Media Fall for Hoax Racism at Pro-Zimmerman Rally

Sunday’s “Justice-For-Trayvon” march held by the New Black Panther Party was attended by a woman holding a sign reading: “Racist and Proud.” Several media outlets incorrectly identified the woman as a “George Zimmerman supporter,” and the story took off, providing the left with supposed evidence of racism among those who believe Zimmerman was not guilty. However, an interview with Breitbart News at the Houston rally itself proved that she was an anti-Zimmerman demonstrator attempting to use sarcasm to prove her point.

The Houston Chronicle’s Jayme Fraser wrote of the woman pictured above: “At one point, Renee Vaughan of Austin mocked protesters by chanting, “We’re racist. We’re proud. We’re better ’cause we’re white.” {snip}

The New York Daily News’ Philip Caulfield used the following caption for the above photo, from the Associated Press: “A George Zimmerman supporter holds a sign during a counter-demonstration of activist Quanell X’s group march in the River Oaks community in Houston on Sunday.” He also wrote: “One woman in the Zimmerman group held a sign that said, ‘We’re racist & proud,'” distorting the Chronicle story significantly.

The UK Daily Mail repeated the error, reporting that the sign was held by members of the pro-Zimmerman group in Houston, portraying it as a form of racist backlash against the New Black Panther Party march.

{snip}

I was present in Houston and personally saw the woman holding the sign. She was attending the event with a fellow anti-Zimmerman demonstrator who was wearing a hoodie. I interviewed her and took this footage:

Breitbart News: What does your sign mean?

Woman: This sign means that there are people here who are racist and apparently think that’s OK. I’m not one of them. I’m being sarcastic.

Breitbart News: OK.

Fellow anti-Zimmerman Protestor: Yo. What she said.

Not only was the woman at the event to support the New Black Panther/Trayvon Martin march, but she is also, according to Gateway Pundit and others, a very involved left-of-center activist from Austin, Texas.

{snip}