Jimmy Kimmel was sadly silent about the ABC10 shooting in Sacramento | Opinion
The most violent response to the suspension of comedian Jimmy Kimmel from his ABC talk show occurred in Sacramento when a shooter opened fire on ABC10’s studios on the 400 block of Broadway, piercing a window three times.
There were no injuries, but bullets pierced the lobby and journalists and ABC10 employees were in the building and had reason to fear and worry for their safety.
It would have been nice if Kimmel had mentioned the Sept. 19 incident on his show Tuesday when he returned from a suspension that began on Sept. 17, two days before the local ABC affiliate was attacked. But Kimmel said nothing and that’s sad.
Yes, there is still a lot we don’t know about the motives behind the shooting and much we don’t know about the suspect, Anibal “Al” Hernandez Santana, 64, of Sacramento.
But nationwide protests followed Kimmel’s removal from ABC because many people, Republicans and Democrats, felt his First Amendment rights were violated when Kimmel was suspended soon after being harshly criticized by President Trump and members of his administration for comments Kimmel made following the assassination of conservative activist, Charlie Kirk.
That bullets targeted an ABC affiliate amid the Kimmel furor deserved more attention from Kimmel and a lot of other people given the fear we all feel about the threat of political violence.
California Governor Gavin Newsom had the decency to acknowledge what happened.
“While no injuries have been reported, any act of violence toward journalists is an attack on our democracy itself and must be condemned in the strongest terms,” Newsom said in a statement. “We stand with reporters and staff who work every day to keep communities informed and safe!”
Kimmel has made a living being critical of Trump and other conservative politicians on many of his shows. He is a political pundit as well as a comedian. When he was praising our First Amendment rights on Tuesday night, he needed to shout out to ABC10 journalists because their place of work was attacked. Their rights were threatened and they don’t have the benefit of being rich, popular and supported by countless celebrities.
Kimmel might have been mute on the shooting incident because of pressure to stay out of politics. After all, he was threatened by FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr for telling a bad joke. Seventy ABC affiliate stations owned by Nexstar Media and Sinclair Broadcast Group didn’t air Kimmel’s show Tuesday night.
As a print journalist, I feel solidarity with local TV journalists because all of us in the local news business are trying to make the most of our First Amendment rights by following the truth in our stories and opinion columns, even when powerful people don’t like what we report. It can be a dangerous job, as the ABC10 shooting demonstrates.
What happened last week was horrific, regardless of whether someone was physically injured.
Local news is made for the community, and the only way acts of violence like these will end is when this service is valued and uplifted by the people it serves.
This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 12:05 PM.
