Shades of Don Imus’s controversial radio scandal arose this week, as nationally syndicated Fox News host John Gibson placed the blame of a recent school shooting in Cleveland, Ohio on Hip-Hop culture.
During a Wednesday (Oct. 10) broadcast of Gibson’s radio show the John Gibson Show, Gibson said he “knew” that the person at the center of the shooting, 14-year-old Asa Coon, was white, because “‘he killed himself.”
Coon was a student at Success Tech Academy, a predominately black high school in Cleveland.
According to reports, Coon went on a shooting rampage on Wednesday (October 10th), wounding two teachers and two other students before killing himself.
“Black shooters don’t do that; they shoot and move on,” Gibson said.
During his show on Thursday (October 11th), Gibson defended his comments, as he alleged that Coon’s suicide did not fit the mold of a “classic Hip-Hop shooting,” after realizing the student was a fan of rocker Marilyn Manson.
“He killed himself. Hip-Hoppers do not kill themselves. They walk away,” Gibson explained. “Now, I didn’t need to hear the kid was white with blond hair. Once he’d shot himself in the head, no Hip-Hopper.”
As authorities continue to investigate the incident, Gibson hinted that the influence of Hip-Hop may have been a motivator.
“I mean, where do they think these kids are getting these messages of, you know, loading an extra shot in their mac? [Military Armament Corporation Model style of gun],” the radio host said of the criticism, before playing a portion of 50 Cent’s song “Fully Loaded Clip.”
“I got a fully loaded clip. Why would you think African-American kids would be so enamored with messing around with guns?,” Gibson asked after playing the song.
“I mean, it’s only in every third Hip-Hop song,” Gibson continued.
Although his views have generated opposition, Gibson justified his stance with his observation on what he called “African-American gangster shooters.”
“I’m being accused of being a racist for making this observation about an issue we’ve been talking about here for over a year, and that is the black-on-black boundaries of the African-American community,” he said. “They [African-Americans] don’t shoot somebody and then say, ‘Oh, I’m so unhappy. This is such a scar on my soul, I’ve got to shoot myself in the head.’ Am I right about that or wrong about that?..Gangster shooters don’t do that. They’re happy they got off the first shot. They’re happy they killed the guy they were aiming at. They get in their car, and they move on down the road, probably looking over their shoulders a little bit.”
Prior to the shooting, Coon had been suspended after a fist fight on Monday (Oct. 8).
His 19-year-old brother, Stephen Coon was taken into police custody on Thursday, adding that it was unclear why he was taken away.