Timothy Pool, who became famous as a journalist when in 2011, he gave a 21-hour marathon report during the Occupy Wall Street protests, has decided he has to flee reporting on the Milwaukee riots because he is perceived as “white,” even though he is half-Korean.
Even Pool’s rampant leftism and sympathy for leftist causes, evidenced in his commentary about local journalists annoying the poor rioters by “getting up in their business” of rioters, couldn’t blind him to the frightening racism and intended violence of the protesters.
In a video explaining his actions, Pool stared by reporting on what had already happened, concluding, “It culminated with an 18-year-old white kid being shot in the neck yesterday. Here’s why I called him a white kid, and I’m gonna explain to you why I’m leaving.”
Pool continued:
We got reports coming in that white people were attacked by crowds. From the sound of things it just sounded like press, it was journalists that were being attacked. Coming in I chalked that up to, “The press, they can be annoying. And I totally understand. You got the dumb local affiliates, not knowing what they’re doing, coming in with their cameras, getting up into your business. It’s annoying, it makes you angry, and I totally get that. But upon arriving here, one of the first things we hear is the crowd getting angry and saying, “What are these white people doing here?
I take all that stuff with a grain of salt; it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is unsafe … but thing started getting really tense later in the night when people started screaming, “F*** white people! White people suck!” A reporter was grabbed by some locals threatened and told to leave; another instance a reporter was smacked upside the head by a local who then tried to rally people to come and attack us. Things got to the point where I started to question whether or not to be here when I saw an 18-year-old white kid holding his neck and the police run in to extract him.
… For those who are perceivably white, it’s not safe to be here … for those who are wondering, I’m actually Korean, I’m mixed, but most people down here, when I was covering this, they don’t make that conclusion, they just look at me and start saying things about white people.
“I’m actually Korean, I’m mixed, but most people down here, when I was covering this, they don’t make that conclusion, they just look at me and start saying things about white people.”
Tim Pool
Video below: