NEW YORK: Firefighter Charged With Setting Fire To Own Home, Tried To Frame Black Lives Matter

Via Raw Story:

A New York firefighter was arrested after allegedly setting fire to his own home in an apparent attempt to smear anti-police brutality activists. Jason Stokes pleaded not guilty Tuesday to arson in connection with the August fire at his house in Endicott, reported WBNG-TV.

A family member said at the time that they believed their home was targeted because of the “Blue Lives Matter” flag flying out front. Investigators found the message, “lie with pigs, fry like bacon,” written on some siding outside the burned home.

The slogan apparently referenced an incident from August 2015, when some demonstrators chanted, “pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon,” during a Black Lives Matter protest at the Minnesota State Fair that was widely reported by conservative media. Pro-police websites blamed the fire at Stokes’ home on “terrorists” associated with the civil rights group.

Investigators believe Stokes wrote the slogan himself. Below is just one example of the headlines seen on right wing sites when the fire first was reported.frylike