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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has made a brief statement about the 9-1-1 audio that was released Tuesday afternoon. He sent out a brief tweet:
On 911 calls, I'm glad the truth is getting out. Info that came out earlier was totally wrong. I look forward to this matter being resolved.
— Colin Kaepernick (@Kaepernick7) May 7, 2014
Kap sent out three tweets on Friday, April 11, assuring fans their faith was not misplaced, and declaring the charges mentioned in TMZ's story (as well as other stories) were "completely wrong." As more information has come to light, it has become clear TMZ is in the wrong in continuing to refer to this as Colin Kaepernick being investigated for sexual assault.
It's not surprising that TMZ has less interest in the truth, and more interest in page views. I'm a fan of page views here at Niners Nation, but I like to think I get things accurate, or at least educatedly accurate. I used "sexual assault" in the initial title, but fairly quickly changed it to reflect the "suspicious incident" phrasing.
TMZ on the other hand continues to push this strictly for page views. Ricardo Lockette never referred to Colin Kaepernick by name, but TMZ refers to it as the "Colin Kaepernick 911 calls". Even worse, they have generally ignored some of the recent information that has come out in favor of Kap. And of course, we showed you their blatant disregard for the truth with their use of Kap pictures. They admitted the picture was wrong, but they threw the photo agency under the bus. Yet another example of their cowardly approach to business.
The worst part might be the fact that they continue to point to their initial report that Kap was named a suspect in a sexual assault investigation. He was listed as a suspect, but that was strictly a paperwork issue, and it was for a suspicious incident. They are basing their information on their assortment of cowardly sources.
I don't think Kap would have an easy case if he tried to sue TMZ, but I still wouldn't mind seeing him bring a suit. It likely won't change what TMZ does, but maybe he finds the right court and gets lucky. I'm not holding my breath, but I would still love to see it.