Minneapolis protests: CNN hits back at police over on-air arrest of black reporter Omar Jimenez
CNN has condemned Minnesota State Patrol over contradicting remarks regarding a black journalist’s arrest at the scene of protests in Minneapolis following George Floyd’s death.
Omar Jimenez was live on air when Minnesota state police arrested the black CNN reporter and his crew, who had identified themselves to police.
State Patrol surrounded the CNN team as someone behind the camera shouted: “You are arresting him live on air. We are with CNN”.
Two other CNN crew members were arrested minutes later, during the live broadcast.
Minnesota State Patrol said on Twitter afterwards that CNN journalists were arrested “In the course of clearing the streets and restoring order at Lake Street and Snelling Avenue”.
In apparent contradiction to events seen on TV, the police statement added that “The three were released once they were confirmed to be members of the media.”
CNN soon called-out Minnesota State Patrol over its statement, and said its crew had confirmed their identity prior to arrest.
“This is not accurate – our CNN crew identified themselves, on live television, immediately as journalists,” wrote CNN in a statement on Twitter.
The network also thanked Minnesota governor Tim Walz for securing the release of the CNN crew.
Mr Jimenez could be heard during the broadcast discussing his position with state police, whilst telling them he was “getting out of your way”.
My other colleague @joshscampbell is also on the scene in Minneapolis. He just reported that police approached him, asked him who he was with, he said CNN. And they say “ok, you’re good.” This is minutes after Omar, who is black and Latino, was arrested nearby.
— Abby D. Phillip (@abbydphillip)
“We can move back to where you like here, we are live on the air at the moment. This is the four of us, we are one team,” said the journalist.
CNN correspondent Josh Campbell, who was also reporting in Minneapolis, said that police waved him on when he approached.
“My experience has been the opposite of what Omar just experienced there,” Mr Campbell said on CNN. “I identified myself ... they said, ‘OK, you’re permitted to be in the area.”
He added: “They [the police] saw the camera, they saw the live shot in progress, Omar identified himself very politely yet they still took that decision.”
Minnesota’s governor told CNN President Jeff Zucker in a call that he apologised for the incident, and said “its never acceptable for this to happen”.
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