October 2, 2020

We've kept quiet and waited patiently, and now what we expected to hear is announced.

The Wisconsin State Journal reports:
Madison police announced Friday morning that they were not able to corroborate allegations made by a Madison woman that she was burned by four white men in Downtown Madison in June in what was initially reported as a hate crime.

Althea Bernstein, 18, of Monona, told police she had a lighter fluid sprayed on her and was set on fire on June 24 by four white men after one of them yelled a racial epithet.

But in a statement Friday morning, Madison police said it is "closing the investigation into this case. After an exhaustive probe, detectives were unable to corroborate or locate evidence consistent with what was reported."

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division came to the same conclusion, according to the statement....
In mid-August, I asked:
Couldn't the police just tell us whether there is continual camera footage for all the intersections crossing State Street and whether there's an image of her car when it crossed State Street? Shouldn't that be easy? She's clear that it happened crossing State Street. In Madison, crossing State Street is very obvious. You know when you're there, and she said that's where it happened. Shouldn't the police at least be able to tell us that something or nothing happened as the car crossed State Street (or alternatively that there is no footage of the car crossing State Street)? This story was such a big deal at the time, and it stirred people up about racial hatred. It's important to get the truth out so we can feel relieved or wary, depending on the evidence.
Writing that, almost 2 months after the incident, I essentially knew the answer to my questions. The police and the federal agencies had nothing to say because they were on track to say they'd found nothing. They waited until they could announce that they were closing the investigation.

I'm very happy to hear that this incident did not happen. It never sounded plausible to me, and it's sad that it seemed to a lot of people — including Prince Harry — like the way things go in America.

ADDED: From the Madison police statement:
Consistent with MPD’s Core Values, Code of Conduct, and Standard Operating Procedures, the victim was treated with dignity and respect at all times during the course of this investigation. MPD, FBI and DCI personnel had regular contact with the victim and family, who were cooperative with investigators. The Madison Police Department is committed to thoroughly investigating alleged hate crimes and holding offenders accountable.
From the Department of Justice statement:
[A]fter reviewing all available evidence, authorities could not establish that the attack, as alleged by the complainant, had occurred.... The Justice Department is committed to investigations of allegations of bias-motivated violence and will continue to devote the resources required to ensure that allegations of civil rights violations are fully and completely investigated. The Department aggressively prosecutes criminal civil rights violations whenever there is sufficient evidence to do so.
ALSO: This story got huge national attention. The woman went on "Good Morning America":



Will the resolution of the case get anything like the attention that was given to the original report?

PLUS: "Meghan Markle Personally CALLS Alleged Hate Crime Victim Althea Bernstein":

102 comments:

unknown said...

They should quickly debunk these hoaxes. No one remembers this incident at this point, but you can bet your ass it poured fuel on the righteous fire of leftist agitation. So it serves its purpose. It doesn’t even matter to the Left at this point whether it was true or false.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Most of these hate crimes perpetrated by "roving white supremacists" and whatnot are fake. Fake fake fake.

Juicy Smoothy concocted his scheme, hired actors - and the media fell all over themselves perpetuating that total fraud. He even gets away with the obvious fraud in our fraud of a justice system. Because we all know scary white men in MAGA hats roam the streets of Chicago at night. uh huh.

Our media continue to focus on these so-called bands and gangs of white supremacists all while "just an idea" Antifa leftists in black, burn, loot, and destroy stuff in leftwing cities each night.

Professional lady said...

A few months ago it was reported that there was a noose in a high school classroom under renovation in our school district. Never heard another thing about it. I wonder why.

Rick said...

There are so many broken hearts today - or would be if only reality mattered to such people.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The media portray America as hopelessly bigoted and racist.

It's not. The hopeless bigotry and racism is all on the left. The democrat party destroyed and chained the black community. Obama removed DC school choice for blacks as his first order of business. Keep blacks down and angry to keep them on the democrat plantation.

Trump lifted everyone up with economic success... then ChiCom Hillary virus arrived to wipe it all out.

Big Mike said...

No reason why this couldn’t been announced by June 30.

gerry said...

A race-crime hoax in Madison? Damn.

Is it against the law in Madison or Wisconsin to file fake crime reports?

Carol said...

