CNN has quietly removed an inaccurate and out-of-context portion of a report it posted online Monday, which said a woman calling for violence in the suburbs of Milwaukee was actually calling for peace.
Violent protests erupted over the weekend in Milwaukee in reaction to a police shooting of an armed black man. CNN's initial report on the protests referred to the man's sister, Sherelle Smith.
"Smith's sister Sherelle Smith condemned the violence, saying the community needs the businesses affected," CNN's report said. "'Don't bring that violence here,' [Kimberly] Neal, his other sister, said while sobbing."
Sherelle is seen in a video posted elsewhere online, however, directing any rioting in Milwaukee to "the suburbs."
"Burnin' down s—t ain't going to help nothing," Sherelle said. "Y'all burning down s—t we need in our community. Take that s—t to the suburbs. Burn that s—t down. We need our s—t. We need our weaves. I don't wear it. But we need it."
The discrepancy between CNN's report and Sherelle's fuller comments were first pointed out by the right-leaning media monitoring website Newsbusters. CNN's online report has since entirely removed the portion about Sherelle entirely.
A separate televised report on Monday by CNN also characterized Sherelle as "calling for peace."
Regarding the online report, a spokesperson for CNN told the Washington Examiner that "an earlier version of this story mischaracterized what the victim's sister was trying to convey. She was calling for peace in her community, urging the protesters to go elsewhere."