Fake reports of “hate crimes” committed by fans of President-elect Donald Trump are sweeping the nation. Meanwhile, real crimes continue to be committed by anti-Trump rioters in dozens of cities across America.
One fake “hate crime” involved a Muslim woman at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette who claimed that she had her hijab torn off by two white males. Lafayette police now report that she “admitted that she fabricated the story.”
Other incidents are being reported as “crimes” that are not crimes at all. CNN published a list of “hate crimes” on Saturday that includes an incident where a group of middle school students chanted “Build the wall!” in a cafeteria.
That is not a “crime”; it is juvenile behavior by boorish 12- and 13-year-olds.
Another “crime” on CNN’s list comes from a university where “somebody chalked the words ‘Trump,’ ‘Build wall’ and ‘[Expletive deleted] your safe space’ in front of the library.
That’s right: they used actual chalk.
Other than that, there’s not much. Elizabeth Nolan Brown of Reason.com has posted a more extensive list of cases where police were unable to verify the allegations being made, including an alleged attack on a gay man in Santa Monica, California.
Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) documented three men showing up at a Veterans Day parade with Confederate flags. Provocative? Deliberately. Offensive? Yes, to most. Hate crime? No.
And yet Huffman blamed Donald Trump: “We…