As our readers have already learned, Rep. Andre Carson gathered Capitol Hill reporters around him and told the tale of racial slurs and menacing crowds on the verge of hurling rocks at the congressmen. Our first few videos showed the congressmen coming out of the Cannon Office Building, walking down the steps and into Independence Avenue from various angles. None of those videos revealed the racial hatred Rep. Carson conveyed to reporters that day and none of the videos showed a mob rushing or in any way impeding the congressmen.
When Rep. Carson gathered reporters around him to spread the myth of racial slurs being hurled “fifteen times” he painted the protesters not just as racists, but as a terrorist threat. We know this, because Kerry Picket of the Washington Times recorded Rep. Carson as he explained it all to eager reporters.
KERRY PICKET (Wash. Times): Do you think the people outside are generally dangerous or no?
REP. CARSON: Oh absolutely. I worked in homeland security. I’m from intelligence, and I’ll tell you, one of the largest threats to our internal security…I mean terrorism has an Islamic face, but it really comes from racial supremacist groups. (inaudible) Its the kind of thing we keep a threat assessment on record [for].
PICKET: From groups like this?
REP. CARSON: Oh absolutely.
And we can now see this two pronged message continuing in the narrative from Democratic politicians and the media: The Tea Party protests are really about white rage and they are sowing the seeds for domestic terrorism. This was the message delivered by Rep. Carson that afternoon and that is the message the media has run with.
Only problem is, we can’t find any proof to back up Rep. Carson’s story. And when challenged, he hides behind the legend and stature of Rep. Lewis. The constant challenge of “Are you calling Rep. John Lewis a liar?” must now be answered with “Are you calling Rep. Andre Carson beyond reproach?”.