OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir expressed concerns on Friday about police in the US state of Minnesota arresting a CNN reporting crew during a live broadcast as they covered riots triggered by death of a black man in law enforcement custody
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 29th May, 2020) OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Harlem Desir expressed concerns on Friday about police in the US state of Minnesota arresting a CNN reporting crew during a live broadcast as they covered riots triggered by death of a black man in law enforcement custody.
Earlier in the day, CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his crew got arrested by Minnesota state police right during an on-air broadcast while covering ongoing protests in Minneapolis. They were released an hour later upon intervention of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and an outrage on social media.
"Concerned by the brief arrest of @CNN reporter @OmarJimenez and his tv crew while reporting on protests in Minneapolis, #USA. Governor of Minnesota Tim Walz has apologized, saying "It was totally unacceptable". Journalists must be able to report on public protests unhindered," Desir's office said on Twitter.
On the notorious broadcast, Jimenez can be heard clearly and repeatedly identifying himself and his CNN affiliation to police officers who approached the crew as they were shooting the report with security officers lined up on the background. The journalists were handcuffed and taken to a public detention center.
CNN broke out with rage over its reporters being arrested while on professional duty, calling it an infringement on their freedom of expression granted by the First Amendment.
Violent protests have been shaking Minneapolis for three days. They came in response to the death of George Floyd, a 46-year-old African-American man who presumably died from excessive use of force during an arrest by a white police officer. The scene has been captured on a video which shows the officer pressing his knee on Floyd's neck for several minutes as the latter says he is suffocating.
