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CNN's Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo actually defend officer who fatally shot teen girl who swung knife at other females
Image source: YouTube screenshot

CNN's Don Lemon, Chris Cuomo actually defend officer who fatally shot teen girl who swung knife at other females

"If the woman in the pink was my sister, niece, wife, whatever … you have to make a decision,' Lemon said. 'Is one life on that scene more valuable than another?'

CNN's Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo on Wednesday night appeared to defend the officer who fatally shot a teenage girl caught on police bodycam video swinging a knife at other females during a fight in front of a Columbus, Ohio, residence the previous day.

What did Lemon and Cuomo have to say?

TheBlaze regularly takes to task Lemon and Cuomo for radical, leftist commentary they add to the news, but in this instance the pair delivered fair-minded, sober perspectives on the tragic incident, which took place just before the verdict was read in the Derek Chauvin murder trial.

As Cuomo was signing off his program and passing the baton to Lemon, the pair began talking about the shooting. Lemon noted there was a "lot of emotion" and "lot of anguish" about it, but he pivoted and said, "We've got to be fair about what happens when police arrive at scenes."

He explained that despite the fact that the victim was an adolescent, "when police are chasing people, they don't know how old they are."

"When they roll up on a scene, they see people tussling around, someone has a knife, and their job is to protect and serve every life on that scene," Lemon continued. "And if they see someone who is in the process of taking a life ... what decision do they have to make?"

They both also countered arguments many have made asserting that the officer could have used a Taser instead of a gun in that situation.

"Tasers don't work the way guns work," Lemon offered.

"Not at that distance," Cuomo noted in agreement. "And not with that amount of time."

Lemon reminded viewers that Tasters "don't always connect" — the prongs have to grab the skin correctly in order for the electrical charge to effectively disable a suspect.

'That's why I'm not a police officer'

Then Lemon invoked the female who nearly became a victim: "If the woman in the pink was my sister, niece, wife, whatever … you have to make a decision. Is one life on that scene more valuable than another? And if someone is trying to take a life on that scene, do you protect the life of the person trying to take the life, or do you protect the life of the person whose life is in imminent danger at that point? That's why I'm not a police officer."

He also observed that "at a certain distance, a stabbing, a knife can be much more lethal than a bullet. And especially if you get stabbed in the artery, in the temple, somewhere that you're gonna bleed out."

Cuomo said, "I feel for that officer. You can hear it in his voice when ... the man on the side was saying, 'You shot my baby! You shot my baby!' And [the officer] said, 'She had a knife, she went right at her.' You know this is something that he's gonna have to live with also."

Lemon added, "Either way in that position, I think that someone's life probably would have ended. It could have been the other woman in the pink, or it could've been the 16-year-old who sadly ended up dying."

Cuomo said he had spoken to "an older woman of color" about the shooting and that a man told the officer, "You shot my baby" — and the woman told Cuomo, "Shame on him!"

'Where were the parents? What were they doing?'

When Cuomo questioned why the woman had that reaction, he said she told him, "He came running out of that house; why didn't he stop it? Where were the parents? What were they doing? .. why did the police have to come and control that situation? Why didn't he?"

Cuomo also observed that the man who ran out of the house is seen on bodycam video trying to kick a female in the head: "He's an active part of the fight; the adults have to be adults, too."

He also said that, in the end, the officer has a "duty to use force to protect his own life or the life of another."

Don Lemon And Chris Cuomo Defend The Officer Who Shot Ma'Khia Bryantyoutu.be

Anything else?

Lemon and Cuomo stand out from others on the left who remain upset about the shooting, despite the fact that it's clearly visible that the teen girl was swinging a knife.

Such as NBA superstar LeBron James, who posted a tweet to his 50 million followers threatening the Columbus police officer who pulled the trigger, posting an image allegedly of the officer and adding the text, "YOU'RE NEXT."

In addition, numerous media outlets even tried to hide the fact that the teen was swinging a knife when she was shot, outrageously jumping at the chance to refer to her as "unarmed."

And as for those who just want to defund police and keep them away from all those commonplace knife fights between kids, the day before the Columbus incident a 13-year-old girl reportedly stabbed another 13-year-old to death in Cincinnati — and cops were nowhere in sight.

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