Earlier this week, KOCO's Mecca Rayne reported that Adacia Chambers – the person responsible for the OSU homecoming tragedy – was being allowed to clean the Payne County courthouse as part of something called a "trustee program." I guess it's one of those things where prisoners work as butlers and maids at county facilities or something like that.
The Payne County Sheriff's Office wasn't a big fan of the story. On Wednesday night, they hopped on Facebook and accused Mecca of "ignoring facts" and claimed she "lied when she reported that Adacia Chambers was a trustee in the courthouse." They also called her unprofessional.
Check it out:
That's awesome. We finally found an Oklahoma sheriff's department that can write in complete sentences! I'm so proud.
Apparently the Payne County Sheriff's department was onto something. A few hours later, KOCO removed the article from their website. The sheriff provided this update:
Wow. KOCO pulled the story? Guilty as charged! Losers! Fake News!
Or is it?
I watched the now deleted news report here. At around the 30-second mark, Undersheriff Kevin Woodward clearly says that Chambers "Just did cleaning around the courthouse and stuff like that." Basically, they confirmed what Mecca was reporting. Fake news?
I guess I'm not the only person who noticed this. The Payne County Sheriff left another Facebook update clarifying the situation:
Oh, so Mecca Rayne didn't lie? She wasn't "ignoring facts?" She was simply reporting the incorrect information given to her by the undersheriff. Is the Payne County Sheriff going to leave a new Facebook post criticizing their credibility for promoting fake news? Probably not.
I'd like to point out the FB post that called into question the credibility of Channel 5 and Mecca Rayne received over 900 likes. It also received a bunch of comments from people who have images of bald eagles carrying rifles as Facebook profile pics. The one about the sheriff's department acknowledging they screwed up and gave the reporter false information received 14 likes. It sure is nice to live in Trump's America.
Also, why did KOCO pull the story from their website? Shouldn't they have simply updated it with a note stating the sheriff's department provided them with incorrect information? Or better yet, had Paul Fogler leave a nasty Facebook post that calls into question the credibility and professionalism of the Payne County Sheriff? Seriously, fight fire with fire! When we let cops bully the media they work so closely with to drum up fear of crime and help promote their agenda, we all lose.
