A police officer in St. Louis, Missouri reportedly shot and killed a knife-wielding thief on Tuesday afternoon. Almost immediately following the incident, MSNBC attempted to use it to stir controversy.
The shooting occurred after the suspect allegedly attempted to rob a 5-Star Market convenience store in the northern part of the city, according to Fox2Now.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that after the suspect robbed the store, a market employee followed him out, telling him that he would need to pay for the items. When the man refused and continued “acting erratically,” an employee called police.
Officers arrived on the scene shortly, which is when the man allegedly pulled out a knife, according to the St. Louis Dispatch. Officers ordered the man to put down his weapon, but instead, the suspect reportedly came at the officers with the knife. A policeman shot the man “when he got within two or three feet of the officers,” the Post-Dispatch reported.
Almost immediately after the incident occurred, MSNBC’s Christopher Hayes took to Twitter. In an apparent attempt to portray the shooting as unjust, Hayes tweeted that the local “neighborhood [is] now congregating, angry.” He added that the upset residents are demanding to know why the cop didn’t use a taser instead of shooting the suspect.
Everyone yelling: why not use the taser.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) August 19, 2014
“Neighborhood people saying he was mentally challenged. Saying ‘Hands up! don’t shoot!’ Tense bad scene here,” Hayes added.
Hayes made no indication that he had spoken with law enforcement to find out what actually occurred. Additionally, it is not clear whether or not the “neighborhood people” he spoke with witnessed the event firsthand.
Neighborhood people saying he was mentally challenged. Saying “Hands up! don’t shoot!” Tense bad scene here.
— Christopher Hayes (@chrislhayes) August 19, 2014
In fact, other news outlets have already reported that the shooting did not transpire the way Hayes suggests. The St. Louis Dispatch reported that witnesses told police that the man was screaming, “Shoot me, kill me now!”
St. Louis Police Chief Sam Dotson reportedly added that the suspect was “armed with a knife, acting erratically, pacing back and forth in the street, talking to himself.”
Breitbart Texas Managing Director Brandon Darby also pointed out the irony in the the alleged calls for taser use. Many on the left, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have heavily criticized the use of tasers by law enforcement.
Just this week, the ACLU published a report called “Dangerously Out of Bounds: Tasers in Nebraska.” Amy Miller, an ACLU director, said in a statement on Tuesday, “The lack of oversight and guidance for law enforcement officers who may be using a Taser is beyond appalling. 50,000 volts of electricity can be lethal.”
Follow Kristin Tate on Twitter @KristinBTate.
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