Judge Bruce Schroeder has banned MSNBC from the Kenosha County Courthouse following an incident where an employee allegedly followed the bus with the jurors. It is difficult to express how moronic such a decision would be for a network. (For the record, I once worked for NBC/MSNBC as a legal analyst. I have also worked for CBS, BBC, and currently Fox). Update: NBC issued a statement below.
Judge Schroeder stated in court:
“Last evening a person who identified himself as James J. Morrison and who claimed that he was a producer with NBC News… and under the supervision of someone… in New York for MSNBC. The police when they stopped him because he was following in the distance of about a block and went through a red light, pulled him over and inquired of him what was going on and he gave that information. He stated he had been instructed by [a supervisor] in New York to follow the jury bus.”
He then added
“I have instructed that no one from MSNBC news will be permitted in this building for the duration of this trial. This is a very serious matter and I don’t know what the ultimate truth of it is, but absolutely it would go without much thinking that someone who is following the jury bus – that is an extremely serious matter and will be referred to the proper authorities for further action.”
The seriousness of this incident cannot be overstated, if true. It is not simply because the police thought MSNBC may have been trying to take their pictures. If the jurors believed that they were being followed, let alone photographed, it could add to their unease about voting in the case.
Cortez Rice, who is a BLM activist in Minnesota, was previously shown in a videotape saying that the jurors were being videotaped:
Being followed can add an intimidating element for a jury in a city that was previously subject to extensive violence and rioting.
The optics are particularly bad for MSNBC given the network’s criticism of the trial. MSNBC host Tiffany Cross advocated for Schroeder’s removal and called on columnist Elie Mystal to discuss the matter. Mystal, who stated earlier this month that white, non-college-educated voters supported Republicans in the 2021 races in part because they care about “using their guns on Black people and getting away with it,” not surprisingly, has written that this trial is a sham.
MSNBC’s host Joy Reid also attacked the trial and suggested that Rittenhouse’s emotional breakdown on the stand was fraudulent. Her guest, MSNBC legal analyst and Georgetown law professor Paul Butler, concurred and called it “the greatest performance of (his) life.” Butler called the trial “white supremacy on steroids.”
Reid added Wednesday, “If you want to know why critical race theory exists, the actual law school theory that emphasizes that supposedly colorblind laws in America often still have racially discriminatory outcomes, then look no further than the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.”
Others at the networks have called the trial a travesty and rigged process.
MSNBC has not responded to the allegation.
Update: NBC released a statement:
“Last night, a freelancer received a traffic citation. While the traffic violation took place near the jury van, the freelancer never contacted or intended to contact the jurors during deliberations, and never photographed or intended to photograph them. We regret the incident and will fully cooperate with the authorities on any investigation.”
NBC’s statement is confusing in one respect in starting with “while the traffic violation took place near the jury van.” That suggests that it was a coincidence that the traffic accident occurred near the jury van. The question is whether the freelancer was instructed by NBC to follow the jury bus. That should be easy to deny if it is untrue.
Finally, the fact that he is a freelancer is immaterial. News organizations commonly use freelancers for a host of different positions. When they are working for a network, they are agents of that network. Again, NBC is ambiguous. It goes out of its way to note that this person is a freelancer but not whether he was working freelance for NBC at the time.
I am so very very tired of mainstream media (NBC, ABC, PBS, NPR) slanting news coverage with selective reporting (of not only selective facts, but of stories to focus on) to further a left-wing agenda intent on polarizing and dividing America. On any given day, there are dozens of murder trials across the country–why did media focus only on Rittenhouse and Arbery??? -And then there’s the subliminal messaging, e.g., this morning, NBC interviewed a disheveled, unshaven man with long graying hair, who claimed victory for gun rights in the Rittenhouse verdict. NBC then immediately followed this by interviewing a very clean, pleasant, “grandmotherly”-type woman. who lamented the “injustice” in the Rittenhouse verdict. Most of those who comment on this blog site understand what media try to do, but the general “moms and pops” in this country rely on MAINSTREAM MEDIA for news reporting. (p.s., thanks to the good professor for providing a forum for these exchanges and stimulating discussion).
Joy Reid is obsessed with hating white people, like Hitler was obsessed with hating Jews.
Joy Reid would probably like to kidnap and torture white people in her dungeon, using
GE kitchen appliances.
You’re utterly brainless, you poor, discriminated against white person, you.
Misery Reid
Bill Gates had a hand in creating MSNBC.
I want to ditch Windows for another operating system.
Can someone recommend an operating system besides Windows?
Vindovsky. It’s Putin’s copy. Russian agents will eventually hack your computer and get all your money and steal your identity, but you’re stupid, so that’s going to happen anyway.
Bill Gates had a hand in creating MSNBC.
I want to ditch Windows for another operating system.
Can someone recommend an operating system besides Windows?
