On the same day former police offer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd, a Columbus, Ohio officer shot and killed a 16-year-old black teen, Ma’khia Bryant. Though the left would like to conflate the two incidents, the latter commanded a huge difference: the teen was about to plunge a knife into another girl. But NBC Nightly News didn’t want to clearly show that part of the body camera footage on Wednesday, and they deceptively edited the 911 call to leave out witness accounts of an attempted stabbing.
In 911 audio aired on both ABC’s World News Tonight and CBS Evening News that same evening, a caller can be heard saying: “These grown girls over here trying to fight us, trying to stab us.”
But here’s how NBC correspondent Kevin Tibbles reported it:
TIBBLES: Officer Nicholas Reardon, who joined the force in December of 2019, was responding to a 911 call.
911 CALL: We need a police officer here now.
TIBBLES: Video shows Reardon approaching a group of young people in this driveway.
And whenever the subject of Bryant wielding a knife was broached, it was framed as something that was purported by police. “Just before yesterday's verdict a police officer shot and killed a 16-year-old black girl in Columbus, Ohio, saying she was threatening others with a knife,” announced anchor Lester Holt.
“Police bodycam video shows Ma'khia Bryant's final moments. When a Columbus, Ohio police officer responding to a call gets out of his car and, seconds later, fatally shoots the 16-year-old girl,” reported Tibbles. “Authorities say Bryant was threatening two other girls with a knife.”
In stark contrast, not only did ABC correspondent Trevor Ault play the important part of the 911 call in his report, he also froze the footage and highlighted the knife in Bryant’s hand just inches away from her would-be victim. “It appears Ma'khia Bryant, in the black t-shirt and jeans, swings a knife at the girl in pink, Officer Reardon then firing a burst of shots,” he described to viewers.
For CBS’s part, correspondent David Begnaud reported on the scene in the video by noting “Bryant appears to be chasing one girl, before threatening another.” Adding: “Slowed down, police say the video shows 16-year-old Bryant raising a knife.” The video then zoomed on the hand holding the knife.
On NBC, the only video highlight of the knife came from Tibbles noting “body camera footage shows a knife on the ground.” And to seemingly cast doubt on the fact she was attacking people, the NBC chyron claimed Bryant was simply "holding knife."
All three of those descriptions can be seen in the video above.
The NewsBusters archive of liberal media bias shows us this wasn’t the first time NBC had deceptively edited a 911 leading up to a shooting. In 2012, the network edited 911 audio during the George Zimmerman incident and had to fire three employees, including a producer, and was forced to apologize. It's also worth pointing that late last month when accepting the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award, Holt declared that "fairness is overrated."
What will happen now?
NBC’s deceptive editing of a 911 call was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Febreze and Ford Motor Company. Their contact information is linked so you tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
NBC Nightly News
April 21, 2021
7:07:03 p.m. EasternLESTER HOLT: Just before yesterday's verdict a police officer shot and killed a 16-year-old black girl in Columbus, Ohio, saying she was threatening others with a knife. Police body cam video was quickly released. Our Kevin Tibbles has that story. And I need to caution you, the images are difficult to watch.
[Cuts to video]
KEVIN TIBBLES: Police bodycam video shows Ma'khia Bryant's final moments. When a Columbus, Ohio police officer responding to a call gets out of his car and, seconds later, fatally shoots the 16-year-old girl.
OFFICER NICHOLAS REARDON: Get down! Get down! Get down! [ Gunshots ]
TIBBLES: Authorities say Bryant was threatening two other girls with a knife.
MICHAEL WOODS (Interim Police Chief]: It's a tragedy. There's no other way to say it. It's a 16-year-old girl.
TIBBLES: Officer Nicholas Reardon, who joined the force in December of 2019, was responding to a 911 call.
911 CALL: We need a police officer here now.
TIBBLES: Video shows Reardon approaching a group of young people in this driveway.
WOODS: What the video shows is the female with the knife attempting to stab the first female.
TIBBLES: Reardon fires his weapon four times, striking Bryant. Officers are seen and heard performing CPR. Body camera footage shows a knife on the ground. The city released video from the incident within hours and launched an independent investigation.
NED PETTUS (Public Safety Director): We have to ask ourselves, what information did the officer have? What did he see? How much time did he have to assess the situation? And what would have happened if he had taken no action at all?
TIBBLES: The Columbus mayor pushing for transparency during the investigation.
MAYOR ANDREW GINTHER: That investigation will help us determine whether or not there was a violation of any laws, policies or procedures. And if there were, the officer will be held accountable.
[Cuts to video]
TIBBLES: Officer Reardon has been placed on administrative leave for the duration of the investigation. Meanwhile, tonight here in Columbus civic leaders are calling for calm. Lester?
HOLT: Okay. Kevin, thank you.
