Radio host DJ Envy found himself in some hot water this week after seemingly defending the officer who fatally shot 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant a week ago.
Controversial psychologist and “Prince of Pan-Africanism” activist Dr. Umar Johnson made an appearance on 105.9’s “The Breakfast Club” morning show on Monday, April 26, and discussed a slew of topics. Around the 40-minute mark, the case of Bryant’s fatal shooting arose.
Bryant was shot and killed by Columbus, Ohio, Officer Nicholas Reardon after he responded to a call about an attempted stabbing at a residence. Bodycam video revealed that just seconds after arriving at the scene Reardon fired several shots into a knife-wielding Bryant as she was swinging at a woman who was backed against a car.
The week before Dr. Umar’s episode aired, DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God had argued over Ma’Khia’s case. “Every case is different, and in this case, if I pull up to a scene and see a girl chasing another girl [and] about to stab a girl, my job as a police officer is to make sure that girl doesn’t get killed,” Envy said at the time. “And the law allows me to stop that killing or that stabbing by any means necessary. That’s what the law allows me to do, on both sides.”
On Monday, April 28, Dr. Umar delivered a passionate statement regarding the case and condemned officer Reardon’s deadly use of force. “I work in schools, Charlamagne,” Dr. Umar explained. “I have seen lunchroom aides with no police training. No bulletproof vest. No knife-proof vest. No gun in the pocket. I have seen elderly Black women and elderly Black men take knives and other weapons out of the hands of students during lunchroom riots. You mean to tell me … a trained, armed police, with a bulletproof vest can’t get the knife outta the hand of a 16-year-old?”
He continued, “You have white males who are conducting mass murders all across this country. Every other week we’re getting a mass murder in America. Fully armed, fully violent, murderous white men are apprehended by the police without being shot and without losing their life. So, explain to me how a white man with a AK-47 can be taken without a police officer firing a bullet after he done murdered six, seven, eight people, but a 16-year-old with a butter knife cannot be apprehended without a bullet being shot. That is nonsense. They killed her because they knew they would get away with it.”
Still, Envy stood firm on his stance, noting that his father is a retired police officer. “I’m not gon’ lie, I must be a coon, because I don’t agree with you on this one,” he expressed. Though he disagreed with Dr. Umar’s view on Bryant’s shooting, the media personality said that the white men “walking around” with weapons “should get shot immediately” without question.
Shortly after, he defended Reardon again, saying, “This situation, my only thing is this, and you’re talking to somebody whose father is a retired cop, all right? Now, when that cop pulled up, he doesn’t know friend or foe. He doesn’t know who called the police.”
Envy’s remarks garnered him backlash from social media users, including one person who wrote on Twitter, “Yes, DJ Envy. you are, in fact, a coon. we’ve said this for years. thank you for finally getting with the program.”
Another person commented, “DJ Envy is an idiot, Police are not supposed to come out shooting. Their job is to deescalate the situation.” They added. “Sh-t my dad has handled similar situations better than this without shooting or killing anyone, nothing more than a busted lip.”
“We getting DJ Envy outta here?” a third wrote.
Dr. Umar later asked Envy what he would’ve done had he been in officer Reardon’s position, to which he admitted he wouldn’t have shot her because “this is my community, and I know what happens in the community.”
Check out the interview down below.
