Sean Hannity drew intense criticism Thursday when he described Adam Toledo, the 13-year-old killed shot and killed by Chicago police on March 29 despite being unarmed and with his hands up, as a “13-year-old man.”
Chicago police released graphic bodycam footage from the shooting on Thursday. The footage firmly proved that despite prosecutors’ claims otherwise, Toledo wasn’t armed at the time he was shot and killed and was in fact attempting to surrender and comply with police orders.
Just ahead of the release of that footage, Hannity, speaking on the latest episode of his radio show, said: “We are awaiting the release this hour of Chicago Police bodycam footage that captured the fatal police shooting of a young 13 year old man by the name of Adam Toledo. And if social media is any indication, there’s a lot of chatter today about possible unrest. I hope it doesn’t happen but with Chicago’s track record, every weekend — you know, I guess, you’d have to go with the odds, considering there are dozens and dozens of shootings and killings every weekend in Chicago — that this might not be particularly good.”
It turns out he was right — there was a lot of chatter following the reveal of the information. But it was less about unrest in Chicago, and more about Hannity’s disturbing characterization of a dead seventh grader as a “man.”
“Mr. Hannity: Adam Toledo was not a ’13 year-old-man.’ He was a child. You make me ill,” actor George Takei tweeted.
“To be fair, Sean Hannity IS a 59 year old child,” Keith Olbermann snarked.
Writer Paul Fischer was more direct: “Sean Hannity is a centuries-old pile of sh-te zipped into a 59 year old skin suit,” he tweeted.
What makes Hannity’s description of Toledo even more baffling however, is that it runs contrary to that of former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, who once called Kenosha, Wisconsin, shooter Kyle Rittenhouse “a little boy out there trying to protect his community.”
As of this writing, Fox News has not clarified whether its official style guide holds that a 17-year-old, who crossed state lines with an assault rifle and shot and killed two people, is “a little boy,” but a 13-year-old who was unarmed and trying to surrender to police is a “man.”
See more reactions below:
And Sean Hannity is a “59 year old Dick” https://t.co/kXmxFzQrHL
— Guy Norman Bee (@guynormanbee) April 15, 2021
To be fair, Sean Hannity IS a 59-year old child. https://t.co/QAvIy58ZGN
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) April 15, 2021
Mr. Hannity: Adam Toledo was not a “13-year old man.” He was a child.
You make me ill.
— George Takei (@GeorgeTakei) April 15, 2021
https://twitter.com/_EthanGrey/status/1382842022315356161
https://twitter.com/tencents77/status/1382865603480850433
Hannity is a bad human being. Expect no better from him.
— Bryan William Jones (@BWJones) April 16, 2021
Three years younger than Kyle Rittenhouse, who Pam Bondi called a little boy on Hannity's show. https://t.co/cXtzx53Q8J
— Mr. Newberger (@jeremynewberger) April 16, 2021