The behavior of everyone involved in this story is outrageous with one exception: The Texas Highway Patrol Trooper who was accused of rape and kidnapping by activist Shaun King. The accusations of misconduct came from driver Sherita Dixon-Cole who was pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence by Trooper Hubbard last weekend. But the accusations were spread by Dixon-Cole’s attorney to writer and activist Shaun King and others. Here’s the account published by The Root.

Daniel Hubbard, an officer with the Texas Department of Public Safety, allegedly sexually assaulted Sherita Dixon-Cole, 37, of Waxahachie, Texas, during a traffic stop, and Dixon-Cole has retained the law offices of civil rights attorney S. Lee Merritt to represent her in her fight for justice.

On May 20, at approximately 1:30 a.m., Hubbard pulled over Dixon-Cole allegedly because he suspected that she was intoxicated. As Hubbard administered a field-sobriety test, Hubbard told Dixon-Cole that he would allow her to go home in exchange for sex, according to Merritt’s office.

Dixon-Cole declined, and what allegedly followed is even more terrifying than the initial morally corrupt and illegal proposition.

According to a press release issued by Merritt’s office, once Dixon-Cole declined, Hubbard handcuffed her and took her to his patrol car where he then “forcibly groped, fondled, and vaginally penetrated Dixon-Cole during a prolonged arrest that included assaults inside and outside of [Hubbard’s] police vehicle.”…

According to Merritt, Dixon-Cole alleges that Hubbard took steps to “obscure video evidence and to avoid dashcam recordings.”

The Root’s version is restrained compared to the one being promoted by Shaun King. King wrote on Twitter, “This woman was kidnapped & raped by Texas State Trooper — Officer Hubbard, she is now being held hostage in Ellis County jail!”

Yesterday, the Texas Highway Patrol released two hours of body cam footage from the arrest (see below). This is one long, uncut string of footage from the time Officer Hubbard first gets out of his car to the time he discusses the breathalyzer results with Dixon Cole. At no time is he rude or discourteous to Dixon Cole, much less touching her in an inappropriate way or suggesting she could be released in exchange for sex. Her entire story was a fabrication, something Shaun King admitted today in a post on Medium after deleting all of his posts and tweets on the topic.

Earlier today I was able to review nearly two hours of body camera footage provided by the police department. The footage appears to be authentic and trustworthy. At no time does it show any of the horrible allegations originally made by Sherita Dixon-Cole. The officer never threatens her or her fiancé as she described. No sexual assault of any kind takes place. From all indications the officer, Daniel Hubbard, was very professional and patient throughout the ordeal. The whole thing was rather routine and painfully normal…

None of the criminal allegations that Sherita Dixon-Cole communicated very clearly to her family, friends, and attorneys ever took place on this video. Not one. Not the threats. Not the sexual assaults. None of it. It is one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever heard of.

So Trooper Hubbard is now “professional and patient.” That’s a hell of a thing to say after trying to whip up an angry mob against this officer on Twitter and Facebook. Do you think Officer Hubbard could file a lawsuit against Shaun King? I’m not an attorney but I hope he has a case. Meanwhile, The Root reports Dixon Cole’s attorney has now apologized for spreading her false accusations:

It is deeply troubling when innocent parties are falsely accused, and I am truly sorry for any trouble these claims may have caused Officer Hubbard and his family. I take full responsibility for amplifying these claims to the point of national concern…

We are thankful to the members of the community willing to echo our demands for transparency and justice. However, in this matter it seems your righteous vigilance was abused

It’s nice that Dixon Cole’s attorney wants to take full responsibility for smearing a Texas cop who did his job professionally, but he can’t. He didn’t amplify the accusations on Shaun King’s Twitter account to nearly 1 million followers. He didn’t run the account absent any real evidence at The Root or The Grio or any of the other sites that ran with this splashy allegation.

You can add Sherita Dixon Cole to a long history of false accusations of police misconduct promoted by Black Lives Matter activists. It’s a list whose greatest hits include “Hands up, don’t shoot!” and the alleged murder of Sandra Bland (some even said she was dead before police took her mugshot).

Here’s the full two-hour clip. I’ll give Shaun King this. It is a bit bizarre that such extreme accusations could stem from an encounter this boring.