A 16-year-old girl called her brother on April 23rd and told him she had been sexually assaulted by a 62-year-old man on a transit bus in Utah.

Her brother arrived on the scene a short time later and attacked the man as he got off the bus. The elderly man later died as a result of head injuries he sustained when he fell to the sidewalk after the attack.

As it turns out, police reviewed surveillance video and say the girl falsely accused the man, a homeless veteran, of attacking her:

About 6:15 p.m. that night, the girl made a sexual assault report to police. “Logan Police detectives reviewed the video footage of the alleged assault,” police wrote. “The video showed Mr. [Michael] Fife walking past the girl, but no sexual assault occurred.” Four days later, Fife died from his injuries, police wrote. Police did not release the names of the teenage brother and sister because they are juveniles.

Here’s what the Logan City PD wrote on their Facebook page about the incident:

The victim’s son is trying to raise money to help pay for funeral expenses, and is thankful that the video footage cleared his father’s name of wrongdoing:

The victim’s only child, Michael Fife Jr., said he had no idea why this happened but is glad the accusation isn’t hanging over his father’s name. “I don’t even know why he was being hit,” he said. “Something definitely needs to be done because this stuff can’t happen. I mean, especially over an allegation.” A GoFundMe page has been established to help pay funeral expenses for Fife. Its organizer asks people to “help lay big Mike to rest.” “He cared a lot about people,” Fife’s son said. “He always greeted them with a smile and he was always a kind person to them.”

Since the #MeToo/Believe All Women era began, we’ve talked a lot about the sobering reality of how false accusations of sexual misconduct and/or assault can ruin a person’s life. In this case, false allegations and a warped sense of vigilante justice led to a man’s murder.

Prominent Democratic women like twice-failed candidate for president Hillary Clinton and 2020 presidential candidates like Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) say women should be automatically believed when they make accusations of sexual assault. They are also on board with various feminist movements on college campuses across the country to strip accused young men of their right to due process.

This case is just one of many that provides a cautionary tale about the myth that women never lie about sexual assault and rape. Sadly, for the falsely accused in this instance, the consequences were deadly.

There’s no word yet from police on what charges the two teenagers could face as a result of their actions.

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—Based in North Carolina, Sister Toldjah is a former liberal and a 15+ year veteran of blogging with an emphasis on media bias, social issues, and the culture wars. Read her Red State archives here. Connect with her on Twitter.–