It's infuriating to me, that people believe or want to believe that those Other People - us - are so terrible! Why, these things happen all the time, yes? My other half seems to think so. It just fits so well with what were told back in the 60s.

I'm questioning all those narratives now too.

rhhardin said...

So ridiculing black people is out.

Big Mike said...

Can’t the woman be arrested for filing a false police report?

Wince said...

...it's sad that it seemed to a lot of people — including Prince Harry — like the way things go in America.

As far as the original report of the incident, didn't it turn out to be "the way things [now] go in America"?

Jersey Fled said...

Hate crimes are in such short supply that we are continually forced to make them up.

Yancey Ward said...

Much has gone and will continue to go more wrong when you can't point out the liars. I understand why the investigators can't state the obvious and disclose the evidence in this case- to do so would lead them to being called racists (this will happen anyway). What was the difference between this obvious hoax and the Jussie Smollett hoax? In the latter case, the investigators did disclose the evidence that proved Smollett was a lying liar- is just that Smollett was more brazen in the aftermath? Will Bernstein and her lawyers up the ante and accuse the investigation of bias, or will they slink away thankful that they no longer have to defend this story? I guess we will learn in coming weeks.

Tim said...

Just another hoax. Got coverage though.

zipity said...

"Will the resolution of the case get anything like the attention that was given to the original report?"

When did Althouse decide to try stand-up comedy?

stlcdr said...

Presumably, the last question you ask is rhetorical.

gilbar said...

Will the resolution of the case get anything like the attention that was given to the original report?

what resolution? what report? what are you talking about?
there was NO mention of anything like this EVER happening!
we have ALWAYS been at war with East Asia
LONG LIVE BIG BROTHER! 2+2=5

tim maguire said...

the victim was treated with dignity and respect at all times

When they say "victim," who are they talking about? The American people, who were subjected to abuse over this (obvious) hoax? I don't think so, because they didn't treat the American people at all. So who? Who could they mean by "victim"?

gspencer said...

So few genuine hate crimes occur in this country that the left must routinely invent them. Muslims play that game to an art form.

tim maguire said...

Unknown said...They should quickly debunk these hoaxes. No one remembers this incident at this point, but you can bet your ass it poured fuel on the righteous fire of leftist agitation

And even now, after it has been exposed as a hoax, it continues to feed a gnawing sense of unease about racial animosity in America. It's not enough to close the books, a crime has been committed against the American people and that crime is ongoing. Quietly moving on denies justice to the real victims.

wendybar said...

So just another Progressive Racial Hoax to blame whitey, Trump Supporters and Trump himself of what a RACIST country this is. Why all the Racial hoaxes then?? They have to make them up. She and Jussie belong in a prison cell for this.

I'm Not Sure said...

"Will the resolution of the case get anything like the attention that was given to the original report?"

Where do newspapers print retractions to errors in front page stories? You'll find your answer there.

Curious George said...

These assholes need to be jailed.

Abdul Abulbul Amir said...

The demand for hate crimes far exceeds the supply.

TestTube said...

So how did she get burnt?

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

In Kill Bill the Bride grabs a sword from a trembling kid and whips his ass with it, shouting “This/is what you get/when you fuck around with/yakuza! Go home to your mother!”

This kid needs to get whipped with some filing a false police report charges and told This is what you get when you fuck around with molotov cocktails and burn your own retarded ass, you moron.

Also, the credulity of the celebrities who bought this 100% obvious bullshit story is depressing. Your betters, ladies and gentlemen.

Chris of Rights said...

Once again, the demand for racism in America exceeds the supply.

Amadeus 48 said...

"Will the resolution of the case get anything like the attention that was given to the original report?"

We will see, won't we? I predict that all we will hear from the MSM and other news people is *crickets*.

I suspect that this will fall into the "unresolved" file, rather than the "resolved" file, so there is no news here. After all, they aren't saying it didn't happen, are they? Even if they charged her with making a false police report, it would not get much play. At this point it would be a dog-bite story, wouldn't it? There are lots of hoaxes, aren't there? Was there a noose?

