'Allergic to Facts': NYT Roasted Over Characterization of BLM Riots

Leah Barkoukis | January 19, 2021 2:45 PM

Every state in the country saw Black Lives Matter protests this summer — and while it’s true that the majority of protests were peaceful, it’s equally true that a number of them descended into rioting, looting, violence, and the destruction and razing of property and historical monuments. People’s lives and livelihoods were lost amid the months of unrest following the death of George Floyd in police custody. And yet, one New York Times reporter described it as “isolated instances of property damage.”

In a story titled, “How Republicans Are Warping Reality Around the Capitol Attack,” Astead Herndon said, "Loyalists to President Trump are increasingly relying on conspiracy theories and misinformation, drawing false equivalence with last summer’s racial protests and blaming outside agitators.”

In speaking to those on the Left and Right in Kenosha, Wisconsin, about the Capitol and BLM riots, he found voters split on the issue.

“Democrats pointed to the differences in motivation between the Capitol mob and the mass protests of the Black Lives Matter movement, which was not seeking to overturn an election or being incited by the president. Republicans saw the Capitol attack as the work of outsiders or as justified by the summer’s isolated incidents of looting and property destruction," he said.

People were quick to call out him out for that characterization of the summer’s BLM riots.