Teenagers have been involved in fights with knives for a very long time, activist and Black Lives Matter supporter Bree Newsome tweeted Tuesday.
“Teenagers have been having fights including fights involving knives for eons. We do not need police to address these situations by showing up to the scene & using a weapon against one of the teenagers. Y’all need help. I mean that sincerely,” she wrote:
Newsome’s comments came after the Columbus Division of Police released bodycam footage showing the shooting Tuesday of a black teenager who appeared to be armed with a knife.
“The video appears to show the girl fighting with another girl as the officer opens fire,” Breitbart News reported, adding a knife was seen in the teen’s hand as she seemingly tried to stab the girl wearing pink.
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During Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s the ReidOut, host Joy Reid spoke about the fatal police shooting of Ma’Khia Bryant, saying she remembered fights at school where a student had a knife “and teachers were able to defuse that, and they didn’t have guns.”
In a subsequent post, Newsome said people “should be frightened that the ruling white elite have done such a thoroughly successful job of not only disconnecting us from the means of basic self-sufficiency but also convincing us we need armed white officers to manage our children & communities”:
According to her website, Newsome is an artist who garnered national attention in 2015 when she climbed the flagpole at the South Carolina Capitol building and brought down the confederate flag.
Twitter users responded with criticism to Newsome’s tweet regarding teenage knife fights.
“We usually like your takes. Not this time. That girl had a big knife and was about to use it forcefully. Sad situation all around. But the cop (this time!) made a snap decision that saved the girl in pink,” one person wrote.
“‘People have been murdering other people for hundreds of years. We don’t need the police to intervene or interfere in a long standing tradition we have had in our society.’ You are an extremist,” another commented.