As Instapundit says, the demand for incidents of white supremacist, anti-black racist violence far exceeds the supply. Look at that idiot on Fox News badgering the White House for a new statement denouncing white supremacy after his wife, who works for ABC, had tweeted out the statement she had gotten from Trump the day before. I wonder how that marriage is going.

The news business is not giving us the facts, it is peddling narratives that are often fact-free. But that is not news.

bwebster said...

To quote Glenn Reynolds, "If it weren't for fake hate crimes, we'd have no hate crimes at all."

Todd said...

Unknown said...

They should quickly debunk these hoaxes. No one remembers this incident at this point, but you can bet your ass it poured fuel on the righteous fire of leftist agitation. So it serves its purpose. It doesn’t even matter to the Left at this point whether it was true or false.

10/2/20, 9:47 AM


It never did matter and was always irrelevant whether it happened to be "literally" true. That was, is, and will be always immaterial as the left supports a "higher" truth and they work to expose fundamental errors in the core of American society. The fact that anyone believed it "possible" demonstrates that it "could have" happened and if it could have, that is as good as if it "did" happen.

Ignored is that some people believed it due to their believing most people are honest and why would anyone make up such a thing BUT that is beside the point.

As noted, the "truth" that this happened is now a permanent part of the fabric of society and that "stain" can not be removed. It happens to join all the other fake hate-crime stains that are blamed on the right while the actual, literal, and documented hate-crimes of the left are ignored, as will the truth that this was a false hate-crime. It was done to support a "higher truth" dontyaknow...

Michael K said...

Until proven otherwise, all these stories are hoaxes.

Temujin said...

There have actually been more of these race attack hoaxes than there have been police killings of unarmed Black Americans. I'm waiting for the peaceful protests to call out the race hoaxers.

That the Left from around the world sees this as viable shows just how far down the Crazy Trail they have gone. Their view of America is absolutely one where either you are all in for SJWs or you're a white supremacist just waiting in the bushes with lighter fluid in hand, wearing Tommy Bahama floral shirts, and flashing the OK sign with your free hand.

This is taught. Want to change it? We need to change who is doing the teaching. If you get Kamala Harris as your next President, you've officially canceled the US.

Sally327 said...

Who's the better actress, Meghan Markle or Althea Bernstein?

There was a thing for awhile, where white people would accuse black people of doing murderous things that they had done themselves. A white woman, Susan Smith, in South Carolina killed her two children and then told police a black man had kidnapped them. And then in Boston, a white man named Charles Stuart killed his wife but told police a black man did it. These are the two I remember. I'm sure there's more.

We white folk, we teach the black folk all our bad habits.

Caroline said...

Denounce White Supremacy! Denounce it now!

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Trump needs to come out and say - Stop pretending like white supremacism is some sort of problem while you media hacks ignore the real problem of leftwing nazi Antifa brownshirts.

walter said...

But is the movie still on?

Ann Althouse said...

"Where do newspapers print retractions to errors in front page stories? "

It's big front page news in the local paper here in Wisconsin. It just is unlikely to hit the national news.

Calypso Facto said...

Not getting charged with a crime is a lucky (or politically motivated) break for Althea, since she almost certainly got burned while trying to set the City-County building on fire.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Will the person who lied be prosecuted?

We need more prosecution of liars and fraudsters to send a message that this crap is not welcome in America.

Balfegor said...

Re: Sally327:

We white folk, we teach the black folk all our bad habits

That's right, Sally. Blacks don't have moral agency. They lived in a state of childlike Edenic innocence before the White serpent came along to teach them how to sin.

Utter nonsense.

StoughtonSconnie said...

So we are still left with the question of how Althea got the burns. They occurred on the same night as rioters were attempting to set fire to the City County building using, wait for it, lighter fluid. The most likely scenario all along has been that she was burned in the process of participating in that activity, or actively supporting those who were. So she created an ugly, politically-helpful lie.
But why lie? Why not tell the truth if you are dedicated to the cause? Oceans Razor. Her desire is to be an EMT, a very honorable pursuit. That gives added reason to lie about the origins of the burns, because burning down the city county building is a felony, probably several. Felons can’t get the requisite licenses to become EMTs. That’s the reason for a lot of pardons, to allow someone to pursue their goal of becoming an EMT.
Just speculation, but I have yet to hear a better explanation.

RNB said...

