Man Who Claimed He Was Stabbed After Being Called A Neo Nazi Admits He Lied

Joshua Witt booking photo provided by Sheridan, Colorado police department.
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

A 26-year-old man who claimed he was stabbed after being mistaken for a “neo-Nazi,” admitted to local Colorado police that he made up the whole story after he accidentally cut himself with a knife, according to The Denver Post and BuzzFeed.

On Aug. 16, the man, Joshua Witt, told Sheridan, Colorado police that a man had approached him while he was getting out of his car in a Steak ’n Shake parking lot and tried to stab him.

Witt’s false report came days after a white nationalist rally turned violent in Charlottesville, Virginia earlier this month. A man affiliated with the white nationalist group has been charged with second degree murder for allegedly driving his car through a crowd of counter protesters, killing one woman.

Witt posted photos of his injuries on Facebook shortly after, saying he “apparently” looked like a “neo-Nazi and got stabbed for it. … Luckily I put my hands up to stop it so he only stabbed my hand.” The post has since been removed, BuzzFeed reported. 

Police began to question his story after they couldn’t find surveillance video evidence of the alleged attacker fleeing the scene as Witt had claimed. They also found video of Witt purchasing a knife from a sporting goods store around the same time he reported that the attack took place, the Denver Post reported. 

“Where he was confronted with the all the information listed above, Mr. Witt subsequently admitted to accidentally cutting himself with the knife while parked in his car in front of the sporting goods store and admitted making up the story about being attacked,” Sheridan police said in their statement.

Witt, a U.S. Navy boatswain’s mate who lives in San Diego, was charged with falsely reporting a crime to authorities.

Latest Livewire
37
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Joshua Witt, clearly not the sharpest knife in the rack.

  2. Trump: He is White. No need to further persecute him.

  3. “…admitted to accidentally cutting himself with the knife while parked in his car in front of the sporting goods store…”

    How did this idiot get in the Navy? He is clearly a candidate for the 2017 Darwin Award.

  4. No, he is the tip of the spear!

  5. “Where he was confronted with the all the information listed above, Mr. Witt subsequently admitted to accidentally cutting himself with the knife while parked in his car in front of the sporting goods store and admitted making up the story about being attacked,” Sheridan police said in their statement.

    It's too bad he hadn't purchased a gun.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

31 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for lestatdelc Avatar for paulw Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for clunkertruck Avatar for tigersharktoo Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for voreason Avatar for kunda311 Avatar for pshaw Avatar for sniffit Avatar for nymund Avatar for robcat2075 Avatar for amandacorliss Avatar for dickweed Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for fjasmine Avatar for edhedh Avatar for sickofitall Avatar for not_so_fluffy Avatar for katscherger Avatar for yailbloor Avatar for anon37557014 Avatar for ohcomeonnow

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: