Huffington Post “reporter” Sam Stein is alleging that while the Congressional Black Caucus waded through a sea of Tea Perty Protestors yesterday, they were spat upon and had racial slurs shouted at them.
Preceding the president’s speech to a gathering of House Democrats, thousands of protesters descended around the Capitol to protest the passage of health care reform. The gathering quickly turned into abusive heckling, as members of Congress passing through Longworth House office building were subjected to epithets and even mild physical abuse.
A staffer for Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) told reporters that Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) had been spat on by a protestor. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a hero of the civil rights movement, was called a ‘ni–er.’ And Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) was called a “faggot,” as protestors shouted at him with deliberately lisp-y screams. Frank, approached in the halls after the president’s speech, shrugged off the incident.
But Clyburn was downright incredulous, saying he had not witnessed such treatment since he was leading civil rights protests in South Carolina in the 1960s.
If only one of the people in the crowd took video of the incident so we could see exactly what happened as they came through the crowd. Perhaps we could see for ourselves.
If only…
Unless “Kill the bill” has now become equal to the n-bomb, I didn’t hear anything remotely racist. And you can see Castro apologist Rep. Emmanuel Cleaver walk through the screen. He didn’t seem to be wiping anything off of him, nor did the Capitol police seem to be going after anyone for spitting.
HuffPo says an arrest has been made in the Cleaver spitting incident, then links to an Associated Press article that reads:
A congressman who was spat on by a protestor on Capitol Hill says he is declining to press charges, but turns out the Capitol Police say they made no arrests.
It’s very big of Cleaver not to press charges against a person that has not been arrested.
Without the video showing him being spit upon, and no audible evidence of racial slurs being shouted, I have doubts of its “truthiness.”
This is the same group that went to Cuba and then came back with praises for Castro. Rep. Bobby Rush said listening to Castro was “almost like listening to an old friend.” Cleaver said:
“To see all of these myths melt right in front of my eyes was something to behold,” he said. “We’ve been led to believe that the Cuban people are not free, and they are repressed by a vicious dictator, and I saw nothing to match what we’ve been told.”
When I confronted Cleaver on the fact that there were many black political prisoners in Cuba who he just sold out, he told me, “I said I didn’t see it. That doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. It just means I didn’t see it.”
Really. I’m supposed to believe anything he says now? I don’t think so.
This group will say anything to further their agenda, and race baiting isn’t out of the question.
UPDATE:
Jim Hoft has more at Big Government. Hat Tip to Hans Gruen via Twitter.
