Fox News’ Sean Hannity is under fire after describing Adam Toledo, the 13-year-old boy who was fatally shot by Chicago police officers last month, a “13-year-old man.” Hannity made the comments during the most recent episode of his radio show on Thursday (April 15).
“We are awaiting the release this hour of Chicago Police bodycam footage that captured the fatal police shooting of a young 13-year-old man by the name of Adam Toledo,” Hannity said. And if social media is any indication, there’s a lot of chatter today about possible unrest. I hope it doesn’t happen but with Chicago’s track record, every weekend — you know, I guess, you’d have to go with the odds, considering there are dozens and dozens of shootings and killings every weekend in Chicago — that this might not be particularly good.”
Hannity’s description of Toledo as a “man” rather than a child drew intense criticism on social media.
“Dear Sean Hannity, on what FCKN planet is a 13-year-old considered a man?” one person tweeted.
“Adam Toledo was not a ‘13-year-old man.’ He was a child,” another wrote. “You make me ill.”
Others compared the Fox News correspondent’s description of Toledo to how Republican Pam Bondi described Kyle Rittenhouse on the news station last year. While appearing on Hannity’s Fox segment, the former Florida attorney general called 17-year-old double-murder suspect Rittenhouse “a little boy” and said he was “trying to protect his community.”
“Adam Toledo was a 13-year-old boy. Unarmed, murdered by police… Fox News reports him as a 13-year-old MAN,” one person tweeted. “Yet, they reported Kyle Rittenhouse as a 17-year-old BOY walking around shooting people with an AR-15.”
Later on Thursday, Chicago police released body camera footage from Toledo’s fatal shooting. The graphic video showed that the young boy was not holding a gun during the shooting, as police and prosecutors previously claimed. Instead, Toledo immediately raised his hands over his head and was attempting to surrender when a police officer opened fire.
After footage of the shooting was released, protesters took to the streets to demand justice for Toledo and transparency from Chicago police and city officials.