It was bound to happen, some public figure was going to sympathize with the Dallas cop killer. But a former beauty queen is now wishing that that someone hadn’t been her.
Kalyn Chapman James incited widespread outrage after posting a video Sunday morning where she called the Dallas sniper a “martyr.”
James was crowned the first African American Miss Alabama in 1994, and since then has worked as a model, dancer, actor, Fox Sports Network reporter, and spokeswoman for a number of non-profits. And until recently, she was the TV Host for the Art Loft program on Miami’s PBS affiliate station, WPBT2.
That was before the beauty queen called a racist murderer a “martyr.” WPBT2 announced on Twitter that they are placing James on administrative leave while the station “looks further into the matter.” The station remarked that “we do not condone any suggestion that terrorism is acceptable or that it should be tolerated.”
In addition to the “martyr” comment, James also stated that she didn’t “feel sad for the officers that lost their lives.” She “wasn’t surprised by what the shooter did to those cops” and thinks “a lot of us feel the same way.”
But James has been surprised by the backlash she’s received since posting the video. She says she has “been threatened, harassed and called awful names.” What about the cops being “threatened, harassed and called awful names” just for doing their jobs? The former pageant princess shared her thoughts in the most public way possible, but now doesn’t like it that people are criticizing her for saying that she doesn’t feel sad for the dead officers.
James has been making the media rounds this week in an attempt to backtrack her comments. She has been emphasizing the point that although she did say those heinous remarks, she also said in the video that she is “dealing with a bit of guilt” for feeling that way, that that is “not really my heart.” She says that she does feel sorry for the dead officers now.
She posted an explanation on Facebook, saying that she does not “condone violence against anyone.” She remarked that she wants “healing and peace for our nation” and believes that “it will come when we can process our feelings [and] address the ones that don’t align with our values (like I did).”
But hopefully the beauty queen has learned that some feelings probably shouldn’t be processed on Facebook.
Watch James’s full Facebook video here:
