Arrested live on-air

CNN reporters covering Minnesota riots arrested live on-air

Reporter Omar Jimenez was quickly released and was back on CNN’s air less than 90 minutes later.

By LOUIS NELSON

Police in Minnesota arrested a CNN news crew Friday morning as it was live on the air, handcuffing reporter Omar Jimenez and leading him away even after he produced his media credentials.

Jimenez was quickly released and was back on CNN’s air less than 90 minutes later.

The CNN crew’s cameras were rolling just after 6 a.m. on Friday as Jimenez, holding his microphone, interacted with Minnesota State Patrol officers in riot gear. The reporter, holding his press badge in one hand as an officer held the other behind his back, could be heard negotiating with the officers and asking where they would like him to move.

Jimenez turned his attention to the camera, telling the network’s “New Day” audience that “this is part of the advance police presence that we saw come over the course of, really, minutes.” Seconds later, an officer informed Jimenez that he was being placed under arrest.

Officers refused to answer Jimenez’s question as to why he was being arrested as he was led away in handcuffs. The remaining three members of the CNN crew were arrested soon after.

Jimenez, who is black, was in Minnesota to report on protests and riots in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man who died after being detained by a Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on Floyd’s neck for several minutes. Floyd was left motionless by the officer’s actions, was carried away on a gurney and later died.

The officers involved in Floyd’s death have been fired but no announcement has yet been made as to whether they will face charges. Floyd’s death has sparked days of protests in Minnesota’s Twin Cities, where rioters and looters set fire to multiple buildings, including a Minneapolis police precinct.

The reporters’ arrests were widely reported on multiple media networks and drew swift condemnation across social media. In a statement released via Twitter, CNN called the arrest “a clear violation of [the crew’s] First Amendment rights” and demanded that “the authorities in Minnesota, incl. the Governor, must release the 3 CNN employees immediately.”

Multiple CNN journalists reported that the network’s chief, Jeff Zucker, personally called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) to demand the reporters’ release. CNN journalist Donnie O’Sullivan wrote on Twitter that “Walz said he ‘deeply apologizes’ and described the arrests as ‘unacceptable.’”

The Minnesota State Patrol, in a post to its Twitter account, offered an explanation of the arrests.

“In the course of clearing the streets and restoring order at Lake Street and Snelling Avenue, four people were arrested by State Patrol troopers, including three members of a CNN crew,” the state patrol wrote online. “The three were released once they were confirmed to be members of the media.”

But that account does not match with the arrest that aired live on CNN, where the reporters could clearly be seen and heard identifying themselves as working members of the press.