cry

[EUNJJUNG]

"The main reason students gave for wanting to discuss a particular topic was that they held strong views on the subject and wished to convince others. Likewise, not having a strong views on the subject and wished to convince others. This conflict is reflected in the following student responses:
...
'In a few cases, people cry sexual misconduct when it isn't, so I don't want to talk about it in those few cases.'"

Does 'cry' here mean 'shout'?
If that's right, when are they shouting? I don't know what this phrase means.

(expert from: Joseph Williams, "The Craft of Argument" )

 

[jutfrank]

In this sense, cry means something like 'publicly accuse someone of'.

I think the best way to understand this particular use is to think of it as a corruption of the idiom cry (blue/bloody) murder.

 

[Yankee]

Or to proclaim, as to declare something one considers important with due emphasis.