A Change.org petition is calling for CNN’s Don Lemon to be fired after he called for more information before condemning a South Carolina senior deputy who tossed and dragged a black female student on the ground.
The petition was born after Lemon criticized legal analyst Sunny Hostin for passing judgment on the deputy, Ben Fields, before knowing all the facts about what led to the incident.
30,346 people have signed the petition, so far, with an ultimate goal of 35,000.
“I’m disappointed that someone I used to look up to now is someone that I have trouble respecting as a journalist,” petition creator Jamell Henderson wrote. “Please join me in calling on CNN to remove Mr. Lemon from his role at the network.”
Henderson went on to say Lemon has failed to do his job as a journalist.
He seems to forget the true essence of journalism: to call the news how you see it and not judge, defame or antagonize. We, the people, want a journalist and an anchor that will not be afraid to accept the facts that are occurring within the African-American community and who will encourage our people the same way that person will encourage others across the board. We, the people, have no confidence in Mr. Lemon’s ability to do that. Therefore, we are asking CNN to remove him from his position.
CNN declined to comment to TheWrap.
For the record: A previous version of this story misidentified Ben Fields’ position as sheriff; he is a senior deputy.