Stephen A. Smith endorses death penalty for Philadelphia gunman who massacred 5 "It wouldn't bother me one bit"

Stephen A. Smith is one of the most prominent and powerful sports reporters in the world. The ESPN anchor is known for taking a strong stance on issues that he's passionate about - both in sports, and regarding issues that affect America.

In a recent episode of "Stephen A's World," Smith moved away from talking about sports to address the recent shooting in Philadelphia, where a gunman killed five civilians.

"I ain't coming to this man's defense, throw his ass under the jail," Smith said. "And if he were to get the death penalty, it wouldn't bother me one bit. You killed five innocent people, including a father that was going to walk his daughter down the aisle in a matter of days. Her daddy is dead. He's dead. He will never walk her down the aisle.

"And, oh, by the way, whenever she decides to go through with the wedding, will it ever be the same when her dad was supposed to walk her down the aisle, and he's no longer there because some dude decides to literally open fire with an AR 15 rifle at a bunch of people?

"They don't even have any kind of connection as to what the motivation would be or the motive would be because it doesn't appear he knew any of the victims he assaulted or killed.

"By the way, another shooting happened in Louisiana. How about the one in DC last night? It's mass shootings taking place all over the place, and I'm looking at stuff here. As a black man, I got to pay attention to all of this other stuff, and I'm almost sick that I have to read it, because today is not a day where that's necessarily applicable.

"But trying to be consistent with the message that I had sent Monday in the immediate aftermath of the shootings in Baltimore, I thought that I would remind everybody of what's going on."

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Stephen A. Smith could be part of ESPN's layoffs

During another episode, Stephen A. Smith addressed the reality that he could potentially fall victim to another round of ESPN's layoffs.

"Let's deal with reality, this ain't the end, more is coming. And yes ladies and gentleman, I could be next," Smith said.

Stephen A. Smith is ESPN's flagship anchor across both Football and Basketball. So, while he is one of the top earners for ESPN, he will likely remain with the company moving forward.