How anti-police was the CBS Evening News? Well, during their Tuesday night newscast, anchor Norah O’Donnell and correspondent Jericka Duncan seemed upset that two Philadelphia police officers shot and killed a knife-wielding attacker instead of letting the man wound or kill them. And of course, there was no mention of how defunding the police possibly had an effect on the outcome of the situation.
Leading into the story, O’Donnell failed to mention the attacker was threatening and chasing officers with a knife as she lamented how “police shot and killed a black man in front of his family.” She also noted the shooting had led to violent protests Monday night.
“Tonight, the National Guard on alert in Philadelphia after demonstrations turned violent Monday night. Police say 30 of their officers were injured, including one female officer whose leg was broken after she was hit by a vehicle,” Duncan began her report, showing a video of the officer being struck by a speeding black pick-up truck.
As if it was any less of a threat to the lives of the officers, Duncan then tried to downplay the inciting insistent by parroting claims the weapon was just a “dinner knife”:
DUNCAN: The unrest is fueled by the shooting death of 27-year-old Walter Wallace Jr. In cell phone video, he's seen walking towards police. His family claims he had a dinner knife.
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: Put the knife down!
DUNCAN: Wallace's mother tried to intervene.
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: Move, move, move.
DUNCAN: Two officers with their guns drawn repeatedly asked him to drop the weapon. [Gunfire] Police say the officers fired at least seven shots each.
“This is just the latest in police-involved shootings that have led to protests, including one in Waukegan, Illinois,” she said, adding no detail or facts from that other shooting. Instead, she played a soundbite of a woman involved in the incident.
Shifting back to the Philadelphia incident with a clip of a woman screaming “black lives matter,” Duncan tried to further twist the attack against the officers with comments from the family’s lawyer saying: “Wallace's pregnant wife told authorities that her husband was bipolar.” Here was Duncan with lawyer Shaka Johnson:
DUNCAN: You maintain this was an unjustified police shooting?
JOHNSON: Absolutely. I have an issue with the fact that someone with verifiable mental health issues was gunned down in the street in front of his family.
Duncan further blamed the officers by addressing questions about why the officers didn’t use tasers? “Well, the police chief commissioner said that the officers involved in the shooting didn't have them,” she scoffed. Meanwhile, on NBC Nightly News, correspondent Ron Allen noted that Commissioner Danielle M. Outlaw cited budget restraints.
It’s interesting that Duncan refused to note that fact. Especially since, back in June, the Philadelphia City Council decided to cancel a $19 million increase in police funding and diverted an additional $14 million.
That’s what defunding the police buys you.
CBS’s disgusting anti-police crusade was made possible because of the lucrative sponsorships they had with Ancestry and Prevagen. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they’re funding. CBS Evening News has also requested that people “text Norah” their thoughts at this number: (202) 217-1107.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
CBS Evening News
October 27, 2020
6:43:13 p.m. EasternNORAH O’DONNELL: Tonight, city officials in Philadelphia are appealing for calm following a night of violent protests after police shot and killed a black man in front of his family. The shooting was captured on video and a warning: What you are about to see and hear is disturbing. Here's CBS's Jericka Duncan.
[Cuts to video]
JERICKA DUNCAN: Tonight, the National Guard on alert in Philadelphia after demonstrations turned violent Monday night. Police say 30 of their officers were injured, including one female officer whose leg was broken after she was hit by a vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Oh, my God! He hit a cop.
DUNCAN: The unrest is fueled by the shooting death of 27-year-old Walter Wallace Jr. In cell phone video, he's seen walking towards police. His family claims he had a dinner knife.
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: Put the knife down!
DUNCAN: Wallace's mother tried to intervene.
UNIDENTIFIED OFFICER: Move, move, move.
DUNCAN: Two officers with their guns drawn repeatedly asked him to drop the weapon. [Gunfire] Police say the officers fired at least seven shots each.
DANIELLE M. OUTLAW [commissioner, Philly police): There are many questions that demand answers. Residents have my assurance that those questions will be fully addressed by the investigation.
DUNCAN: This is just the latest in police-involved shootings that have led to protests, including one in Waukegan, Illinois.
Today, twenty-year-old Tafara Williams, who was shot last week in a police-involved shooting that left her boyfriend, Marcellis Stinnette, dead spoke for the first time from her hospital bed.
TAFARA WILLIAMS: I get here and Marcellis is still breathing. I told them please don't shoot. I have a baby. We have a baby. We don't want to die.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Black lives matter!
DUNCAN: At this West Philadelphia community mourns, today we spoke to Wallace's family attorney Shaka Johnson. He said Wallace's pregnant wife told authorities that her husband was bipolar.
You maintain this was an unjustified police shooting?
SHAKA JOHNSON: Absolutely. I have an issue with the fact that someone with verifiable mental health issues was gunned down in the street in front of his family.
[Cuts back to live]
DUNCAN: The Philadelphia mayor says he's reached out to other law enforcement agencies to be on alert, possibly for assistance, and some businesses also plan to close down early tonight.
Norah, a number of people here on this street asked why didn't police just use a taser? Well, the police chief commissioner said that the officers involved in the shooting didn't have them.
O’DONNELL: All right, Jericka Duncan, thank you.
