MSNBC blatantly cropped a shot of a black man carrying an AR-15 assault rifle outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars town hall meeting with the president in Phoenix, Ariz. to avoid showing any skin color.

Then white host Contessa Brewer abuses the footage to create a racial narrative. “Here you have a man of color in the presidency and white people showing up with guns strapped to their waists or their legs.”

This is followed with a token black anchor who can “legitimately” wax on about racism because of his skin color. “It is real that there is tremendous anger in this country … anger about a black person becoming president.”

He then invokes assasination attempts by Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme and Mark Hinckley.

On a side note, MSNBC also mischaracterizes the protesters as a “pro-health care reform” group.

ABC News Channel 15 in Arizona showed the full-length shot, and even interviewed the well-armed black man, who refused to give his name but definitely opposed reform.

Even so, ABC’s Nicole Beyer points out “You have to remember, this is perfectly legal for him to have this gun out in public for everyone to see.”

The implication is we should change the laws so right-wing gun nuts have to hide in a dark closet to caress their implements of destruction.

CNN shows the full-length clip as well, and notes that Secret Service and local police officers had created a loose cordon around the individual.

Hot Air’s Allahpundit puts the deception into context:

Never will you see a starker example of MSNBC getting away with the sort of deception for which Fox News would be pilloried, especially in the context of race.

Blogger Moe Lane argues that stirring the pot like this is more likely to endanger the president, as tensions already run high this August.

This was an insanely stupid move on MSNBC’s part - and one that was dangerous to the safety of the President of the United States of America, not to mention his security staff. I am appalled that a supposedly reputable news agency would do this.