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PolitiFact Tags Black Conservative Larry Elder On Police Killings as 'Mostly False,' But He's Not
Newsbusters ^ | 06/08/2020 | Tim Graham

Posted on 06/08/2020 9:48:26 PM PDT by SeekAndFind

PolitiFact keeps doing “fact checks” against conservatives that acknowledge that they’re using facts, but they’re still False because – well, they don’t like the way those facts are assembled. These factual facts aren’t making the right point. They’re “too narrow.” They "omit context."

Black conservative radio host Larry Elder was flagged by PolitiFact’s liberal readers for a June 2 appearance on Hannity where he declared “"Last year, there were nine unarmed black people killed [by police]. Nineteen unarmed white people." He was citing the numbers of a liberal newspaper: The Washington Post! 

CLICK ARTICLE LINK FOR THE VIDEO

PolitiFact’s Bill McCarthy tagged this as “Mostly False” under the subheadline “Larry Elder mislabels statistics on fatal shootings by police.” Mislabels?

We found that Elder was speaking broadly about police killings but pulling his numbers from the Washington Post’s more narrow tally of fatal shootings by police officers in the line of duty.

The Washington Post’s tally doesn’t account for off-duty police or the use by on-duty officers of other force that can be lethal, such as tasers or physical restraint.

That means the number of unarmed people killed in encounters with law enforcement in 2019 is higher for both races than Elder claimed. How much higher is not clear.

What is clear, experts told us, is that despite what Elder’s absolute numbers may suggest, black people in the U.S. have died from fatal encounters with police at a disproportionate rate.

Blacks account for less than 13 percent of the U.S. population, but are killed by police at more than twice the rate of white Americans. Okay. But twice as many whites are killed by police than blacks, but the "Black Lives Matter"-echoing media coverage leaves the impression that the vast majority of killings are racially motivated.

That’s why Elder’s facts are upsetting to liberals. They like that false impression.

McCarthy noted that the Post updated its count since Elder appeared on Fox News, but that doesn't change the point. More whites than blacks are killed. He concluded:

Those numbers matched the Washington Post’s tally of fatal shootings by police in the line of duty, although the Washington Post’s figures have increased since Elder made his claim.

But not all police killings happen when officers are on duty, and not all involve a gunshot. The Washington Post’s data doesn’t include deaths like Floyd’s, for example.

Elder’s claim also omitted important context: that black people in the U.S. are disproportionately killed by police relative to their share of the population.

Overall, Elder’s statement contained elements of truth, but it left out important context that would give a different impression.

We rate it Mostly False.

You have to admire the elasticity of PolitiFact. Elder is “false” for talking about police shootings and leaving out police asphyxiations. They really should have a “Truth-o-Meter” box for “Omitted Important Context.” Or change their name to Politi-Context.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: belongsinbloggers; bloggers; factcheck; larryelder; liberalagenda; policekillings; politifact; politilies

1 posted on 06/08/2020 9:48:27 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

Larry Elder is NOT going to mess around with “maybe” being wrong.


2 posted on 06/08/2020 9:51:26 PM PDT by madison10
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To: SeekAndFind

Hitler had context. So did Timothy McVieh.


3 posted on 06/08/2020 9:54:39 PM PDT by blackdog (Making wine cave appearances upon request.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Emulating Goebbels well...


4 posted on 06/08/2020 10:04:19 PM PDT by EagleUSA
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To: SeekAndFind

Would the fact checkers dare mention how many of those killed were shot during the commission of a dangerous felony while they themselves were armed?


5 posted on 06/08/2020 10:04:49 PM PDT by lastchance (Credo.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Where is that article about being a “cult”?

They do not listen to facts or reason and any intervention is most likely to fail...


6 posted on 06/08/2020 10:05:33 PM PDT by Hypo2
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To: SeekAndFind

Where is that article about being a “cult”?

They do not listen to facts or reason and any intervention is most likely to fail...


7 posted on 06/08/2020 10:07:21 PM PDT by Hypo2
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To: SeekAndFind

I listen to Larry every day. He’s the MAN.

SCREW THE FACT CHUCKEES


8 posted on 06/08/2020 10:14:26 PM PDT by Truthoverpower (The guv-mint you get is the Trump winning express ! Yea haw ! Trump pence II!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Listen these leftist activist who call themselves fact checkers are more of the same bullshit liars we see and hear everyday in the media and social media.


9 posted on 06/08/2020 10:31:59 PM PDT by snarkytart
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To: Hypo2

Yes they are a cult they refuse to hear about reality. They think they’re so clever and “educated” but really are they dumbest people with zero critical thinking skills and can be taken by any false narrative.
See all the global warming fake ass models these same people buy into.

They are very much cult like.


10 posted on 06/08/2020 10:35:36 PM PDT by snarkytart
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To: SeekAndFind

I think another article explained, sorry no link, that because blacks commit crimes at a higher rate, they have more contact with police.

So rather than compare the number of killings to size of population, the comparison should be number of killings to encounters with police.

In that comparison, the number of blacks killed by police is disproportionately lower.

Sorry I cannot be more specific.


11 posted on 06/08/2020 10:37:54 PM PDT by joshua c
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Larry is a good guy.

He’s not going to lie.

The Left doesn’t know how to handle good people. They don’t have any..


12 posted on 06/08/2020 10:43:06 PM PDT by DoughtyOne (Some of the folks around these parts have been sniffing super flu.)
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To: SeekAndFind

l8r


13 posted on 06/09/2020 2:16:55 AM PDT by preacher ( Journalism no longer reports news, they use news to shape our society.)
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To: SeekAndFind

The Wapo number is for unarmed blacks who were SHOT and killed by police. If you want to see the “context” see the Noam tweets here: https://www.conservativereview.com/news/horowitz-no-systemic-racism-policing/


14 posted on 06/09/2020 3:55:26 AM PDT by Renkluaf
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To: SeekAndFind
I've noticed these left win “fact checking” groups always do that, they will twist logic and bend over backwards to declare left wing talking points “true” only ruling them false if they are just so blatantly wrong there is simply no way to justify them. On the other hand, they will take a conservative talking point and declare it false “on a technicality”. I remember one recent example where a 2nd amendment advocate said that 85% of school shootings were gang related, Politifact ruled it false because they could “only” come up with 78% of shootings being gang related (and even that was incorrect as they were looking at numbers from a different year).
15 posted on 06/09/2020 4:35:52 AM PDT by apillar
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