CNN anchor Jake Tapper spent part of his Friday broadcast cleaning up a mess entirely of his own making, issuing a correction after confidently identifying the newly arrested January 6 pipe bomb suspect as a “White man.”
On Thursday, Tapper told the nation that the FBI had arrested “a 30-year-old White man” in connection with the infamous pipe bombs planted outside the RNC and DNC headquarters on the eve of January 6.
Moments later, CNN aired the suspect’s photo, revealing what anyone could see plainly: the suspect, Brian Cole Jr., is Black.
Tapper told his audience:
“Brian Cole Jr., a 30-year-old white man from the D.C. suburbs, is charged with transporting an explosive device in interstate commerce and with malicious destruction by means of explosion.”
He continued, attempting to bolster the network’s reporting:
“CNN observed local and federal law enforcement outside his home in Woodbridge, Virginia, this morning.”
Hellbound and Down 