Geraldo Rivera: Town Hall Death Threat 'Ironically Came From a Hard-core Liberal'

On the evening of the tragic shootings in Tucson, Fox News's Geraldo Rivera, like so many other liberal media members, went out of his way to connect the event to the Tea Party.

Seven days later, the host of "Geraldo at Large" told his viewers, "There was a very public death threat today in Tucson that prompted police action. Ironically, it came from a hard-core liberal" (video follows with transcript and commentary):

GERALDO RIVERA: This is a Fox News alert. Despite Mr. Obama’s appeal to our better angels, there was a very public death threat today in Tucson that prompted police action. Ironically, it came from a hard-core liberal. At a town hall meeting packed with eyewitnesses, concerned citizens and a member of Congress, Eric Fuller, a well-known left-wing activist, took a close-up photo of the local Tea Party spokesman Trent Humphries. Then Fuller said, “You're dead.” He was promptly arrested. Before I get to my exclusive interview with Jeb Bush, for more on what went down in Tucson today, Jason Ogan, a deputy for the Pima County sheriff's department, joins us live alongside a familiar face, or at least a familiar hairdo, Steven Cates, friend of the alleged mass murderer Jared Loughner. Steven was at today's town hall meeting. Tell us what happened. Tell us what was said and what you saw, Steven.

STEVEN CATES, FRIEND OF JARED LEE LOUGHNER: Well, when the representative from the Tea Party stood up to speak and he announced that he was from the Tea Party, Eric turned around with his camera. Eric was in the front row and the Tea Party spokesman was in the fourth row. Eric turned around with his camera, took the picture of the guy from the Tea Party, and said, “You're dead,” like you had said.

RIVERA: And did he mean it? I mean, did it sound to you like a death threat, Steven?

CATES: It sounded, it sounded like "You're dead." I mean, it didn't sound like a joke at all. Throughout the rest of the time that…

RIVERA: Had he been a pain in the butt during this, during this town hall meeting? Had this guy, had he really interfered with what was going on?

CATES: People, people seemed pretty shocked at what he had said. There’s, there’s lots of whispers and there was someone next to me that had turned to Eric and said, “You know, now is not the time. This isn't appropriate. You need to sit down and be quiet. This isn't, this isn’t the time or place for this.” And he kept saying things like that whenever Eric would boo or, or make an interrupting noise at whatever the man from the Tea Party was saying.

Ironically indeed, for this is what Rivera said almost exactly one week ago:

One by one, all the dishonest points made by liberal media members to convince Americans this tragedy was caused by violent rhetoric from the Right are deliciously crumbling before their very eyes.

It's almost like the final scene from "Murder on the Orient Express" when Hercule Poirot, with all the suspects in attendance, describes who killed Ratchet.

Frankly, it's so entertaining, one can hardly wait for the next shoe to drop.

Thankfully, as Scarlett O'Hara said at the end of "Gone With the Wind," tomorrow is another day.