Eric Cantor Blames Democrats' Concerns About Violence For Shot Fired At His Office. Except There Wasn't.

[Cross-posted at Crooks and Liars.]

All of Fox News was atwitter yesterday morning with the big break news that someone had taken a shot at the office of Republican Rep. Eric Cantor, the House Minority whip. Cantor himself went on TV and pronounced:

Just recently I have been directly threatened. A bullet was shot through the window of my campaign office in Richmond this week.

Moreover, he blamed all of this violent behavior breaking out everywhere on the Democratic congressmen who are standing up and calling it out:

It's reckless to use these incidents as media vehicles for political gain. That is why I have deep concerns that some - DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen and DNC Chairman Tim Cain, in particular - are dangerously fanning the flames by suggesting that these incidents be used as a political weapon.

But then the whole story came out:

In a news release Thursday, police said the bullet struck at about 1 a.m. on Tuesday. The preliminary investigation showed that "a bullet was fired into the air and struck the window in a downward direction, landing on the floor about a foot from the window. The round struck with enough force to break the windowpane but did not penetrate the window blinds. There was no other damage to the room, which is used occasionally for meetings by the congressman."

The building, which has several tenants including an office used by Cantor, was unoccupied at the time, the news release said.

Richmond police spokesman Gene Lepley told CNN Friday that it was the result of "random gunfire."

Gee, sounds awfully familiar. This is just like Lou Dobbs' attempts to gain martyrdom.

Meanwhile, none of the right-wing bloggers who raced to get this story up -- folks like RedState, Gateway Pundit, Schmuck of Spades, and Daily Caller -- have bothered to update their posts and correct the record for their readers.

Which means, of course, that you have a broad swath of wingnuts who really believe Eric Cantor's office was shot at too.

Yet another addition to the already ridiculously long list of provably untrue things right-wingers believe.