During his MSNBC show on Wednesday night, Ed Schultz and guest Mike Papantonio devoted five minutes to promoting, among other things, their beliefs that Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson “crafted his answers” to the grand jury and in his interview with ABC News “to match the law” and that Fox News, the tea party, and conservatives will soon want their “made-for-TV folk hero” in Wilson to run for Congress and appear on Dancing with the Stars.
Following a series of clips from Wilson’s interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, Schultz welcomed in Papantonio and felt it was crucial to warn viewers that “I’m going to judge here, okay” that Wilson had “got crafted answers to match the law so he could escape justice.”
The liberal nonsense was only just beginning as Schultz asked Papantonio to comment on Missouri state law concerning law enforcement being able to use deadly force, but Papantonio proceeded to go on a long, rambling tangent about conservatives and the media enabling “a media charm offensive” regarding Wilson.
Seeming to have not watched any cable or broadcast network coverage this past week, Papantonio declared that the news media was allowing Wilson to “morph into this brilliant, made-for-TV folk hero” so that “[p]laces like Fox News are going to make Darren Wilson into their latest figure like Joe the Plumber. Ted Nugent, or Cliven Bundy and George Zimmerman.”
With only occasional interjections of approval from Schultz, Papantonio continued by bringing in the tea party, ABC’s Dancing with the Stars and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo into the fold:
The real conservative, Fox outlets, in a couple months, will throw Wilson's name around for tea party congressional seat or, at the least, a contender spot on Dancing with the Stars. That's how ridiculous this will get and – and we see it happening right now. Within a month, Wilson’s going to be this addictive crack cocaine commodity like for the Honey Boo Boo-quality media crowd. That's where they want the to go with this.
Next, the pair took a brief detour back into the actual case of Michael Brown and Darren Wilson. Papantonio alleged that Wilson provided little information immediately after the incident to fellow law enforcement officers and in the police reports so that he and his attorneys could make up falsehoods about what happened later.
Immediately after, Schultz suggested that St. Louis County District Attorney Robert McCulloch and the grand jury schemed to lead Wilson “down the path of freedom, as I see it.”
Closing out the over 5-minute-long segment, Papantonio continued advancing the pair’s claim that Wilson and his lawyers concocted both his responses to the grand jury and Stepahanopoulos and an image of Brown as a “Lucifer-like demon”:
In weeks that followed, after this incident, Wilson, with the help of his lawyers, was able to come up with a sketchy story about a black teenage slowly walking in the middle of the road immediately after stealing a handful of cigars and they characterized this Hulkish, apparently delusional, drug-crazed, black Hulk after stealing the cigars.
Now think about the report, Ed. It says this, after stealing the report – the cigars – the officer shows up in his uniform in his patrol car and this 18-year-old starts throwing f-bombs at the police officer, immediately. Why is that there? Why was it put there? It was put there because you have to create this Lucifer-like demon, reaching into the police cruiser with one hand, according to the report, handing cigars to his fiend-ish friend with the other hand and begin bashing or overpower our 6'4", 240 pound hero on the edge of consciousness.
The relevant portions of the transcript from MSNBC’s The Ed Show on November 26 can be found below.
MSNBC’s The Ed Show
November 26, 2014
5:25 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Clear Conscience]
SCHULTZ: Joining me now is Mike Papantonio, Ring of Fire radio host and America’s lawyer. Mike, good to have you with us tonight. It seems that there – and I'm going to judge here, okay? This is my opinion that this guy has got crafted answers to match the law so he could escape justice. I mean, the fact is – there was a struggle at car, the kid left the car, and then the officer pursued him, which is a whole different phase of what transpired between both of them. Your thoughts on the law, what unfolded in the Missouri law that comes into play, Mike.
MIKE PAPANTONIO: Well, the big picture, Ed, to me, this is a media charm offensive. This is what’s going here. We've seen this Darren Wilson, well rehearsed, highly produced PR media circus before. We’ve seen it with George Zimmerman where the media usually, because of laziness or a lack of common sense and insight, allows the victim in a case to be dirtied up beyond recognition. So there's no way to talk about the law without understanding that this media circus is part of what's happening here. At the same time, the accused is allowed – is allowed to morph into this brilliant, made-for-TV folk hero, it's an easy formula for any well lawyered-up PR team, like the one handling Darren Wilson, to do that. By the time all the riot and gun smoke clears, knee jerk conservative outlets are going to try this case a different way. Places like Fox News are going to make Darren Wilson into their latest figure like Joe the Plumber. Ted Nugent, or Cliven Bundy and George Zimmerman. He's going to be their freakish kind of everyman-superstar. So as you talk about the law, you need to understand, Johnny Cochran used to be my law partner, Ed, and he understood that you win a lot of times in the media. The real conservative, Fox outlets, in a couple months, will throw Wilson's name around for tea party congressional seat or, at the least, a contender spot on Dancing with the Stars. That's how ridiculous this will get and – and we see it happening right now. Within a month, Wilson’s going to be this addictive crack cocaine commodity like for the Honey Boo Boo-quality media crowd. That's where they want the to go with this.
SCHULTZ: Mike, what about the law? What about the Missouri law? If the – the deceased left the car, if he's leaving the car after a confrontation, obviously the officer's life is no longer in danger.
PAPANTONIO That's right.
SCHULTZ: He could have taken different action. He could have stayed in the car. He could have called for back up. In a sense, if his life was in jeopardy, he thought that, why didn't the officer protect himself by just staying in the car, calling for back up. It's like there's two different chapters here. I don't see his life being endangered through the entire 90-second encounter, so how does the law apply and fix this guy's freedom?
PAPANTONIO: Well, first of all, they are trying to mix this up to where one incident ties into another. They’re trying to make it where its inseparable – an inseparable incident. If you really want to analyze, you have to start analyzing what happened inside the car. The place to begin is understanding Wilson's narrative about what happened in that car. It’s to remember – and this is very important, Ed, Wilson initially submitted a police report that provided almost zero substantive information because they had to set up for the very question that you're asking and that’s, you know, was it reasonable force? His lawyers advised him to do that too so he could develop his story around whatever forensic evidence surfed later. So –
SCHULTZ: Sure and the question from the grand jury was could Brown's fist count as weapons, and the prosecuting attorney said, “well, that's what you folks have to go behind closed doors and talk about.” I mean, it’s very clear they were just leading him down the path of freedom, as I see it.
PAPANTONIO: Well, look, it’s a common practice when a cop kills a civilian. They need time to think what they are going to say before they come up with a report for the very issues that you’re raising here, Ed. In weeks that followed, after this incident, Wilson, with the help of his lawyers, was able to come up with a sketchy story about a black teenage slowly walking in the middle of the road immediately after stealing a handful of cigars and they characterized this Hulkish, apparently delusional, drug-crazed, black Hulk after stealing the cigars. Now think about the report, Ed. It says this, after stealing the report – the cigars – the officer shows up in his uniform in his patrol car and this 18-year-old starts throwing f-bombs at the police officer, immediately. Why is that there? Why was it put there? It was put there because you have to create this Lucifer-like demon, reaching into the police cruiser with one hand, according to the report, handing cigars to his fiend-ish friend with the other hand and begin bashing or overpower our 6'4", 240 pound hero on the edge of consciousness. So, it’s well choreographed.
SCHULTZ: Mike Papantonio, we gotta run. I appreciate your time tonight, Mike. Thanks so much. Thanks for being on The Ed Show. Appreciate it.
