A Rutgers professor appeared on MSNBC’s “ReidOut” talk show Thursday night, where she came to the overwhelming defense of Ma’Khia Bryant, a 16-year-old who was shot by a police officer as she was lunging with a knife at another girl.
A panel discussion about the Columbus, Ohio, shooting on “ReidOut” featured the Rev. Al Sharpton, psychologist Phillip Atiba Goff, and Brittney Cooper, who is a Rutgers University associate professor of gender and Africana studies.
“The argument for our movements has never been that black people have to be perfect in order for them to deserve dignity, for us to have good policing, for us to be viewed with humanity, for cops to take a breath before they literally get out of the car guns blazing,” Cooper told host Joy Reid.
Cooper claimed that the prosecution of Derek Chauvin had to be “impeccable” to get a conviction against the former police officer, who was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.
WHAT?! MSNBC's Joy Reid, guest blame the Columbus police officer for having somehow triggered #MaKhiaBryant into wanting to stab one of the other girls on the scene.
They add that Bryant didn't deserve to die because she was having an off day and not behaving "perfect" pic.twitter.com/emtnqXIkfq
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) April 22, 2021