CNN crew chased away by Minnesota rioters after crew member hit in the head with water bottle
CNN journalists faced hostility from violent mob while covering demonstrations.
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A CNN crew was chased away by a violent mob Wednesday night while covering ongoing demonstrations in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota following the police shooting of Daunte Wright.
Washington Examiner reporter Nic Rowan captured a heated exchange outside the suburban police department between the crew, led by CNN correspondent Miguel Marquez, and a group of protesters. One of the crew insisted to the crowd that "it's all peace."
All of a sudden, a crew member was struck in the head by a large water bottle, causing him to lose his balance and fall to the ground.
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"A bottle of water knocked you out?" a man is heard mocking the journalist before cackling.
While others at the scene called for a medic, the CNN crew member insisted he was "fine" after he got up.
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Marquez was heard telling one of the demonstrators that the crowd needs to "chill out."
"We're from CNN. We're reporters. We are covering what's here," Marquez said.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
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Rowan, who documented the assault on the CNN journalist, told Fox News that demonstrators were urging reporters to cover the "peaceful protesters" in a different area instead of focusing the hostility between the rioters and law enforcement, saying "It's not representative of Minneapolis and the community."
The Examiner reporter told Fox News that he was ordered by one person to "stop making Minneapolis look like Fallujah" and "like a war."
After the water bottle incident, a verbal exchange between the CNN crew and the protesters continued. Eventually, Rowan recounted, demonstrators began "shoving" the journalists.
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REPORTERS SCOLD MINNESOTA POLICE CHIEF FOR DESCRIBING UNREST AFTER DAUNTE WRIGHT SHOOTING AS 'RIOT'
As Rowan documented, the CNN crew was then chased away with the mob ordering them to "get the f--- outta here" and hurling more objects at them.
"We don't want any trouble," the crew member who was hit with the water bottle told the crowd with his hands in the air.
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The mob continued to throw objects at the crew's car as they attempted to drive away.
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
Rowan said he also witnessed a rioter assault a Reuters journalist, knocking his equipment on the ground.
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Hours after the incident, Marquez tweeted, "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."
Neither Marquez nor CNN immediately responded to Fox News' requests for comment.
During rioting Monday night, a CNN crew was accosted by a man who urged them and the rest of the press to leave the city.
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"What I think about this is, all the press and all the extra s--- y'all do makes this worse!" the man exclaimed.
"You think so?" CNN correspondent Sara Sidner asked.
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"Yeah," the man said. "Y'all need to get up outta here with all that twistin' up the media and s---, real s---."
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING VIDEO CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE
As Sidner attempted to give him a phone number, the man remained adamant about not wanting to reschedule his remarks.
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"Y'all just gonna edit out the s--- that y'all don't want," the man said. "And then you're gonna edit out some other s---."
"We're live!" Sidner stressed as the two of them were appearing on "Cuomo Prime Time."
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"I don't care if you're live or not, get away from here with all that media s-- that y'all doing," the man told her. "Y'all doing the extra s--- for the backhand s--- to make people crazier than what the f--- they are."
Sidner then invited the man to "watch" her crew as they approach the action, but he apparently walked away.