There’s an old phrase, to be “caught red handed,” that applies when someone is caught doing something wrong with evidence available for everyone to see. Apparently, the phrase is originally in reference to someone having committed a crime in which blood, the red, was on the hands of the perpetrator when they were caught, making it obvious that they were who had committed the crime.
That phrase can certainly be literally true in some horrible cases. In today’s story, though, we’re using the phrase metaphorically, though, the evil deed is indeed pretty heinous because it can lead to innocent people being harmed.
What is going on is that a member of the Indiana House of Representatives was having a calm discussion with young people about the problems with gun control, and the media, as it too often the case, took part of the exchange out of context to try to make Lucas look like a hooligan threatening people with a firearm when that wasn’t even remotely the case (hat tip to here for the lead). Luke McCoy writes,
If you’ve seen the viral clip floating around where Indiana State Representative Jim Lucas says “I’m carrying right now,” you’ve probably also seen the meltdown that followed. Headlines screamed about him “brandishing” a firearm in front of students. Social media exploded with outrage. And, as always, the anti-gun crowd clipped the moment out of context to make it look like a threat.
What really happened?
The discussion? Civil. Respectful. Honest. Lucas was engaging with the students, not berating them. He was answering questions — and when asked if he carried a firearm, he replied simply and factually: “I’m carrying right now.” He then briefly revealed the legally holstered handgun on his hip — no threats, no escalation, no drama.
Don’t take my word for it, though. Watch it for yourself below.
It’s absolutely deplorable that people intentionally misrepresented Lucas to try to paint him as a bully, threatening people when it simply did not happen.
And the media wonders why people no longer trust them.
