CNN Reporter Arrested on Live TV While Covering Minneapolis Protests

A CNN reporter was arrested early Friday morning while covering the protests in Minneapolis over the police killing of George Floyd.

Minnesota State Police officers placed handcuffs on reporter Omar Jimenez while he was doing a live report and led him away. A producer and photographer for the cable news network were also taken into custody.

Minnesota State Police arresting CNN's @OmarJimenez and crew live on TV on @NewDay for reporting on the protests. Police say they were arrested because they were told to move and didn't. Omar was completely respectful and cooperative, ans asked the police where to do the report. pic.twitter.com/HPVtvQ59Xo

— Sam Fernando (@Sujayanth) May 29, 2020

In a tweet Friday, CNN said race was a factor in Jimenez’s arrest.

“CNN reporter Omar Jimenez, who is black and Latino, and his team were arrested by officers early this morning in Minneapolis. Not far away, CNN journalist Josh Campbell, who is white, says he was ‘treated much differently,'” the tweet stated.

Related Story: Protesters Set Minneapolis Police Station on Fire Over George Floyd Killing

The Minnesota State Police department claimed officers were unaware Omar was a working journalist.
Although video of the arrest shows Jimenez wearing a media identification badge.

The police department later released a statement saying, “In the course of clearing the streets and restoring order at Lake Street and Snelling Avenue, four people were arrested by State Patrol troopers, including three members of a CNN crew. The three were released once they were confirmed to be members of the media.”

In a Friday news conference, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz apologized for the arrests of the CNN crew and called the situation “inexcusable.”