Cincinnati viewers are once again taking aim at ABC affiliate WCPO over its coverage of the shooting death of Cincinnati police officer Sonny Kim.
Monday, WCPO did a story about the funeral for Trepierre Hummons on its website. Hummons is the man accused of killing Kim.
Here’s an excerpt from the story:
On this recent Saturday, Hummons isn’t the man who made headlines for ambushing and killing Cincinnati Police Officer Sonny Kim , a much-decorated 27-year veteran, in Madisonville. Hummons isn’t the 21-year-old with a criminal record starting as a teen and who was accused of a sex crime just hours before the shootout.
Today, he’s just ‘Tre.’ And today, those who knew him and loved him grieve.
They grieve the loss of the person he was, the person they thought he could have been.
Viewers teed off on the station on its facebook page. “Your “feel good” piece is garbage, disrespectful to our city, the Law Enforcement community, the Kim family, and ALL families who have had a loved one taken from them through homicide.” wrote on viewer.
The story went on to say, “During Hummons’ visitation, friends and family members reminisce about him with anecdotal nuggets of love, humor and forgiveness as his light blue casket sits open at the end of the aisle.
“He had the heart of a lion,” said a friend. “He’s free…can’t nobody hurt Tre.”
“I love you, Bro. We gonna’ meet again.”
The station explained itself by writing, “Here’s some insight into why we chose to cover the funeral of Trepierre Hummons: It is part of our coverage of not just the shooting incident, but the events that lead up to it, as well as those afterward. We felt our audience would benefit from an insight into the family’s funeral, as they did from our extensive, live coverage of Sonny Kim’s funeral. Thank you again for reaching out.”
Scripps wanted to be sure we knew Monday’s story was only on WCPO.com and did not have video attached.
“Each day Scripps journalists tackle stories that tap into a range of emotions,” said a Scripps spokesperson. “The reactions to those stories can be just as varied. Wcpo.com’s coverage of the tragedy involving the murder of a Cincinnati police officer is comprehensive and is intended to give its audiences the full scope of the story.”
Last week, WCPO inflamed the community when WCPO.com sent a reporter to Kim’s house to get reaction from his family.