Mainstream media claims LGBT protestors are being targeted—they aren't

With major Twitter accounts reporting the police beating, tear-gassing and engaging in brutality towards protesters, largely without supporting evidence or reference to a specific event, fear and anger are spreading fast on the platform. Chasten Buttigieg, husband of Pete, tweeted out; “There are multiple videos circulating of officers hurling homophobic epithets at LGBTQ protestors. I will not share since this may be traumatic for some. But to every queer person who is out in the street demanding justice I say thank you. I see you. Your strength is beautiful.”

AOC tweeted: "How injustices compound: Many protestors are people who‘ve lost health insurance during COVID. After being beaten, tear gassed, or badly hurt, many are afraid to seek medical care to check for bleeds, fractures, or head injuries because they are newly uninsured."

Citing video evidence but not sharing it is similar to recent articles detailing an attack on a black trans woman in Minneapolis, MN in which the posted video was not linked to as Out magazine stated doing so, “[C]an provoke pain and trauma for other Black folks.” While the headline and base of the article implied the attack was racially motivated, the video showed the attack was by black men and women in a gas station and it isn’t even clear if the assault was anti-trans in nature as it occurred shortly after the victim was in a fender bender. The article by Out magazine and another by Vox seem to be designed to inflame outrage surrounding a favourable narrative rather than reporting the facts of the incident.

In the same way, Chasten’s tweet directly cites multiple videos claiming to show clear evidence of homophobic attacks by police officers towards LGBT protesters. But without providing the evidence, it is impossible to prove or disprove the claim.

Searching Twitter and news stories, I could only find a single example reported by Pink News on June 1 of a Chicago police officer shouting at a random person using the word “faggot.” In the video, a brief encounter is shown between a Chicago police officer surrounded by aggressive protesters as the officer walks back towards his police van. An off-screen protester throws what looks like a jug of water at the officer, causing him to quickly turn around angrily and shout, “Bitch! Wait ’till I turn my back, you f-cking f-ggot!”

There is no indication the person he shouted at was a member of the LGBT community or that the protest was taking place near any LGBT areas. Objectively, it looks like a frustrated police officer losing his temper and using generic curse words to shout at the coward who attacked him when he turned his back. Despite LGBT narratives, the word “f-ggot” is not exclusively used in an anti-LGBT context, used similarly to the word “b-tch” outside of a female target.

Certainly multiple videos of police officers using homophobic slurs against LGBT protesters would be more widely available for viewing, so it is unsure what Chasten has seen or is referring to. But with his 430k followers on Twitter and his profile as the husband of the first openly gay leader to run for President on a major party ticket, accusations like these should be well supported. While I am sure his intentions are good with his effort to show support for LGBT protestors in light of alleged abuse, the impact of his words carry a great deal of weight and legitimacy.

There are many stories circulating of police officers targeting LGBT protestors with violence, so far misrepresented or unsupported. LGBTQ Nation reported police officers “opened fire” on gay people at a gay bar in downtown Raleigh, NC without warning for giving protesters water. This was not true, as the police were attempting to disperse what they appear to have misunderstood as a gathering of protesters the night after massive violent protests in the city and fired flash bangs, audible devices without projectiles.

LGBTQ Nation also reported that police officers violently attacked peaceful gay protesters in front of the Stonewall Inn, breaking ACT UP NY social media manager Jason Rosenberg’s arm and requiring him to have stitches in his head. With no video evidence or other sources, reported by Gay City News. Rosenberg uploaded a video seemingly immediately after the incident, calmly discussing his experience with a dislocated shoulder, as he considers going to the ER. He provides vague details of being beaten, but nothing further so there is little to go on to validate the severity of the accusations. His video has 382K views so far.

Police brutality must be exposed and those abusing their power must be held accountable. But exaggerations, unsupported claims and wildly misleading headlines and accusations do nothing to support true victims of police abuses. Regardless of his intention, voices as prominent and respected in the LGBT community as Chasten Buttigieg’s must be more careful when making these claims. If he is aware of more evidence of police abuses towards LGBT protestors, he has an obligation to expose them as widely as possible.