Posted on July 15, 2014

Reporter Suspended, Could Lose Job over What He Said About ‘Young Black Men’ Live on the Air

Jason Howerton, The Blaze, July 14, 2014

News 12 reporter Sean Bergin has been suspended after he argued on the air that the “anti-cop mentality that has so contaminated America’s inner cities” is largely the result of “young black men growing up without fathers.”

A source with direct knowledge of the situation confirmed to TheBlaze on Monday that Bergin has, in fact, been suspended over his remarks about the black community and may end up being fired. The source said Bergin was asked not to come in Monday and Tuesday as the news station figures out how to handle the situation.

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Here’s what Bergin said on the air:

We were besieged, flooded with calls from police officers furious that we would give media coverage to the life of a cop killer. It’s understandable. We decided to air it because it’s important to shine a light on the anti-cop mentality that has so contaminated America’s inner cities. This same, sick, perverse line of thinking is evident from Jersey City, to Newark and Patterson to Trenton.

It has made the police officer’s job impossible and it has got to stop. The underlying cause of all of this, of course: young black men growing up without fathers. Unfortunately, no one in the news media has the courage to touch that subject.

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Watch the unedited TV news segment below, which includes Bergin’s commentary on the black community:

Bergin was reacting to the tragic shooting of Jersey City police officer Melvin Santiago, who was shot in the head as he sat in his patrol car with a fellow officer at around 4 a.m. on Sunday. Authorities believe the suspect, identified as 27-year-old Lawrence Campbell, planned on murdering police officers that morning.

Lawrence reportedly entered a Jersey City Walgreens armed with a knife and assaulted an armed security guard, stealing his gun. He then apparently waited for police to arrive and proceeded to murder an officer in cold blood.

The suspect later told a witness to “watch the news” because he was “going to be famous,”according to the Jersey City mayor’s office.

When Lawrence later fired at a second police car, another officer returned fire and fatally shot the suspect.

News 12 New Jersey later interviewed the cop killer’s wife, who showed very little sympathy for the police officer who her husband killed in cold blood. She also reportedly said her deceased husband should have killed even more police officers.

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[Editor’s Note: Please contact News 12 at news12nj@news12.com or 732-346-3200 and tell them politely what you think. You can contact Mr. Bergin on Twitter @SeanBerginNews.]