The WaPo says: "Federal prosecutors say there’s not enough evidence to prove that a young biracial woman was set on fire during protest in Wisconsin this summer..." Oh, there's proof she was set on fire; look at the photos. The relevant question is: WHO set her on fire.

eddie willers said...

Until proven otherwise, all these stories are hoaxes.

I have kept an anecdotal listing in my head since Tawana Brawley.

100% have been hoaxes. Even the Matthew Shepard story changed as mor truth came out.

Jupiter said...

a) Anyone who did not know this was a hoax from day one is a complete idiot and should not be allowed to walk the public streets without supervision.

b) If Althea Bernstein had said her attackers were four Black guys wearing BLM shirts, she would be in jail now, charged with filing a false report.

c) The police are afraid to call her a liar because the crazy people will burn Madison to the ground if they do. The police have not been defunded, but they have been coopted. They will now enforce the laws against honest citizens. They will not enforce the laws against criminals.

Butkus51 said...

ah, its ok, whitey still mean

RNB said...

Statement released by the Bernstein family: "“Althea Bernstein and her family appreciate the detailed investigative efforts by all involved in this case. Althea’s injuries are healing and the support of our community has been invaluable in that regard. We continue to maintain our family privacy and will not be granting interviews at this time.”

Why no impassioned denunciation of the police coverup of this terrible hate crime?

Francisco D said...

tim maguire said... When they say "victim," who are they talking about?

Ms. Bernstein is the victim of her own hysterical wokeness.

Chris Wallace will be calling on President Trump to once and for all denounce the White Supremacists who allegedly attacked this woman with lighter fluid and a magic lighter that stays lit when thrown.

It is a special device known as "The Gaslighter".

mikee said...

There should be enough physical evidence from her car to determine if the liquid that burned the young woman matches the liquid used to attempt arson on the government offices that evening. Chemical matching of the two liquids would be phyisical evidence she was involved in the attempted arson, especially when there is zero physical evidence of her own story; i.e., she filed a false hate crime report to cover for her arson burns.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Do you see any evidence that Madison is some sort of hot bed of racism, KKK and white supremacy?

I'd guess no - not at all.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Why isn't making a false hate crime allegation a hate crime? You're intentionally stirring up hatred and mistrust of a racial group.

Sebastian said...

Fake hate crime #400 or so.

You'd think that in systemically racist Amerikkka they wouldn't have to make it up.

Chris N said...

I just graduated from Armchair U:

-Not the prettiest
-biracial so her black cred might be low
-biracial so she's not really safe in a majority
-Possibly no father around (which assumes a lot, but black male/white female is the most common couple pairing and black male fatherlessness is high...man, this is a reach)

Diller Dollar Scholar Diagnosis: Sad, lonely girl (on her own or in the latest moral panic) decides to get attention in the worst way by nearly believing herself, and all the dipshits who want to believe fan the flames.

So we have wrong incentives and righteous passion simmering in a pot, renouncing history, skeptical of facts and the law, and still smoldering.

And so very many dipshits still supporting this behavior. Not good.

Sonny said...

Oh. So she was trying to light up the city- county building and got hurt? No one is going to tell us that story huh.

daskol said...

So is the NFL going to take her off the list of approved people you can honor on your helmet?

The KY attorney general was on Tucker Carlson last night, discussing his investigation into the Breonna Taylor shooting. This one even got me: as a fan of civil liberties, no knock raids have always made me deeply uncomfortable. By emphasizing that they were executing a no-knock warrant in this incident, the narrative probably took in a lot of people beyond the idiots who think cops kill black people on the regular because of malicious racism. So yeah, the reporting was truthful in that it was a no-knock warrant, however all the witnesses in nearby apartments confirmed the cops did announce themselves. And the early reporting either elided entirely the fact that her boyfriend shot first and hit a cop, or cast doubt on it by not reporting that it was a shootout, not a cop going in guns blazing.

The people who promulgate these hoaxes, and when you investigate every incident that gets national publicity there is enough of a gap between the narrative and the apparent reality to call it a hoax, are fucking evil. I hate them.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

Another hoax. She probably tried to throw a molotov cocktail at the cops and burned herself in the attempt. She should be prosecuted for filing a false police report. But that will never happen.

