Okay, not quite. But Philadelphia's new mayor, Jim Kenney, might as well have told yesterday's press conference on yesterday's attempted assassination of Officer Jesse Hartnett that the sky is green when he claimed that Islam had nothing to do with the assassination attempt. Americans believe that politicians often lie, but it is very rare for one to blatantly lie following presentation of the truth by a senior law enforcement official, only to be followed by yet another law enforcement official who reiterates the truth that contradicts the politician's lie.
Prior to the mayor speaking at a news conference broadcast live on all the cable news networks, Police Commissioner Richard Ross took the podium and stated that the suspect confessed to "committing this cowardly act in the name of Islam. According to him he belief [sic] that the police defend laws that are contrary to the teachings of the Koran." This can be found beginning at 2:20 or so on the video of the conference below.
At 5:12, Mayor Kenney takes the podium, and after expressing his good wishes for Officer Hartnett and praising the police, he states words that will follow him for the rest of his career:
"In no way shape or form does anyone in this room believe that Islam or the teaching of Islam has anything to do with what you've seen on the screen. That is abhorrent. It's just terrible and it does not represent this religion in any way shape or form or any of its teachings. And this is a criminal with a stolen gun who tried to kill one of our officers. It has nothing to do with being a Muslim or following the Islamic faith."
Mayor Kenney is reported to be a Catholic, so how he has the theological authority to make such a statement is unclear. He also ignores the violent verses in the Koran that call on Muslims to punish nonbelievers.
At 6:50, Ross calls upon a police captain for further details in response to a question about motive for the shooting. Mayor Kenney can be seen in the background as the captain says,
He stated that he pledges his allegiance to Islamic State, he follows Allah, and that is the reason he was called upon to do this …
Carol Brown notes:
It is incredibly obnoxious that Kenney had the temerity to speak for everyone in the room as if threatening to lower the boom of the thought police should anyone dare be thinking other than the way he assumed.
Is the mayor attempting to improperly influence a police investigation and subsequent judicial proceedings? Is he telling the FBI and Homeland Security to back away from the case and not treat it as a terror attack?
As of this writing, the White House has yet to offer any comment on the case. Given the Obama administration's history of denial, such as terming the Fort Hood attack by Major Hasan "workplace violence," perhaps the mayor is doing President Obama's dirty work for him.
Kenny ran for mayor of Philadelphia actively courting support from Muslims and had pledged to fight Islamophobia.
Now he joins Joe Isuzu in the ranks of comical blowhard liars:
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