ABC Anchor Shamed for Calling Out "Looters"
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I want to give you a little personal perspective on this story before I get to it.
In October 2006, I was living in Buffalo and getting ready to make my move to Florida. As I was packing a moving truck, a huge snowstorm hit the Buffalo area. Because the storm was so early in the year, the trees still had their leaves on them and the weight of the wet snow, caused the trees to snap like toothpicks.
Millions of trees came down and brought power lines with them. I was without power for over a week. With snow on the ground on the outside and no power on the inside, the temps inside my house dropped into the 40's.
I drove to a nearby 7-11, but since no one had power, no stores were open. But, there was a large pile of firewood outside the 7-11 that they normally sell to costumers.
I took 5 bundles, put them in my car and drove off. That firewood was a lifesaver for me. I was able to warm my house (or at least part of it) and at least live a bit better in the freezing temperatures.
A week later after we got power, I went back to the 7-11 and told them I needed to pay for 5 bundles of firewood. The lady behind the counter said that all the wood ended up being taken and I was the first one to come back and offer to pay for the wood.
When I stopped in a few days later, the same lady told me that another 5 or 6 people stopped in and paid for the wood that they took while the store was closed and without power.
I tell that story, to bring up this one.
Some people in Houston were spotted by ABC Anchor Tom Llamas going into a closed supermarket and taking food.
Llamas was soon called out on Twitter for what he wrote.
CBS Marketwatch writes that the backlash didn’t stop Llamas from following up with a now-deleted image from the “crime” scene, where authorities were called into action.
No families struggling for a bag of soggy Wonder Bread on Llamas’s watch. That’s how his hundreds of detractors on Twitter saw it, and that’s where the whole thing really went off the rails:
Llamas then tried to explain in further detail.
Now, I think Llamas might be getting a bit of a raw deal here. He wasn't ratting out the looters, he was just reporting. Although, I'm not sure he should have used the word "looting" in his tweet.
People made it sound like Llamas called the cops on these people. He did not, he reported what he saw. That is his job.
I can 100% understand why these people felt the need to take the food, like I said above, I have been in those shoes. This was not people running into a Best Buy to take a TV, this was people looking for food.
Llamas saw what was happening and reported what he saw, that's what he is paid to do. Yes, I think his use of the word "looters" was wrong, but he was just doing his job. I don't think his intent was to narc people out, it was to inform.
The wording could have been better, but I think in this day and age of attacking the media for everything, Llamas is getting way more blame than he deserves.
It's just piling on.
Just saying....
