Because if he said that, and it turned out not to be true, the looting and burning and rioting could have been even worse than it is...
Didn’t the officer go to the HOSPITAL?
And those going out publicly (which the media is spreading) to say things that may not be true (shots to the back, hands up, kneeling on the ground) have stoked the fires already? What about them? Don’t they need to be called out?