Yesterday, Noah asked an important question in the wake of the brutal assassination of two NYPD officers. Specifically, he wondered whether those who have been out in the streets fomenting anti-police hysteria would be inclined to turn the mirror around this week and pause to question their tactics and consider the ramifications of their actions. When Al Sharpton finally stood up to comment, we seemed to have the answer.

Civil rights leaders Sunday condemned the ambush killings of two New York police officers and expressed fear that the backlash over the bloodshed could derail the protest movement that has grown out of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner… Similarly, the Rev. Al Sharpton, who has called for peaceful protests, condemned “eye-for-an-eye” violence and called it absurd to blame protesters or politicians for the officers’ deaths. “We are now under intense threat from those who are misguided – from those who are trying to blame everyone from civil rights leaders to the mayor rather than deal with an ugly spirit that all of us need to fight,” he said. Sharpton added: “There are those of us committed to nonviolence and making the system work. And there are those committed to anarchy and recklessness who could care less about the families of police or the families who have raised questions about police accountability.”

It defies reason that any major news outlets are airing these arguments in a serious fashion. First, at a time when cameras are tracking the movement of the remains of two officers who were executed by a violent felon who announced to the world over social media that he was hunting cops specifically because of Eric Garner and Michael Brown, expressing your “worries” that the protest movement could be “derailed” is beyond offensive. It pokes a finger in the eye of the entire concept of the rule of law. Worrying about being “under threat” because people are pushing back on your hateful rhetoric and the resultant bloodshed is offensive on every level, particularly when you refuse to so much as acknowledge your role in these events.

But perhaps even more to the point, Sharpton’s go-to analogy is to work the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner into a comment about the grieving families of the two slain police officers. This is not simply offensive, but outrageous. Those officers were on the job, out on the streets, trying to keep the citizens of that community safe when they were gunned down in a most cowardly ambush. To attempt to put them on the same level as people who instigated a confrontation with other police officers – no matter the circumstances – is nothing but hate speech.

As Jeff Dunetz puts it, this show is all about Al.

Only Al Sharpton can have a press conference about two dead cops and make it all about him. The professional hate monger had a presser yesterday so Eric Garner’s widow could call for peace in the wake of the two NYC Cops who were murdered execution style on Saturday… Allow me to make two points here. First anyone who touches a hair on Sharpton’s head is an idiot. If you want to make a change, call the Mayors office and ask him why he deals with that scumbag. Or call the President and do the same, ask Senator Schumer why he went to Sharpton’s birthday party/fund raiser. But don’t hurt him. That makes people just as bad as he is. If you want to hurt hm make sure our leaders don’t touch him with a ten foot pole. The second thing is Sharpton probably gets death threats all the time, its a stupid thing for people to do, but what he played at the press conference was nothing unusual. Playing the death threat was just one more way for Sharpton to push the real objective of his movement; Al Sharpton, inc.

The opportunism on display is beyond the pale. Along with the Mayor, the media needs to put some of these serious questions to Sharpton and have him answer for his part in this, rather than treating him like some sort of ambassador of post-racial America.