A group of unruly protesters attacked a CNN news crew near a Brooklyn Center police precinct on the fourth consecutive night of demonstrations following the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
The CNN crew, which included reporter Miguel Marquez, was filming protesters screaming at police officers through a fence surrounding the headquarters when two young women, who refused to give their names, demanded the crew cover the rally across the street rather than the police presence.
Marquez attempted to explain that demonstrators don’t dictate the news coverage before a larger group shooed the news crew away.
The Washington Examiner was in the area and witnessed this event.
One member of the CNN crew was hit directly in the head with a water bottle. He fell to the ground, while protesters mocked him. The man got up and said, “It’s all good.”
Protesters just chased the entire CNN crew away from the police precinct. pic.twitter.com/r6TGmnBxIH
— Nic Rowan (@NicXTempore) April 15, 2021
But within minutes, the crew was chased away.
“F— out of here,” protesters yelled as they followed the crew through the street as some in the crowd hurled eggs at the reporters.
“We don’t want any trouble,” one of the CNN team members told protesters as they entered a vehicle to drive away. One egg was thrown at the driver’s side window, and the crew appeared to have bumped a car as they tried to make a hasty exit.
CNN did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Washington Examiner about the encounter.
“My team and I are fine and I appreciate your concern. I hope for equal justice under the law and will continue to report on this vital story as it unfolds,” Marquez tweeted later in the evening.
My team and I are fine and I appreciate your concern. I hope for equal justice under the law and will continue to report on this vital story as it unfolds.
— Miguel Marquez (@miguelmarquez) April 15, 2021
Wright, a 20-year-old black man, was shot during a traffic stop on Sunday. Kim Potter, a white, 26-year veteran of the department who announced her resignation Tuesday, meant to fire her Taser but used her handgun instead, according to former Police Chief Tim Gannon, who resigned shortly after Potter. Wright died after fleeing the scene in his car.
Potter was arrested and charged with second-degree manslaughter on Wednesday and later was released from jail on a $100,000 bond.
City officials extended a curfew into Wednesday as they braced for more unrest after dozens of people were arrested at the conclusion of Tuesday night’s demonstrations.
