posted 02-01-2019 09:45 AM                    

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The incident sparked recollection of many alleged hate crimes that too quickly prompted social media cries of racism and anti-Trump rhetoric only to be later proved as hoaxes. Breitbart keeps a running tab of over 100 hate crime hoaxes since President Trump's election. Smollett's suspected attack is eerily similar to one from Massachusetts where a 20-year-old man claimed he was the victim of an assault by two racists who called out "Trump country now" during the attack. After police interviewed the "victim," he admitted that he had made the story up to "raise awareness" of issues in the country.

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There is a natural emotional response to tragic stories, but increasingly, people have been using them to reinforce pigeonholes that they hold on to for completely unrelated reasons – like self-proclaimed activist Alyssa Milano doubling-down on her hate toward the Covington kids, even after video evidence exonerated them, by claiming that "MAGA hats are the new white hoods of the KKK."

Wrath is the sin that fuels anti-Trumpers' feeling of perverse vindication when they hear that something terrible has happened and it coincides with their own philosophies. Then a complete lack of humility is present when it turns out to not be as bad as they first thought or even hoped. Stepping on someone else's sad story as a soapbox to virtue-signal is distasteful. To do so without even confirming the story's authenticity is ignorance. Being unable to re-evaluate when the story is proven false is dangerous.

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