Last week, we asked the New York Times to correct an article by James C. McKinley Jr. that falsely claimed FBI informant and BigGovernment contributor Brandon Darby “encouraged” the left-wing terrorist plot to firebomb the 2008 RNC convention on which he blew the proverbial whistle. First, we pointed out that this assertion had been debunked by both the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota and one of the convicted plotters. We then brought in journalist Matthew Vadum, an expert on Darby’s incredible story, to write up a more comprehensive article to provide broader context to the Times’s smear. But the record went uncorrected.
So we pressed the Times even more, this time getting another expert on this case, James Walsh of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, to reach out to Mr. McKinley and point out the egregious error in the NYT piece. We were forwarded the following email written by Mr. Walsh (emphasis added):
I sent an email to the NYT reporter this morning. In it, I said that I covered the case and that Darby was never proven to have encourage or participated in any violence. I told the reporter that [David McKay] made that assertion and won a hung jury, but later admitted that he lied when it became apparent that [Neil] Crowder would testify against him.
I got this response:
“Thank you for you letter and for straightening us out on that point. Yours. Jim”
For what it’s worth….
James Walsh
Staff Writer
Federal Courts and Federal Agencies
Star Tribune
According to Walsh’s email, Times reporter James C. McKinley Jr. is now crystal-clear that there was never any evidence to suggest Mr. Darby did anything to encourage the plot to murder Republicans, yet his article remains uncorrected.
For over a week now, the “newspaper of record” has allowed the record to contain a horrendous falsehood against an American patriot who saved countless lives. This is not just a journalistic faux pas, it’s quite possibly libel.
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