The atmosphere of hatred ginned up against police nationwide received a boost yesterday from CNN anchor Fredericka Whitfield, who found it “courageous and brave” for a deranged gunman to have attacked the Dallas Police Headquarters with bullets and bombs from an armored van, furious over a child custody issue. Mediaite captured the moment:

Whitfield was speaking to CNN legal analyst Philip Holloway when she said this:

“It was very courageous and brave, if not crazy as well, to open fire on the police headquarters, and now you have this scene, this standoff. So you believe these are the hallmarks of more than one person’s involvement.”

Holloway did not take the bait. As the Washington Times noted, he said:

“First off I want to say that I think the Dallas police department did an excellent job handling this situation and were very fortunate that no one other than the suspect was injured,” Mr. Holloway said, adding that he did believe there was evidence that the gunman had an accomplice who may have helped plan the attack.

Both the Times and Mediaite refer to Whitfield as having “misspoken.” That is certaibly giving her the doubt. It is obvious to me that in her mind, attacking police is inherently heroic, that is to say, a desirable outcome.