Despite new details revealed by the police that provides context and adds complexity to the Michael Brown shooting, at least one MSNBC reporter seems to dismiss the new information as largely irrelevant. On the August 15 edition of NewsNation, guest host Alex Witt invited msnbc.com reporter Trymaine Lee to the program. He has been on reporting on the ground in Ferguson, Missouri this week.
Witt mentioned the facts surrounding what the police have dubbed a “strong-arm robbery” of a convenience store that supposedly took place about 30 minutes before the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, as confirmed by still shots of the scene. The shots – while not entirely clear – indicate that Michael Brown may have been a suspect. The NewsNation guest host asked Lee: how much this complicated things and whether “this fact [might] be something that instills uncertainty within this community which has become calmer overnight?” Lee replied, unconvinced: