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Does wearing a hoodie automatically put a target on a dark-skinned young man’s back? According to Geraldo Rivera, the answer is yes. The Fox News commentator opined on air today that Trayvon Martin, the unarmed 17-year-old who was shot and killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, was asking for trouble — because he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt.
As Rivera told Fox & Friends cohost Brian Kilmeade, he believes that parents of “black and Latino youngsters” shouldn’t let their children go out wearing hoodies: “I think the hoodie is as much responsible for Trayvon Martin’s death as George Zimmerman was.”
How’s that, you ask? Let Rivera explain: “When you see a kid walking down the street, particularly a dark-skinned kid like my son Cruz…. What’s the instant association? It’s those crime scene surveillance tapes. Every time you see someone sticking up a 7-Eleven, the kid’s wearing a hoodie.”
Predictably, the Internet’s reaction to Rivera’s words was quick and vicious. The Atlantic Wire put together a list of other folks who, according to Rivera, are asking to be shot. Among them: Elliot from ET and — Geraldo himself. NBA stars LeBron James and Dwayne Wade tweeted photos of themselves wearing hoodies accompanied by hashtags like “#wewantjustice.” And comedian Aziz Ansari kept things short, tweeting, “It’s really appropriate to tweet this any day, but seriously — F— you, Geraldo.”
See the clip from Fox & Friends yourself below.
Read more:
40 Years with Geraldo Rivera
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