The Bible admonishes people to “be quick to listen and slow to speak” and to get the full story before judging a matter. Proverbs 18:17 observes, “The first to state his case seems right until another comes forward and examines him.” This past weekend demonstrated the wisdom of this warning, a lesson many within the mainstream media would do well to learn.

On the heels of the media biting on an uncorroborated anti-Trump BuzzFeed story only to have it reputed by none other than Robert Mueller, the MSM again swallowed another anti-Trump story hook, line, and sinker. On Saturday, many news outlets ran headlines similar to the Chicago Tribune’s, which stated, “Catholic high school students in ‘MAGA’ hats mock Native American after D.C. rally, could face expulsion.” The Reuters headline read, “Students in Trump hats mock Native American; school apologizes.”

Included in the reporting was an image of a young white man wearing a red MAGA hat and smiling while standing face to face with an old Native American man, who stands staring back at him while beating on a drum mere inches from his face. This, we are told, is “evidence” of both racism and bigotry on the part of the young white man. The MSM went on to report that a group of high-school boys from Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky had just attended the March for Life and while waiting for their bus at the Lincoln Memorial approached, surrounded, and mocked a group of Native Americans who were gathered there singing and drumming.

The Native American in the picture is Nathan Phillips, who says he’s a Marine veteran. Speaking about the incident, Phillips alleged, “I heard them saying, ‘Build that wall, build that wall.’” Phillips, a separatist radical protester with a history of fake confrontation claims, said, “This young feller’ put himself in front of me and would not move.” And that version of events was uncritically reported across the country, primarily because it fits the broader MSM Narrative™ that President Donald Trump is responsible for fomenting racism and bigotry in his supporters.

The trouble is that the story as it was originally reported quickly fell apart after nearly two hours of additional video footage of the event in question came out. First, the reporting that the high-school boys were the aggressors is patently false. The group of Native Americans confronted the boys, at first walking into their midst in such a way that the boys clearly did not understand what was occurring. Second, the widely reported narrative that the boys were chanting “Build that wall” is not evidenced by any of the video footage. Third, the charge that the boys were hurling various racist epithets is not borne out in the video footage, either, and in fact it was the boys who were themselves the recipients of abusive, vulgar, and racist taunts and insults. As Robby Soave from Reason writes, “This is shaping up to be one of the biggest major media misfires in quite some time.”

Following the MSM’s reckless reporting, these young men, who as video evidence demonstrates behaved rather honorably given the verbal abuse they endured, have been branded as racist bigots and now may even face expulsion from their school.

The young man student at the epicenter of the controversy, Nick Sandmann, released a statement explaining his side, and the video footage clearly backs his account.

If Leftmedia pontificators wonder why so many Americans increasing question the accuracy of their news coverage, they need look no further than the propagation of this fabrication. Indeed, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting its boots on.”

(Edited.)