Ken Berwitz
Brooke Baldwin anchors “CNN Newsroom” from 2Pm – 4PM weekdays. Yesterday, one of her guests was David Katz, a former Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent.
Here is a transcript of what happened when the talk turned to #blacklivesmatter:
KATZ:Well, I\’m kind surprised he came out so openly, but he\’s a hundred percentcorrect. Let\’s look at the actual, seminal incident that launched the \’blacklivesmatter\’ movement. And, by the way, the concept of state-sanctioned murderof black people – that\’s just offensive. But more to the point, in Ferguson,Officer Brown was it? No, I\’m sorry. Officer Wilson-
BALDWIN: Yes, Darren Wilsonand Michael Brown-
KATZ: Darren Wilson went towork. He was a five-year veteran. By all accounts, a good police officer. Didexactly what an officer is supposed to do. He was set upon by a thug namedMichael Brown, who just – who just moments before, strong-armed anIndian-American half his size – who tried to take –
BALDWIN: Come on, though. Wedon\’t need to call – let\’s not – \’thug\’?
KATZ: Well, when you walk into a store, and
BALDWIN INTERJECTING: I understand, I just –
KATZ: – when you steal, and when you, by force, intimidate, what epithet would you charge –
BALDWIN: Let\’s just say Michael Brown.
I have a question for Ms. Baldwin.
Since everything Mr. Katz said about Michael Brown was true, and you did not challenge any of it, presumably because you knew it to be true…
…but you challenged his description of Brown as a thug…
…have you similarly challenged the phrase “unarmed Black teenager” to describe Michael Brown – including when it has beenused by your colleagues at CNN?
Michael Brown, who was 6\’ 4″ tall and weighed almost 300 pounds, had just robbed a store, physically intimidated its owner/clerk, was, based on the toxicology results, high on marijuana, was walking in the middle of the street with his pal dorian johnson – a sure way to attract police attention – and, based on the autopsy results, was trying to get Officer Wilson\’s gun from him before he was shot. Therefore calling him an “unarmed Black teenager” is an intentional effort to ignore who/what he was and the danger he posed to Officer Wilson. So you have emphatically rejected that phrase whenever it has been used, right?
Uh….right?
Ms. Baldwin?
Yoo-hoo, Ms. Baldwin…..
