For the upteenth time, Twitter has exploded with outrage when police used a hashtag to try a tone-deaf conversation.
This time, it was for a CNN roundtable discussion on police and civilian relations Tuesday night. Before the show, CNN put out an open call for question from Twitter with the hashtag #askacop.
At 10, #CopsUnderFire. @CNN has gathered a police panel -what would you like to ask them? Send in your Q’s w #AskACop pic.twitter.com/BWdwWYIVQM
— Erin Burnett OutFront (@OutFrontCNN) December 17, 2014
In theory, a representative sample of questions would be put to that panel of officers. But responses got angry quickly.
https://twitter.com/Popehat/status/545237759053406209
I’d like to #AskACop why White cops kill black suspects twice a week in the US, but asking that question may get me shot by the police.
— L E F T, PhD ⚫️ (@LeftSentThis) December 17, 2014
#AskACop what made a sleeping 7-year-old girl dangerous to the cop who shot her dead? #AiyanaJones http://t.co/Mdhf0X8Ns4
— Yukio Strachan (@boldandworthy) December 17, 2014
#AskACop Ever consider that people who crave lethal authority over other people are exactly the wrong people to be allowed to wield it?
— Jeff Tiedrich [retired account — see bio] (@jefftiedrich) December 17, 2014
https://twitter.com/AnonCopWatch/status/545071729039908864
#Askacop I have a math question: if 1 Black man has zero guns, zero knives and 2 hands, how many bullets does it take to disarm him?
— Jamilah Lemieux (@JamilahLemieux) December 17, 2014
https://twitter.com/eggology_/status/545011001268400129
https://twitter.com/Cryptoterra/status/545010575898443777
This is far from the first time that Twitter users have bitterly responded to police. In April, the New York Police Department used the #myNYPD hashtag, prompting a litany of photos of police using excessive force. Later, it tried #wehearyou in response to the non-indictment of Eric Garner, an unarmed black man choked to death on camera by an officer, and was met with responses like “Just like cop heard ‘I can’t breathe’ 11x before killing him.”
As for CNN, they only used one tweet in the show, at least when it was later posted online, and it was hardly inflammatory.
@donlemon @CNNTonight Do you think these protests are hurting more than helping to change relationships with police officers? #AskACop
— Lynnie (@TweetThisBabe) December 16, 2014
It’s a real shame, too, that they didn’t even address this one:
https://twitter.com/Cryptoterra/status/545010575898443777
Photo via david_shankbone/Flickr (CC By 2.0) | Remix by Fernando Alfonso III
