‘The View’ Corrects Alyssa Farah Griffin When She Says Shootings of Ralph Yarl, Ajike Owens Happened Because of Fear: “They’re Not Afraid, It’s Racism”

By Greta Bjornson Twitter @greatbjornson

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Alyssa Farah Griffin was swiftly corrected on this morning’s episode of The View as three of her co-hosts shot down her remarks about the recent shootings of Ralph Yarl and Ajike Owens. Yarl, who survived, and Owens, who tragically died, were both Black people targeted by white neighbors within two months of one another.

After Yarl sat down for an interview about his experience with Good Morning America, The View launched into a conversation about his shooting and the perpetrator, an 84-year-old named Andrew Lester who fired a gun at Yarl in April when he arrived at his Missouri home by knocking on the wrong door, per ABC News.

“Extreme, right-wing media is making crazy people even crazier,” Joy Behar said of Lester, before mentioning Owens’ case, which took place in June in Florida. The mother-of-four was killed by neighbor Susan Lorincz, who, like Lester, is also accused of shooting her through a door, as reported by ABC News.

After discussing Lorincz’s charges, which include manslaughter but not murder, Griffin told the panel, “What I can’t help but think in both of these instances is the generational trauma that’s going to come with it. You see a young boy who experienced that — and god bless, I’m so glad that Ralph Yarl survived this. We didn’t know if he was going to. But he’s going to carry that forever.”

She continued, “You think of the kids who saw their mom gunned down and just the impact that’s going to have on these families forever. There’s something wrong with a society when we’re this afraid of our neighbors.”

Before she could carry on, Sara Haines interjected, “They’re not afraid, it’s racism,” while Behar added, “She just doesn’t want any Black neighbors,” likely referring to Lester. Sunny Hostin chimed in too, noting, “It’s racism and the radicalization we’re seeing from the right wing media.”

Griffin replied, “I don’t disagree with any of that,” before adding, “There was also this case in upstate New York where a white woman pulled into a driveway and a man just shot her,” seemingly referring to the April shooting of Kaylin Gillis, who was killed while looking for a friend’s house.

“Why are we so afraid of each other?” she asked again.

The View airs weekdays at 11/10c on ABC.