Minnesota state police arrested CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and his camera crew early Friday morning during a live broadcast from the Minneapolis protests on the network’s morning program “New Day.”
The officers surround the crew as Jimenez reported on live air before telling him, “You’re under arrest.”
“OK, do you mind telling me why I’m under arrest? Why am I under arrest, sir?” Jimenez can be heard saying.
Jimenez, who is Black and Latino, was put in handcuffs and taken into custody around 5:15 a.m.
“That is an American television reporter being led away by police officers,” said CNN anchorman John Berman off-screen. “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.”
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz spoke directly to CNN president Jeff Zucker Friday morning to take full responsibility for the incident, according to CNN, and Jimenez and his crew have been released.
“It was totally unacceptable and inadvertent what happened… they clearly had the right to be there, we want the media to cover this [the protests], it is never acceptable for this to happen,” Walz told Zucker, according to CNN’s John Berman.
