Jon Stewart apologizes to San Bernardino County D.A.: ‘Counter-errorism’

Comedian Jon Stewart delivered on a pledge he made on Twitter and Monday night apologized to the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office for an error he made on “The Daily Show” regarding the circumstances of a man’s deadly encounter with sheriff’s deputies.

Watch the video below.

Last week, Stewart had included 36-year-old Dante Parker in a list of unarmed black men fatally shot by law enforcement while making a larger point about systemic inequality and mistrust in the justice system.

Parker was tased -- not shot -- by deputies and died from an overdose of PCP, the Riverside County coroner concluded. Dist. Atty. Mike Ramos pointed that out in a YouTube video after Stewart’s show last week.

In his response Monday, Stewart acknowledged the mistake and argued it didn’t negate his larger point about scrutinizing law enforcement.

“Dist. Atty. Ramos was right, we were wrong,” Stewart said. ... “So I’m sorry about that. We shouldn’t have done that.”

Stewart suggested — it would appear accurately so based on clips from Monday’s show — that some of his critics would seize on the mistake to invalidate his larger point.

“Now, rather than having to have the uncomfortable conversation about a judicial system that may be biased or a disturbing pattern of unarmed black men being shot by police or a certain element of militarization and force that’s crept into some aspects of law enforcement culture, my [mistake] ... can become an opportunity to negate that entire conversation.”

He quipped: “That’s what’s so tough about working in media counter-errorism.”

Stewart concluded the segment by stating that one can call for increased scrutiny of law enforcement while at the same time supporting them.

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