Worth Knowing, Probably Not Quite Threadworthy 2/3

[SVPete]

Mainstream Media Breathlessly Covered an Alleged Hate Crime in Which White Kids Forced a Black Classmate To Drink Urine. It Was a Giant Hoax.

https://freebeacon.com/media/mainstream-media-breathlessly-covered-an-alleged-hate-crime-in-which-white-kids-forced-a-black-classmate-to-drink-urine-it-was-a-giant-hoax/

It was a story that received blanket media coverage in March 2021. It alleged that white middle schoolers in Plano, Texas, viciously "tortured" SeMarion Humphrey, their black classmate, forcing him to drink their urine at a sleepover as they shot him with BB guns. A Black Lives Matter activist group charged the local public school district with doing "nothing" to stop "this racially motivated hate crime" as violent protests broke out outside the home of Asher Vann, the white child alleged to have organized the brutal attack.

Major media outlets, including NBC, CBS, CNN, Business Insider, People magazine, the Daily Mail, and the Dallas Morning News, pounced on the story as Humphrey, his mother Summer Smith, and their attorney Kim Cole, embarked on a media tour where they called Vann "evil." The trio appeared on Good Morning America, where ABC host Linsey Davis promoted a GoFundMe account that raised nearly $120,000 to help pay for Humphrey’s "therapy and private schooling."

Racial activist groups added fuel to the fire. The NAACP dressed down the leaders of the Plano school district in a town hall that they described as the beginning of an "open partnership" spurred by the alleged hate crime. The Next Generation Action Network, a Black Lives Matter-tied group whose leader alleged Humphrey was "tortured for days" by his white assailants, organized public marches that drew hundreds of protesters.

And then, a little under five years later, a racially diverse Texas jury—including four black members—ruled the whole thing was a hoax.

On Jan. 22, Texas district court judge Benjamin Smith ordered Smith and Cole to pay $3.2 million in damages to Vann, now an adult attending his first year of college, for intentionally smearing him and tarnishing his future earning potential during their media tour in 2021. The ruling followed a civil trial in October 2025, where the jury determined that Cole and Smith cooked up the scheme to raise their public profiles during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement and to rake in money through GoFundMe.

It took nearly 5 years for Asher Vann to get a modicum of justice. 5 bleeping years of being subject to possible racist demonization from Progs and blacktivists.

What are the odds there's a DU thread about this hoax-hate-crime?

[SVPete]

Hurt Feelings at CNN As CEO Turns Staff Struggle Session Over Scott Jennings Into Teachable Moment

https://redstate.com/sister-toldjah/2026/02/02/cnn-meeting-discussion-about-scott-jennings-n2198750

As the old saying goes, though, even a broken clock is right twice a day, which is where we find ourselves with the failing media outlet after reports that an "all-hands" meeting held last Wednesday ended up turning into a struggle session of sorts over conservative powerhouse and Salem News Channel talk show host Scott Jennings.

Because Jennings is unafraid to tell the unvarnished truth about the state of things in America from a conservative standpoint, he's triggered a great many of his fellow panelists (and CNN colleagues) on the Abby Phillip-anchored show "NewsNight."  Mounting frustration over their inability to control Jennings and the non-PC terms he uses set off the leftist staff of CNN to demand from CNN Worldwide CEO Mark Thompson that Jennings be "reined in."

But a surprisingly refreshing thing happened during this meeting. Thompson pushed back, not only letting the staff know that commentators are not bound by the same terminology constraints as supposedly unbiased journalists are, but that the debates Jennings has sparked on the program are much-needed as part of their programming and capture the "actual debates" on policy that are playing out across the country:

CNN won't shackle its token conservative? How shocking?

[SVPete]

Democrat Stacey Plaskett Called Epstein Her 'Friend,' Gave Disgraced Pedophile Exclusive Information About Her Legislative Work: Text Messages

https://freebeacon.com/democrats/democrat-stacey-plaskett-called-epstein-her-friend-gave-disgraced-pedophile-exclusive-information-about-her-legislative-work-text-messages/

U.S. Virgin Islands delegate Stacey Plaskett (D.) called Jeffrey Epstein her "friend" in newly released text messages and provided the sex offender with exclusive non-public details about her legislative work, directly contradicting Plaskett's claims about her relationship with Epstein.

In a Sept. 24, 2018, text message, Plaskett thanked Epstein, a longtime campaign donor and Virgin Islands resident, for his "support" and asked if it would be "presumptuous" of her to "consider you a friend."

"Privileged to be called friend," replied Epstein, who was arrested 10 months later on charges of trafficking dozens of women and girls for sex. He killed himself in jail on Aug. 10, 2019.

In an exchange on Feb. 27, 2018, Plaskett informed Epstein that the IRS had extended a tax break for residents of the Virgin Islands after hurricanes hit the territory.

"You're the first person I told," Plaskett confided to Epstein, who pleaded guilty in 2008 to soliciting a minor for sex. "Don't say anything yet," she added, telling Epstein she was going to issue a press release announcing the IRS decision.

"Great work," said Epstein, who reportedly saved more than $300 million in taxes through various shell companies in the Virgin Islands, a popular tax haven for the rich and powerful.

That Plaskett and Epstein were friends, long after at least some of his perversions became known (2009, IIRC), is not news. It's mentioned in several November and December Cave threads, but this article has info not previously made public. What Plaskett shared bordered on giving Epstein illegal insider information.