A CNN journalist and his crew were briefly arrested while covering the protests over the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Omar Jimenez was on the street Friday morning reporting on the air to New Day co-anchors John Berman and Alisyn Camerota when officers placed him in handcuffs after he told law enforcement officials, “Wherever you’d want us we will go.” Jimenez continued, “We were just getting out of your way when you were advancing through the intersection. Just let us know, and we’ve got you.”
Jimenez, while he was being arrested, asked the officers, “I’m sorry? OK, do you mind telling me why I’m under arrest, sir? Why am I under arrest, sir?”
“A CNN reporter & his production team were arrested this morning in Minneapolis for doing their jobs, despite identifying themselves — a clear violation of their First Amendment rights,” CNN’s communications team tweeted. “The authorities in Minnesota, incl. the Governor, must release the 3 CNN employees immediately.”
Later in the broadcast, Berman noted that Jimenez, a black reporter, was arrested while Josh Campbell, a white reporter who was on the ground nearby, was not arrested.
Outrage from their CNN colleagues ensued. Anchor Brooke Baldwin tweeted: “Let’s name all of them: CNN Correspondent Omar Jimenez, CNN Producer Bill Kirkos and CNN Photojournalist Leonel Mendez — ARRESTED by Minnesota State Police for lawfully doing their jobs.”
Later in the show, Berman reported that CNN President Jeff Zucker spoke with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who apologized for the arrests. Berman said Walz “deeply apologizes for what happened,” and it was “totally unacceptable.” He added that the governor is “working to have the CNN team released immediately.”
The crew was released shortly after, and Jimenez was back on the air about 90 minutes after the arrests.
“For us, it was literally a situation of, ‘Tell me who you are,’ as far as identification purposes, then they left. They came back and said, ‘You’re with CNN, correct?’ Yes. And then we explained the two other team members that were with me. Three, including the security that we had hired for this. They left. Came back,” he said.
“Then led us out of the van we were inside the van handcuffed the whole time. We were sat down. Waited for a bit more. From there, that was when they eventually came back with our belonging, that is, they had confiscated over the course of this. They unclipped our handcuffs, and then that is when we were led out. Again, to answer your question, there was no sort of, ‘Sorry, this is a big misunderstanding,'” Jimenez added.
Let’s name all of them: CNN Correspondent Omar Jimenez, CNN Producer Bill Kirkos and CNN Photojournalist Leonel Mendez — ARRESTED by Minnesota State Police for lawfully doing their jobs. #CNN
— Brooke Baldwin (@BrookeBCNN) May 29, 2020
The protests are in response to Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, dying in Minneapolis on Monday after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by a white police officer’s knee as Floyd repeatedly said he could not breathe.
Video of the incident taken by a bystander led to community outrage.
The four officers involved in the arrest have been fired by the Minneapolis Police Department. Floyd’s family and others have called for them to be charged with murder.
The Justice Department and FBI announced Thursday they are conducting a “robust criminal investigation” into Floyd’s death.
