The reports of a Super Bowl protest were fraudulent from the start, but the press wants to reframe the story.

The Super Bowl went off without any incidents of protest prior to the game. (As for actual incidents after the game, these were confirmed but far less reported for some reason.) The surprise in this is how widely it had been reported that there was a threat of a mass of truckers, the likes seen in Canada in recent weeks, could descend on So Fi stadium in Los Angeles despite very tangential evidence this could happen. As widely reported as this threat had been, the evidence was lacking.

The story originated with CBS News, which had obtained a memo distributed by the Department of Homeland Security in which it was alleged that truckers were planning a convoy for L.A. Here is how the news division presented this scenario:

The Department of Homeland Security is warning U.S. law enforcement agencies that a group of truckers is planning a protest of COVID-19 vaccine mandates that could start as soon as this weekend in Los Angeles, site of the Super Bowl. 

The news manages to sound definitive, even while using language that hedges a bit. This is because in detailing the actual message from DHS it sounds far less dramatic. The most you could say is this memorandum for law enforcement was along the lines of covering all the bases because it comes off sounding far less definitive than CBS sells it. That memo was more veiled than a bridal shop in Kabul. Note how many qualifiers (emphasis on those added) were used in the report, according to CBS.

The bulletin, obtained by CBS News, says the convoy could then head east, perhaps reaching Washington, D.C. in time for President Biden’s State of the Union address on March 1. The bulletin warns that the convoy “could severely disrupt transportation, federal government, and law enforcement operations through gridlock and potential counterprotests.”

Now look at the only mention of the Super Bowl, and again, how many exceptions have to be included in order to deliver a sense of concern over the event.

“The convoy will potentially begin in California as early as mid-February and arrive in Washington, DC, as late as mid-March, potentially impacting the Super Bowl LVI scheduled for 13 February and the State of the Union address scheduled for 1 March.”

Look, as far as law enforcement preparing for contingencies and making preparations, no fault is seen there. We want and expect LE divisions to be prepared. What is the issue here is the media approach to this announcement, as it was delivered in the fashion of a protest becoming a sure thing. A sober read of the DHS bulletin shows they wanted to be prepared for any possible disruption. CBS, by dropping a Super Bowl threat in its headline, sparked an anti-blockade response that sent the press careening down the avenue of blaring headlines. 

ABC News declared more specific claims, even though delivered through less valid sourcing. “There are online discussions that suggest holding an event at a specific location near the Super Bowl on game day.” This means some people on social media had the desire to stage the protest, but this is a departure away from valid organizing, something the outlet had to admit after its melodramatic reading. “There are currently no indications of planned violence or civil unrest.”

In joining in on the circus CNN encapsulated these reports. Extending the anxiety the network resorts to, stuff was seen in a chatroom, so they make the leap immediately to the Super Bowl being locked down as the basic premise delivered.

A federal law enforcement official told CNN that early last week, authorities began seeing calls on a variety of online forums for the events in Ottawa to expand into the US. The official said that law enforcement and security officials guarding the Super Bowl in Inglewood, California, are preparing for any possible disruptions.

Now, today, we learned that nothing at all transpired at the NFL Championship. No truckers were turned away, no convoy was thwarted. The pregame hype of a shutdown by a phalanx of Kenworths was completely overblown, and as a result, the narrative shift begins. Now, some outlets and many on social media are saying the lack of a convoy disruption in Inglewood was not the result of the press greatly exaggerating things – no, this was proof of a Republican call for protest becoming a failure.

The press overhyped any possible threat, and once shown to be hysterics about the Super Bowl being threatened they try to play Monday morning quarterback and pass this off as a faulty Republican effort, somehow. That is some convenient accountability at play. We got it completely wrong, which is all proof of their failure.