CNN anchor Anderson Cooper tweeted July 11 “Thugs attack us embassy in #syria. This is from the #Mubarak playbook. Details #ac360 10p.”

The attack, which has been “condemned” by the U.N. Security Council, included “mobs of hundreds of supporters of Assad’s regime [who] attacked the American and French embassies, smashing windows and spray-painting obscenities on the wall,” according to MSNBC.

But, Anderson’s use of the word “thug” is questionable, as the term is clearly not an objective descriptor.  The word “thug,” as defined by Dictionary.com, means “a cruel or vicious ruffian, robber, or murderer.”  Merriam-Webster defines the term as “a brutal ruffian or assassin.”