'Give me a break!' CNN panel aghast as conservative justifies violent protest crackdown

Panelists on "CNN This Morning" shot down a conservative commentator's justification for a violent crackdown on protesters in Minneapolis following the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

The ICE agent fatally shot 37-year-old Renee Good last week in the city, where the Trump administration has surged hundreds of additional federal agents as part of its ongoing crackdown on immigrants. Former Homeland Security official Ashley Davis tried to justify the use of force against the slain mother on CNN Tuesday.

"I don't think theofficer is going to, I mean, Idon't think there's going tobe any repercussions to him," said Davis, who served in the George W. Bush administration. "Ireally think that he, from thevideos that have been shown, Idon't know what the case wouldbe there.

"But I do agree withyou 100 percent that the agitators orprotesters are completelydifferent, look, as kind of, thedays of the 'defund the police'days and others. But I stillthink that there's half of thiscountry that does not, thatreally supports and believes inour military and our lawenforcement and our policeofficers of any type, that theyare not going to like theprotesters."

"Listen, wecan't, I mean, the pepper spraytalking point these days," Davis added. "Imean, if you're up in thesepeople's faces that are trainedto hurt and trained to protect,they're going to pepper sprayyou."

Host Audie Cornish and the other panelists were aghast.

"Having been pepper sprayedduring crowd control – not great," Cornish said. "You know, there's a couple of rules around crowd controland how that's supposed towork. But I want to expand onyour point of view. We heardfrom Texas Republican [Rep.] Chip Royearlier this week."

That GOP lawmaker bashed protesters as "middle-aged white women" wearing "Coke bottle glasses" and attempting to interfere with law enforcement, which he said justified the invocation of the Insurrection Act, and Cornish and other panelists questioned that messaging.

"As somebody who has beenpepper sprayed and who hasparticipated in protests,that's our right as Americancitizens," said Democratic strategist Chuck Rocha, "and I wholeheartedlywant to celebrate our military, and I always back the blue,as you would, But that don'tmean they can kill unarmed American people. I knowthere's a difference of opinionbetween me and Ashley in the waythat that woman used her car,but I think the American people,at the end of the day, are goingto judge this, and they're goingto be on my side because you seewhat you can see, and I justdon't think it's right killingunarmed folks."

"What did you do to get pepper-sprayed, more importantly?" Davis asked, seemingly recoiling from Rocha seated next to her.

"Yeah, thatpoint of view, that's alwayslike, well, what did you do toget in trouble?" Cornish interjected. "It's a littlebit, like, not America. I mean,occasionally you're allowed toprotest."

"But you can't break the law," Davis argued.

"But I was in a Seattleprotest over the environment," Rocha objected, "and they were pepper-spraying everybody becausethat's what they did back inthe '90s."

"And for the record, I waspepper-sprayed in a Red Soxrally," Cornish concluded. "Okay, so settle down,good. Give me a break."

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