It is a scary time for the United States as Mr. Trump continues his attacks on the media and creates a hostile climate towards journalists. Last Thursday, UN experts warned in a report that Trump’s “vitriolic rhetoric” could result in violence against journalists.
Sadly and not so shockingly, it was reported that on Friday, CSPAN had to report to the FBI that a caller threatened violence against two journalists – CNN hosts Don Lemon and Brian Stelter. During an “open phones” segment of CSPAN’s “Washington Journal” series on Friday morning, a viewer who claimed to be from State College, Pennsylvania, called in to discuss criticism of the media.
The network made a statement saying that the caller made “specific references” to Stelter and Lemon. C-SPAN said that he “ended his call with what seemed to be a threat directed to the two journalists.” The threat was reported to The FBI. According to C-SPAN:
‘Specific threats of violence on C-SPAN are reported to the appropriate authorities. On Friday, C-SPAN reported the incident and all relevant information to the FBI. Subsequently, C-SPAN cooperated fully with CNN Security officials.’
STATEMENT FROM C-SPAN ABOUT AUGUST 3, 2018 VIEWER CALL TO WASHINGTON JOURNAL
C-SPAN's guidelines for the Washington Journal can be found by clicking on the FAQ link here: https://t.co/Qx2bkhPiok. pic.twitter.com/685spL9mg3
— CSPAN (@cspan) August 6, 2018
‘They don’t even know these Americans out here and they are calling us racists because we voted for Trump? Come on. Give me a break. They started the war. I see them, I’m going to shoot them.’
This came just hours after Mr. Trump had issued a Sunday tweet attacking the media and calling the press “the enemy of the people.”
Here’s what Twitter had to say about the threats to Lemon and Stelter:
Featured image is a screenshot from YouTube
