Cop Blaster Disputes Accuracy of New York Times Article
A recent New York Times article included accusations blaming Cop Blaster for harassing phone calls and presented a statement of opinion in a threatening manner. Cop Blaster disputes the Times' claims and calls the article misleading.
PORTLAND, OR, August 12, 2020 -- The New York Times published an article on August 7, 2020 that included what CopBlaster.com calls misleading statements. The article titled "Abolish the Police? Those Who Survived the Chaos in Seattle Aren't So Sure" profiled people operating businesses in what had been the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in Seattle, Washington. One section of the article included accusations made by a Seattle business owner against Cop Blaster and quoted part of a Cop Blaster article in a threatening manner. Cop Blaster disputes those claims.
The CHAZ was an area of Seattle, Washington that had been cordoned off by protesters affiliated with Black Lives Matter and Antifa back in June of 2020. During that time period, the Seattle Police Department stopped operating in that area after one of their precincts was occupied by protesters. During that time, the owners of an automotive shop made headlines after they forcibly detained a protester that had allegedly trespassed on their property, but were forced to let him leave after their calls to 911 went unanswered for several hours. Cop Blaster wrote an article critical of the business owners. The New York Times described the aftermath as follows:
"Since the Cop Blaster post went up, Mr. McDermott's shop has received so many harassing phone calls and messages that some employees have had to take time off." -The New York Times
The New York Times piece failed to mention that the Cop Blaster article does not and has never included the phone number of the business or any other phone number. For that reason, Cop Blaster believes that no relationship exists between their article and the alleged phone calls. Cop Blaster believes that any alleged phone calls were, like their article, a direct response to the publicly gained by the business owners at that time.
The New York Times also described the purpose of the Cop Blaster website as well as a statement from the Cop Blaster article in a threatening manner. The Times also failed to provide its readers with a direct link to the article, so absent any way to judge for themselves, they were left with nothing more than the Times' description.
"Cop Blaster, whose stated aim is to track police brutality but also has galleries of what it calls 'Snitches' and 'Cop Callers.'" The McDermotts were categorized as both of those things on the website, which warned they should 'keep their mouths shut.'" – The New York Times
Cop Blaster believe that the Times' description could be misconstrued by readers and leave them with the impression that the Cop Blaster article threatened the business in some way. According to Cop Blaster, their article merely stated that, in their opinion, the business owners as well as others should have keep their mouths shut to avoid giving the Seattle Police excuses to move in on the CHAZ. The CHAZ has since been cleared out by the Seattle Police that once again control their precinct.
"They should keep their mouths shut. Such talk could be cited by the police as an excuse to attack demonstrators should they decide to start operating in that area again." – CopBlaster.com
The New York Times did not contact CopBlaster.com for comment before printing the article. Had they done so, Cop Blaster would have made it clear that they have nothing to do with any alleged phone calls and that their opinion regarding keeping mouths shut was just an opinion. Cop Blaster believes those they call "snitches" rarely consider the consequences for people they report to the police, that the underlying offenses rarely justify the severity of those consequences, and that people should not file police complaints when they are capable of handling their own problems.
To Learn More Visit:
Abolish the Police? Those Who Survived the Chaos in Seattle Aren't So Sure:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/07/us/defund-police-seattle-protests.html
Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitol_Hill_Autonomous_Zone
Car Tender's John and Mason McDermott Snitch on Protester in Seattle
https://copblaster.com/blast/25792/car-tenders-john-and-mason-mcdermo ... in-seattle
Cop Blaster Responds to Misleading New York Times Article and King 5
https://copblaster.com/blast/25902/cop-blaster-responds-to-misleading ... and-king-5
Cop Blaster: Police Misconduct Reporting and Monitoring, provides the public with a variety of services for reporting, monitoring, and tracking police misconduct across the United States.
CopBlaster.com's services include an anonymous publishing service where victims of police misconduct can safely put their abusers on blast, aggregating data dumps documenting disciplined officers or informant identities, and in depth investigations aimed at exposing truths that the mainstream media ignores.
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