While covering the mass shooting in Boulder, Colorado, on Monday night, Sean Hannity took an opportunity to make a link between the media coverage of Monday night’s violent rampage and that of the contentious and at-times violent protests with Black Lives Matter at the helm.
His comments came as multiple news outlets were reporting that 10 people, including one police officer, were killed when a gunman targeted a King Soopers grocery store Monday afternoon. Ahmad Alissa, 21, has been named as the lone suspect in the heinous act of violence that marks a series of mass shootings that have plagued Colorado during the last two decades.
Rather than delving into the context of the repeated massacres that have occurred in the state, Hannity and his guest Dan Bongino, a former cop, focused their discussion on the recent calls to defund police by certain advocates, including some in the Black Lives Matter movement. The “Hannity” host and Bongino heralded the courage of 51-year-old Eric Talley, who was the first officer to respond to the scene, according to authorities. He died in the massacre.
“You know, we’re often reminded and then we forget,” Hannity said. “Remember, ‘What do we want? Dead cops. When do we want them? Now. Pigs in a blanket. Fry them like bacon.’”
“Bottles, rocks, bricks, Molotov cocktails. They’re not riots, we were told all summer to over 2,500 cops injured, but these are the cops that go put themselves in harm’s way and in this case, we lost one tonight.”
Bongino took a step further by stating that “social workers” would not have been able to defuse the shooting, pointing out that the “defund police” movement’s suggestion of removing officers from such situations would be detrimental.
“I have such respect for what these guys do. Just remember this one thing, every time I heard gunshots as a police officer, everybody’s running away. ... It’s the cops going this way, toward the gunshots, the only ones by the way, and no one should ever forget that.”
Despite the pundits’ commentary, several analyses of last summer’s riots spoke to the police response as a “widespread failure in police nationwide,” according to a recent report by The New York Times. Their analysis found that some of the police forces responding to the untamed protests were “stunningly unprepared” for the aftermath that occurred after the demonstrations erupted following the death of George Floyd, who died after a police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck for several minutes.
Hannity’s coverage Monday did not speak to the national uptick in mass shootings during the last two decades. Others who dissected the news of the grocery store massacre explored the personal impact to families, debates over gun control and Colorado’s history of several mass shootings, including those in Aurora and one of the first massive school shootings in Columbine.
Victims of Monday afternoon’s deadly shooting are Rikki Olds, a 25-year-old employee of the store; Denny Stong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Tralona Bartkowiak, 49; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Teri Leiker, 51; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.
“This is a tragedy and a nightmare for Boulder County,” said Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty. “These were people going about their day, doing their shopping. I promise the victims and the people of the state of Colorado that we will secure justice.”
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