Nolte: Ferguson Star Reporter Wesley Lowery Accused of Serial Sexual Assault

My nickname for Wesley Lowery is “Firestarter.” Posing as a journalist for the far-left Washington Post in 2014-2015, this guy did more to gin up the riots that gutted Ferguson, Missouri, than anyone not associated with CNN.

He was in Ferguson for only mercenary purposes—to become a media star regardless of the cost to the city and people of working-class Ferguson, and he did become a star. He won a Pulitzer Prize. He went on to work for far-left CNNLOL and the disgraced 60 Minutes. He wrote two books.

All of this success was based on the proven lie that Michael Brown was a gentle giant and not 300 pounds of thug who chose to attack a police officer.

This month has been a welcome reminder that these heartless and shameless narcissistic “journalists” always eventually take a fall. Jake Tapper enjoyed his long-overdue collapse last week. This week, Firestarter has been credibly accused of assaulting at least a half dozen women between 2018 and 2024.

Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) reported that Wall Street Journal reporter Imani Moise, Barbed Wire editor-in-chief Olivia Messer, and two other female journalists who chose to remain anonymous say Lowery had alcoholic drinks waiting for them, either when they arrived or returned from the restroom, and “wound up leaving with Lowery, who they said then sexually assaulted them.”

Messer explained that “she woke up unsure of what had happened, and he told her that he remembered they’d had sex,” CJR reported. A woman who says she met lowery on a dating app claims she “blacked out.” “Moise felt powerless to stop him,” according to the report. A fourth woman says she “remained conscious; she felt pressure from Lowery to let him up to her apartment, where he tried to pull off her clothes.” She says he left after she “pretended to fall asleep.”

The obvious implication is that Lowery ordered their drinks while they were gone and spiked them with something that made them pass out, forget, become more compliant, or all of the above.

“These four people … along with several others, including colleagues and students … attest to a pattern of predatory behavior toward young women in journalism, going back years,” the report continued.  CJR also says it “reviewed emails, text messages, and chat threads and examined documents relating to Lowery’s time at American University in Washington, DC.”

“When I got there, he had already ordered me a drink,” Moise claims. “I remember two drinks turned into four drinks … I remember being so drunk that my head physically hurt, and I was embarrassed by it.” She says their conversation included the #MeToo movement.

She wanted to leave. “He said, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll pay for your cab.’” He ordered an Uber Black, she says. “He puts me in the car. At this point, I was sloppy drunk. Then he gets in. I was pretty drunk, but I was perceptive enough to know what was happening. I said, ‘Where are we going?’ He said, ‘My apartment.’”

“I felt really powerless,” she said, and claims that what followed was “a full-blown assault.”

“I was way too drunk to give consent.” The next morning, he got her another Uber, and she says, “I remember feeling terrible. It was the longest ride to Bethesda.”

“CJR’s portrayal of these periods in my personal life is incomplete and includes false insinuations about complicated dynamics,” Lowery said in an emailed statement. “Still, I respect the women who have shared their experiences and take their perspectives seriously. As a young professional, I did not always recognize the power imbalances that surfaced as personal relationships evolved into professional ones, and vice versa.”

He added, “I should have better upheld boundaries that would have protected myself and others, particularly during interactions impaired by mutual intoxication. I have committed to sobriety, now approaching one year, and continue to work with professionals on my understanding of the power dynamics that accompany race, gender, and my professional success.”

Until March, Lowery was an associate professor and the executive editor of the Investigative Reporting Workshop at American University. According to CJR, he left the university due to “a series of encounters detailed to American’s Title IX office concerning sexual harassment and other misconduct.”

“Two student journalists—Sophia Lehrbaum …  and Maya Cederlund … [claim] Lowery had used sexually inappropriate language while discussing reporting practices with them.

“I don’t have full insight into this, but my understanding is there were three different complaints filed at various points, and when a complaint is filed, the Title IX office reviews it and decides if they are worthy of an investigation,” Lowery toldCJR of the Title IX complaints. “Zero out of these three complaints met that threshold. But I certainly regret if any comment I ever made during editing, or anything else, made anyone feel uncomfortable.”

John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.