Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera and former Secret Service Agent Dan Bongino got into a heated exchange Monday over Rayshard Brooks.
Brooks, who was shot in the back by Atlanta police officers after he resisted arrest and took a taser, has sparked a new wave of protests — one of which culminated in a fire that destroyed the Wendy’s restaurant where Brooks was killed.
Bongino, who had also served as an officer of the New York City Police Department, argued on “Hannity” that Brooks’ death was certainly tragic but not an unlawful use of force. Rivera strongly disagreed, and the debate quickly devolved into the two men talking over each other. (RELATED: ‘Catastrophic Judgmental Error’: Dan Bongino Warns Rioters Not To Try Breaching The White House)
WATCH:
Bongino walked through the sequence of events, noting that Brooks resisted arrest and struggled with the officers, eventually taking a taser from one of them. He then began to run away, periodically turning back in what appeared to be an attempt to fire the taser at the officers.
“When someone turns to you in a furtive motion and sticks what looks like a weapon in your face from three to four feet away, I mean, what reasonable person wouldn’t respond to a defend their own life? It’s a simple question,” Bongino said.
Rivera began with a simple assessment: “You never shoot a guy in the back.” (RELATED: ‘Obscenity’ In Minneapolis: Geraldo Accuses Rioters Of Replacing George Floyd With The ‘Rape Of The Third Precinct’)
He went on to argue that because they knew that Brooks was drunk at the time they should have simply let him run, appearing to make the case that he wouldn’t make it very far.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about! You have no idea what you’re talking about! You’ve never been a cop,” Bongino interrupted. “No, no.”
“Stop with the personal attacks, Dan. Don’t tell I don’t know what I’m talking about,” Rivera shot back. “I have eyes.”
“You have never walked a foot post or engaged in a foot pursuit in your entire life. Don’t you dare be a fraud right now,” Bongino kept going.
Rivera interrupted then, saying that he had grown up with police officers and and had even done a special program called “Blacks and Blue,” arguing, “‘Blacks and Blue’! I did the special. I reported the special. I hung out with the cops. I grew up with cops. I was put through law school by cops. I know cops as well as you do.”
The two continued to talk over each other before host Sean Hannity jumped in to close out the segment. “I’ve got to break it up. I’ve got to end this,” he said.