The White House has just broken its silence on the death of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant.
The Biden administration was quick to blame the cop who shot and killed Bryant in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday after the teenager “appeared to attack another person with a knife,” Breitbart reported.
Psaki weighs in
Columbus Police released body camera footage Tuesday that showed Bryant, who is Black, wielding a knife and apparently fighting with another young girl when she was shot.
Despite the video, which has only been released in part, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was quick to suggest the cop involved made the wrong move.
“The killing of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant by the Columbus Police is tragic,” she said, according to Breitbart. “She was a child. We’re thinking of her friends and family and the communities that are hurting and grieving her loss.”
Psaki also pointed out that Bryant’s death came the same day that America learned the verdict in the case against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin, who was convicted of murdering 46-year-old George Floyd during an arrest last year, according to the Associated Press.
“Her death came…just as America was hopeful of a step forward after the traumatic and exhausting trial of Derek Chauvin, and the verdict was reached,” Psaki said of Bryant.
Making it political
Of course, Psaki couldn’t pass up an opportunity to make it political. “Our focus is on working to address systemic racism and implicit bias head-on and, of course, to passing laws and legislation that will put much-needed reforms into place at police departments around the country,” she said this week, according to The Hill.
The press secretary wasn’t the only one to criticize the police in the wake of the shooting, however. Basketball star LeBron James became a point of controversy for a now-deleted tweet suggesting ominously that the officer involved in Bryant’s death would be “next.”
In response, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) accused James of inciting violence against a police officer. “Is the NBA okay with this? Is Twitter?” he wrote in a tweet.
Lebron James is inciting violence against an Ohio police officer.
This is disgraceful and dangerous.
Is the NBA okay with this? Is Twitter?
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) April 21, 2021
Bryant’s shooting will certainly face more intense scrutiny in the coming weeks as the investigation unfolds. We can only hope the media follows the facts rather than a biased narrative.
The post White House breaks silence on shooting death of 16-year-old in Ohio first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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