A crowd of protesters at the Democratic National Convention didn’t take kindly to Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera provoking them.
I would never advocate nor condone what happened but it’s clear from the beginning of the video that Rivera was deliberately trying to inflame a crowd that was already worked up outside the Democratic National Convention.
First, Rivera chided a protester for using the word “s***.” Then, he asked questions that insinuated the protesters are anti-free speech. His exchange with one protester:
“RIVERA: Do you support a free press?
PROTESTER: I support a free press, not a Wall Street press.
RIVERA: So you determine who’s a real reporter?”
I could not make out the protester’s answer but while he spoke, another man came up from behind Rivera and poured a bottle of water over his head. Rivera seemed to go after the man but was restrained and led away. The crowd yelled, “Shame, shame!” after him.
A number of protesters seemed to object to the water stunt, however.
Rivera made a point of noting that he only moved away because the Philadelphia Police had asked him to do so. It was a clear suggestion that he would have preferred to stick around for some more confrontation.
So Rivera found it elsewhere. He snarled at a chanting, pro-Palestine protester who was following him:
“We got it. […] Stop stalking us!”
So why did Rivera go into a crowd of protesters at the Democratic National Convention if he didn’t want to hear them? Well, it’s getting to be a habit with him.
During the protests over Freddie Gray’s death in Baltimore, Rivera demonized a protester who got in his face as a “vandal” causing “anarchy” and “destruction” in the community. It turned out there was a back story Rivera never revealed: the protester had repeatedly tried to talk to Rivera about Fox’s unfair, unbalanced coverage and Rivera had refused to listen.
Similarly, during an Occupy Wall Street protest, Rivera left a crowd that was chanting “Fox News lies!” by touching protesters and posing for at least one selfie.
And let’s not forget this is the same guy who got his nose broken when a fight broke out on his own talk show. He’s also the same guy who stopped a team from rescuing a Katrina victim and her dog so he could save them himself.
Again, physical confrontation and assault is never OK with me. But made-for-TV conflict seems to be what Rivera goes looking for, so I can’t get too upset when he finds it.
Watch it below, via BuzzFeed’s Andrew Desiderio:
Demonstrators shout at Fox News' @GeraldoRivera. One pours water on him. #DemsInPhilly pic.twitter.com/SXYbMITezZ
— Andrew Desiderio (@desiderioDC) July 26, 2016
Featured image via Twitter
