For the fifth time, the Breakfast Club team welcomed Dr. Umar Johnson—who’s been widely criticized for telling people to skip out on the COVID-19 vaccine, as well as his massively detrimental pushing of homophobic messages—to the show.
About 40 minutes into Monday’s appearance, the topic of the recent police killing of 16-year-old Black girl Ma’Khia Bryant was broached. Earlier this month, Bryant was fatally shot by a cop in Columbus, Ohio named Nicholas Reardon. The killing inspired protests, with many pointing out the inherent hypocrisy of the department’s claims of such force being necessary, despite the numerous examples of white people being calmly taken into custody after committing heinous acts of violence.
Previously, the Breakfast Club’s DJ Envy was slammed for his police-favoring comments on the Bryant shooting, with particular emphasis placed on a clip in which he and fellow host Charlamagne tha God argued over the officer’s use of deadly force.
“Every case is different, and in this case, if I pull up to a scene and see a girl chasing another girl [and] about to stab a girl, my job as a police officer is to make sure that girl doesn’t get killed,” Envy said at the time. “And the law allows me to stop that killing or that stabbing by any means necessary. That’s what the law allows me to do, on both sides.”
On Monday, Envy responded to Johnson’s assessment of the shooting by reiterating the same stance.
“I’m not gon’ lie, I must be a c**n because I don’t agree with you on this one,” Envy said. A few moments later, Envy again defended the officer.
“This situation, my only thing is this, and you’re talking to somebody whose father is a retired cop, alright?” Envy said. “Now, when that cop pulled up, he doesn’t know friend or foe. He doesn’t know who called the police.”
Envy went on to say “that cop protected that young girl” and expressed support for the officer’s decision to use extreme force.
Envy’s latest comments on the killing of Ma’Khia Bryant have also been met with outrage.
Earlier this month, activists called for a federal probe into Columbus police. Notably, in 1998 a DOJ investigation found a pattern of abuse and false arrests among police in the region.
