Lean Forward? Harris-Perry Guest Favors Prison Abolition, Tweets 'F--- The Police'

October 11th, 2014 12:43 PM

Melissa Harris-Perry proudly portrays her MSNBC show as "Nerdland."  But has it devolved from a cozy academic coffee klatsch for lefties into something else?

To discuss the issue of relations between police and black Americans, with the backdrop of Ferguson and a shooting this week in St. Louis, Harris-Perry had as a member of her panel Mychal Denzel Smith. On the one hand, Denzel Smith would appear, as a writer for The Nation, to fit the Nerdland bill.  But a review of his Twitter feed reveals that two days ago Denzel Smith tweeted: 'F---.The.Police." And late last month he tweeted "I'm for prison abolition."

Is someone who harbors such visceral hatred for police, and seeks to abolish the prison system, an appropriate panelist for network TV?  Yes, if the network in question is MSNBC.  How would the MSM react if Fox News had as a panelist someone with mirror-image views?

I've posted images of the two tweets below, having blurred the last three letters of the f-word.  Those interested in seeing the unexpurgated version can click here.

Note: This isn't the first time Denzel Smith has resorted to the f-word in public pronouncements.  Here's a link to a Nation article in which he proclaims, yup, F--- George Zimmerman.