Investigative blogger Charles C. Johnson explains the reasons he decided to expose the previous criminal records of Michael Brown and Eric Garner and reacts to criticism that he made the disclosures to show that the two victims might have been responsible for their own deaths.
“Many of these things become huge media events, they become symbols of how racist America is, or how good America is, or all these kind of things - they become flashpoints in our cultural conversation,” Johnson said.
“Many of these kind of people become symbols, and it’s not actually grounded upon empirical, real-world evidence. It’s grounded upon basically opinion, and basically people are trying to make the Michael Browns and the Eric Garners of the world symbols.”
He adds that shooting victims can be used by movements to “stand in for police brutality” or other purposes. “Basically they are trying to reduce Michael Brown and Eric Garner – and all these people – into basically characters, or props, for the agenda they’re trying to push.”
Johnson said he doesn’t buy the argument that these types of shootings are clear racist incidents, but rather are the result of much more complicated circumstances. “African Americans are unfortunately kind of on the poorer side of things, and so often times areas that are poorer are often areas that have higher crime. So I wouldn’t necessarily see it as a race thing.
“Eric Garner was arrested something like 31 times, the police had already had dealing with him when they stopped him that one time that ultimately led to his death,” Johnson said, adding that he thinks this information is pertinent to the full story.
Watch the full episode to also hear Johnson also explain his decision to identify the source of the Rolling Stone article, the alleged rape victim referred to in the article only as “Jackie.”
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