CNN journalist Omar Jimenez has been taken into police custody during a live broadcast at the site of the protests in Minneapolis, after clearly identifying himself to officers.
Jimenez’s crew, including a producer and a camera operator, were also placed in handcuffs. The CNN camera was also taken into custody and continued to record as the crew was handcuffed, with police seemingly unaware that the camera was still on.
I can’t believe what I just witnessed. @OmarJimenez and his entire @CNN crew was just arrested on live tv in Minneapolis. They were standing where they were told doing their job, then all of the sudden handcuffed. pic.twitter.com/YkfKHkh58w
— Cindi Avila (@ChefCindi) May 29, 2020
Protests spread across the United States for the third night in a row on Thursday, as crowds demonstrated against police brutality and called for justice in the death of George Floyd.
Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after pleading for help as a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck for several minutes while pinning him to the ground. Floyd was declared dead at a nearby hospital soon after, according to authorities.
Floyd died in Minneapolis, which saw large-scale protests on Thursday. Crowds numbering in the thousands set fire to a police precinct, which had been evacuated earlier in the day. In nearby St. Paul, protesters and police faced off with tear gas.
More than 170 businesses were damaged or looted, according to police, and the Minnesota National Guard was mobilized to both cities. It wasn’t just Minnesota; protesters took to the streets in Denver, Colorado; New York City; Memphis, Tennessee; Phoenix, Arizona; and Columbus, Ohio.