On the one-year anniversary of the murder of George Floyd, the defund the police crowd saw the results of their policy play out Tuesday, as people gathering in the George Floyd Square autonomous zone in Minneapolis were sent scrambling for cover when a gunman opened fire. And while CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News gave the shooting a combined 33 seconds of air-time (22 and 11 seconds respectively), ABC’s World News Tonight ignored it completely.
Instead of reporting on the shooting in the Democratic city trying to dismantle their police department, ABC spent time focusing on the weather, the super flower blood moon (a lunar eclipse), and touting the Manhattan district attorney for putting together a grand jury to investigate the Trump Organization (all three of the networks gushed about that one).
Meanwhile, Fox News Channel’s Special Report and anchor Bret Baier kicked off their newscast with the Associate Press video of reporter Philip Crowther that captured the shooting as it happened:
BAIER: Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, shots rang out this morning near the intersection where Floyd was killed last year. This is what it looked and sounded like live with an Associated Press reporter.
CROWTHER (as gunshots ring out): They wanted this bill of comprehensive police reform to be – Just got to be careful here with some gunshots. Excuse us. It sounds like gunshots.
BAIER: You don't have to say excuse me when you’re getting out of the way there. But one report said as many as 30 gunshots were heard at that spot.
Fox News correspondent Garrett Tenney was right next to the AP journalist and shared what a resident told him about the violence in the area. “And one neighbor who ran and took cover with us said it really wasn't too big of a deal because of how often it happens there,” he said.
He added: “Minneapolis is one of several major cities where, one year later, the push for changes in policing is getting complicated by a rise in violent crime.”
As CBS chief justice correspondent Jeff Pegues was brushing over the rise in violence in the city, Tenney accurately pointed out that it was the Democratic Party stance of defund the police that got them there.
“Minneapolis has become ground zero for the debate over defunding the police, as the city council slashed more than $8 million from the police department’s budget and more than 200 officers either retired early or went on extended medical leave,” he told viewers. “The city’s been hit by a wave of violence. Prompting a Wall Street Journal columnist dub it ‘open season in Minneapolis.’”
Tenney also pointed to the fact that Democratic Mayor Jacob Frey has begged superior law enforcement agencies for help because “his police department is overwhelmed and needs additional manpower from state and federal agencies until more officers can be hired. But one former MPD officer who left says in the current climate it will be hard to find and keep folks on the force.”
ABC’s refusal to cover the shooting in the George Floyd Square autonomous zone was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from IBM and Fidelity. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they fund.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
Fox News Channel’s Special Report
May 25, 2021
6:00:24 p.m. EasternBRET BAIER: Breaking tonight, the one-year anniversary of the death of George Floyd brings with it a stark reminder of the violence plaguing many major American cities, the deadly consequences of that happening. President Biden met with Floyd's family today at the White House. Meanwhile, in Minneapolis, shots rang out this morning near the intersection where Floyd was killed last year. This is what it looked and sounded like live with an Associated Press reporter.
PHILIP CROWTHER (AP) (as gunshots ring out): They wanted this bill of comprehensive police reform to be – Just got to be careful here with some gunshots. Excuse us. It sounds like gunshots.
BAIER: You don't have to say excuse me when you’re getting out of the way there. But one report said as many as 30 gunshots were heard at that spot. Correspondent Garrett Tenney was there when the trouble began. He joins us live now. Good evening, Garrett.
GARRETT TENNEY: Bret, good evening, we were actually standing right next to that reporter for the Associated Press when that gun fight broke out. And one neighbor who ran and took cover with us said it really wasn't too big of a deal because of how often it happens there.
Minneapolis is one of several major cities where one year later the push for changes in policing is getting complicated by a rise in violent crime.
(…)
6:02:11 p.m. Eastern
TENNEY: Today was also marked with gunfire at George Floyd Square, an area that's become an autonomous zone as more than a dozen shots were fired while cameras rolled and people ducked for cover.
PROTESTERS: Defund the police.
TENNEY: Minneapolis has become ground zero for the debate over defunding the police, as the city council slashed more than $8 million from the police department’s budget and more than 200 officers either retired early or went on extended medical leave.
The city’s been hit by a wave of violence. Prompting a Wall Street Journal columnist dub it “‘open season’ in Minneapolis.”
HEATHER MAC DONALD: The cops are backing off and criminals are emboldened. And if we don't turn this around, this is going to be a very bad summer.
TENNEY: Minneapolis is one of several major cities experiencing a spike in violent crime, with murders also up by double digits in New York City, Chicago, and Atlanta. And up by more than 800 percent in Portland.
The calls to defund are now being replaced by calls for help. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey says his police department is overwhelmed and needs additional manpower from state and federal agencies until more officers can be hired. But one former MPD officer who left says in the current climate it will be hard to find and keep folks on the force.
STEVE DYKSTRA: It's a tough place to work. You don't want to be proactive right now up there. If you stick your neck out, you’re going to get your head cut off as a police officer.
[Cuts back to live]
TENNEY: The city council’s efforts to dismantle the police department are now on hold and it will now be up to voters who will decide in November if they want to keep the police department or replace it with a new public safety division.
