Schepmans: 'Katie Hopkins never introduced herself as a journalist'

Controversial journalist Katie Hopkins, who shot a report about Molenbeek for Fox News, never stated that she was a journalist, according to Molenbeek Mayor Françoise Schepmans.

Journalist Katie Hopkins never made an appointment for an interview, says Mayor Schepmans. Instead, she accosted the mayor on Sint-Jan-Baptistvoorplein. She didn't introduce herself as a journalist but rather as a writer for a blog, according to what Mayor Schepmans told BRUZZ.

“I thought she was a tourist, who was particularly interested in Molenbeek", Schepmans says. “We often have tourists who come to Molenbeek to try and better understand our town, and that's perfectly fine. Had I known that she hadn't come to Molenbeek to get a better understanding of our situation, but rather to bash us, I would never have talked to her.”

Also, Hopkins apparently never asked permission to film the conversation. ‘Can I take a picture,’ was Hopkins' only question to Schepmans. It's unethical of a journalist not to give his identity and clearly state the purpose of the interview.

Molenbeek-bashing

The Mayor is sad that, once again, the municipality is the victim of negative reports in the international press. “This is Molenbeek-bashing like we haven't seen in a long time. Lately, the reports on Molenbeek had been very constructive.”

During the conversation, Hopkins questioned the mayor about a list of dozens of names of Jihadists living in Molenbeek that the Mayor had in her possession before the terror attacks. Hopkins accused the Mayor of doing nothing about it. Schepmans reacted by reminding Hopkins that that was the responsibility of the Federal police. The local police cannot arrest people who haven't (yet) committed reprehensible facts.

After the conversation ended, Hopkins turned to her cameraman and stated that she didn't know she was going to meet the Mayor. Then, she became emotional and broke into tears, declaring, between sobs, that she held Schepmans responsible. Hopkins has yet to react to an e-mail asking her to clarify her work method.

She was had

“Mayor Schepmans was clearly 'had’ in this interview,” was the reaction of anthropologist Johan Leman, director of intercultural centre Le Foyer, based in Molenbeek. “You give interviews to people when the language of communication is understood perfectly by both parties. It's unfair because Schepmans had to express herself in a language she doesn't master well enough. The interviewer clearly took advantage of that.”

Hopkins is not the first journalist to come to Molenbeek with a prejudiced mind, Leman adds. “The people of Molenbeek should google journalists beforehand.”