US

‘How Is That Even Tolerated?’: Harris Faulkner Unloads On BLM, Left-Wing Race Rhetoric Following Penny Acquittal

Harris Faulkner

Fox News host Harris Faulkner called out Black Lives Matter (BLM) and left-wing rhetoric that claims America “hates black people” on Monday, after Daniel Penny was found not guilty.

A Manhattan jury acquitted Penny, a 26-year-old former Marine, of criminally negligent homicide in connection with the death of 30-year-old homeless man Jordan Neely. On “The Faulkner Focus,” the host began by noting that BLM leaders were outside the courthouse following the verdict, advocating for “black vigilantes” to avenge Neely’s death.

“We don’t know what the road home would have been like right after this, but I’m sure they get some protection for some period of time during the trial. But you go back to your life and you’re part of that community that potentially is going to jump on the subway in the next few days and how can you – just think about that. There are threats outside to take people out because this hinged on race suddenly, like suddenly this hinged on race. Black Lives Matter group getting together and saying, ‘If you do this you’ — what did the woman say?” Faulkner asked. “She said, ‘America hates black people.’ I mean that was so far afield from what we’re watching here I can’t even imagine how we got there.”

“Paul Mauro, attorney, former NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor [is here]. Paul, it’s really important that we get an idea of what the NYPD is facing at this hour because these threats were real. They were a news conference, they were loud, they were on display for the whole nation to see and there was a threat of burning buildings and burning cars because black people aren’t loved in this country,” Faulkner said.

Mauro went on to describe how the city has reverted to a more “racialized” culture, calling out Democratic District Attorney Alvin Bragg for “bringing” them “back 30 years.” Faulkner then criticized Bragg and questioned why he wasn’t warning those threatening to violently protest.

WATCH:

“When you say that you want to burn stuff that affects everybody, and you’re gonna hinge because you think people who have my skin color are so hated in America that you [have to] set New York on fire? That puts everybody in victim mode,” Faulkner continued. “I mean how is that even tolerated? Where is Alvin Bragg? He should come out on the steps of the courthouse right now and say, ‘You will be protected. Justice has been adjudicated in this building so you will not riot tonight. We will come after people who do.’ Like where is his voice?”

Penny’s verdict came after the judge dismissed his top charge of manslaughter on Friday, after the jury had approached the judge twice, unable to reach a verdict on that charge. Penny had faced up to 15 years in prison after Bragg brought the charges in June 2023. The 26-year-old pleaded not guilty.

The leader of New York’s BLM chapter, Hawk Newsome, stood behind Neely’s father at a press conference following the verdict. Newsome claimed that anyone who agreed Penny was innocent “has racism in their heart” and stated that the “KKK got another victory.”

During the incident between Penny and Neely on the subway, the 26-year-old former Marine was captured on camera placing the homeless man in a chokehold to protect fellow passengers. Neely had allegedly been screaming and intimidating others on the train, acting erratically before Penny intervened.

The BLM activist group was founded in 2013, with its mission described as “an abolition-centered foundation fighting institutional injustice and serving black people globally,” while also focusing on “those who have been marginalized within black liberation movements,” according to its website.

The group gained significant popularity in 2020 after the death of George Floyd, with millions donated to the foundation. However, the group came under fire after BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors was criticized in 2022 after it was revealed she had purchased a $6 million mansion in Los Angeles using the funds donated to the group.

Cullors has previously described herself and fellow organizers as “trained Marxists,” stating in 2020 how the organization was used to “build a movement that could be utilized by many, many black folk.”