Black CNN reporter arrested on live TV while covering Minneapolis protests as white journos are allowed to work
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA: The Minnesota State Patrol, on Friday, May 29, arrested a black CNN reporter reporting live on television as he was covering the widespread protest following the death of George Floyd. The reporter, identified as Omar Jiminez, was not provided any reason for his arrest as officers led him away in handcuffs along with three of his crew members.
Jiminez had just shown a protester being arrested and led away by police when nearly a dozen white police officers surrounded him. The reporter can be heard saying "We can move back to where you like, we’re getting out of your way" as he explained to the officers around him wearing gas masks and face shields that he and his crew were press members.
The officers around him, however, put Jiminez's microphone on the ground, put his hands behind his back and placed him under arrest. A CNN producer and cameraman were also arrested shortly afterward on live television. It appeared that the officers did not know that the incident was being broadcast live on television. The CNN journalists were wearing masks as they reported the unrest in Minneapolis amid the coronavirus pandemic.
CNN, shortly after their crew's arrest, called it "a clear violation” of the journalists’ First Amendment rights. The news outlet also called on Minnesota authorities, including Gov. Tim Walz, to immediately release their crew.
CNN also tweeted that while their black reporter was arrested, another white reporter was allowed to be on the ground. "A black reporter from CNN was arrested while legally covering the protests in Minneapolis. A white reporter also on the ground was not," CNN tweeted.
Renowned attorney Bakari Sellers slammed the officers for their actions, saying: "Law enforcement in Minneapolis had the audacity... to arrest a reporter of color while doing his job and following command, but the... officer who put his knee in the back of the neck of a man and choked him for 8 minutes is still free to walk around."
Governor Tim Walz issued an apology for the arrest of the CNN crew, on Twitter, saying he will have them released. “It was totally unacceptable," the governor tweeted.
The CNN crew was released an hour after their arrest following Walz's intervention. Shortly after their release, the Minneapolis State Patrol said: "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 three were released once they were confirmed to be members of the media."
However, CNN opposed the police claims in a statement on Twitter, saying: "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."
Law enforcement analyst Charles Ramsey also commented on the arrest, saying that "It didn’t make any sense to me... there's no way something like that should occur."
The CNN crew was covering the unrest in Minneapolis after the brutal killing of a black man, George Floyd. At least four Minneapolis police officers involved in Floyd's brutal death were fired on May 26 after a video of the incident went viral on social media. The footage showed Floyd pleading with the officers as one of them, Derek Chauvin, kneeled on his neck, telling them that he could not breathe.
The Justice Department, announced on Thursday, May 28, that they were making the case a "top priority," and assigning experienced prosecutors to investigate the killing by officer Derek Chauvin. The department promised a "robust" probe by the FBI, as Minneapolis witnessed another night of protests and rioting.