Elisabeth Hasselbeck Defends Police Treatment Of Sandra Bland: Her Cigarette Could Have Been A Weapon!

When a former NYPD officer criticized the police officer who “stepped over the line” during his traffic stop of Sandra Bland, Fox host Elisabeth Hasselbeck stepped in to defend the behavior: Bland’s lit cigarette was a “potential threat,” Hasselbeck argued.

The segment was framed around Anonymous’ call for a “day of rage” urging people to protest Bland’s death. But rather than discuss what the hacktivists are actually up to and what the results of their efforts might be, Hasselbeck brought on former NYPD officer John Rafferty to take a “very close look” at the now-famous video of the traffic stop that led to Bland’s arrest and her eventual death in prison a few days later.

In other words, any Fox watcher worth their “fair and balanced” knew this would be an exercise in discrediting Bland and, by extension, Anonymous and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Unfortunately for Hasselbeck, Rafferty criticized the officer who stopped Bland, saying he “stepped over the line” with his behavior.

RAFFERTY: Well, his own deployment obviously put him on administrative duty. So they already recognized he stepped over the line. When you take somebody out of the car, it has to be that you have to feel that your personal safety is in danger. It appears, obviously, he took this (Bland’s argumentativeness) too personal. When she didn’t put out the cigarette, now all of a sudden you’re taking her out of the car.

These, these cameras that the officers are wearing - you live and die by what you say with this. It appears, looking at this, because she didn’t put out the cigarette, next thing he knows, he’s asking the person to step out of the vehicle. You can’t take it personal. It’s the job.

So Hasselbeck took matters into her own hands to make sure doubts arose about Bland and to help validate the officer.

HASSELBECK: But what if, I mean, there are times, I’m sure, someone has, in the history of this land, used a cigarette against a police officer, maybe chucked it at him, pushed it at him.

RAFFERTY: Absolutely.

HASSELBECK: If he indeed felt as though that could be a potential threat, was that the wise thing to do on his part?

RAFFERTY: I think because you know and you have to know you’re being recorded—you have to say, “Listen I need you to step out to sign this warning.” I wouldn’t want somebody stepping out with a cigarette. I mean, I’ve had a cigarette tried to be - I’ve had somebody try to put a cigarette out on me. It happens. I guarantee, you speak to many cops out there. But the way you say it, unfortunately, you’re locked into it. Because now, it’s being recorded. Unfortunately, these officers have to remember that.

But if the officer hadn’t demanded Bland get out of the car, she could have smoked her cigarette in peace and even Hasselbeck’s rather ludicrous scenario would have been rendered moot.

Watch Hasselbeck ignore that point below, from the July 27 Fox & Friends, via Media Matters.

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Showing 11 reactions

commented 2015-08-08 20:06:31 -0400 · Flag

Yes, I like this post. When an Officer tells you to do something, SHUT Your mouth and do it!!!!

commented 2015-07-30 07:36:55 -0400 · Flag

Shouldn’t a nationwide petition be circulated to have this racist fired? What happened after she put out the cigarette (which took all of about 4 seconds) Ms. Hasselbeck? I guess she needed to be viciously beaten for even asking in the first place why she had to put out her cigarette. Is this really happening in America? Can we let Hasselbeck get away with this? Really???

commented 2015-07-29 10:07:53 -0400 · Flag

What happened to Sandy Bland is so awful I just can’t get it out of my mind. I’ve watched the video several times and it seems to me the police officer was trying to provoke Ms. Bland. First, he pulls her over on such a minor traffic infraction. Then, he asks her if she is irritated. When she responds, he asks her, “Are you done?” Then asks her to put out her cigarette. Then asks her to step out of the car. When she refuses, he threatens to shoot her. Then he opens the door and tries to drag her out … unbelievable. This is awful enough on its on, but then made horrifically so when she ends up dead in a jail cell.

commented 2015-07-28 16:35:44 -0400 · Flag

We said in the past that Mousy Lizzie is dumb as a box of rocks. A fifth grader is smarter than this bimbette.

Lizzie needs to quit dying her hair blonde. The chemicals in the dye are eating whatever is left of her brain cells.

Nixon Trainee Ailes hires these blonde bimbettes to attract their over 68 male audience. Some of these broads are not that smart. They rely on teleprompters and notes to tell them what to say. Only a couple of them are intelligent and go with the flow to get that high salary from the Murdoch boys.

NOTE TO LIZZIE

Everyone at this Workplace Bully channel is laughing at your stupidity.

commented 2015-07-28 12:47:00 -0400 · Flag

Guess Barbara Walters saw the handwriting on the wall with this person, Since The View dumped her ~ where else could she go but to Fox? Can’t do “real TV” ~ go over to Fox. They’re always hire any blonde with racial issues.

commented 2015-07-28 09:25:43 -0400 · Flag

The Sandra Bland incident is all over the international media with the notable exception of FNC: not surprising actually but I’m glad to see them trying to whitesplain this one, too. The incident shocked me badly and it needs more attention than it’s apparently been getting in the USA.

To my mind, the cop must have felt that his manhood was somehow threatened by this articulate black woman and he simply forgot that he was being recorded.
I do find it disturbing, however, that the NYPD cop seemed to feel that certain things cannot be done because every word and move is being recorded. In my book, certain things should not be done because they’re WRONG! Whether or not there’s a camera rolling is irrelevant.

My sympathies go out to the family and friends of Ms. Bland. I don’t actually care if she was depressed or suicidal or whatever. By what I saw on the video, she did not deserve to be in a prison cell for three days. All she did was talk back and the big white/man cop couldn’t take it.

“All this for not signaling a lane change?”

commented 2015-07-28 08:08:34 -0400 · Flag

How dumb is this woman? I wonder how love her friend Sherri of the VIEW have for her now that she can see with her own eyes how dumb her BFF really is.

commented 2015-07-27 20:03:58 -0400 · Flag

I see a hestitation often times to call people like Hasselbeck out for what they really are when they say things like this. I saw a clip where Bill Mahr held back from calling Anne Coulter a racist when she was speaking about her latest book Adios America. Clearly, Hasselbeck’s focus on the potential use of a cigarette as a weapon glosses over two more important points: Did the non-signalled lane change occur because the cop was tailing Ms. Bland and does a cop in fact have the right to order you to put out a cigarette? The fact that she overlooked those quesitons and went first to concerns about an angry black woman with a lit cigarette is, dare I say it, racist.

commented 2015-07-27 19:52:37 -0400 · Flag

Hasselbeck makes me sick. That video should be shown to all wannabe policemen as to how not to act. That cop was out of control, the opposite of “protect and serve”.

commented 2015-07-27 19:17:01 -0400 · Flag

It’s strange how a lit cigarette in the hands of a sane African American woman could be viewed as a “potential threat” that warrants being taken into custody — while a handgun in the hands of a mentally disturbed White man isn’t . . . at least, not enough to warrant any additional background checks or stricter gun laws . . .

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NewsHounds posted about Elisabeth Hasselbeck Defends Police Treatment Of Sandra Bland: Her Cigarette Could Have Been A Weapon! on NewsHounds' Facebook page 2015-07-27 15:49:39 -0400

Of course, if the officer hadn't demanded she get out of the car in the first place, Bland could have smoked her cigarette in peace, she'd likely be alive today and Hasselbeck's "argument" would be a moot point.