01 Apr 2016 Wendy Bell Firing from WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh Criticized by Black Leaders

Washington, D.C. – Spokesmen for the national black leadership group Project 21 are critical of WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh for firing anchor Wendy Bell for comments about a March 9 multiple murder in the Pittsburgh suburb of Wilkinsburg.

Bell wrote, in part:

…There’s no nice words to write when a coward holding an AK-47 hoses down a family and their friends sharing laughs and a mild evening on a back porch in Wilkinsburg. There’s no kind words when 6 people are murdered. When their children have to hide for cover and then emerge from the frightened shadows to find their mother’s face blown off or their father’s twisted body leaking blood into the dirt from all the bullet holes. There’s just been nothing nice to say. And I’ve been dragging around this feeling like a cold I can’t shake that rattles in my chest each time I breathe and makes my temples throb. I don’t want to hurt anymore. I’m tired of hurting.

You needn’t be a criminal profiler to draw a mental sketch of the killers who broke so many hearts two weeks ago Wednesday. I will tell you they live within 5 miles of Franklin Avenue and Ardmore Boulevard and have been hiding out since in a home likely much closer to that backyard patio than anyone thinks. They are young black men, likely teens or in their early 20s. They have multiple siblings from multiple fathers and their mothers work multiple jobs. These boys have been in the system before. They’ve grown up there. They know the police. They’ve been arrested. They’ve made the circuit and nothing has scared them enough. Now they are lost. Once you kill a neighbor’s three children, two nieces and her unborn grandson, there’s no coming back. There’s nothing nice to say about that.

Hearst Television, owner of WTAE-TV, told the Associated Press that Bell’s comments were “inconsistent with the company’s ethics and journalistic standards,” and that’s why Bell was fired.

“Ms. Bell is a victim of a growing, politically-correct phenomena called micro-aggression that stifles free speech. She absolutely should not have been fired for privately expressing her opinion,” said Project 21’s Niger Innis, a civil rights activist. “The fact is what she asserted about the horrific murders in Pennsylvania reflects the thoughts of many just too afraid to say it.”

“Among this President’s greatest failures was his refusal to use the bully pulpit to discuss the self-imposed genocide occurring in Black communities nationwide,” continued Innis, who also serves as the national spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), one of the nation’s most famous and influential civil rights organizations. “Black-on-Black murder is second only to abortion in executing a black population elimination agenda that even a Klan member would not dream of.”

“Ms. Bell’s understandably passionate reaction to the animalistic massacre in Pittsburgh has inspired the PC mob to metaphorically lynch her. Until the predators that committed this abomination are arrested and convicted, we will not know if Ms. Bell was 100% on target with her belief about the murders. But, right or wrong, Ms. Bell has bravely exposed a much bigger picture, that being the self-imposed genocide taking place in Black America,” Innis concluded.

“There are very few places where people are more relaxed and unaware than a backyard barbecue with close friends. So this slaughter of people merely enjoying Pennsylvania’s unseasonably warm weather shocked the community,” said Project 21’s Bishop Council Nedd II, rector of St. Alban’s Anglican Church in Pine Grove Mills, Pennsylvania.

“How do you respond when something so wanton happens? How do you respond when it sinks in that you could have been the one so easily struck by this indiscriminate fire? People respond from their gut, and from their heart with raw emotion, and that’s what Wendy Bell did,” said Nedd, who also serves as an elected Pennsylvania State Constable.

“If Wiz Khalifa or Jerome Bettis came out and said exactly what Wendy Bell said, no one would have given the comments a second glance. Ms. Bell should have realized that such comments coming from her might be criticized,” Nedd continued. “However, the real focus and the community outrage should be focused solely on the craven shooters. Why is there seemingly more attention on what was said about the shootings rather than the shooting itself?”

“The sheriff in the county just north of mine has just established a posse for such events. That’s the type of response that I would want too if there was a slaughter in my community,” Nedd concluded.

Project 21 has been a leading voice of black conservatives since its founding in 1992. Its volunteer members come from all walks of life. Contributions to the National Center are tax-deductible and greatly appreciated, and may be earmarked for the use of Project 21.

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