Baltimore Riots: Protestor Attacks MSNBC Anchor Over Coverage, Jon Stewart Hammers CNN
A Baltimore protestor launched a scathing on-air attack to MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts about the media’s coverage of the riots since the death of Freddie Gray earlier this month.
The woman, whose name was Danielle, started off by admitting to Roberts that rioting, looting and arson weren’t the best ways to respond to such a tragedy or showcase Baltimore. The Huffington Post have reported that at this point Danielle then turned the table on Roberts and decided to ask him a few a questions of her own.
“My question to you is, when we were out here protesting all last week for six days straight peacefully, there were no news cameras, there were no helicopters, there was no riot gear, and nobody heard us.
So now that we’ve burned down buildings and set businesses on fire and looted buildings, now all of a sudden everybody wants to hear us.
Why does it take a catastrophe like this in order for America to hear our cry? I mean, enough is enough. We’ve had too many lives lost at the hands of police officers. Enough is enough.”
Meanwhile, Danielle hasn’t been the only individual to chastise the American media for their coverage of the Baltimore riots. Musician Propaganda took to his Twitter account to criticise press that only arrived in the city once violence had begun.
Citizens of Baltimore been peacefully protesting for WEEKS. Not one news camera came till somethin was on fire. What u think that teaches?
— propaganda (@prophiphop) April 27, 2015
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart has also been depressed by CNN’s coverage, via Raw Story, in Baltimore too, specifically drawing attention to Wolf Blitzer’s reports of the unrest.
Because of Blitzer’s insistence that he was shocked by the riots in Baltimore, Stewart joked, “Elvis leading a herd of orthodox Jewish unicorns through a city street – that would be hard to believe. This s*** happens all the time. Ferguson was just a few months ago, and you were talking about it.”
Stewart also admitted that coverage should have been focused on Batimore days, maybe weeks, probably even years before the riots, via Mediate. The comedian stated that there only seems to be “two points on the civil unrest scale,” either it is normal or on fire. Baltimore’s unemployment, poverty, and crime rates are are all ridiculously high, while Baltimore has also handed out $6 million to victims of police brutality over recent years too. However, Stewart pointed out that the media and general public only pay attention when the streets are on fire, and declared that this approach needs to change and we must be more aware of communities that are disenfranchised.
Earlier in the day Baltimore community organizer Deray McKesson had attacked Blitzer during an interview between the pair on CNN, via Raw Story, after the veteran journalist had only looked to draw attention to the damage that the protestors had caused rather than the reason for their actions.
McKesson reminded Blitzer that there had been “many days of peaceful protests here in Baltimore city and places all around the country,” before being interrupted by Blitzer who once again brought up that these protests should have been peaceful.
At this point the pair then exchanged figures on the amount of people that had been killed by police officers and injured during the riots, which lead McKesson to remark, “You are suggesting this idea that broken windows are worse than broken spines, right? And what we know to be true is the police are killing people everywhere. They’re killing people here. Six police officers were involved in the killing of Freddie Gray, and we’re looking for justice there. And that’s real. The violence the police have been inflicting on communities of color has been sustained and deep.”
[Image via ZenFS]
