Black Lives Matter protesters interrupted the Donald Trump rally in Las Vegas Monday night, including several protesters who attempted to interrupt the story of Jamiel Shaw, an African-American man, recounting how his 17 year-old son Jamiel Shaw Jr. was murdered by an illegal alien from Mexico.
The media in attendance at the event included Buzzfeed reporter McKay Coppins and MSNBC’s Benjy Sarlin, who both openly disdain Mr. Trump, his supporters, and Republicans in general. Both Sarlin and McKay were in attendance and filed stories that left out the sick irony of Black Lives Matter protesters attempting to silence a black man whose son was murdered and instead only focused on the crowd’s reaction.
Mr. Shaw—whose son was shot execution style in 2008 because he was wearing a red Spiderman backpack—tweeted that we would not be cowed by protesters.
Stories on Buzzfeed and NBC left out the name of Jamiel Shaw, his murdered son’s name, and their race. Coppins wrote:
The Republican frontrunner had invited a supporter up to the stage to recount how his son was killed by an undocumented immigrant. Midway though the story, a pair of protesters interrupted.
Sarlin’s story made no mention at all that Mr. Shaw was speaking when the protesters interrupted, writing:
Trump was interrupted several times by Black Lives Matter protesters, prompting a furious reaction from the crowd. Some screamed, pointed, and at one point shoved a heckler as hotel security swooped in to remove them.
Videos show the interruptions.
Another video from NBC shows one black protester angrily resisting as security attempts to remove him.
The black protester removed from the event was Las Vegas resident Ender Austin III, a Black Lives Matter activist and the founder of Moment of Hope Ministries, according to his Twitter biography. Rev. Austin’s Twitter timeline shows that he was involved in a Black Lives Matter protest in 2014.
Other tweets on Rev. Austin’s timeline show a keen interest in causes associated with the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as professions of Rev. Austin’s Christian faith.
Coppin’s coverage of Monday’s Trump rally came after he was denied a press credential.
Sarlin and Coppins focused on the claim that someone they say was a Trump supporter said, “Set the motherfucker on fire.” The person making the statement is not visible on camera, nor is it clear who made the statement or to whom it was in reference. Also, it’s worth noting that nobody was reported to have actually been set on fire.
Some on Twitter accused Coppins himself of saying the line about setting someone on fire, but Sarlin came to his defense.
Neither Mr. Sarlin or Mr. Coppins appear to have taken a video or photo of the person they claim said it, nor did either appear to have attempted to speak to the alleged potty-mouthed arson suggester.
Sarlin also claimed a trump supporter said “Sieg Heil.”
Sarlin later admitted that had no idea why someone said “Sieg Heil.”
At one point in his speech, Trump joked about a group of boisterous Trump supporters, who started a chant of, “You can’t stump Trump,” with Trump saying:
Thank you. You know, when these four guys started jumping up and down, I said, “Wow, they look like rough protesters,” but they were on my side. I want those guys on my side. So anyway, thanks fellas.
Neither Sarlin nor Coppins reported that, either.
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