CNN Reporter, Crew Released By Authorities

Police arrest CNN's Omar Jimenez

UPDATE 12:00 PM MAY 29th: Three members of a CNN crew have been released Friday mornng after being placed under arrest during a live report, according to the Minnesota State Patrol.

The journalists were among four people arrested as troopers were “clearing the streets and restoring order” following the protests. Floyd died on Memorial Day shortly after being taken into custody on suspicion of passing a bad check and a white police officer knelt on his neck.

The patrol said the CNN journalists “were released once they were confirmed to be members of the media.”

Jimenez was holding what appeared to be a laminated ID card before he was handcuffed, and his fellow crew members told police that they were from CNN and showing the scene live on the air.


Earlier Posting...

CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and his camera crew have been arrested during a live broadcast from the protests in Minneapolis, according to Deadline.

Footage quickly emerged online, and many of Jimenez’s colleagues took to twitter in outcry over the incident (see below).

In the footage, Jimenez, sporting a virus protective mask, is being quizzed by his anchor in front of a group of riot police as they move to arrest a nearby person. State patrol then approach the presenter and his crew, and Jimenez can be heard telling the officers that the four-strong unit can move “to where they would like” and get out of their way in a cooperative and non-confrontational manner. The officers surround the crew as Jimenez continues to report live on air, before he is told that he is under arrest and placed in handcuffs, displaying them to the camera as he is walked away. After a moment, the crew are also placed into handcuffs.

Watch: CNN reporter @OmarJimenez and his crew just got arrested live on air in Minneapolis.
pic.twitter.com/l02PPItBIu

— TV News HQ (@TVNewsHQ) May 29, 2020

“That is an American television reporter being led away by police officers. He clearly identified himself as a reporter and was respectfully explaining to the police that the CNN team was there and moving away as they would request, and then for some reason he was taken into police custody live on television,” added the anchor off screen.

“I have never seen anything like this,” the anchor adds on several occasions. The camera continued to roll after the incident, placed on the floor at the feet of the officers.

CNN adds a producer and camera operator were also arrested.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has reportedly apologized to CNN President Jeff Zucker over the arrest of CNN Reporter Omar Jimenez during a live report of the civil unrest and protest of the police killing of George Floyd.

CNN’s New Day reported that Zucker spoke with the Minnesota governor who said he deeply apologizes for what happened. The governor reportedly promised to the CNN president that he is going to have the team released and that the arrest “was inadvertent and unacceptable what happened.”