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CNN's
Omar Jimenez
The sequence was nothing short of stunning.
"I've never seen anything like this," CNN New Day anchor John Berman said.
And all the while, the man at the center kept his composure, and handled an unbelievably tense situation with the utmost professionalism.
Minnesota State Patrol, on Friday morning, arrested CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez and two members of his crew live on the air while they were reporting on the violent protests in Minneapolis.
This was despite the fact that Jimenez was fully cooperative, offering to move to wherever he was instructed. He calmly identified himself as a member of the media, and displayed his CNN press badge as identification.
Even he was handcuffed and told he was being arrested, Jimenez politely asked asked why. He got no answer, and from there, remained silent as he was led away in handcuffs.
What he did after that might have been even more impressive. Following his release from police custody roughly 90 minutes later, Jimenez delivered a poised, polished report on the incident — with absolutely no embellishment or dramatization. Just a thorough accounting of the facts.
Watching Jimenez, one would think he had decades of experience reporting in pressure-packed situations. It turns out he's just five years removed from Northwestern's renowned Medill School of Journalism. On Friday, the CNN correspondent did that institution, and his entire profession proud. 6.5.0 |
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 | MEDIA LOSER:
CBS News President
Susan Zirinsky
Pandemic-necessitated layoffs have become a sad fact of life in the media business. But there are some people you just don't let go.
One of those who should have been in that untouchable category was famed CBS News White House correspondent Mark Knoller. Having reported on every U.S. president since Gerald Ford, Knoller was beloved by his peers, and widely considered a journalistic legend.
But on Thursday, it was reported that the longtime correspondent was among 75 CBS News staffers let go due to virus-induced budget cuts.
CBS News president Susan Zirinsky said in a memo (reported by Page Six) that it was a "painful day," but said the layoffs were needed.
“Working with reduced budgets, we have had to make some extremely difficult decisions," Zirinsky said. "But this restructuring is necessary to ensure CBS News remains strong long into the future.”
Getting rid of Knoller was surely a difficult decision. It was also the wrong decision. Full stop. His unrivaled experience on the beat made him an indispensable resource.
After the news was made public, the tributes came rolling in.
"Legendary. Huge loss not just for CBS News but for journalism writ large and the world," said CNN's Jake Tapper.
"Knoller was a resource for a lot of colleagues," said The New York Times' Maggie Haberman, one of the standard bearers on the current White House beat. "It’s awful."
We couldn't agree more. Zirinsky made a big mistake here. 6.5.0 |
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| City on Fire Violent protests erupted in Minneapolis late Thursday, following the death of George Floyd. No arrests have yet been made despite footage showing a white police officer with his knee pressed against the neck of Floyd, a black male, for more than eight minutes.
The incident has drawn widespread outrage.
"I have not seen black people this upset in 20 years, maybe longer," said CNN's Van Jones on Thursday.
Fox News contributor Trey Gowdy slammed authorities in Minnesota for not yet charging the officers involved with murder.
“If you weren’t a cop, if it was just another person killing someone in the street, there would already be an arrest,” Gowdy said.
And CNN's Brooke Baldwin broke down while interviewing a Minneapolis city council member.
“As a white woman, aware of my own privilege in this country, I’m so angry."
Trump Adds Fuel
President Donald Trump's comments on Twitter have not diffused the situation at all.
"These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen," Trump wrote early Friday — bashing the demonstrators. "Just spoke to [Minnesota] Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts."
As it turned out, the last line of Trump's tweet was a quote from a Miami police chief who, according to The New York Times, “attracted national attention in the late 1960s for using shotguns, dogs and a heavy-handed ‘stop-and-frisk’ policy to fight crime in the city’s black neighborhoods.” The historical context led to Twitter citing Trump's tweet for glorifying violence — the latest salvo in...
Trump vs. Twitter
The battle between the president and the social media behemoth shows no sign of stopping. On Thursday, Trump signed an executive order which he says is designed to limit the "unchecked power" of companies like Twitter.
"As president, I’ll not allow the American people to be bullied by these giant corporations,” Trump said in an Oval Office signing ceremony.
Twitter fired back, calling the order "a reactionary and politicized approach to a landmark law.”
An Arrest on Live TV
As mentioned above, CNN's Omar Jimenez and two crew members were arrested while broadcasting live from Minneapolis.
The Minnesota State Patrol statement about the arrests left plenty to be desired.
"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," the State Patrol said.
"Total BS," said the Washington Post's Josh Rogin of the statement — and he was far from alone in that sentiment.
Fox News and MSNBC personalities were united in their support of Jimenez and his colleagues.
"This should never have happened,' said Fox anchor Bret Baier. "Period."
Remember the Virus?
Thursday was arguably the first day in almost three months in which the coronavirus didn't dominate the news cycle. But there was still plenty of virus-related news on the day following the U.S. reaching the grim milestone of 100,000 coivd-19 deaths.
CNN's Dana Bash and John King ripped the president's attempt to pay tribute to those lost.
"A devastating piece of the Trump legacy," said King. "That’s not assigning blame, that’s just history. It happened on his watch.”
Meanwhile, one day after Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) visited the White House, press secretary Kayleigh McEnany tossed him under the bus Thursday for deaths in New York nursing homes.
With the governor's response to the pandemic coming under more scrutiny, Cuomo invited actors Chris Rock and Rosie Perez to his Thursday briefing to promote mask wearing and other safety protocols. 6.5.0 |
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| 'This is America in 2020' Moments after Omar Jimenez's arrest, CNN's Bakari Sellers delivered an impassioned commentary on the shocking sequence.
“At CNN we have a white reporter on the ground, and we have a brown reporter on the ground," Sellers said — referring to Jimenez and nearby colleague Josh Campbell. "They are a block apart. The brown reporter is arrested, and the white reporter is telling us what’s happening.”
Sellers held nothing back in his assessment of the incident.
“We saw a reporter who is educated, who is brown, who is doing his job better than anybody around, was in harm’s way, letting the American people see what’s going on on the ground. He complied, he said he would move, and you know his family’s heart is beating right now because he is locked up in prison and killers are still roaming the streets free.”
“You almost have to laugh not to just be furious," the CNN commentator added.
"Because this is America in 2020." |
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