Sky News Guest Storms Out As Hosts ‘Downplay’ Homophobic Orlando Attack

Fair warning – this will be the most frustrating nine minutes of your life.

Guardian journalist Owen Jones walked out of a Sky News broadcast after enduring host Mark Longhurst and co-panellist Julia Hartley-Brewer do their absolute best to downplay the homophobic motivation for the Orlando massacre, which claimed the lives of 50 people and injured 53 more.

He had been attempting to stress the importance of calling out the attack for what it was – a homophobic terrorist attack at a gay nightclub, targeting members of the LGBT community – and was literally shouted over by the Sky News hosts.

“It is one of the worst atrocities committed against LGBT people in the Western world for generations,” said Jones.

“It’s something that’s carried out against human beings, isn’t it,” said Longhurst.“You cannot say this is a worse attack than what happened in Paris–.”

“I’m saying against LGBT people,” said a frustrated Jones. “What I’m saying is, this has to be called out for what it is. It is an intentional attack on LGBT people.”

“This was on the freedom of all people trying to enjoy themselves as [the attacks on the] Bataclan was–,” said Longhurst.

Honestly, it’s a credit to Jones that he didn’t walk out earlier, especially when Harley-Brewer jumped in to Longhurst’s defence with the unbelievable line, “I don’t think you have ownership of horror of this crime.”

In fact, so firmly are the hosts’ heels planted against calling out this attack for being targeted against LGBT people at all, that Jones is forced to point out that if this was an attack on a place of worship, then they’d have no problem labelling it as a target attack on that particular religion.

“I’m sorry, I just find this the most astonishing thing I’ve ever been involved in on television,” he said. “If he’d walked into a synagogue and massacred a bunch of Jewish people, you wouldn’t be saying what you’re saying now, you’d be talking about it as an anti-Semitic attack. This was a deliberate attack on LGBT people, this was a deliberate attack on the LGBT community–”

“As it was at the Bataclan,” interrupts Longhurst, displaying an astounding talent for missing the entire fucking point.

Later, around the 6:30 mark, after Jones has stayed silent in frustration at being yelled over, Longhurst brings up the comments from a Stonewall spokesperson.

And Jones, quite rightly, snaps.

“Oh, you’re going to have an LGBT voice talking about it,” he says.

And in response, Hartley-Brewer sighs. SHE *ACTUALLY* SIGHS.

“Owen, seriously,” she says. “We’re trying to have a civilised conversation.”

At which point Owen takes out his mic, stands up, and walks out without so much as a backward glance. Bloody onya.

Jones has been silent since the clip aired, and Longhurst isn’t on Twitter.

However, for better or worse Hartley-Brewer is – and she refuses to apologise.

Back on @SkyNews at 11.30pm reviewing the papers. I hope Mark Longhurst doesn’t storm off too or I’ll be left talking to myself.

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) June 12, 2016

Oh, sorry, I’m straight so apparently I’m not allowed to care if 50 gay people are shot dead. I didn’t get that memo https://t.co/GlHIQYVLUq

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) June 12, 2016

Trust me, I will not be apologising. I said absolutely nothing for which I need to apologise. https://t.co/1IWk3pjiBA

— Julia Hartley-Brewer (@JuliaHB1) June 13, 2016

She then linked to a YouTube clip titled ‘Owen Jones’ tantrum & storming off Sky News Press preview‘, which describes the video as:

“Owen denies the Orlando shooting had anything to do with Islam and storms off back home to his big black bull.”

Classy.

Mark Longhurst and Julia Hartley-Brewer should be ashamed of themselves, and won’t be. Good for @OwenJones84 for not being polite about it.

— Archie Bland (@archiebland) June 12, 2016

Photo: Sky News.