White TV reporter is suspended for speaking about 'anti-cop mentality' among fatherless young black men after slaying of New Jersey policeman

Ousted: Sean Bergin, a reporter with News 12 New Jersey, has been suspended for voicing his opinions about black families and relations with police and won't be back on air

A white TV reporter who voiced his opinions about black families and relations with police during a segment about a fatal police shooting said Tuesday he was suspended from his station and won't return.

Sean Bergin said he was suspended from News 12 New Jersey without pay on Monday and with pay on Tuesday. Bergin, a contracted employee, said the station told him that his assignments would be cut to one a week and he declined to remain in the position.

Bergin's report, which aired Sunday, featured the widow of a black man who police say shot a rookie Jersey City police officer to death and who was then killed by officers responding to the shooting.



The widow, Angelique Campbell, told Bergin that Lawrence Campbell should have killed more officers, but she later apologized.

Bergin said in his report that the underlying cause of an anti-police mentality is young black men growing up without fathers.

'It's important to shine a light on this anti-cop mentality that has so contaminated America's inner cities,' Bergin said after airing the widow's comments and showing a memorial for her husband. "The underlying cause of all of this, of course, young black men growing up without fathers."

The TV station said that the response to Bergin's report was being handled internally and that it doesn't comment on personnel matters.

Deadly confrontation: Bergin talked about 'anti-cop mentality' in inner city communities after the deadly shooting of rookie police officer Melvin Santiago (right), who was allegedly killed by Lawrence Campbell (left)



A person lays on the ground near evidence markers as officials investigate the scene where a Jersey City Police Department officer was shot and killed while responding to a call at a 24-hour pharmacy, Sunday, July 13, 2014, in Jersey City

Firestorm: Bergin made his comments about black youths after airing a controversial interview with Campbell's widow and showing a 'disgusting' memorial honoring her husband

'It is News 12's policy that reporters must be objective and not state personal opinions on-air,' the station said in a statement Tuesday.

Bergin said that he added his commentary just before going on air because he had heard from police officers outraged that the station was airing the widow's comments.

'If I had it to do over again, I would do the exact same thing,' Bergin said. "I broke the rules. I knew I was breaking the rules. But sometimes you have to break the rules to do the right thing.'

He said that the issue of young black men without fathers deserves more media coverage.

'Replacing husbands and fathers with government checks created this mess and that's why liberal media refuse to look at it,' a defiant Mr Bergin wrote on his Facebook page Tuesday in response to a comment by one of his numerous fans.

News 12 New Jersey viewers have been leaving messages on Bergin's 'wall' thanking him for taking a stand on a controversial issue.



A Facebook page created in support of the ousted journalist has drawn nearly 1,900 'likes.'



The National Association of Black Journalists' president, Bob Butler, challenged Bergin's connection between young black men growing up without fathers and anti-police sentiments and said that Bergin went beyond the standards of a news reporter by inserting his views on the story.

Squeezed out: Bergin, 49, said News 12 New Jersey told him if he wished to stay on he would be limited to one story a week on Long Island for $300

'Are there problems in the inner city with kids without fathers? Yes. But does that make kids violent? No,' Butler said. 'There are a lot of kids without fathers who go to college, graduate and become upstanding citizens.

'He's talking about a social phenomenon where there's lack of opportunity in communities.'

Bergin, 49, said that he has worked for News 12 as a freelance reporter for seven years, for six or seven days a week. He said he made about $1,300 a week working on stories in New Jersey and in New York's Long Island and Westchester County.