Victor Blackwell, co-anchor of CNN’s New Day Weekend show, said that the focus of the network’s coverage should not be on the damage done to its sign during Friday night’s George Floyd protests in Atlanta. “I don’t want to get involved in this video of cars burning outside of CNN, and the CNN sign,” Blackwell said on air Saturday morning, as footage of the sign and a burning police vehicle outside was shown. “It’s not about the damage. It’s not about us. If we focus too much on this then we’re missing the point. It needs to be addressed, yes, but focus on the change that needs to happen, and hopefully we can focus on those conversations, instead of just glass and bricks and vandalism as long as this goes on.”

In a powerful sign-off to the show, Blackwell added: “Black people aren’t saying something new this week or this weekend. A lot of the frustration is: we’ve been talking for quite a while, not just for years but decades. It’s time to move on… What is someone going to do to change this? This is a time for action. I got texts and tweets from my white friends checking on me because I live in Atlanta, because I’m a black man. If you’re so empathetic, do something. Demand something if you want to change.”