Don Lemon defends officer in Adam Toledo shooting: 'Not all police shootings are the same'

On CNN Tonight With Don Lemon Thursday, Lemon came to the defense of a Chicago police officer after body-camera footage was released showing him shooting and killing 13-year-old Adam Toledo in the early morning hours of March 29. In the video, the officer is chasing Toledo, who reportedly had a gun, down an alley, yelling for Toledo to stop, and for him to drop his weapon.

With former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin on trial for the killing of George Floyd and protests continuing following the police shooting death of Daunte Wright just outside of Minneapolis, some commentators have suggested the Chicago incident is part of a pattern. But Lemon sees the latter case differently.

Speaking to Chris Cuomo during the hand-off between shows, Lemon said, “This is tough, Chris, because, you know, not all police shootings are equal.” Lemon added, “If someone's running with a gun and they turn around, police officers have to make decisions in split seconds. That's why I'm not a police officer, because I couldn't face that kind of pressure, and I just, quite frankly, don't believe that I could do the job. That’s why I sit here on TV and analyze it and talk to people about it.”

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