MadameNoire
Source: Lou Rocco / Getty
During this morning’s episode of The View, the ladies shared their various reactions to the police body cam footage that captured the death of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant. As they shared their thoughts on the tragic video, Twitter gave the women both praise and criticism regarding what they had to say.
As we reported yesterday, Ma’Khia was shot and killed by a police officer earlier this week on Tuesday in Columbus, Ohio. As sources claim, police were called to the scene after she reported a disturbance. While some have reported that Ma’Khia was being jumped by a number of other young girls, the information is yet to have been formally confirmed. In police body cam footage of the incident, the 16-year-old was seen holding a knife and seemingly attempting to harm another girl before a police officer — who’s been identified as Nicholas Reardon earlier today — shot her four times in the chest.
While the ladies of The View discussed the disturbing footage, Twitter users commended Sunny Hostin’s apt, fair, and compassionate response to the video as she raised questions on why de-escalation tactics often taken by police officers in past dangerous situations weren’t taken with Ma’Khia that could have ultimately spared her life.
“Why is deadly force always the first order of business?” Hostin asked today amidst the show. “And especially the first order of business when it comes to Black and Brown people in this country. When is it okay and why is it okay? We shouldn’t live in a country — quite frankly — where it’s acceptable for the police to shoot a 16-year-old four times in the chest over a fight.”
“It goes from zero to execution very, very quickly when there is a black or brown person involved. That is just the truth,” she said candidly.
As she went on, Hostin highlighted that the comparison of Ma’Khia’s death to George Floyd’s murder was a false parallel because of the ages of the victims (Floyd was 46, Ma’Khia was 16) and the different circumstances they were in when they met their untimely deaths. In Floyd’s case, police were called in because a store clerk said he made a purchase with a fake $20 bill. In Ma’Khia’s case — despite new information still being released on exactly what happened — Sunny recalled the aforementioned details about the child reportedly being the one who called the police to the scene, and that she was “wielding a knife” to assumably harm another young girl.
According to the co-host, while it can’t be overlooked that the Ma’Khia was armed with a weapon and seemingly dangerous in the video, police have de-escalated other similar situations without having to kill anyone the way Ma’Khia was. As Hostin pointed out, Kyle Rittenhouse, Robert Arron Long, and Dylan Roof — white males who were 21 or younger at the time of the shootings surrounding their respective cases — all were apprehended by the police amidst situations where they were the threat without having to lose their lives in the process.
As a side note to the poignant and thoughtful commentary Hostin had, co-host Megan McCain also had people buzzing. Admist sharing her perspective, McCain mentioned that she had issues with Lebron James’ now-deleted tweet where he posted a photo of the cop who shot Ma’Khia with a message that read, “YOUR NEXT ⏳ #ACCOUNTABLITY.” Additionally, she questioned where Ma’Khia’s guardians were amidst the chaotic scene before her death and overall said that the incident was hard to talk about because she was “raised to respect authority.”
See the full clip of what the ladies of The View had to say about the footage of Ma’Khia’s death and tweets about their reactions down below.
