Al Sharpton Attacks CNN’s John King For ‘Coded, Offensive Language’ Describing Boston Suspect As ‘Dark-Skinned’

Story by Mediaite
Written by Noah Rothman
Video by MSNBC

MSNBC host Rev. Al Sharpton tore into CNN reporter John King when he described a supposed suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing as a “dark-skinned male.” Sharpton railed against King’s “offensive, coded language.” He said that, in that moment, King turned every minority in the city of Boston into a terror suspect.

“I was told by one of these sources, who is a law enforcement official, that this was a dark-skinned male,” he said of the supposed suspect in the case. This report that the authorities had a suspect in the bombing case in custody turned out to be inaccurate. King said this after making a number of caveats about the potentially offensive nature of his comment.

“Dark-skinned male?” Sharpton asked. “Coded, offensive language.”

He quotes Washington Post media critic Erik Wemple who observed that King’s reporting was not helpful to either the criminal investigators or to the public. Wemple wrote that King’s report broadcast “Information that borders on inflammatory.”

“These comments are very offensive,” Sharpton said. “They have no place in our discourse.”

“What King’s words did is to make every dark-skinned male in Boston a suspect, and that’s shameful,” Sharpton concluded.