FullMoon said...

FROM SOME PERSON ON REDDIT (not me)



"Madtown-Throwaway123 9 points 25 minutes ago

There are too many to even post, short of someone writing a novel. Here are some of the big ones though.

1) She claimed that the hospital took her clothing, which would have had evidence of the attack. The hospital denied taking her clothing and she then accused them of lying. The release shows video stills of her entering and leaving hospital in the same clothing.

2) The location where she said the alleged attack happened. Video shows her driving through downtown, with her window up, and not stopping at that location.

3) She refused to originally turn over her phone to the police or the feds. When she finally did, there was evidence on it that did not match her timeline or locations of where she said she was.

4) She initially refused to let police check the car for evidence. When she eventually did, they found no evidence of any burning/singing inside the car. They also found no accelerant (which if she was sprayed in the face with lighter fluid, there would have been some unburned that got on the fabric/wheel of the car). She also claimed that lighter fluid was lit by the attackers throwing a lighter into the vehicle, but no lighter was recovered in the search of the car.

5) She refused to give a statement to the feds, likely because she knew lying to them is a crime and they would actually charge her for that (unlike the Dane County DA).

And the list goes on and on. And because someone will surely ask for a source, read it for yourself. They released the case files here:


https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/newsroom/recordsrelease10022020.cfm

Dan from Madison said...

Well, if they aren't going to charge her with wasting everyone's time and money, the very least she could do is apologize but I'm not holding my breath.

Mike of Snoqualmie said...

The "roving white supremacist" has become this century's "bushy-haired man" who goes around car jacking people. Just ask Diane Downs. She alleged a stranger tried to car jack her and shot her kids and shot her in the arm. She was convicted of murder, attempted murder and criminal assault on her kids. Convicted on all counts and sentenced to life in prison.

I'm Full of Soup said...

So is it time for the Hawaian shirt and polo short manufacturers to sue for damages? Since I suspect the fake news has affected their sales.

bagoh20 said...

When you falsely accuse people of racism and a crime based on their race, you are committing one of the worst and most dangerous acts of racism. People have been killed over similar things. In fact, lynchings were usually a result of just such lies. This woman is a racist. And those who supported her need to disavow their support of racists, and then ask random white people on the street to forgive them.

MadisonMan said...

Can’t the woman be arrested for filing a false police report?
Proving a negative -- that the report is false -- is hard. I would not vote to convict. There would be reasonable doubt.

I thought from the beginning that she was lying, FWIW.

James Pawlak said...

Will that hoaxer be criminally charged?

James Pawlak said...

Will that liar be criminally charged?

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Andy Ngo interviewed by Australian news outlet.

Andy's part starts at about 2:45ish.

Birkel said...

They should charge her with filing a false police report, and go up from there.

The reaction of Leftist Collectivists must be like when Alderaan exploded.

James Graham said...

The British man ludicrously known as "Prince" is, like so many Europeans, and an Americo-Ignoramus.

Random white attacks on blacks are so rare that they deserve front-page news. They don't appear there because they do not happen.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Consistent with MPD’s Core Values, Code of Conduct, and Standard Operating Procedures, the victim was treated with dignity and respect at all times during the course of this investigation

Doesn't "treating the victim with dignity and respect" require there to b a victim?

Tomcc said...

Another absolutely disgusting (and entirely predictable) outcome. Perhaps even more egregious than the Jussie Smollet hoax due to the strong probability, mentioned in previous comments, that her injuries resulted from her own felonious acts.

effinayright said...

TestTube said...
So how did she get burnt?
***********

Ya know, you can always go onto that wonderful interwebs thingy to find out. Gawd, it's irritating to get such ill-informed challenges like yours.

Dan said...

If you want to end this crap, you could start by making faking a hate crime a federal hate crime itself. Make the penalty harsh, so the possible reward is no longer worth the risk.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"He pled guilty to the unlawful attempt of purchasing radioactive material and was sentenced to time served"
Now that's how you deter people from buying radioactive material!

Lewis Wetzel said...

Blogger Balfegor said...

Re: Sally327:

We white folk, we teach the black folk all our bad habits

That's right, Sally. Blacks don't have moral agency. They lived in a state of childlike Edenic innocence before the White serpent came along to teach them how to sin.


