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Jen Psaki blames systemic racism for Ma'Khia Bryant's killing by cops, Internet says muzzle her 'biased mouth'

Social media accused Psaki of 'sacrificing Black children' for political ends, without any concern for Black-on-Black crimes

White House press secretary Jen Psaki addressed the shooting of 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant by police in Columbia, Ohio, saying President Joe Biden has been briefed about it. But Psaki's words managed to leave more than a few rattled on social media as people were not happy with the systemic racism narrative she pinned this 'tragedy' on.

Psaki said during her daily briefing on Wednesday, April 21, that the president was aware of the shooting and had already offered a statement expressing grief and support for the girl’s family and community. Her answer came in response to Spectrum News’ Taylor Popielarz, who asked her about Bryant's shooting, which took place about 20 minutes before Derek Chauvin's trial reached its guilty verdict on Tuesday. Chauvin was found guilty on all counts of murder and manslaughter in the death of George Floyd.

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'Police violence disproportionately impacts Black and Latino people'

Speaking about the shooting, Psaki was asked, “Has the president been briefed on 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant being shot and killed by police in Columbus, Ohio yesterday? It happened moments before the Chauvin verdict came out." Psaki's response was "yes," before she turned to her notes and flipped through an alleged statement about the topic. 

Psaki continued: "And let me just say, since you gave me the opportunity, the killing of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant by the Columbus Police is tragic. She was a child. We are thinking of her friends and family, and the communities that are hurting and grieving her loss. We know that police violence disproportionately impacts Black and Latino people and communities and that Black women and girls, like Black men and boys, experience higher rates of police violence."

'Address systemic racism and implicit bias head-on'

Psaki also mentioned in her statement: "We also know that there are particular vulnerabilities that children in foster care, like Ma’Khia, face, and her death came, as you noted, just as America was hopeful of a step forward after the traumatic and exhausting trial of Derek Chauvin and the verdict that was reached. So our focus is on working to address systemic racism and implicit bias head-on, and of course to pass laws and legislation that will put much-needed reforms into place in police departments around the country."

In Bryant's case, the 16-year-old was allegedly in an altercation with two others outside her foster home when cops were called; Bryant was wielding a knife. Bodycam footage shows police shooting Bryant just moments after arriving at the scene - something which has contributed to protests, with an outcry on social media how the Black community cannot celebrate one thing in peace.

'POS Psaki'

However, conservatives on Twitter decided to rip Psaki's statement apart, simply because she chose to label the incident an act of 'systemic racism' in the wake of new police shootings almost every week this month. "So police should have just watched Ma'khia Bryant kill other girl? One child killing another? You're terrific! Sacrificing children - BLACK CHILDREN -- for your political meme! No concern about blk-on-blk crime & murder! It's all cops' fault! @FNC," tweeted one user.

Another said, "At today’s White House Press Briefing, Jen Psaki claimed that the death of Ma’Khia Bryant – who was violently attacking another black girl with a knife – was due to systemic racism. No, genius,it was due to poor parenting and/or an environment that fosters and excused violence." One even demanded, "Does anyone have a muzzle that will fit her big uniformed, misguided, biased mouth?"

One user noted, "Ma’Khia Bryant was less than one second away from stabbing someone in the chest/head area when she was shot. That cop saved a life. This is open and shut justified. Democrats the likes of Bidens Jen psaki who call this an instance of racism disgust me and should disgust you too."

Pretty soon, things ended with people slamming Psaki for being a POS or 'piece of s**t', tweeting: "Jen Psaki says fatal cop shooting of knife-wielding Ma'Khia Bryant, 16 Shows police violence 'disproportionately impacts black and Latino communities' STFU 'Peppermint Patty' So, the cop should have backed off and watched 'the poor innocent child' knife the girls POS Psaki~"