Racist news stories leave Gayle King speechless and shaken on air
"CBS This Morning" anchor Gayle King grew emotional on air Tuesday morning while reporting on two racist incidents involving black men.
The anchor, who appeared visibly shaken as she reported the news, said, "I am speechless. I am really, really speechless about what we're seeing on television this morning. It feels to me like an open season ... and that sometimes it's not a safe place to be in this country for black men."
She was reacting to the report of a white woman falsely accusing a black man of threatening her in New York City, which the man recorded on his cellphone in a video that has gone viral.
In the video, Amy Cooper reacted angrily when Christian Cooper asked her to put her dog on a leash in an area of Central Park where leashes are required. The woman is seen asking Cooper to stop filming and threatening to call the police and tell them that "there's an African American man threatening my life."
"She's practically strangling her dog to make these false accusations against another black man," said King, her voice wavering.
Earlier in the broadcast, "CBS This Morning" also covered a story in which a black man died in police custody in Minneapolis after being arrested on suspicion of forgery.
A video of part of the incident shows the suspect being held down on the street by a police officer who uses his knee to press down on the man's neck. The suspect can be heard on video pleading for relief and saying, "I can't breathe," while bystanders and passers-by urge the officer to ease up on the man's neck. The man died early Tuesday after being hospitalized following the incident.
"I'm still so upset by that last story where the man is handcuffed underneath a car, where people are pleading ... and we're watching a man die. We go from that story now to this story where she falsely accuses a black man. I don't even know what to do or how to handle this at this particular time.
"As the daughter of a black man and the mother of a black man, this is really too much for me today," said King.
