While speaking about the lone gunman who opened fire on the headquarters of the Dallas police department late Friday night and who left as many as five suspicious packages nearby, CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield praised the shooter as “very courageous and brave” while interviewing a legal analyst on Saturday.
Take a look.
As you watch, it’s tempting to believe that Whitfield actually meant to say that the police (and not the gunman) were showing their bravery, but if you look at the quote in print, that isn’t necessarily a plausible explanation.
Said Whitfield, “It was very courageous and brave, if not crazy as well, to open fire on the police headquarters, and now you have this scene, this standoff.”
Crazy might be a good word for it.
Armored van lured police, fired upon, and rammed police pic.twitter.com/luf2U1SMje
— Madhu Subramanian, MD (@madwho12) June 13, 2015
Here are some pictures of the damage at HQ. pic.twitter.com/ic18axSTPO
— Dallas Police Dept (@DallasPD) June 13, 2015
No officers were injured in the attack—or by the subsequent bombs that were found—but Dallas police confirmed that a SWAT sniper killed the driver Saturday morning.
Either way, there was immediate pushback on Whitfield’s comments.
@CNN & @FWhitfield should apologize immediately for this outlandish commentary in the #DallasPDShooting https://t.co/Z3a68Kk2va
— Fort Worth Police OA (@FWPOA) June 13, 2015
“Courageous and brave” to shoot at police officers with an assault rifle. Get a clue and WAKE UP!https://t.co/I1hYFlfpv4
— Houston Police Officers’ Union (@HPOUTX) June 13, 2015
Thus far, CNN has had no comment and Whitfield hasn’t updated her Twitter account since Saturday morning.
Photo via CNN
