CNN anchor Fredricka Whitfield issued an apology Sunday for calling the gunman accused of opening fire at Dallas police headquarters “courageous and brave.”
“Yesterday during a segment on the Dallas police department attack, I used the words ‘courageous and brave,’ when discussing the gunman. I misspoke and in no way believe the gunman was courageous nor brave,” Whitfield said.
The gunman, later identified as James Boulware, ambushed Dallas police headquarters on Saturday morning, according to the Dallas Police Department.
The department says he planted pipe bombs outside police headquarters and opened fire on the building from his parked van before being shot and killed by a police sniper.
According to Dallas Police Chief
During its news coverage of the story on Saturday, Whitfield made her controversial comments as she spoke to CNN legal analyst Philip Holloway.
“It was very courageous and brave, if not crazy as well, to open fire on the police headquarters, and now you have this scene, this standoff. So you believe these are the hallmarks of more than one person’s involvement,” she said.
Several media outlets criticized Whitfield in stories about her poorly-worded comments. She responded by issuing an apology during Sunday’s 2 p.m. ET broadcast.
Watch the video of Whitfield’s on-air apology.