MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Man warns NBC's Shaquille Brewster amid Hurricane Ida coverage: 'Report it accurately'

At one point, the guy flew into a rage and got into Shaquille Brewster’s face, seemingly yelling at the correspondent to 'report it accurately!'

As NBC News correspondent Shaquille Brewster was doing a segment on the devastating horrors of Hurricane Ida, an enraged Mississippi resident violently confronted him during the live television report. On Monday, August 30, the journalist was narrating the scene from Gulfport when a "wacky man" came to heckle him and confronted him shortly before the feed was cut off. Needless to say, the video has gotten a lot of people talking. But the way the journalist handled the situation is earning him a lot of praise — keeping one's calm is difficult.

Speaking to MSNBC anchor Craig Melvin, Brewster was reporting live from a beach in Gulfport, Mississippi, on the morning of Monday, just after large parts of Louisiana and Mississippi were forced into darkness and decimated after the Category 4 Ida made landfall. 

RELATED ARTICLES

Jim Cantore trolled for dramatic Ida coverage even as man does cartwheels behind him

Hurricane Ida: Al Roker drenched while reporting, viewers slam MSNBC

The reporter was just saying that the rain had stopped in the area, mail delivery had returned in Gulfport and that the mayor of the town was still enforcing a curfew as they surveyed the damage. That is when one can see a pickup truck pull up in the background. Then a large, middle-aged man jumped out of the vehicle and ran towards the NBC News crew.

Seeing this, Brewster kept cool and attempted to continue to deliver his report on the hurricane’s aftermath by turning away in another direction. Succeed he did, but only for a short while. However, the man eventually became more difficult and began shouting at both the camera crew and the reporter. To Melvin, Brewster then said he was going to need to throw it back to the studio as the man’s behavior was making it impossible to finish his segment.

At one point, the guy flew into a rage and got into Brewster’s face, seemingly yelling at the correspondent to “report it accurately!” One of the crew members tried to grab the heckler and that is when the control room quickly pulled away from the scene and back to a shocked Melvin.

“Hey! Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,” Melvin exclaimed. “We’re going to check in with Shaq Brewster just to make sure all is well. There is a lot of crazy out there. There is a lot of crazy!”

After conducting an interview with Rep Troy Carter (D-LA) about hurricane damage assessment and rescue efforts, Melvin informed the audience that Brewster was fine. “You probably saw or heard a few moments ago, one of our correspondents was disrupted by some wacky guy during his live shot there in Mississippi,” Melvin said following the Carter interview. “Pleased to report that Shaquille Brewster is just fine. Shaq is okay.”

Melvin later tweeted that the unidentified Mississippi man’s behavior was “unacceptable and disgusting,” adding that the guy is “clearly not” okay. "This is beyond unacceptable and disgusting. @shaqbrewster was trying to do his job on a beach in Gulfport, MS. Shaq is ok. This guy who nearly attacked him clearly is not," he wrote.

Meanwhile, Brewster took to Twitter to reassure worried viewers that he and his team were “all good.” "Appreciate the concern guys. The team and I are all good!" he wrote.

MSNBC President Rashida Jones, meanwhile, provided the following statement: “Shaq Brewster is an exceptional journalist. Like the consummate professional, he did not let someone intimidate him from doing his job. We’re glad he and the team are safe, and we couldn’t be more proud and supportive of their work.”

Brewster earned a lot of praise. ".@shaqbrewster is a national treasure. a phenomenal reporter — who gave up his weekend to report on 2 different stories (in multiple states!) — and a wonderful human. Shame on this unhinged man. We love you, Shaq!" one user said. Another added, "The poise and class we all saw from @shaqbrewster here is just who he is— on and off camera. So, so glad he’s OK."

One social media user said, "The only reason that white guy thought he could do this is because the reporter was black (or non-white)." To which another added, "I think he'd probably still do that if it were a woman too, just not to a white man." "Seeing posts from white people praising reporter Shaq Brewster for having "class", "poise" and being "professional" as an angry white man gets out of a pickup truck to confront him in the deep South proves yet again that y'all haven't learned anything." 

Other users tried getting Brewster to take more steps. "I hope he presses charges. This is not okay. It's not just the cost of doing business. It's serious and if tolerated and a low level will only escalate." Another user added, "I think the guy will be arrested and charged regardless of what NBC does, and it’s NBC who will be responsible for prosecuting the guy."

While they did not immediately release his name, the Gulfport Police Department announced that the individual had been identified. "Thank you to the help of the community, the individual has been identified."

One user said, "Thank goodness! That man needs some anger management therapy ASAP" Another asked, "I’m going to ask louder, for the people in the back - “HAS HE BEEN ARRESTED FOR ASSAULT YET?”"