Wesley Lowery, one of the two journalists briefly detained and released by police on Wednesday in Ferguson, Missouri, has criticized MSNBC host Joe Scarborough for suggesting that Lowery and Huffington Post reporter Ryan Reilly should have followed police instructions to avoid arrest.
On Thursday morning’s episode of Morning Joe, Scarborough appeared to blame the Washington Post reporter and Reilly for their predicament, saying that if he were in similar shoes he wouldn’t “debate and film the police officer unless I want to get on TV and have people talk about me the next day.”
He added that if his son—who is also a reporter—were to ever be in Lowery’s situation, he would advise him as follows: “Next time a police officer tells you that you’ve got to move along because you’ve got riots outside, well, you probably should move along.”
In a phone interview on CNN’s New Day, Scarborough’s comments were brought up, and Lowery was asked if listening to the police had been an option. He took offense at Scarborough’s remarks:
Well I would invite Joe Scarborough to come to Ferguson and get out of 30 Rock where he’s sitting there sipping his Starbucks smugly; I’d invite him to come down here to talk to the residents of Ferguson where I’ve been since Monday afternoon having tear gas shot at me, having rubber bullet shot at me. … I would invite Joe Scarborough down here to do some reporting on the ground, and then maybe we can have an educated conversation about what’s happening here. … Let me be clear about this, I have little patience for talking heads. … Instead of getting more reporters on the ground we have people like Joe Scarborough running their mouth who have no idea what they’re talking about.
Watch Lowery’s response on CNN below:
Read the rest of Slate’s coverage of the protests in Ferguson.
