“What the f*ck is happening in Seattle?” a friend texted Emily Pothast. At Medium, Pothast provides more prehistory to the “George Floyd rebellion” in Seattle than there is time to recount this morning. But just as interesting is how Fox state television’s response raised eyebrows among photojournalism ethics experts.
Misinformation about the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” (CHAZ) set up by protesters has the propaganda network, well, spreading propaganda, and the acting POTUS again threatening to send the army into the streets of an American city (CNN):
But claims that bands of militant Antifa members are roving the Seattle streets appear to be grossly exaggerated in right-wing media. In fact, according to the Seattle mayor’s office, city officials haven’t seen any evidence to indicate armed members of Antifa are even on the ground.
After tear gas- and flash grenade-fueled policing of over a week of Seattle protests related to the George Floyd killing in Minneapolis, police finally backed away from the Seattle Police Department’s East Precinct in the Capitol Hill neighborhood. Protesters turned the several city blocks into a pedestrian mall and street fair. Reports of Seattle’s devolution are greatly exaggerated. The protesters’ set of demands are here, plus a livestream.
Predictably, Fox News set its hair on fire, reporting that armed brigands had taken over part of the city and set up a communist state or something. “Reports flood in about extortion and violence” in CHAZ, began a Fox report on Friday.
“Where are all of the anti-Second Amendment crowd because there are people walking around with scary-looking long guns and firearms in their waistbands?” asks Fox’s David Webb over footage showing no such thing. “These are dangerous people.”
The Seattle Times explains what Fox editors did:
Fox’s website for much of the day featured a photo of a man standing with a military-style rifle in front of what appeared to be a smashed retail storefront.
The image was actually a mashup of photos from different days, taken by different photographers — it was done by splicing a Getty Images photo of an armed man, who had been at the protest zone June 10, with other images from May 30 of smashed windows in downtown Seattle. Another altered image combined the gunman photo with yet another image, making it appear as though he was standing in front of a sign declaring “You are now entering Free Cap Hill.”
Donald Trump branded Capitol Hill residents domestic terrorists and demanded Wednesday night that Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan “take back” the neighborhood:
“Radical Left Governor @JayInslee and the Mayor of Seattle are being taunted and played at a level that our great Country has never seen before,'” the president tweeted. “Take back your city NOW. If you don’t do it, I will. This is not a game. These ugly Anarchists must be stooped IMMEDIATELY. MOVE FAST!”
Insleee told Trump to mind his own business and “‘Stoop’ tweeting.” Durkan responded, “Make us all safe. Go back to your bunker.”
Gus Lopez responded on Facebook with a set of ironically captioned photos taken on his visit to CHAZ:
Zen Wolfgang posted his own images of the liberal hellscape:
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