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‘Depths of Hackery’: Fox News Legal Analyst Mocked for Suggesting Martin Luther King Jr. Was Never Arrested

Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley is being mocked after he attacked Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for cracking down on a convoy of largely American-funded “truckers” who shut down a major bridge between the two nations and with it crippled trade for days.
Not only is Fox News’ promotion of the so-called “Freedom Truckers” extreme, Turley’s suggestion that those who fought for actual civil rights – not the “right” to not wear a mask or not be vaccinated – during the Jim Crow era were never physically attacked or arrested by police is just plain false.
“I thought it was quite excessive,” Turley declared of Trudeau’s decision to invoke emergency – but not military or martial law – powers, on Fox News. “This was an act of civil disobedience,” he said of the truck protestors.
Turley called the protest “a standard tactic of groups, going back to the Civil Rights era.” He even quoted the late Democratic U.S. Congressman John Lewis’s “good trouble” remarks.
“By this rationale, they could have cracked down on the Civil Rights Movement. They could have arrested Martin Luther King,” Turley declared.
Fox News has clearly been on the side of the protestors.
Fox News legal analyst Jonathan Turley, on Canada PM Justin Trudeau invoking emergency powers to deal with the “Freedom Convoy” blockade:
tBy this rationale, they could have cracked down on the Civil Rights movement. They could have arrested Martin Luther King.” pic.twitter.com/s9dwkcvihQ
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 15, 2022
Pushback against Turley was swift.
“Martin Luther King, Jr. was arrested 29 times,” noted HuffPost senior front page editor Philip Lewis.
“This is what happens when you ban teaching history in our schools,” wrote popular economist David Rothschild.
Historian Peter Manseau warned, “This is beyond dumb — but don’t fall for the trap of participating in any comparison between people fighting for civil rights & people fighting against public health. Answering this with ‘But they did arrest MLK!’ only invites the response ‘So the truckers are just like him…'”
I mean, could you imagine? pic.twitter.com/i90Ot6O5HI
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 15, 2022
Like do they have the internet? pic.twitter.com/CNm9l56P4o
— Raphael dela Suburbs 🟥⬛️🟩 (@MonstaYouMade) February 15, 2022
I mean… they did crack down on the Civil Rights movement. pic.twitter.com/FUb5yY7mTd
— Jimmy the Geek (@BloodwingBD) February 15, 2022
Jonathan Turley continues to plumb the depths of hackery.
P.S. who’s gonna tell him how the MLK story ends? https://t.co/N2lUD7JEPY
— Ed Bott (@edbott) February 15, 2022
Does he think the Letter from Birmingham Jail was written from the visitation room? https://t.co/qPKQZ9mn3a
— Kyle Clark (@KyleClark) February 15, 2022
The famous “Letter from a Birmingham Hotel Room After No Legal Action Was Ever Taken Against Me” is quite the read, I suggest it. https://t.co/iaHsAzMqRr
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@ReichlinMelnick) February 15, 2022
WHO’S GONNA TELL JONATHAN TURLEY WHAT THEY DID TO MARTIN LUTHER KING???? https://t.co/X52r5teYlz
— Elie Mystal (@ElieNYC) February 15, 2022
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