Analysis

Here Are Three Important Things The Media Won’t Tell You About The Ma’Khia Bryant Case

   DailyWire.com
Reverend Al Sharpton cries during a press conference following the verdict in the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota on April 20, 2021. - Sacked police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murder and manslaughter on april 20 in the death of African-American George Floyd in a case that roiled the United States for almost a year, laying bare deep racial divisions. (Photo by Kerem Yucel / AFP) (Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)
KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images

Minutes before a jury announced their guilty verdict in the George Floyd trial, social media erupted 0ver the death of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant.

According to WBNS-TV, officers in Columbus, Ohio received a 911 call from a distressed individual saying multiple women were attempting to stab her. Bodycam footage from the incident showed officers arriving to find Bryant wielding a knife at two girls, at which point the responding officer stepped in and fired his service weapon as she appeared to be attempting to stab one of the victims.

“She came at her with a knife,” an officer can be heard saying in the video.

Bryant was taken to a nearby hospital in critical condition, where she was later pronounced dead.

Once news of the incident broke, the media, along with celebrities and the Black Lives Matter movement rushed to paint a picture of yet another unjust police shooting, downplaying or ignoring key details in an attempt to further their desired narrative.

Here are three things they’re refusing to mention about the case.

1. Bryant was wielding a knife

The bodycam footage shows a knife in Bryant’s right hand and two girls running away from her.

2. The rush to judgment was based on one reporter’s cherry-picked facts

WBNS reporter Lacey Crisp broke the story on Twitter and provided updates about BLM’s response. Crisp spoke with Ma’Khia’s mother, Paula Bryant, who said Columbus Police shot and killed her daughter.

In the interview, Paula Bryant characterized her daughter as someone who was “peaceful.”

“She was a very loving, peaceful little girl. She was 16-years-old. She was an honor roll student,” Paula Bryant said. “Ma’Khia had a motherly nature about her. She promoted peace. And that’s something that I want to always be remembered.

Even though WBNS’ original coverage didn’t mention the knife, the story on the website was updated after a press conference with the police chief late Tuesday night. The story now reflects that prominent piece of the puzzle.

“According to Interim Chief Michael Woods, a caller reported females were trying to stab them. A dispatcher tried to obtain more information but was unable to before the call was disconnected,” the article reads. “The footage released by police came from the first officer on the scene. In the video, the teen appears to attempt to stab two people with a knife before the officer fires his weapon.”

Not once on Crisp’s Twitter account does she mention a knife, let alone that Bryant was attempting to stab multiple people.

Leaving out this vital piece of information meant Twitter, national reporters, and activists assumed the officer shot an innocent child for no reason.

Twitter description of the event still doesn’t include any mention of the knife:

Paula Bryant told reporters at the scene of the incident that her daughter, 16-year-old Makhia Bryant, was shot and killed by an officer in Columbus, Ohio, on Tuesday afternoon. Columbus Police have since released body-cam footage from the officer who fired his gun, who has been “taken off the street” while the criminal investigation is ongoing. Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said based on the footage “the officer took action to protect another young girl in our community”. Protesters have gathered on Legion Lane where the shooting took place and outside Columbus Police Headquarters.

3. The media follows the narrative set by Black Lives Matter

Attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the families of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Trayvon Martin, took to Twitter to claim Bryant was “unarmed.”

The New York Times decided to quote Crump, but they omitted the line about Bryant being unarmed, The Washington Examiner reported.

“‘As we breathe a collective sigh of relief today, a community in Columbus felt the sting of another policy shooting’ Mr. Crump said. ‘Another child lost! Another hashtag,'” the NYT wrote.

The Daily Beast’s article stated Bryant “had already dropped the knife in the yard. But police shot her four times without any warning.” The statement was based on an account Bryant’s grandparents provided, even though it ran counter to what the bodycam footage showed.

Users on social media continue to share TikTok videos of Bryant dancing and doing her hair in an attempt to bring even more emotion into an already emotionally charged situation. The nation was on edge with the Chauvin verdict and the timing of this incident added fuel to that fire.

This case, like so many before it, needs to be looked at with a clear head and all the facts presented. Nuance matters, especially when the suspect is a threat to others.

Beth Baumann is a Political Reporter and Editor at The Daily Wire. Follow her on Twitter @eb454.

The views expressed in this piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

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