Minnesota State Police on Friday morning detained a CNN crew while they were covering the riots in Minneapolis following the murder by police (yeah, we’re going to call it that because we saw the killing on TV) of George Floyd. Interestingly, the officers who killed Mr. Floyd have not been arrested, but the CNN crew, including black correspondent Omar Jimenez, was handcuffed and detained for doing their jobs.
Minnesota State Police surrounded Jimenez and handcuffed him and took him away; then, the officers proceeded to detain every other CNN crew member on the scene. CNN reported that the black reporter was arrested while legally covering the protests in Minneapolis; however, a white reporter also on the ground was not.
Police told the crew they were being detained because they were told to move and didn’t, one member of the CNN crew members told the network.
Watch:
The Minneapolis State Police just straight up ARRESTED CNN’s Omar Jimenez @OmarJimenez on live TV. He was literally complying. On camera. The white reporter was not arrested. He reported throughout the entire thing.
This is fucking insane. IN. SANE.
— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) May 29, 2020
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“We can move back to where you’d like. Put us back where you want us. Wherever you want us, we will go. We were just getting out of your way while you were advancing through the intersection. Just let us know and we gotcha.” – CNN reporter Omar Jimenez pic.twitter.com/5Ozabn2DqY
— Holly Figueroa O’Reilly (@AynRandPaulRyan) May 29, 2020
Twitter users were appalled.
Goodbye America, nice knowing you
— Ben Groß (@BenJWGross) May 29, 2020
I can’t believe my eyes. To see a news crew arrested, its camera on the move still rolling on national tv. This is my country.
— Christine Romans (@ChristineRomans) May 29, 2020
That’s how I feel. Some real 1984, Handsmaid Tale, every other disaster movie shot going on.
— Miguel (@Emmmest) May 29, 2020
They can manage to arrest everybody except for the actual murderer 🤦🏾♀️
— 🤷🏽♀️✨🤎 (@ijustbtweeting) May 29, 2020
CNN reporter Omar Jimenez, who was arrested by police in Minneapolis and later released, is back on air.
One thing he said earlier that struck me so deep: “I am thankful that it happened on live TV, so that you were able to see it…so there’s no doubt as to what happened.”
— Kimberley A. Martin (@ByKimberleyA) May 29, 2020
“A CNN reporter and his production team were arrested this morning in Minneapolis for doing their jobs, despite identifying themselves — a clear violation of their First Amendment rights. The authorities in Minnesota, including the Governor, must release the three CNN employees immediately,” CNN said in a statement.
Y’all can arrest a black CNN reporter and his cameraman for no apparent reason but can’t arrest a one of your own who killed a man on video in broad daylight @MinneapolisPD???
— Matthew A. Cherry (@MatthewACherry) May 29, 2020
How incredibly stupid do you have to be to arrest a black reporter on live television while he is reporting on racially charged violence…in a city in flames because the white cop who killed an unarmed black man hasn’t been arrested. It boggles the mind.
— Brian Klaas (@brianklaas) May 29, 2020
And the cops are lying about the incident, but CNN corrected them.
This is not accurate – our CNN crew identified themselves, on live television, immediately as journalists. We thank Minnesota @GovTimWalz for his swift action this morning to aid in the release of our crew. https://t.co/3cvtsqbbWz
— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) May 29, 2020
Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) on Friday issued an apology for the arrests in Minneapolis and promised a quick release. While any CNN crew members have been released, the First Amendment is in the hospital after being brutalized.
Featured image via screen capture
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