Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Wednesday that he was once held at gunpoint at a Baltimore Popeyes, following backlash over comments he made about the mass shooting last week in Roseburg, Oregon.
“Guy comes in, put the gun in my ribs. And I just said, ’I believe that you want the guy behind the counter,’ ” the retired neurosurgeon told Karen Hunter on Sirius XM Radio, CNN reported.
Mr. Carson’s story comes after he faced criticism Tuesday for implying that the Umpqua Community College students who were gunned down last week could have done more to save themselves.
“Not only would I probably not cooperate with him, I would not just stand there and let him shoot me. I would say ’Hey, guys, everybody attack him! He may shoot me, but he can’t get us all,’ ” he said on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends.”
Mathew Downing, the “lucky one” who was dramatically spared by the gunman, criticized Mr. Carson’s answer on Wednesday, CNN reported.
“I’m fairly upset he said that. Nobody could truly understand what actions they would take like that in a situation unless they lived it,” he said.
Mr. Carson clarified his comments Tuesday night, saying he was “not judging [the victims] at all, but, you know, these incidents continue to occur. I doubt that this will be the last one. I want to plant the seed in people’s minds so that if this happens again, you know, they don’t all get killed.”
• Jessica Chasmar can be reached at jchasmar@washingtontimes.com.
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