Geraldo Rivera on Ferguson: "The white jurors will see it one way and the black jurors another"

On Fox News' "Outnumbered," Harris Faulkner smacked down Geraldo Rivera for picking off "low-hanging fruit"

Published August 19, 2014 5:21PM (EDT)

Attorney Geraldo Rivera appeared on Fox's "Outnumbered" today to offer his legal expertise regarding Michael Brown's death. In his eyes, the opinions of the grand jury, set to convene tomorrow, have already been set in stone.

"I'll tell you what will happen," Rivera said. "They'll have a trial. The white jurors will see it one way, and the black jurors another. The white jurors will look at that convenience store surveillance tape. They will see Michael Brown menacing that clerk. The white jurors will put themselves in the shoes of that clerk. They'll say, 'Of course the officer responded the way he did. He was menaced by a 6'4", 300 pound kid, 10 minutes fresh from a strong-armed robbery. The officer was defending himself.' The white jurors will put themselves in the white officer's place. The black jurors will see Michael Brown despite his flaws as the surrogate for every black youngster ever shot by a cop."

Even if this wasn't a dangerously reductive statement (which it is), it also implies that Rivera has already determined that Officer Wilson is innocent in the eyes of the law and that only whites will be able to see the truth of the situation -- blacks will conflate the case of Michael Brown with every death of every black boy in the country because they think that all black people are the same! Actually, that sounds more like Rivera.

Co-host Harris Faulkner proceeded to smack him down. "You are reaching for the low-hanging fruit, and I cannot let you do that," she said. "What you're saying is that the nation is divided, particularly, in kind of a microcosm way, Ferguson, Mo., is divided black and white and that's the only issue here. That is poor-sighted, short-sighted and it's just not true ... This is more than a racial issue and for you to pick off the low-hanging fruit is offensive and it incites more of it to go on. It's irresponsible."


By Joanna Rothkopf

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Ferguson Fox News Geraldo Rivera Michael Brown Race Video