On Thursday's NBC Nightly News, correspondent Stephanie Gosk incorrectly suggested that a former Houston police officer was being charged with murdering a black victim when, in fact, both victims in the case were white.
The misleading report was partially focused on the possibility that, when he was living in Houston in 2004, George Floyd might have been pressured by a corrupt cop into pleading guilty to a drug crime he did not commit.
During the piece that dealt with the history of some police officers filing misleading reports on the circumstances of a suspect's death, Gosk brought up the case from Houston:
STEPHANIE GOSK: Now, a revelation out of Houston that this was not Floyd's first experience with an officer who would later be accused of police misconduct. In 2004, Floyd pleaded guilty to selling less than a gram of cocaine. As part of a deal, he served 10 months in jail. The officer who arrested him, Gerald Goines, was the only witness.
Without giving any details on the victims, she then noted that the officer in question, Gerald Goines, is being prosecuted for committing murder:
GOSK: Now, that officer himself is charged with murder and lying in a different case. Goines pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial -- 14,000 cases are under review -- 164 may ultimately be dismissed, according to the DA;s office.
She then misleadingly added: "All of the defendants are minorities, and the overwhelming majority are African Americans. The DA's office says Floyd's case resembles others where it appears Officer Goines may have lied."
Although the same show covered this story a few times last year, it was not clarified that former Officer Goines is being charged with causing the deaths of an apparently innocent white couple -- Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas -- by lying to get a no-knock search warrant against them.
On the same day's The Beat show on MSNBC, fill-in host Ayman Mohyeldin also brought up the Goines case after a report on Louisville, Kentucky's decision to clamp down on no-knock warrants in response to the killing of apparently innocent resident Breonna Taylor in her own home during a raid. Mohyeldin recounted:
AYMAN MOHYELDIN: And we've seen this controversial police measure turn deadly in other cities. In fact, Houston prohibited no-knock warrants after two civilians were killed in a fatal drug raid there. The officer in that case -- he lied in the affidavit on the warrant in just the same way we heard Cal (Perry) say it happened in Louisville. Now, Houston is expecting to overturn more than 100 cases tied to that officer.
He then gave the impression that all of Officer Goines's victims were minorities as he added:
MOHYELDIN: All -- listen to what I'm about to say -- all of those defendants are people of color. One of them, George Floyd. That officer who has since been charged with murder -- was the sole witness when he arrested Floyd years ago when he allegedly provided him with cocaine. The Harris County district attorney saying it is, quote, "not just a coincidence but a product of a systemic problem in the way drug enforcement occurs."
Below are transcripts of relevant portions of the Thursday, June 21, NBC Nightly News and the same day's The Beat show on MSNBC:
NBC Nightly News
June 11, 2020
LESTER HOLT: In some cases involving police violence, there is a disconnect between what officers say happened and what the evidence later shows. As NBC's Stephanie Gosk tells us, it's happened enough, there's even a word for it.
STEPHANIE GOSK: Before the video went public, there was a statement from police -- George Floyd's death described as a "medical incident during a police interaction." But that wasn't the full picture, Now, a revelation out of Houston that this was not Floyd's first experience with an officer who would later be accused of police misconduct.
In 2004, Floyd pleaded guilty to selling less than a gram of cocaine. As part of a deal, he served 10 months in jail. The officer who arrested him, Gerald Goines, was the only witness. Now, that officer himself is charged with murder and lying in a different case. Goines pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial -- 14,000 cases are under review -- 164 may ultimately be dismissed, according to the DA;s office.
All of the defendants are minorities, and the overwhelming majority are African Americans. The DA's office says Floyd's case resembles others where it appears Officer Goines may have lied.
(…)
MSNBC
The Beat with Ari Melber
June 11, 2020
6:20 p.m. Eastern
AYMAN MOHYELDIN: And we've seen this controversial police measure turn deadly in other cities. In fact, Houston prohibited no-knock warrants after two civilians were killed in a fatal drug raid there. The officer in that case -- he lied in the affidavit on the warrant in just the same way we heard Cal (Perry) say it happened in Louisville. Now, Houston is expecting to overturn more than 100 cases tied to that officer.
All -- listen to what I'm about to say -- all of those defendants are people of color. One of them, George Floyd. That officer who has since been charged with murder -- was the sole witness when he arrested Floyd years ago when he allegedly provided him with cocaine. The Harris County district attorney saying it is, quote, "not just a coincidence but a product of a systemic problem in the way drug enforcement occurs."
