Glenn Greenwald, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and co-founder of The Intercept, detailed Monday the media’s use of misinformation surrounding the death of U.S. Capitol police officer Brian Sicknick.
Greenwald claimed on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight” that the media “lied on purpose” about the circumstances surrounding Sicknick’s death and that “they saw him as a toy” that could be exploited for political means. (RELATED: Glenn Greenwald Says ‘I Consider Tucker Carlson To Be A Socialist’)
Host Tucker Carlson began the segment by pointing out Sicknick died of natural causes, according to a medical examiner’s report. He also played various video clips showing multiple media personalities claiming Sicknick, who died following the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol, was killed after being hit in the head with a fire extinguisher by a member of the crowd. He then asked Greenwald what he thought of the fact Sicknick didn’t die in the fashion the media continuously pushed.
“I have been on your show many times over the last five years analyzing media lies that completely fell apart, and usually I think that happens because of just gross irresponsibility and recklessness, like they just don’t care if what they’re saying is true,” Greenwald responded. “I don’t think that’s true here. I think they did care. I think they lied on purpose.”
He went on to state that “it was vital” for the media to be able to claim the “pro-Trump mob” murdered someone, because if they didn’t, then it would mean the only people who died on Jan. 6 would have been members of the pro-Trump crowd. “It’s very difficult to depict this protest as this menacing insurrection if they actually killed nobody and they themselves were killed,” he added.
“The whole time, Tucker, there were so many reasons from the start to know it was a lie. There were journalists like myself … who were saying there is no evidence for it,” Greenwald continued. “There is evidence to believe it wasn’t true. The original autopsy found no blunt trauma. His family said that he called them that night to say that he was totally fine. His mother said that she thought he died of a stroke.”
“This is what is so repulsive is they completely exploited this person, this young police officer, who they obviously didn’t care anything about. They saw him as a toy to exploit his death for purely political ends, in ways that we now know were a complete and utter lie,” he said.
Greenwald later argued that the media trains their audience “to want to be lied to,” and that their audiences don’t actually want them to come out and say they got the story wrong.
“They are just going to move on. They are going to ignore it and then they are going to wonder why nobody trusts them,” Greenwald concluded.