I think the belief is that power provides moral agency, so the powerless do not have moral agency, because they are not free. An interesting idea, but of course white != powerful and black != powerless. Power comes from wealth and social status, not whiteness. The young biracial lady in question had so much power she could lie to the cops and not be charged, people, including celebrities, honored her.
That is the power to do what you like w/o consequences. That is what we all want, more than anything else.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Todd,

It never did matter and was always irrelevant whether it happened to be "literally" true. That was, is, and will be always immaterial as the left supports a "higher" truth and they work to expose fundamental errors in the core of American society. The fact that anyone believed it "possible" demonstrates that it "could have" happened and if it could have, that is as good as if it "did" happen.

Exactly. Think of Tawana Brawley -- one of the Rev. Sharpton's more egregious interventions in this narrative. You will remember that 15-year-old Brawley was found in a trash bag, nearly-naked, bruised, and covered racial epithets written in feces, and alleged that a bunch of white cops and a local white prosecutor had done this to her. Eventually she recanted, and it appears now that she was afraid of being punished for skipping school to visit her boyfriend. Patricia Williams, then a newly-rising CRT legal scholar, argued that Brawley had been the victim of an unspeakable crime, no matter who'd done it to her, and even if she'd done it to herself. IOW, whether it was, you know, true or not made no difference; she was the victim of It, whatever It might be, and someone oughtta pay, and a bunch of white cops were evidently as good for the purpose as anyone else.

Sharpton got sued for his advocacy by Steve Pagones, the prosecutor among the accused, and Pagones won, though ISTR that he didn't get much of the awarded damages, as the Rev. Al pleaded poverty.

Of course, on the other side you do have Susan Smith. But, honestly, every anti-Black hate crime I can recall for decades has turned out to be a hoax, with the lone exception of the Black man (Jasper somebody?) horrifically dragged to his death on a Texas highway. I'm not talking here about law enforcement, but cases presented to us as private racist acts. People see nooses everywhere, even when they are actual Black suicides, or just a local Black man making a sort of aerial jungle gym for kids in Oakland (ropes were involved but not actual nooses, and it was just something for kids to climb up on). People vandalize their own homes and cars and write hate mail to themselves. It's sick. And we who aren't sick, only deeply grieved, have to sit and watch as each little vignette plays itself out.

As to Bernstein: It looks to me as though she was an accidental victim of the cute little Molotov cocktail-throwing scene going on at exactly the same time and place. I don't know why she would try to blame the Boogaloo Boys, who as I understand it are not especially racist, though extremely anti-cop and anxious to heat up whatever clashes with cops are already going on.

Bob Smith said...

I fell hook, line, and sinker for Duke Lacrosse. That’ll be the last one. Assume the truth is 180 out from the first news reports and you won’t be far wrong.

D. Gorton said...

In June Meghan Markle and Prince Harry "reached out" to Althea about the alleged Hate Crime. Remarkable that they drill so far down into our civic culture unaware of the pitfalls, it appears.

Drago said...

Althea Bernstein regrets that she has but one hoax to give for her nation.

LA_Bob said...

Well, thank goodness the police have determined the awful crime committed by some white racists didn't actually happen. And thank goodness Ms Althea Bernstein can sleep securely in the knowledge that no suspects remain at large to hurt her again.

It is clear from this incident that Ms Bernstein's long experience of systemic racism, racism so powerful it ignited parts of her face, has left a deep scar in her psyche. It is hoped that time and supportive therapy will heal her wounds.

Reparations for the Original Sin of Slavery should also play an important role in Ms Bernstein's recovery. She is once and forever a victim of America's tragic past. She should be among the first to receive just compensation.

Bob Smith said...

My beautiful aunt Althea is spinning in her grave.

TestTube said...

wholelottasplainin' said...

Ya know, you can always go onto that wonderful interwebs thingy to find out. Gawd, it's irritating to get such ill-informed challenges like yours.

So I tried that, and didn't find anything enlightening.

I figure that the Police DO know what actually happened, because they closed the investigation, but they don't seem to have released those details. And everyone seems content to just bleep right over that.

