ABC’s Hostin on Columbus Shooting: Not Acceptable for ‘Police to Shoot 16-Year-Old’ over a Knife Fight

ABC News legal analyst and co-host of “The View” Sunny Hostin said on Thursday’s broadcast that it should not be acceptable in America while discussing the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant in Columbus, OH.

Hostin said, “My question is, you know, why is deadly force always the first order of business and especially the first order of business when it comes to Black and Brown people in this country? I mean, when is it OK, and why is it OK? 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.”

She continued, “She was 16-years old, in foster care. Yes, she was yielding a knife, but there were other girls also allegedly attacking her. Let’s compare apples to apples. Let’s compare this young girl, 16-years-old or 17-years-old, to other 17-year-olds. Let’s compare her to Kyle Rittenhouse. He was carrying an assault weapon. Do you know what officers did? The video shows the police shared water with him and thanked him for his presence. After the shooting, he was able to leave the scene, even though caught on video, he walked towards police with his hands up as protesters yelled he had shot people. Let’s also compare him to the Atlanta shooter Robert Aaron Long. He was taken into custody without incident. You know what the officer said who arrested him, that he was having a really bad day. How about comparing him to Dylan Roof? He killed nine churchgoers. He was treated so kindly by police that he was taken to a Burger King. Was de-escalation a possibility here in this case? Not with this black girl, not at all.”

Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN

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