So, did the progressive social media mob force a New York Times reporter to retract her statements about the left wing Antifa crowd that showed up in Charlottesville over the weekend? White nationalists descended into the city to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue. The day was marked with scores of people injured in skirmishes between the far right and far left. One person was killed when a 20-year-old Ohio man named James Alex Fields, Jr. plowed into counter protesters. He injured an additional 19 people in the attack. The only thing Sheryl Gay Stolberg noted was that the far left was just as “hate-filled” as the white nationalists who showed up. The Daily Wire has more:
A few wrap-it-up thoughts from Charlottesville: 1. Striking how many of the white nationalists were young people, almost entirely men. 1/3
— Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@SherylNYT) August 13, 2017
2. The hard left seemed as hate-filled as alt-right. I saw club-wielding "antifa" beating white nationalists being led out of the park 2/2
— Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@SherylNYT) August 13, 2017
3. Among my unanswered questions: police response. Why did things get out of hand so quickly? Could violence have been prevented? 3/3
— Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@SherylNYT) August 13, 2017
For pointing out that the "Antifa" were, once again, resorting to violence to "protest" and thus exhibiting "hate," Stolberg was immediately corrected online, one responder warning her, "Don't buy into the false equivalency like Trump and sympathizers. Only one group would commit genocide against the other if given power."
In response, Stolberg apologized and noted that she had made a "correction" about her "hate-filled" comment.
[…]
But that wasn't good enough. Stolberg's statement was met with strong rebuke from the social justice left who accused her of "normalizing Nazis" and drawing a "false equivalence" between the violent, racist white nationalists and the violent, fascistic Antifa. A few examples of the responses
2) Don't buy into the false equivalency like Trump and sympathizers. Only one group would commit genocide against the other if given power
— Andrew K (@imscavok) August 13, 2017
Yes, fair enough. See my TL for a correction
— Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@SherylNYT) August 13, 2017
Rethinking this. Should have said violent, not hate-filled. They were standing up to hate. https://t.co/3O9QpC0NQ3
— Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@SherylNYT) August 13, 2017
Bad bad bad take. A leftist woman is dead because she protested nazis. How dare you think you can compare them
— Don't Panic (@sarkopsi) August 13, 2017
The alt-right is awful. The far left is awful. Last weekend was nothing more than a clash between those who represent the worst of American politics—and people died as a result.