• Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Illinois Network
    • Minneapolis Network
    • Tulsa Network
    • Wauwatosa Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Law Officer
Law Officer
No Result
View All Result

NBC News denies there are riots in Minneapolis

This network is living in an alternate reality

charred body

Minneapolis riots, 2020. (File photo)

May 29, 2020
Law OfficerbyLaw Officer
Share and speak up for justice, law & order...

MINNEAPOLIS – NBC News came under scrutiny Thursday for allegedly telling its reporters to refer to the events in Minneapolis this week as “protests” and not “riots,” according to one of its anchors.

Craig Melvin, an MSNBC host and co-anchor of “Today,” shed some light as to how his network is framing its reporting, according to FOX News.

“This will guide our reporting in MN. ‘While the situation on the ground in Minneapolis is fluid, and there has been violence, it is most accurate at this time to describe what is happening there as ‘protests’ — not riots,'” Melvin tweeted Thursday morning.

This will guide our reporting in MN. “While the situation on the ground in Minneapolis is fluid, and there has been violence, it is most accurate at this time to describe what is happening there as "protests"–not riots.”

— Craig Melvin (@craigmelvin) May 28, 2020

Then, right in line with the company’s marching orders, an MSNBC journalist attempted to explain that the violence that erupted in Minneapolis on Thursday night was “mostly a protest” despite a building burning right behind him. 

NBC News
(Twitter)

Ali Velshi was reporting live from the Twin Cities amid the uproar following the death of 46-year-old George Floyd. Velshi attempted to explain that what he was witnessing was “calmer” than the night prior.

“For most of the day, today, it looked a lot calmer than yesterday looked,” Velshi began after showing his colleague Brian Williams some of the destruction that took place. “And that’s what happened yesterday. It picked up later in the evening. The crowds gathered here and the standoff with the police looked very different last night.”

  • OFFICER CODY HOLTE MURDERED WHILE ASSISTING DEPUTIES WHO WERE TAKING GUNFIRE DURING EVICTION PROCEEDING

Velshi then acknowledged that he could see “four fires” within his vicinity, including a liquor store that was burning behind him as well as the 3rd Precinct police department, which was earlier evacuated before the crowd set it on fire, FOX News reported.

“I want to be clear on how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not, generally speaking, unruly but fires have been started and this crowd is relishing that,” Velshi told Williams. “There is a deep sense of grievance and complaint here, and that is the thing. That when you discount people who are doing things to public property that they shouldn’t be doing, it does have to be understood that this city has got, for the last several years, an issue with police, and it’s got a real sense of the deep sense of grievance of inequality.”

MSNBC reporter just now: "I want to be clear on how I characterize this. This is mostly a protest. It is not generally speaking unruly."

The guy is literally standing in front of a burning building in the middle of a riot. pic.twitter.com/IzCV6On4sF

— Caleb Hull (@CalebJHull) May 29, 2020

Melvin’s tweet raised eyebrows among critics who accused the network of downplaying the violence that took place in the city to protest the death of Floyd.

“What kind of alternate reality is this where the mass looting and burning of businesses is not considered a riot by a news network? A protest is what we had here in LA last night. What’s happening in Minneapolis is the textbook definition of a riot. Protesters don’t loot. Period,” local Fox affiliate reporter Bill Melugin tweeted.

What kind of alternate reality is this where the mass looting and burning of businesses is not considered a riot by a news network? A protest is what we had here in LA last night. What’s happening in Minneapolis is the textbook definition of a riot. Protesters don’t loot. Period. https://t.co/0I3EJXHNdk

— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) May 28, 2020

“Tell that to the store owners whose businesses burned down,” Media Research Center Vice President Dan Gainor tweeted in response.

Tell that to the store owners whose businesses burned down. https://t.co/8TTin5JMpX

— Dan Gainor (@dangainor) May 28, 2020

“NBC says that the riots are not riots. Those ‘protests’ must have magically caused spontaneous combustion that lit buildings on fire, threw flatscreen TVs into the hands of innocent ‘protestors’ and caused hands to slam hammers into cash registers. What a wild series of events!” filmmaker Robby Starbuck tweeted.

NBC says that the riots are not riots. Those "protests" must have magically caused spontaneous combustion that lit buildings on fire, threw flatscreen TV’s into the hands of innocent "protestors" and caused hands to slam hammers into cash registers. What a wild series of events! https://t.co/z4zUPfDBkh

— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 28, 2020

The protests in the Twin Cities were sparked by the death of Floyd, a black man who died Monday after a white police officer kneeled on his neck for several minutes as he was being arrested over alleged forgery.

  • UTAH OFFICER KILLED DURING CALL OF DOMESTIC VIOLENCE

Video footage that went viral from the arrest showed Floyd telling the police officer “I can’t breathe” as passersby begged the officers to get off him. Moments later, his lifeless body was laying on the ground.

The four police officers involved with the arrest have been fired from the Minneapolis Police Department. Criminal charges have yet to be made but a federal investigation is underway.

 


Share and speak up for justice, law & order...
Tags: Ali VelshiCraig MelvinMinneapolis riotsMSNBCNBC NewsprotestsriotsSpecial Topics
Law Officer

Law Officer

Law Officer is the only major law enforcement publication and website owned and operated by law enforcement—for law enforcement and supporters of justice, law, and order. This unique facet makes Law Officer much more than just a publishing company, but a true advocate for the law enforcement profession.

Related Posts

anti-police activity

Anti-Police Activity Goes Professional

December 4, 2022
BLM protesters

Minneapolis reaches $600,000 settlement with BLM protesters

December 3, 2022
Minneapolis councilman

Antifa planning protests in these cities on New Years Eve

December 31, 2021
Rittenhouse jurors

Officer bodycam video appears to show NBC was intentionally following Rittenhouse jurors

December 2, 2021
bans MSNBC

Judge bans MSNBC from Rittenhouse trial after producer accused of following jury bus

November 18, 2021
Matthew Rupert

Minneapolis rioter receives 9-year prison sentence

August 11, 2021
Load More

Latest Articles

chief michel moore

Every LAPD undercover officers’ info released; Chief Michel Moore admits gaffe as threats rise

March 25, 2023
Simone Bryna Kim

Unruly airline passenger kicks, scratches, and bites officers as she’s carried off aircraft

March 25, 2023

Wyatt Earp and Memento Mori

March 24, 2023
Corrina Woodhull

Minnesota man viciously stabs wife 20 times during Bible study, killing mother of five

March 24, 2023
domestic violence

Police in the Living Room – Dealing with Domestic Violence Calls

March 24, 2023
Arin Hankerd

Gym teacher arrested for having sex with underage student

March 24, 2023
Load More

Weekly E-Newsletter

Subscribe—and get the latest news and editorials direct from Law Officer each week!

[newsletter_form type="minimal"]

JOIN THE FIGHT

BE COURAGEOUS

FIND MORE…

Law Officer

© 2021 LawOfficer.com

LawOfficer.com

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact

Speak up for justice, law & order

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Illinois Network
    • Minneapolis Network
    • Tulsa Network
    • Wauwatosa Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact

© 2021 LawOfficer.com