CNN’s #AskACop Backfires. Hard To Believe, Huh?

CNN’s idea for a hashtag backfired as spectacularly the NYPD’s tone deaf #WeHearYou hashtag in light of the recent protests over police brutality.

Go on, ask ’em a question. I dare you. 

[su_center_ad]CNN called onTwitter users to offer up questions for a panel of police officers on an upcoming segment called “Cops Under Fire,” but as Mashable notes, the network garnered sarcastic responses.

The panel on CNN which will air on Tuesday night will consist of five officers who have used deadly force in the course of their job. The cops are to take questions from social media users responding to the campaign, and boy oh boy, do they have some ‘splainin’ to do.

At 10, #CopsUnderFire. We’ve gathered a police panel – what would you like to ask them? Send in your Q’s w #AskACop pic.twitter.com/YQlCTCHzNZ

— CNN Tonight (@CNNTonight) December 16, 2014

#AskACop Why do so many officers in #STL area ignore repeated reminders from @TheJusticeDept to wear nametags? @CNN pic.twitter.com/uPs9zv2xHw — Heather (@MissJupiter1957) December 17, 2014

#Askacop I have a math question: if 1 Black man has zero guns, zero knives and 2 hands, how many bullets does it take to disarm him?

— Jamilah Lemieux (@JamilahLemieux) December 17, 2014

@CNNTonight do they panic when they see a black person??? #AskACop — Akosua Boakyewaa (@ophiski) December 16, 2014

@CNNTonight @ChicagoRising Why don’t you ever aim at the legs….?

— #FreeBarrettBrown (@kevthetab) December 17, 2014

@CNNTonight Did you really not see that mockery would dominate this hashtag? #AskACop — Independent Liberal (@Independent_Lib) December 17, 2014

#AskACop is a hot dog a sandwich, and whats the deal with the institutionalized racism

— D.Ecember 25th (@DougExeter) December 17, 2014

How about as of right now u promise yourself you will NEVER ever grind a person’s face into the asphalt? #AskACop #CopsUnderFire — Unite Women NJ (@UniteWomenNJ) December 17, 2014

#AskACop #CopsUnderFire Are there special cop glasses that turn 12 year old kids into 20 year old men? Or put guns in empty hands?

— Screw the NRA (@Richpf) December 17, 2014

#AskACop Who Protects Us from you? @CNN #CopsUnderFire — ILoveMyWife0007 (@NavyDad0007) December 17, 2014

#AskACop why St. Louis Police Union spokesperson, Jeff Roorda, was fired as a police officer for falsifying reports then hired by them

— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) December 17, 2014

handcuffed w/ my hands behind my back how could I shoot myself in the chest&commit suicide? #VictorWhiteIII #AskACop pic.twitter.com/dXqwcWauWq

— GoddessAmaraDec8 (@ReeSieButtaCup) December 17, 2014

Seriously CNN, it’s like you don’t even know the Internet.[su_csky_ad]

D.B. Hirsch

D.B. Hirsch is a political activist, news junkie, and retired ad copy writer and spin doctor. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.