A group of protesters surrounded, attacked and chased away a CNN news crew during a Wednesday protest of the fatal police shooting of Daunte Wright.
The incident occurred at a demonstration outside of the Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Police precinct and was captured on video by Nicholas Rowan, a staff writer for the Washington Examiner.
In one of the video uploaded to Twitter, a crew member of CNN reporter Miguel Marquez's team was attempting to deescalate an interaction with a group of rowdy protesters when he was struck in the head with a full water bottle and fell to the ground.
Moments before he is struck, a woman can be heard attempting to calm the crowd, saying, “No No No, it’s all peace baby. It’s all peace.”
Protesters throw a water bottle at a CNN crew member and hit him square on the head. They mock him when he falls down. pic.twitter.com/cBfRN9DJOj
— Nic Rowan (@NicXTempore) April 15, 2021
In a second video posted minutes later, the CNN crew retreats back to their vehicle while being followed by a crowd of protesters heckling and chucking eggs at their backs.
As the crew makes their walk of shame through the demonstration, Protesters can be heard saying, “That’s a white man, who is that,” “What he do, what he do," and “Get the F**k outta here.”
Protesters just chased the entire CNN crew away from the police precinct. pic.twitter.com/r6TGmnBxIH
— Nic Rowan (@NicXTempore) April 15, 2021
Ultimately, the crew speeds off in their car covered in eggs without any serious injuries. With Marquez later tweeting “my team and I are fine and I appreciate your concern.”
My team and I are fine and I appreciate your concern. I hope for equal justice under the law and will continue to report on this vital story as it unfolds.
— Miguel Marquez (@miguelmarquez) April 15, 2021
The demonstrations over Daunte Wright began Sunday night, after Wright, a 20 year-old black man, was killed by policewoman Kim Potter after he resisted arrest and she allegedly mistook her service weapon for her taser. Wednesday marked the fourth consecutive day of community protests following the incident.
Potter, a 26-year police veteran, has left the force and is currently charged with second degree manslaughter. She has been released on a $100,000 bail.
The Wednesday incident between CNN news personal and Brooklynn City demonstrators comes on the heels on a similar Monday debacle involving CNN reporter Sara Sidner.
While reporting live from Brooklyn Center, Sidner was accosted by a protester who claimed the news outlet was making things worse, saying "Y'all be twisting up the stories and s**t...All the press and all the extra s**t y'all do makes this worse."
The man went on to say that the media coverage of the protest was "doing all the extra s**t for the backhand s**t and making people look all crazier than what the f**k they are."