Al Sharpton announced Sunday that he now considers himself to be the victim in the aftermath of Saturday afternoon’s execution-style murder of New York City policemen Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu.
Sharpton, along with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and Attorney General Eric Holder, has been accused of stirring up racial division and promoting anti-police rhetoric following the death of Eric Garner.
Sharpton appeared alongside Garner’s mother and widow at a press conference and played for reporters what he claimed was a voicemail message he’d received, filled with foul language and racial epithets, according to the New York Post, which reported:
“Hey n****r, stop killing innocent people, I’m going to get you!” according to the barely audible recording.
The voice mail also included three f-bombs that went over live television in New York.
Sharpton also referenced remarks made by police union president Patrick Lynch, who said, “There’s blood on many hands tonight,” according to Real Clear Politics. Lynch referred to claims made by de Blasio and Sharpton that led to the shooting of the two officers in Brooklyn.
“To blame the mayor and others is not what we need,” Sharpton said. “The blame game will only lead to further kinds of venom and further division.”
Sharpton’s mention of “the blame game” brought Twitter’s irony patrol out in full force. Here are a few examples, via Twitchy:
Wait, Sharpton is “against the blame game” now? RT Sharpton: I got death threats after NYPD cops were executed http://t.co/m8I9XeT8JX
— Meta World Data (@Pqlyur1) December 21, 2014
@IWantTheUSABack @nypost Interesting – NYPD officers got death threats after Sharpton incited riots. Now 2 cops are dead.
— Aaron Henager (@AaronHenager1) December 22, 2014
@nycphotog @nypost Not shocking, unfortunately.
— Kimmy Cupcaxxx (@milk5sugars) December 21, 2014
If there’s one thing both Sharpton and President Barack Obama can always agree on, it’s this: It’s all about me.