HOME / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

The TRUTH behind Cori Bush's claims she was shot at by 'white supremacists' in Ferguson

Twitter users accused Cori Bush of lying and drew similarity between her story and that Jussie Smollett's staged racist attack

Missouri Democrat Cori Bush's claim of being shot by white supremacists in 2014 has been contradicted by city police chief Frank McCall Jr who recently remarked that he had no recollection of such an attack. The 45-year-old Congresswoman had mentioned the 2014 incident via a tweet on Monday, November 15, while referring to the ongoing Kyle Rittenhouse trial. "When we marched in Ferguson, white supremacists would hide behind a hill near where Michael Brown Jr was murdered and shoot at us. They never faced consequences. If Kyle Rittenhouse gets acquitted, it tells them that even 7 years later they still can get away with it,' the tweet read," she wrote in the tweet. 

Her spokesperson later released a statement elaborating the claim, stating, "While on the frontlines of the Ferguson Uprising, Congresswoman Bush and other activists were shot at by white supremacist vigilantes. The question we need to ask is why white supremacists feel empowered to open-carry rifles, incite violence, and put Black lives at risk across our country."

READ MORE

Cori Bush roasted after she quotes MLK Jr to defend Missouri jail riot: 'Some Dems are ok with some riots'

Congresswomen 'Squad' advocating to defund police splurge on private security: Report

While Cori Bush's tweet garnered a lot of support and responses from followers, some accused Bush of "making up stories" to gain attention. Now, Ferguson Police Chief Frank McCall Jr became the latest person to express skepticism over her claim. "None that I'm aware of," the official stated when asked about the shooting incident mentioned in the tweet. 

Skeptical Twitter users accused Bush of fabricating a story to bolster her own publicity. Millenial Post journalist Andy Ngo tweeted, "This is false and ignominious. Your colleagues should condemn you. Jeffrey Williams was arrested, charged & convicted for that shooting during the protest/riots. He was aiming at police & shot two officers."

"This 100 percent never happened," claimed right-wing commentator Matt Walsh, while writer Siraj Hashmi said, "I’ll take “things that didn’t happen” for $6969."

"Did they look like this?" another user Greg Price asked, sharing a photo of acquaintances of Jussie Smollett, the 'Empire' star accused of staging a racist and homophobic assault on himself in 2019. Police later claimed that Smollett had staged the entire incident along with two of his acquaintances simply to gain publicity. 

"While true information is being censored for “misinformation” on this platform, this is a blatant example of political disinformation that would make Kim Jong Un blush and is still for some reason visible and gaining likes from the existing victims of the propaganda machine," another user commented in response to Bush's tweet. 

Despite being compared to Jussie Smollett and dubbed a 'liar', Bush has not released any further statement to defend her claims. She had gained a lot of limelight following the Ferguson Protests in 2014, being one of the faces at the forefront of the movement. However, there are no existing reports of Bush being shot by 'white supremacists' during the ongoing protests. A report nearest to her claim was released by KDSK in June 2020, where a white man was charged with shooting at a crowd of peaceful protesters in Brentwood which is around 12 miles from Ferguson.