had,

'we' wouldn't have heard about it.

[elleng]

34. Nothing odd about it,

same old same old.

Tell a lie often enough . . . .

[cleduc]

37. Trayvon and Mike aren't the only blacks they've lied about

http://www.forwardprogressives.com/debunking-almost-every-republican-lie-against-president-obama/

A few selections from the link above:

Obama has been the biggest spending President in history! FALSE. Year to year spending increases have been less than 1%. They’ve also been at their lowest rate of year to year increases since Eisenhower.

Obama is a Muslim!

Obama isn’t an American!

Obama is responsible for the immigration crisis! FALSE. He’s actually just following the law signed in 2008 by George W. Bush dictating how we must treat immigrants from non-contiguous countries.

Obama is the reason why our troops were pulled out of Iraq! FALSE. Actually we pulled our troops out of Iraq because of a SOFA agreement that was signed by George W. Bush.

Obama has ruled like a dictator with his use of executive orders! FALSE. He’s actually on pace to issue fewer executive orders than both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

Obama is a Communist/Socialist/Fascist! FALSE. They’re all different—it’s impossible to be all 3. Then with stocks setting new records and increasing by more than 100% since their lows in 2009 - he would be the worst Communist, Socialist or Fascist that has ever existed. -

Obama is always on vacation! FALSE. President Obama took 131 vacation days in his first 4 years in office. That puts him on pace for 262 days during 8 years in the White House. By contrast Bush took 1,020 days (including a 5-week vacation–the longest by any President in nearly 4 decades), and Reagan took 484 days. Once again for the mathematically challenged, Obama is on pace to take fewer vacations than both Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush.

The economy has gotten worse under Obama! FALSE. Are you insane ... We’ve also created 9.9 million private sector jobs for 53 consecutive months of private sector job growth.

Those jobs numbers are a lie! No, they’re from the same source which Republicans have used

Obamacare is unconstitutional! FALSE. The Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress, signed by the President and the Supreme Court ruled that it was in fact Constitutional.

Obama has been terrible for business! FALSE. Corporate profits are up 171% since President Obama took office and are at their highest levels, relative to the size of economic growth, since 1947.

Obama has waged a war on the rich! FALSE. We’ve set a new record for number of millionaires in the United States at 9.6 million.

On and on they go ..

[SunSeeker]

53. Great post. Thanks. nt

[customerserviceguy]

41. If there's a hospital report

that is clearly contemporaneous with the incident, and well before the world was paying attention to Ferguson, then this is not going to go well for us.

I've not commented on the Michael Brown case before today, because I figure there's a lot of evidence that's going to come out in the FBI investigations, and Holder will make sure that he gets the truth out of that evidence. I've seen this movie before, in the late 1960's, when racially-inflamed tensions put "law and order" Tricky Dick into the White House, even with George Wallace bleeding off the worst of the racists. It's about the fear the mushy middle feels, it always has an effect on our elections.

[jeff47]

45. There's video of the cop standing around the crime scene.

He remained at the crime scene for hours. Then he drove his cruiser back to the station.

Any contemporaneous hospital report would be pretty easy to be shown to be a lie.

[customerserviceguy]

47. When I said contemporaneous

I meant within a reasonable time frame after the incident. I did read something on Fox News (yeah, I know, I know) where the police chief said he took the shooter to the hospital. Warpy in various posts on this thread has experience that states that these things manifest themselves hours later.

I'll stand by my statement that there are all kinds of things that could go wrong here. Many of us thought that the Martin/Zimmerman case was a sure thing, too. If peaceful protest is the story from here on, we'll be OK, but if continued violence is the result after the investigations, it's not going to be good in November.

[jeff47]

48. The claim is that he was punched in the face hard enough to break his eye socket.

If a police officer actually receives a head injury, they don't stand around for hours and then drive themselves back to the station.

[lunasun]

58. Claim was he was almost unconscious ! Yet he stands there paces talks to others and drives home

[Kber]

43. Well, I also read that the cop was beaten "almost unconscious" before firing 6 shots

And then standing around for hours on some RW site. Amazing recovery, eh?

Wait, that was on Fox News.

[RagAss]

44. Does this surprise you ?

These are the same racist cretins who started the "Obama is a Kenyan" bullshit.

[MohRokTah]

49. The only thing that surprised me was the speed with which the lie spread.

In a matter of hours more than 150,000 different sites reporting this as truth.

[WinkyDink]

46. "Testimony"? Did I miss the trial?

[valerief]

50. CNN must be saying the same thing, because, well, it's CNN. nt

[MohRokTah]

51. Since Fox apparently picked up on bits and pieces of it, CNN must follow. eom

[Recursion]

55. In one word: Breitbart (nt)

[mainstreetonce]

59. CNN had the Johnson attorney

No change in story except a lot of questions about the exact position of Brown's hands when he turned around.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

61. It's like saying "Obamacare quadrupled the debt".

[pinboy3niner]

66. Better subject line:

Did anybody hear the false reports that Dorian Johnson recanted his testimony?

That accomplishes what you wanted to do with the edit, but right up front so the impression that may be recalled later won't be the misleading headline.

[magus_prime]

67. a message for teabagger

Teabagger, Please learn to read/spell - Mr. Johnson "recounts", not "recants"!