An online petition to boycott Cincinnati ABC affiliate WCPO saying the Scripps-owned station did “a horrible thing” in releasing video showing the scene after Cincinnati police officer Sonny Kim had been shot. The gray dot in the picture is supposed to be covering Kim.
The change.org petition calls for viewers to boycott WCPO for airing the video after the investigation into Kim’s death was complete. The petition has 2,724 supporters out of a goal of 5,000.
Kim was shot and killed last June by 21-year-old Trepierre Hummons. According to Cincinnati.com, “Hummons called 911 to lure an officer to the corner in what former Police Chief Jeffrey Blackwell called, “suicide by cop.” Once there, Hummons fatally shot Kim.”
>UPDATE: WCPO posted a statement on facebook, “We appreciate your feedback on this story and would like to set the record straight about what we have shown in reference to the tragic death of Officer Sonny Kim. We have only shown the edited cruiser camera video provided to us by Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters. It’s the same edited video that has been played on the majority of media outlets in Cincinnati. In the video you do not see Officer Kim. We feel the edited video provided to us by Prosecutor Deters helps give a full understanding of the circumstances that day.”
“It is a horrible thing that they did, imagine if it was your family?” says the petition. “Imagine how this news channel made this family feel? Reliving this again, for the whole world to see? It angers me, as so it should you.”
Viewers also responded to the video on Facebook. One viewer wrote, “This shouldn’t be shown out of respect to Officer Kim and his family. Shame on you WCPO!”