Black Lives Matter’s official page on the death of Ma’Khia Bryant, who was fatally shot by a Columbus Police officer last week, is noticeably devoid of details regarding the incident.
“At the exact same time the verdict of Derek Chauvin was being read for murdering George Floyd, police wasted no time in senselessly taking another Black child,” the page says.
It says that Bryant “called the police for help,” and that her life was “stolen with no regard.”
But that is not what happened.
Video of the incident shows Officer Nicholas Reardon showing up on the scene just seconds before a curse-laden rant from Bryant, who then attempted to plunge a large knife into the body of another girl:
In new video, Makhia Bryant can be heard screaming “I’m gonna stab the fuck out of you, bitch,” while lunging at two unarmed people who were posing no imminent physical threat to her
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 22, 2021
Here’s a closer view of the attempted stabbing, from Reardon’s body-warn camera:
I just watched the video of #MakiyahBryant. In all honesty, the police officer saved the victim wearing pink (in the picture below).
I'm not sure how anyone could have run up on Bryant fast enough to stop her from jabbing, probably fatally wounding the other individual pic.twitter.com/5lvraSKlzi
— Wayne Dupree Media, LLC (@WayneDupreeShow) April 21, 2021
The Black Lives Matter page makes no mention of Bryant’s attempted stabbing in its memorial of Bryant, instead making the implication that Reardon killed her in cold blood.
“Together, we’re going to uplift, center, and honor this Black child for what she loved — doing her hair, making TikToks, and being a teenager. Her account is currently deactivated, but we’ve compiled a few of her TikToks on social media so we can all remember her joy,” the page says. “Ma’Khia Bryant’s life mattered.”
On the same page, a “Donate” button can be found. It links to a fundraising page.
“We appreciate your support of the movement and our ongoing fight to end state-sanctioned violence, liberate Black people, and end white supremacy forever,” that page says, suggesting donation amounts below the text.
Black Lives Matters’ fundraising operations have been called into question recently, when it was revealed that one of its founders, Patrisse Khan-Cullors, purchased several homes, including a $1.4 million home in a “ritzy” Los Angeles neighborhood. Khan-Cullors is an avowed and self-described Marxist. That story was subsequently censored by Facebook.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a contributor at The Ohio Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].