In the latest example of slanted and distorted reporting against local, state and federal law enforcement officers, Telemundo host María Celeste Arrarás declared that members of the Austin, Texas Police Department were guilty of ‘classic abuse’ as she showed viewers a recent viral arrest video and failed to include in her report key facts about the case.
Though a Police affidavit explaining the circumstances of the arrest was available before Telemundo’s broadcast of the video –including details that the suspect was on drugs and reaching for his weapon while resisting arrest – the report left out those details and instead presented the case as one of pure "police brutality."
MARÍA CELESTE ARRARÁS, HOST, AL ROJO VIVO, TELEMUNDO: nothing justifies this aggression against a man who was already completely defenseless. The images have angered many and now the police has opened an investigation. Classic abuse.
Immediately following his arrest in the early morning hours of July 4, Justin Joseph Grant, the suspect shown in the video, was charged with possession of a narcotic, terroristic threats, and resisting arrest.
The manager of the Rain nightclub in Austin had blocked Grant’s attempt to enter the club, due to his showing signs of heavy intoxication and his threatening of nightclub staff with a six-inch knife. None of these details were included in Telemundo’s report.
The report by NBC's Spanish-language sister network was also contradictory, as Arrarás stated the suspect was “completely defenseless” right after noting that he “apparently…carried a knife.” Commenting on the video, Austin Police Association President Ken Casaday said “you can see the officers punching, which they freely admit to. What you can’t see is the subject grabbing for a 6-inch knife that he had on his waistband, that the officers not only saw, but were told that was there by people from the nightclub."
Moreover, it was not the first time Grant has been arrested, as he has a full rap sheet of arrests in the county.
Below is the complete transcript of the above-referenced report, as aired during the July 5, 2018 edition of Telemundo’s Al Rojo Vivo, con María Celeste Arrarás.
MARÍA CELESTE ARRARÁS, HOST, AL ROJO VIVO, TELEMUNDO: And well, also in Texas people caught on camara an agent beating up a suspect, even though he was on the floor. There we see how a law enforcement officer holds his hands, while the other one savagely beats hits him. Apparently, the subject carried a knife and that's why they arrested him, although nothing justifies this aggression against a man who was already completely defenseless. The images have angered many and now the police have opened an investigation. Classic abuse.
