Attack On News Crew Called "Regrettable"

A WFTV-Ch. 9 (Orlando) photographer attacked by mourners after a memorial service Monday night is doing OK and was not seriously injured, news director Bob Jordan said today.

The memorial was for Anthony Rodriguez, a 15-year-old who was killed last week by a hit-and-run driver. Anthony’s brother Miguel was injured in the hit-and-run.

According to Hal Bocker at orlandosentinel.com, mourners attacked the WFTV crew after the service, the station reported. WKMG-Ch. 6 recorded the attack outside St. Andrews Catholic Church in Orlando and captured the victim’s father, George Torres, yelling at the TV crew.

WKMG Video image

WFTV photographer Bernard Moynahan suffered a bloody nose in the attack and fell to the ground, where he was punched and kicked. A WFTV reporter told Orange County sheriff’s deputies that the attack followed an interview between Miguel Rodriguez and a crew from Spanish-language Univision.

“It’s regrettable and most unfortunate,” WFTV news director Bob Jordan said. “When I step back and take a larger picture, I see the case of a father going through the most difficult emotional period in his life, losing a child. I can empathize with that. In a highly emotional state he did something he regrets.”

Jordan added, “This is a law enforcement matter. We’re not taking any action as a television station.”

Read more here.

To view raw video of attack, click here.