Dallas Station Fox4 Blasted for Report on Marijuana Found in Apartment of Man Killed By Cop in His Own Home
A local news station in Dallas was hit with a wave of backlash Thursday after reporting that marijuana had been found in the apartment of a black man gunned down by a police officer in his own home.
Fox 4 was blasted on Twitter after publishing a story bearing the headline “Search warrant: Marijuana found in Botham Jean‘s apartment after deadly shooting.”
Jean was killed by Amber Guyger after she entered his apartment apparently thinking it was her own the night of Sept. 6. According to The Dallas Morning News, Guyger claimed the door was ajar and the lights were turned off when she walked in, eventually shooting Jean.
Fox 4 has now been widely rebuked by reporters and others who say its focus on the marijuana found in Jean’s home is completely irrelevant to the story of his tragic death.
Catch up on the story with the reactions below:
How is this germane to what happened? https://t.co/83LrJMHztu
— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) September 13, 2018
you guys realize you don’t need to be fox news right https://t.co/AQeFLYowxy
— Tom Namako (@TomNamako) September 13, 2018
How in God’s name is that relevant or newsworthy? https://t.co/G7EIPpjua8
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) September 13, 2018
Truly despicable, maddeningly despicable, news judgement. https://t.co/RFt9QEOtsk
— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) September 13, 2018
Fuck the @DallasPD and fuck @Fox4 for rolling with this headline. #BothamJean is the VICTIM.
He was shot and killed in his own apartment.
WHAT WAS FOUND IN AMBER GUYGER’S APARTMENT? IN HER CAR? PURSE?
Why is Botham being treated like the perpetrator of a crime here? https://t.co/XMx5r6k8uc
— Shaun King (@shaunking) September 13, 2018
Botham Jean was a churchgoing man who contributed to his community and was shot by a cop in his own home for no reason but you know there was weed there, so
— Jane Coaston (@cjane87) September 13, 2018
I don’t care if he was sleeping on a mountain of heroin…. that cop broke in and shot him. She was in the wrong. #BothamJean
— Mickey White (@BiasedGirl) September 13, 2018
Utterly irrelevant. He could have been running the world’s largest illegal marijuana dispensary and that would make no difference whatsoever to the facts, or change that he was the innocent victim here. https://t.co/vg10daKKuo
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) September 13, 2018
So what? He is a murder victim. Maybe focus on that https://t.co/qqE7dTwudw
— Daniel Larison (@DanielLarison) September 13, 2018
Well then I guess it’s fine he was shot for no reason in his own apartment for doing nothing https://t.co/NgbGOFCjS6
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) September 13, 2018
Go to hell https://t.co/dzm5FLwLUD
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) September 13, 2018
If there was an award for the worst journalism this would be a really strong contender. Congratulations to everyone at Fox 4 News. https://t.co/L9Z5rNus1b
— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) September 13, 2018
I used to work at a station that was a direct competitor of FOX 4, and not once at my tenure there was I ever even 10% as perturbed at them as I am today.
— Levi Weaver (@ThreeTwoEephus) September 13, 2018
This smear is despicable. The man was minding his own business in his home when an intruder tried to break in and then killed him.
— Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) September 13, 2018
Fox 4 should be ashamed of themselves for falling for the police’s BS here. This is journalistic malpractice. https://t.co/jPFAcoW3OS
— Kyle Feldscher (@Kyle_Feldscher) September 13, 2018
That @FOX4 tweet is a prime example of how local newsrooms, as crucial as they are, can still be painfully unequipped and ill-prepared for the world we live in.
Following the old playbook like it’s 2010.
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) September 13, 2018
[Image via screengrab]
