SAN BERNARDINO – The Daily Show, which stars veteran comedian Jon Stewart, issued an apology to the San Bernardino District Attorney after wielding a high-level criticism against county law enforcement on his TV program.
Longtime District Attorney Mike Ramos lashed out at Stewart when he compared the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown, who died in Ferguson, Missouri, with the death of Dante Parker, who died as a result of being Tasered by San Bernardino County deputies.
The apology from The Daily Show was issued in a tweet, which admitted the show’s “sloppy” mistake regarding Parker’s death. In response to Stewart’s jab, Ramos issued a video which severely criticized Stewart’s commentary. The video was posted to Ramos’ YouTube account. Stewart was comparing police shootings from around the country, noting both the Brown and Parker deaths in the piece.
Parker, a Victorville man, died in August after a confrontation with a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s deputy. Law enforcement reports said that Parker, 36, was attempting to break into a home in the 13000 block of Bucknell Ct. in Victorville. Deputies responded, struggled with Parker who tried to flee on a bicycle. Termed uncooperative and evasive, likely from being under the influence of unknown substances, deputies shocked him with a Taser.
According to reports, Parker left multiple marks on a female officer, who used the Taser multiple times during a struggle. A second deputy handcuffed, placed him inside a deputy’s patrol car before noticing Parker sweating and breathing heavily. He died two days before his 37th birthday. In Ramos’ video, he said Parker did not belong on the list because officers did not shoot him. Parker, according to reports, was tased and died from medical complications.
The Daily Show tweet read, “You’re right re Dante Parker. Sloppy to put him in our list of shootings. TV apology coming Monday … Larger point still stands” – The Daily Show (@TheDailyShow) December 5, 2014. Stewart also addressed the error on the next edition of the show as promised. The Daily Show features political comedy, having aired since 1996.
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