The show “Fox & Friends” appeared to suggest on Thursday morning that Attorney General Eric Holder may have incited the shootings of two police officers in Ferguson, Missouri overnight by saying that he was prepared to dismantle the police department there if necessary.
The “Fox & Friends” crew addressed the issue during an interview with Fox News legal analyst Bob Massi. He was criticizing comments Holder made last week at a news conference announcing that the Justice Department had uncovered widespread racial bias by Ferguson police.
At the news conference, Holder was asked if he planned to “dismantle” the Ferguson police force in light of the allegations.
“If that’s what’s necessary, we’re prepared to do that,” he said, according to the Washington Post.
On Thursday morning, “Fox & Friends” co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck suggested that the violence overnight would have been avoided if Holder had adopted a more conciliatory tone.
“He chose to grandstand,” she said. “And now, fuel on the fire: Less than a week later, we are seeing the dots connecting here.”
The words “Street Justice: Police Officers Shot In Wake Of DOJ Report” were shown on the screen while video of Holder played in the background.
Massi agreed that Holder’s words were dangerous.
“When you say that you’re going to dismantle a police department if they don’t fix it, it incites race relations — it incites riots,” Massi said.
“Fox & Friends” also made the suggestion from its Twitter account after the segment was over:
New #Ferguson violence comes just one week after AG Holder vowed to dismantle the city’s PD. Is this what he meant?
https://t.co/sgNovXKtnW
— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) March 12, 2015