Because she did have burns. Seems kinda important how she got them. Did she do it to herself? Abusive boyfriend? Accidentally got burned during the riot, either by herself or other rioters? Lot of different possible backstories here, each fraught with interest.

wholelottasplainin' doesn't seem to wanna be much help here, so can any of you other commenters enlighten me?

boatbuilder said...

It’s no longer the season, but does this mean it’s OK to wear Hawaiian shirts now?

chickelit said...

Why is Markle meddling in this matter? Why is she any different than Kamala Harris defending an outed hoaxer?

TestTube said...

Just to reinforce the importance of my original question: How did she get those burns?

If she did this to herself, that is some serious crazy to be setting yourself on fire, and the young lady needs some professional help ASAP

If someone did this to her and she is covering for them, that means there is a pretty nasty abuser among her family and friends.

If she got these as an accident in the course of the riot, then she was playing with fire, or someone else was, and either way the responsible party needs to be held accountable.

Bunkypotatohead said...

It's not a lie if you believe it, Jerry.

Tina Trent said...

Now that purported racial hatred is criminalized, why aren't allegations of racial hatred criminalized?

Asking for Lin Wood.

buwaya said...

The funny thing is that M.Markle would "pass" as white, or white enough, almost anywhere. Not remarkable. You could stick her in Madrid and she would fit in just fine. She would get hit on in bars as anyone else would.

She is one of those racially unspecifiable people.

She could be a Filipina mestiza or an Anglo-Indian or a Franco-Tahitian or some sort of Tunisian or Turk or Iranian or Brazilian or Mexican. She could be Tulsi Gabbards cousin. All would be plausible. None come with any particular racial strikes, not in this modern world, and probably not much if at all in the European past either.

effinayright said...

Lewis Wetzel said...
Blogger Balfegor said...

Re: Sally327:

We white folk, we teach the black folk all our bad habits

That's right, Sally. Blacks don't have moral agency. They lived in a state of childlike Edenic innocence before the White serpent came along to teach them how to sin.

"I think the belief is that power provides moral agency, so the powerless do not have moral agency, because they are not free."
******************

Did Frederick Douglass lack "moral agency"? Did Harriet Tubman? Did they believe that their fellow poor and enslaved blacks lack "moral agency"?

Bollocks. When blacks were much poorer in America in the past, they did not commit anywhere near the number of crimes proportional to their percentage of the population as they do today. Something happened to blacks in America beginning with the War on Poverty and its attendant destruction of the black family. Perversely, the white attempt to help blacks achieve more power led to the latter's descent into degradation.
*****************

"That is the power to do what you like w/o consequences. That is what we all want, more than anything else."
******************************

Yeah, that's why the powerful don't have to obey the law, and why whites don't go to jail if they kill, rape, steal, rob or cheat. There are no whites in prison, nor have there ever been.

All of what we call "civilization" is nothing but the powerful killing, raping, stealing, cheating and robbing.

SNORT


Calypso Facto said...

TestTube said..."Just to reinforce the importance of my original question: How did she get those burns?"

Just to reinforce the answer I and others gave you upthread, it's very likely she got the burns accidentally while trying to commit arson at the City-County building. Same area, same time, same accelerant.

https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime-and-courts/madison-police-arrest-26-year-old-man-in-connection-with-arson-of-city-county-building/article_be383f8e-2c05-5c8f-b05b-cb9aeb1844b0.html

Freeman Hunt said...

A candidate for local office claims someone wrote a racial slur on a styrofoam plate. I don't think the police investigation has been completed, but you can vote for him as a statement against racism.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Bob Smith, I had nearly blotted out Duke Lacrosse, and Mike Nifong, and the amazing gift-that-keeps-on-giving Crystal Mangum. That was a hoax originally, but magnified massively by a DA who flat-out ignored exculpatory evidence, like the ATM withdrawal receipt of one of the accused, timestamped exactly when the alleged attack was taking place, three miles away. Usually these hoax hate crimes are uncovered by law enforcement, but here the DA was on the side of the hoaxster. That case was eventually sorted out, but not until the Duke lacrosse team was disbanded, and 88 faculty had signed a letter accusing the students before any evidence at all was put forth, and Nifong was disbarred.

