An “award-winning journalist” who has been covering the ongoing unrest in New York City and beyond over the police officer-involved death of Eric Garner was pelted with criticism on Friday night after proclaiming police forces should be disarmed.
“It’s time to take guns away from police,” journalist Tim Pool tweeted.
Twitter
Twitter
Nearly all the responses went against Pool’s suggestion.
“[S]tupidest thing I think I’ve ever heard,” one user wrote.
“Moronic comment,” another replied.
Another Twitter user asked, “Will the scary criminals give up their guns too?”
However, at least one person told Pool, “I completely agree.”
Pool was “featured in TIME’s person of the year 2011, is a nominee to the TIME 100 in 2012, and was the recipient of the Shorty Award for Best Journalist in Social Media in 2013,” according to his website.
He has apparently had his work featured in The Guardian, Reuters, New York Times, NBC, FastCompany, and Al Jazeera English. He previously worked as a producer for VICE Media and recently joined Fusion as the “director of media innovation.”
Hours after posting the initial tweet about disarming the police, Pool clarified his remark.
“For clarity, I meant from cops who are screwing up,” he tweeted roughly four hours later.
This story has been updated.