A Maryland reporter was scolded on social media Thursday for softening his story about a local man who routinely carries an AR-15-style rifle near a school bus stop in Severn.
“Tonight on @wbaltv11: A man with an AR-15 has been showing up for weeks on a school bus for students from the local elementary school,” tweeted Tolly Taylor, a journalist for WBAL-TV, an NBC affiliate.
“Parents say their kids are scared, man says he’s protesting @GovWesMoore new gun control lawTaylor added, using Democratic Gov. Wes Moore’s Twitter handle. “You will hear from both sides at 5+6pm.”
It was his “both sides” framing that riled critics. The comment was reminiscent of former President Donald Trump’s comment about “very good people on both sides” from a 2017 white supremacist rally in Virginia that was also attended by counter-protesters, one of whom was killed by a neo-Nazi.
It wasn’t the best choice of words, either, given the chilling sight of a wronged, armed man parading around a bus stop amid a spate of nationwide school shootings.
“Nope…there aren’t two sides to bringing an assault weapon to an elementary school bus stop,” MSNBC’s Jen Psaki tweeted.the former White House press secretary to President Joe Biden.
“‘Both sides’? Really?” your MSNBC buddy Mehdi Hasan wrote. “I feel like I’m losing my mind. ENOUGH WITH BOTH SIDES-ISM!”
The man with the rifle, J’den McAdory, he told WBAL-TV that he was asserting his legal right. Police in Anne Arundel County, where Severn is located, said he is not breaking the law.
An understandably scared parent told Taylor that it might be “too late” if something isn’t done soon. And the school even changed its dismissal time on Monday because of the problem.
Taylor reported that McAdory ultimately agreed not to protest during the drop off or pick up from school.
HuffPost reached out to Taylor for comment. Meanwhile, Twitter users continued to weigh in on her choice of words:
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