It was supposed to be such an easy case! Southern university, lily-white sport, black stripper. What's not to like? Only Nifong was so bloody ham-handed that not even his initial defenders could hold out forever. Though I have never seen any record that the "Gang of 88" ever recanted their attacks on their own students.

Joe Smith said...

This should be fixable if politicians had the will.

Pass a law that says the perpetrator of a hoax crime can be convicted and sentenced the same as if it were actually committed.

Ten years for a hate crime while burning someone? OK...the 'victim' will now serve ten years.

By the way, I am not a believer in 'hate crimes.' The crime is the crime, not the motivation.

What if KKK members strung up blacks while chanting, "We love African-Americans.'

Would they get a lesser sentence?

If not, why not?

Rick said...

Big Mike said...
Can’t the woman be arrested for filing a false police report?


That isn't the only crime they should be investigating, those burns came from using an accelerant to start a fire the night several arsons occurred.

Blaming imaginary white supremacists is standard operating procedure for BLMANTIFA, like terrorists claiming to be tortured.

Rick said...

Michelle Dulak Thomson said... with the lone exception of the Black man (Jasper somebody?) horrifically dragged to his death on a Texas highway.

James Byrd, the event occurred in Jasper Texas.

While a horrible crime the three men responsible were sentenced to death (2) or life imprisonment (1). The complaint about the legal system not working for blacks is unsupported.

Gospace said...

buwaya said...
The funny thing is that M.Markle would "pass" as white, or white enough, almost anywhere. Not remarkable. You could stick her in Madrid and she would fit in just fine. She would get hit on in bars as anyone else would.


I saw pictures of Meghan Markle on gossip and celebrity sites long before I read on one of them she was black. Until reading that I had assumed she was white.

I’ve never heard her talk. A significantly high percentage of blacks can be identified as such simply by listening to them talk. That’s one of those inconvenient truths. You can’t identify someone as white the same way. Nor Asian or Pacific Islander or Native American if they grew up with English as their first language.

rcocean said...

Three months to conclude that 4 white frat boys in Hawaiian shirts didn't throw lighter fluid on a brown-skinned teen-age girl for no reason. Teenage white girls must be jelly.

I wonder how many man-hours and tax dollars were wasted.

rcocean said...

Saw a young white guy in a Hawaiian shirt, sun-glasses, and a Richard Spenser haircut. He made an "OK sign" at me. I called the police. I can see HATE when it appears.

TestTube said...

Thank you, Calypso facto.

It appears, then, that while the original story has been discredited, we only have speculation as to the real cause.

Quaestor said...

TestTube writes: So how did she get burnt?

Attempting to smoke crack while drunk or otherwise stoned on something else is a very plausible explanation. Hospital emergency room admitting records contain thousands of such incidents involving burns on the face, hands, or arms.

I'm Not Sure said...

"It's big front page news in the local paper here in Wisconsin."

Fair enough.

"It just is unlikely to hit the national news."

More unlikely than the original report, anyway.

glacial erratic said...

As far as I can see, the only systemic racism in the US is against whites.

Nichevo said...

Chris N said...
I just graduated from Armchair U:

-Not the prettiest
-biracial so her black cred might be low
-biracial so she's not really safe in a majority
-Possibly no father around (which assumes a lot, but black male/white female is the most common couple pairing and black male fatherlessness is high...man, this is a reach)


A reach too far maybe. Althea Bernstein. Sounds like a Jewish father and black mother. Jewish fatherlessness is low, but who knows? Anyway, plenty of intact nuclear families have fed their theoretically well-reared children to this movement.

She is homely, granted, but the sister of the girl who threw a lighted Molotov cocktail at a NYPD can full of people (cops are people), who herself I think obstructed the police, as in bit one arresting her sister, is a knockout, a fresh young ginger from upstate. The flower of our youth, some of it, is self-immolating on this Children's Crusade.

The welfare of this Society demands that the ringleaders be hunted down and executed without trial.

TestTube said...

Thank you Quaestor,

I had not thought of that possibility. It certainly seems more likely than my theories of either deliberate self-harm, or even of abuse by a friend or family member.

tim in vermont said...

Zoolander explains all: https://youtu.be/OTrxEQnPtAg

It gets relevant at about 1:15 or so.