Stephen A. Smith smacks down Sean Hannity in conversation about Michael Brown's shooting

Hannity claims he is an expert because he has been a pistol marksman since he was 12 years old

Published August 22, 2014 2:00PM (EDT)

Stephen A. Smith          (AP)
Stephen A. Smith (AP)

Sean Hannity had Steven A. Smith on his radio show Thursday evening to speak about his suspension from ESPN and the events in Ferguson.

"I was listening to your comments," said Hannity, "and it seemed like you had kind of, maybe, joined into the chorus that this police officer is guilty." Hannity spends about two minutes rattling off the typical pro-Darren Wilson talking points (that Brown was coming from a robbery, he shoved Wilson into the car, he taunted him, and, the beloved fact that seems to be totally untrue, that Wilson had a fractured eye socket from the encounter), before Smith has enough and forces Hannity to imagine that he is not a cloistered, white bigot.

"I gotta turn this around on you by asking you a question on your own show. You like to talk so it shouldn't be a problem," Smith says. "Here's the deal. I understand your argument, but can you honestly say that it would take six bullets to stop him?"

"You know that I've been a pistol marksman since I was 12 years old, right?" Hannity responds, at once qualifying him to be an expert on guns and a deeply disturbed man. He then says that he was at first confused by the six shots, but understood how it could happen if Wilson was scared and, of course, had a broken eye socket, which would make it harder to shoot. Oh right, but that eye socket detail is totally fabricated.

"Allow me to respond," Smith says. "I understand where you're coming from and you know more about guns and things of that nature. What I'm saying to you is that you're not a black person with that history in Ferguson, Missouri, and it's hard to fathom that it takes six bullets to stop somebody."

h/t RealClearPolitics


By Joanna Rothkopf

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Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Ferguson Michael Brown Sean Hannity Stephen A. Smith