See This and Remember It
Watch how this disgusting trap is set and sprung. You’ll see it a thousand times, so it’s important to be able to recognize it.
Background first:
Kevin de León is possibly one of the biggest dirtbags on the planet, and someone I’ve rolled my eyes at for at least a solid decade.
He has been one of the most powerful politicians in California, though his star has been fading for a while, details too too tedious to discuss. Currently he draws a paycheck as a rank-and-file member of the Los Angeles City Council, a long step down from his semi-recent role as a leader in the state senate.
But de León was one of the Latino councilmembers caught on tape disparaging his colleagues and plotting to grow Latino political power in Los Angeles at the expense of black voters — a conversation in which the Latina council president said that the adopted black son of a white councilman looked like “a little monkey.” The other councilmembers caught on that tape have resigned(*), but KDL refuses to give up his paycheck and his job title. He can’t attend city council meetings, because this is what happens when he tries:
So. A group of activists has been following de León around town, camping outside his house and showing up everywhere he shows up. They surround him, follow him, scream at him, almost touch him, and try to provoke a reaction. This week, they finally got one, and this video showed up all over social media:
Nine seconds of slow motion. A city councilman viciously attacking someone for no reason! Sort through Twitter and look for the responses, if you want. They look like this:
He physically attacked a black community activist! “He’s assaulting black folks.” What a monster!
Longer videos didn’t start showing up until the morning after:
Stand a quarter of an inch from another person, with your fellow activists surrounding him and screaming at him, then put your hands up and scream “don’t touch me” in his face. Totally innocent behavior. Then, when you’ve backed him up against a wall and surrounded him and you’re pressed right up against him, isolate his response and show a nine-second video of the moment he lost his temper.
This is shit. I have no patience for Kevin de León at all, but this is absolute garbage. When you see a seconds-long video of a public figure doing something that looks outrageous, know that you’re probably watching a lie.
(*) UPDATED: A reader reminds me that Councilman Gil Cedillo didn’t resign, but stopped attending council meetings and is about to leave the council when his term ends.
Props for calling out bullshit tactics used against someone you dislike. BS is BS regardless who the current victim is.
This is how propaganda is created. The same formula was used on January 6.