Press disgusted as reporters ransack shooters’ apartment

“None of that should have been taken live. Wow. That was bad,” Grasswire managing editor Matthew Keys said.

The Los Angeles Times’ Matt Pearce added, “I have so many questions, for literally everyone.”

“How is this happening?” the New York Times’ Michael Barbaro asked.

Police say the suspects are responsible for killing 14 people in a mass shooting Wednesday afternoon at the Inland Regional Center, a state-run facility for persons with mental disabilities. Authorities also believe that Farook and his wife had been radicalized and that they had ties to the Islamic State, an insurgent terrorist group that has swept across large swaths of the Middle East.

But far from being impressed with the networks’ supposed doggedness in finding a new angle to Wednesday’s massacre, reporters from all over the country recoiled, publicly voicing their distaste for what appeared to be a clear breach of journalistic ethics.

“Are there no producers with any of these networks with any sense? Where’s standards and practices?” asked Mother Jones’ Clara Jeffery.

Commentary’s John Podhoretz added, “To say this is why people hate the media is the understatement of not only this millennium but every millennium dating back to creation.”

“I’m about to take my kid to the zoo so I’d appreciate it if no one disgraced my profession for the rest of the afternoon,” wrote the Guardian’s Spencer Ackerman.

Even members of Congress, including Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., expressed incredulity over what was happening on television.

MSNBC carried a live feed starring NBC News’ Kerry Sanders, who commented prior to entering the apartment, “I just think there’s an intense curiosity if we’ll see anything in there and what we see in there might reveal something or may not.”

He then proceeded to wander around the apartment, rummaging through the suspected shooters’ personal affects, and commenting aimlessly as he reported back to a clearly uncomfortable Andrea Mitchell.

As reporters elsewhere questioned the ethics of the live broadcast, others were astonished that the networks had sent staff to violate what many had thought was still an active crime scene.

“We’re not just talking about a crime scene; we’re talking about evidence possibly related to national security & ongoing combat ops overseas,” said Commentary’s Noah Rothman.

“Okay maybe some journalists deserve to face charges,” said the Washington Post’s Ryan J. Reilly.

Rolling Stones’ Tim Dickinson added, “[it’s a] good thing the assailants are dead because that chain of evidence is toast.”

NBC’s Kerry had his cameraman zoom in on several un-redacted IDs, including a drivers license, a Social Security card and an employer ID, revealing the personal information of a woman who may or may not be connected in any way to Wednesday’s deadly attack.

He also sorted through the suspects’ personal photos, many of which featured people who also likely had no involvement with the Inland Regional Center shootings.

MSNBC was compelled after the broadcast to apologize for its questionable decision to air live images of un-vetted items from the apartment.

“We regret that we briefly showed images of photographs and identification cards that should not have been aired without review,” a network spokesperson said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner’s media desk.

Prior to the group’s apology, NBC News’ Kelly O’Donnell and her NBCUniversal colleagues worked quickly to scrub their social media accounts of any mention of the broadcast.

MSNBC’s apology also comes after a network spokesperson maintained that the FBI had already “cleared” the room and that the landlord, Doyle Miller, had agreed to give reporters a “press tour.”

Miller later said that he did no such thing and that reporters “rushed” past him, storming into the apartment all on their own. The San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department told reporters that the apartment was still very much a part of an ongoing investigation.

Some of the reporters at the scene responded to Miller’s claim by alleging that he had, in fact, granted them access to the home, which had been boarded-up by the FBI. They also accused him after accepting a $1,000 bribe from a tabloid news group.

Doyle was later escorted from the complex and driven off in an unmarked vehicle, according to BuzzFeed’s Jon Passatino.

A spokesperson for the FBI said later that the agency had indeed “cleared” the apartment, adding that anything that happened inside afterwards is not their problem.

However, this claim comes after reportedly “shocked” FBI spokespersons told reporters Friday said that the apartment was still the scene of “an ongoing investigation.”

Det. Dan Elton of Redlands Police Department also said that no one but the coroner’s office and family members had the right to enter the suspects’ apartment. That the landlord supposedly agreed to a “press tour” is totally inconsequential.

Members of the press weren’t satisfied with MSNBC or any of the other networks’ attempt to explain their behavior.

“I am still baffled,” CNN contributor Harry Houck, a retired New York City Police Department detective, said. “This is part of the crime scene because this is where they lived. The first thing I noticed when I looked at this was this apartment was not dusted for prints.”

He also wondered how the FBI could say that they had “cleared” the apartment when it was appeared that law enforcement officials had barely touched it.

“How do I know that? Because I don’t see fingerprint dust all over the place,” he added.

Another CNN contributor, law enforcement analyst Cedric Alexander, said during the live broadcast, “This is really hard to watch.”

The Daily Dot’s Dell Cameron added in a note commenting on the whole of the industry, “Today was like one of those early 90s movies that depict reporters as depraved creeps that would step over their own mothers for a scoop.”