Discourse Blog

Discourse Blog

Share this post

Discourse Blog
Discourse Blog
It's Almost Like Cops Lie All the Time
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
User's avatar
Discover more from Discourse Blog
A daily politics, media criticism, and culture newsletter from the left. Worker-owned, subscriber-supported, and free from corporate influence. Est. 2020.
Over 22,000 subscribers
Already have an account? Sign in

It's Almost Like Cops Lie All the Time

So maybe don't mindlessly repeat what they say over and over again??

Jack Mirkinson's avatar
Jack Mirkinson
Jun 23, 2020
23

Share this post

Discourse Blog
Discourse Blog
It's Almost Like Cops Lie All the Time
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

If you’re not in New York, you might not have heard about the Shake Shack Incident. Fear not, though, because it is very easy to catch up on the main points.

It all started last week when the NYPD, led by its police unions, said that three of its officers had been intentionally poisoned at a Shake Shack in downtown Manhattan. We were told that the cops were vomiting, that they’d been hospitalized, that there was bleach involved. Le gasp le shock le is anything sacred anymore thin blue line!!!

Just one wrinkle about that story: It was complete bullshit. An investigation quickly found that nothing untoward had happened, and on Monday, the New York Post (of all places) reported that the cops had never even been sick. What’s more, the officers reportedly ordered their food through the Shake Shack app, meaning that there was no way any nefarious employees could have known to send the “poison the cops” signal to their comrades in the first place.

In other words, the cops, and especially their union leaders, lied about every single part of the story, except, I guess, that their drinks tasted a little weird.

When reading these details, you might think, “Wow, these cops must think we are really fucking stupid!” And guess what? They do. But can you really blame them when, to pick an example at random, so much of the news media swallows even their most outlandish claims without blinking an eye?

Look at this video showing local and national news anchors from around the country mindlessly repeating the initial Shake Shack story:

Twitter avatar for @bubbaprog
Timothy Burke @bubbaprog
Here's a compilation of reputable news outlets reporting something that did not happen and was completely fabricated by NYPD
Image
5:28 PM ∙ Jun 22, 2020
5,929Likes2,958Retweets

Or take a look at this breaking news clip from a local New York station:

The only source for any of the information in any of these clips is the police. Does anyone think that might be a problem?

It would be one thing if this was some isolated incident, an example of normally unimpeachable sources making a mistake. But cops lie all the time! Cops, including NYPD cops, have been lying throughout the uprising that exploded after George Floyd’s murder. They even lied about Floyd himself.

This is not secret antifa knowledge or some new pattern; it’s well-established fact. Cops lie and lie and lie, and all too often, their lies form the basis of the first draft of history that gets transmitted by the media. It’s only after the fact that holes start getting poked in their stories—and those stories usually involve people dying, not milkshakes.

Share

It’s easy to see why this happens. Local media outlets are very friendly with cops, hooked on racist crime news, and often starved of the reporting resources necessary to do any real investigations. It’s a perfect environment for police lies to spread.

But it’s also because, even after everything we know about the police, they’re still seen (by the comfortable white people who control so much of the news agenda, at least) as a trusted, apolitical, and morally righteous part of society, rather than as highly political actors with every motive to lie about their racism, violence, and corruption. Might I tentatively suggest that, at long last, that framing should be scrapped, and that the cops should be treated with even a modicum of skepticism? It can’t be fun for so many people in the media to look this stupid all the time, so maybe they can try being a little smarter instead.

Screenshot: CBS New York


Subscribe to Discourse Blog

Thousands of paid subscribers
A daily politics, media criticism, and culture newsletter from the left. Worker-owned, subscriber-supported, and free from corporate influence. Est. 2020.
23

Share this post

Discourse Blog
Discourse Blog
It's Almost Like Cops Lie All the Time
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
Share

Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Bari Weiss Is Full of Shit
Her big trans panic story turned out to be nonsense, just like everything else she does.
Mar 2, 2023 • 
Katherine Krueger
304

Share this post

Discourse Blog
Discourse Blog
Bari Weiss Is Full of Shit
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
5
CNN's Disgraceful Propaganda
This segment from Dana Bash on the Palestine protest movement is one of the most shameful things I have ever seen on cable news.
May 2, 2024 • 
Jack Mirkinson
136

Share this post

Discourse Blog
Discourse Blog
CNN's Disgraceful Propaganda
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
55
No Hell Is Hot Enough for Joe Biden
I hope he’s faced with the horror he’s wrought when judgment comes to meet him.
Jan 17 • 
Katherine Krueger
84

Share this post

Discourse Blog
Discourse Blog
No Hell Is Hot Enough for Joe Biden
Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More
4

Ready for more?

© 2025 Discourse Blog Inc.
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share

Copy link
Facebook
Email
Notes
More

Create your profile

User's avatar

Only paid subscribers can comment on this post

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in

Check your email

For your security, we need to re-authenticate you.

Click the link we sent to , or click here to sign in.