State Rep. London Lamar (D-Memphis) said this week that Black Lives Matter and groups wanting to defund the police did not vandalize property in Memphis — presumably referring to Graceland — and she knows who really did it.
The Tennessee Star contacted Lamar’s office by phone and email Thursday and asked who she thinks really vandalized Graceland and what evidence she had to back that up.
Neither Lamar nor anyone else in her office returned our requests for comment.
On Tuesday Lamar tweeted the following:
I bet my money that those tagging property in Memphis with BLM and Defund Police are individuals trying to make this movement look bad! Don’t believe that it’s the movement! It’s not! WE ALL KNOW WHO’S OUT TO MAKE US LOOK BAD!
— Rep. London Lamar (@RepLamar) September 1, 2020
“I bet my money that those tagging property in Memphis with BLM and Defund Police are individuals trying to make this movement look bad! Don’t believe that it’s the movement! It’s not! WE ALL KNOW WHO’S OUT TO MAKE US LOOK BAD!”
As reported Thursday, messages of Black Lives Matter and “Defund the Police” were spray painted on several tourist attractions in Tennessee on Monday night, including Graceland, the Elvis Presley estate.
The graffiti phrases were found Tuesday morning outside Graceland, the Levitt Shell Amphitheater in Overton Park and the “I Heart Memphis” mural in midtown Memphis, news outlets reported.
Besides “Defund the Police,” expletive-laced messages about President Donald Trump, Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland and demands to arrest the Louisville police officers who killed Breonna Taylor were also scrawled on the walls.
Memphis police said they were investigating the incident.
As The Tennessee Star reported in 2018, Lamar scolded White Tennessee Republicans as supposedly racist and uneducated during a Facebook livestream that year.
The Star broke this story, which later went viral worldwide, with Newsweek citing The Star’s work. FOX News, The British Daily Mail, CBS News, and The Washington Post, among many others, also did their own follow-ups.
Lamar took to her personal and professional Facebook pages to address The Star’s articles concerning her.
“What was called a rant is actually a statistical analysis of the midterm elections based on my numerous years of political experience. After a review of the numbers after the midterm election, I felt the need to record a Facebook live video to discuss the numbers from both Tennessee and nationwide,” Lamar said.
“My comments did not intend to make a generalization about every white person who voted Republican. The truth about a large number of those who responded with their vote for Republican candidates this election cycle is, they voted in response to the racially charged rhetoric that has come from our President.”
Lamar said as an elected official she is the voice of her community, whom she described as mostly poor, black, and female.
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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected]. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Photo “London Lamar” by London Lamar. Background Photo “Graceland Destruction” by wemcal.
I know this area extremely well. I had to travel to Memphis for work for 10 yrs. The Hotel my Company had a contract was is down the street from Graceland about 1.5 miles. It was gated and guarded 24/7.
I have gone to Marlowe’s dozens of times (Elvis’s favorite restaurant). IF there were white people tagging graffiti and defacing Graceland there would (1) Be VIDEO and (2) be a BEAT DOWN. You can bet your bottom $ this was done by locals of which there is a faction who really resents Graceland.
Yeah, right… Lock her up!
“I bet my money that those tagging property in Memphis with BLM and Defund Police are individuals trying to make this movement look bad! Don’t believe that it’s the movement! It’s not! WE ALL KNOW WHO’S OUT TO MAKE US LOOK BAD!”
Classic liberal tactic. Use misdirection to blame shift and accuse others what you’re guilty of.
Honey, you don’t need “others” to make the BLM movement look bad. Your Marxist (and ever changing) mission statements on the BLM website has already done that for you.
If she knows ( which I doubt) who did I this and is not providing the info to the authorities isn’t she breaking the law ? It’s probably all being promoted by her Democratic Party. With political leadership like this scholar rest assured things are only going to get worse in Memphis.
You know when Libtards are lying? When their lips are moving. This disgusting piece of trash must really think the American people are morons to believe that all of a sudden BLM isn’t all about graffiti, destruction, violence, anarchy. It’s been well documented on video all summer long throughout the country, Loser Lamar!!!