MSNBC host Joy Reid wept during her show “The ReidOut” Friday (May 20) after she showed a clip of the Buffalo mass shooting victims’ families displaying grief and anger at a press conference.
Reid said that watching the son of Heyward Patterson — a Black driver who was shot during last weekend’s tragic event — covering his eyes as he cried caused the tears.
She stumbled before introducing another clip from the press conference, and by the time the cameras returned to her, Reid could no longer hold back her emotions.
“I’m joined now by Bishop William Barber … co-chairman of the Poor People’s Campaign,” Reid said as she began to cry.
“Sorry, I’m pausing about crying on TV but that little boy and that grandma kind of really made it very hard for me.”
Reid managed to gather herself and finish the interview with Barber, but appeared visibly distressed.
“Bishop Barber what do you even say, you’ve done many funerals, it’s one thing if your mom or ex-husband dies as a result of cancer or an accident, this isn’t that. What do you even say?” she asked.
“Joy, I’m sitting here like you crying and angry. I don’t know if you say a lot. But you be with people,” Barber said. “You gotta recognize America, that stuff doesn’t come from one crazed racist shooter or one crazed extremist Fox News commentator spewing this stuff. This is something in the ethoughts of this nation — not dealt with.”
“It’s something terribly wrong in our society and what we’re seeing today has happened before but we’ve also beat it before and we can bet it again,” Barber added.
On Saturday (Ma 21) morning, Barber took to Twitter to briefly discuss the moment. “I had to cry w/ @JoyAnnReid on TV last night,” he tweeted. “And I had to remember all those who let their tears flow until justice rolled down like a mighty stream. It’s time to come together & build a movement. Join us in DC on June 18.”
Reid has not spoken about the moment off-air but did reply to Barber’s tweets with a heart emoji and a broken heart emoji as well.
Check out a clip from the interview below: