CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and his camera crew were arrested during a live broadcast from the Minneapolis protests on Friday.
Fierce protests have been happening in Minneapolis since an unarmed black man, George Floyd, died on Monday after a police officer knelt on his neck till he became unconscious.
Since then #blacklivesmatter and #justiceforGeorgefloyd have been trending as protesters broke into a police precinct in the city and set it on fire, while looting shops, as US president Trump threatened to use the military if the city Mayor can’t control the violence.State police detained CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez, his producer and his photojournalist shortly after 5 a.m. CT (6 a.m. ET) as Jimenez was reporting live from a street south of downtown, near where a police precinct was earlier set ablaze.
In the footage, Jimenez, sporting a virus protective mask, is being quizzed by his anchors Alisyn Camerota and John Berman in front of a group of riot police as they move to arrest a nearby person. State patrol then approached the presenter and his crew, and Jimenez can be heard telling the officers that his crew can move “where they would like,” to get out of their way in a cooperative and non-confrontational manner.
The officers after hearing Jimenez’s comments, surrounded the crew as Jimenez continues to report live on air, before he is told that he is under arrest and placed in handcuffs.
Jimenez on realizing he was being arrested live on air, looked at the camera, let himself be handcuffed as he is walked away. After a moment, the crew are also placed into handcuffs.
“That is an American television reporter being led away by police officers. He clearly identified himself as a reporter and was respectfully explaining to the police that the CNN team was there and moving away as they would request, and then for some reason he was taken into police custody live on television,” added the anchor off screen.
“I have never seen anything like this,” the anchor adds on several occasions.