That’s a poor reason to switch operating systems, Anon. MSNBC was actually a pretty good idea at the start – coupling the growing power of the Web with significant newsroom capabilities brought by NBC. It was the default news page in Microsoft’s browser, which gave a lot of legs to NBC’s news. But the broadcast network MSNBC was a perpetual also-ran to CNN and the rapidly growing Fox News.
In late 2005, NBC acquired controlling interest in the MSNBC brand; basically, Microsoft was pretty much out of the loop by that point. Another important thing happened in late 2005: MSNBC hired Keith Olbermann, and its ratings – at least in that time slot – started to grow. The geniuses at NBC* basically said “Hey – looks like there’s a market for left-wing commentary on cable!” and started hiring more progressives.
I put the asterisk after “geniuses at NBC” because it was pure shithouse luck that 1) they hired Olbermann, and 2) that it worked. Contrast that to Fox News, which was created specifically because Rupert Murdoch had market research indicating that more than 30% of Americans thought CNN and the alphabet channel newscasts tilted too far to the left. I don’t care what you sell: 30% of Americans is a damned nice market niche. Fox News was created to serve them. But MSNBC stumbled into being the outlet for progressives. Even a blind pig finds an acorn once in a while.
So bottom line, Microsoft was already pretty much out of the picture by the time MSNBC started its leftward lurch. You want a better reason to chuck ’em? Windows 11 is going to require you to buy a new machine. Might be time to think about going with a Mac or shifting to Linux.
MSNBC is evil.
World War II taught you that it is OK to kill evil people.
Ghost of Patton warns:
“MSNBC is evil.
World War II taught you that it is OK to kill evil people.”
Ergo, MSNBC broadcasters should be killed.
It’s too bad that Darren is asleep at the civility switch. Wake up!
White people saving their own lives is now white supremacy?
Who will save us from this insanity?
Will the liberal media ever concede that, yes, there are times when it is okay for a white person to defend themselves from somebody, something, anything? Or is any time a bad time? Why are they so hell-bent against white people defending themselves from anything, including other white people? It goes to show how unfair and unreasonable they are. They must really despise white people. What is it called again when you hate a group of people so much that you want to see them attacked and hurt? Hmm….could it be….RACIST!
Yes, because enforcing bad ideas happens after the bad ideas are first presented: Soviet Union, China, Cuba, California, etc.
Some posting here are trying to say that the guy who followed the juror’s van was just a free lancer but he himself stated that he was contracted by NBC. The statement by NBC follows. “Last night, a freelancer received a traffic citation. While the traffic violation took place near the jury van, the freelancer never contacted or intended to contact the jurors during deliberations, and never photographed or intended to photograph them. We regret the incident and will fully cooperate with the authorities on any investigation.” NBC says he never intended to photograph the jurors. One then must assume that he was only following the van because he liked it’s color. The judge isn’t buying it and neither should you. Look up sleaze in the dictionary and you will see it spelled as MSNBC. The changing of the traffic light to red was an act of God.
“using their guns on Black people and getting away with it”
As if a black person has never used a gun against a white person.
At no time in history have such idiots had such a powerful platform to spew their vile nonsense.
How is it a public service to let this stupidity pollute the matrix?
I love to hear MSNBC speak. It begs the question. If they are this nefarious right out in the open what are they doing behind our backs? Their pontifications in the open display a need for our eternal vigilance. If they tell you who they are believe them.
It wouldn’t be wrong to rein-in a media that uses totalitarian tactics to promote injustice, and subvert constitutional rights, such as a fair trial and equal protection.
Freedom of the press shouldn’t be a good excuse. It could be argued that the Allies violated Joseph Goebbels’s freedom of the press when they invaded Germany.
But so what if they did?
Anonymous, so we should “rein in” the press that you don’t agree with. In a free nation the prejudice of MSNBC should not be discontinued by the strong arm of the law but rather by the realization by the American people of what and who they are. The end result must be adjudicated by limiting their fortunes with the switching of the remote. Rest assured that when the money starts to be diminished their approach will change. As an example of my premise I point to the changing of their tune by The Times and The Post concerning the Steele Dossier. The first question these outlets always ask themselves is; how will it effect our subscription level? Stop watching and stop buying their news. After all, in the end though they don’t want to admit it they are Capitalist too. Money talks and you know what walks.
There’s no prejudice involved in telling the truth. And the truth definitely has a liberal bias. Anyone with a brain can see that.
…no prejudice involved in telling the truth. And truth definitely has a liberal bias. — mpzz
LOL — contradict yourself often?
Truth simply is… what remains after sweeping away its “bodyguard of lies”. What “truth” did you learn from the Rittenhouse trial?
As usual, when employers try to distance themselves from an employee’s stupid act, the explanation leaves HUGE gaps. Better they say nothing.