CBS ripped over black-on-white smackdown 'bias'

EDITOR'S NOTE: **Warning!** The video embedded in this story contains graphic and vulgar language that may be offensive to readers. It also contains violence and images of a bloody nose.

A CBS report that cites an elderly white man's "shoe-shining" remark as the trigger for a "racially tinged" transit bus altercation in Oakland, Calif., is being blasted on the network's website forum page by participants who say the black man involved "got what he deserved."

(Warning. The following video contains graphic and vulgar language and images of violence):

A videotape taken by a passenger on the bus reveals how an elderly white man, who at one point walked away from the argument, responded violently after being struck – apparently in the chest or neck area – by a black attacker. The black man's nose was broken and both men were checked at a hospital, authorities later confirmed.

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CBS said the woman who shot the video claimed the fight was started by the white man's statement about "shining shoes."

CBS quoted Ivanna Washington, who shot the video, as saying, "The white guy was asking the black guy for a shoeshine. And I guess the black guy took it as a racist comment, like, 'Why's a black guy have to spit shine your shoes?'"

Her explanation was that after the white man walked away and moved to the front of the bus, the black man followed, then, "I guess he hit him across the face once. And then the white guy stands up and lets loose."

The network report cited a statement from transit spokesman Clarence
Thomas that the senior man was "off his medication" but doesn't elaborate.
Authorities said neither man was pressing charges.

The video also appears to show Washington taking the older man's bag and carrying it toward the back of the bus while a voice is heard saying, "Go through that."

Washington told CBS affiliate KPIX-TV she didn't steal anything.

But comments on the CBS website forum page were largely one-sided, accusing the network, which did not respond to a WND request for comment, of portraying the senior citizen as a racist.

"You idiots at CBS for even making this older man look like a racist! Unbelievable! Did you even watch the video???" wrote one.

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Said another, "They thought that he was easy pickins they thought wrong. CBS is opening a can of worms with their anti-white biased reporting. If CBS thinks we're just going to take it they are wrong."

Other comments:

• "Did the reporters not even watch the video! What a joke! The girl recording this is just as involved in the whole fight. Screaming "pinky" let alone her behaviour throughout the whole video egging the younger guy on."
• "The bearded white man clearly acted in self defense. Shame on CBS for portraying it any other way."
• "The bothersome thing to me is how the article was written. The opening paragraph chose the wording carefully and deceptivly. (sic) The 'college student' screamed two racist slurs that somehow wern't (sic) mentioned at all while being clearly heard and helping progress the altercation. Instead the writer only mentioned her as a college student not an instigater (sic) who screamed racist comments twice…"
• "So if the transit spokesman is to believed, the elderly man certainly did an admirable job of trying to defuse the situation despite being 'off his medication'. Did this spokesman happen to mention what type of medication this was? Blood pressure medication? Prescription antacid? Viagra? What was it? It's rather disingenuous to include the item in the story without further explanation considering what that most people will automatically assume it to imply that the man suffers a psychiatric disorder even though his behavior and attempt to de-escalate the situation prior to the physical altercation suggests otherwise."
• "Race is irrelevant to this. A young person acting foolishly learned a lesson. It's actually refreshing to see a situation like this where race is irrelevant. It's just a young guy with a little too much testosterone…"
• "How about some actual thought or journalism?"
• "The black guy can't leave it alone and even after the old guy walks off still follows him up the front of the bus. The guy got what he deserved."
• "CBS, you should be ashamed and embarrassed for publishing this story with the 'skew' you portray. Tempers of both men were high, but you cannot in ANY way blame the 67 year old man for what happened."
• CBS, you are losing credibility in droves and have angered and insulted many people. This is spreading like wildfire on many message boards on the internet, and I hope it continues to do so."

The video, indeed, went viral, according to a report in the Examiner.

It already has reached both the U.K. Sun as well as the Daily Mail.

At the popular Armstrong and Getty radio show in California, hosts said the majority of their e-mails, including some from African-Americans, favored the older man.

At the InsideBayArea website, the older man was identified as Thomas Bruso, 67, who recently had a confrontation with police after allegedly bringing alcohol into a baseball stadium.

The San Francisco Examiner later posted a report about a second video from Washington, in which she denied she "stole" anything.

"THIS VIDEO IS OF MYSELF EXPLAINING TO EVERYONE THE REAL DEAL ABOUT THIS 'STOLEN' BAG. ABSOLUTLEY (sic) FALSEE! (sic) THIS GUY BEING MY COMPANION, ALSO FALSE. AS U CAN SEE I ALSO APOLOGIZED FOR ANYONE WHO WAS OFFENDED BY THE VIDEO. DONT KNOCK THE MESSENGER IF YOU DONT LIKE WHATS (sic) HAPPENING HERE, BE THE CHANGE TO START PUTTING THESE THINGS TO AN END."

News reports did not identify the black man.