Fox's Martha MacCallum: Laquan McDonald's killing is a 'devastating situation for the policeman'
Fox News host Martha MacCallum argued on Wednesday that the lesson that young people should take away from the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald is that they should not be "walking away" from police.
"This is a tragic loss of a 17-year-old boy," the Fox News host admitted while discussing the shooting with several guests. "It is also a devastating situation -- no doubt -- for the policeman."
Conservative radio host Lars Larson asserted that Tuesday night's protests in Chicago were "so wrong" because McDonald was carrying a knife when he was shot by Officer Jason Van Dyke.
"This [police shooting] looks pretty bad, but we have to treat them individually," MacCallum explained. "The person who feels threatened or not threatened in each situation is relevant to what's decided here. But one thing that also needs to be discussed is where are the protesters for the children who are caught in the crossfire in Chicago, for the 400-some people killed in that city of the course of this year?"
"It appears that the outrage is somewhat selective," she added.
"It's not only selective, it's bigoted," Larson agreed. "The fact that Black Lives Matter only focuses on the shooting of citizens by police and in the majority of cases, people who are shot by police are shot for good reason."
"The reports are that this young man was on PCP, he had a knife and he was resisting going to the police officers," MacCallum noted as she played video of McDonald being shot. "And there's another message for young people right here. When the police want to talk to you, you need to put down whatever is in your hands and you need to go over and talk to them."
Emily Tisch Sussman of the Center for American Progress Action Fund reminded MacCallum that it was legal to carry a knife in Chicago.
"And if his past experience has not been police have been respectful and cooperative -- look, it goes both ways," Sussman insisted.
MaCallum interrupted: "But how many situations where someone turns around and says, 'I've got a gripe with you police officer, but I'm going to go with you and then we're going to hash this out.' I mean, this young man should not have been walking away from police who were asking him to come over and talk to them because it ended in absolute tragic circumstances for him and his family."
"But not speaking to police does not equal the ability for them to be shooting 16 times," Sussman observed.
Watch the video below from Fox News' America's Newsroom, broadcast Nov. 25, 2015.