It is really a shame that viewers have been lied to on Fox News, the one place we have left to get the truth.

O’Reilly, as always, in the tank for Obama, has been making the statement that the size of the crowd in Washington, DC for the Tea Party event on 9/12 was 75,000. He claims repeatedly that the crowd size estimate came from the DC Fire Department “whose job it is to know how many people are in town in case of an emergency”.

That statement, and the crowd size estimate, are both false.

I had previously read that DC officials to not estimate crowd sizes as a matter of policy, in order to avoid becoming involved in the the politics of these events.

I wrote to the Mayor’s office to ask if O’Reilly’s estimate was correct. Their response is below. His statement, presented by him as fact, is so totally wrong that I have trouble believing it was a simple accident.

I think it is time for Bill O’Reilly to step aside for Glenn Beck, who is standing up for America!! Perhaps O’Reilly can find a new home at MSNBC, which is where he belongs.

——-Original Message——-

From: Smith, Tisa (FEMS)
Date: 9/21/2009 3:38:18 PM
To: genews99@optonline.net
Subject: FW: Email from the EOM (Intranet Quorum IMA00999035)

Mr. Kneip: The Executive Office of the Mayor has forwarded your email with regards to the 9/12 event to the D.C. Fire and EMS Department for reply.

This is a response from our Public Information Office: “In reference to the September 12th event held in Washington, D.C., quoting a D.C. Fire Department Report, let me assure you that the size of the crowd of those who attended this event were never estimated by D.C. Fire and EMS. The D.C. Fire and EMS Department does not estimate crowd sizes. It was a twitter posting estimating the crowd gathering at Lafayette Park only as “large, possibly as many as 60,000”, stated that it was an early estimation of that specific area (Lafayette Park), not the number of participants in the event.”

I hope that this response adequately addresses your concern, and thank you for taking the time to write.

Tisa B. Smith
Information and Privacy Officer
D.C. Fire and EMS Department
Room 209S
1923 Vermont Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
202-673-3297 (Office)
202-462-0807 (Fax)
tisa.smith@dc.gov (Email)