Reporters scold Minnesota police chief for describing unrest after Daunte Wright shooting as 'riot'

Reporters scolded Brooklyn Center, Minnesota Police Chief Tim Gannon Monday for using the term "riot" to describe the violence that took place Sunday night following the deadly shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright by a police officer.

Violence erupted in the Minneapolis suburb in response to the shooting, which Gannon suggested was a mistake by the officer who confused her gun with her Taser and fired at Wright as he attempted to drive off in his car.

Demonstrations outside the Brooklyn Center police department grew violent as rioters threw objects at officers and several area were looted. 

However Gannon appeared to trigger reporters at Monday's press conference over his description of what he witnessed overnight. 

NBC ALLEGEDLY TELLS REPORTERS NOT TO USE WORD 'RIOTS' IN GEORGE FLOYD COVERAGE

"What was your decision to issue a dispersal order while they were peacefully protesting in front of the police station?" a reporter asked before noting that "CO2 canisters and gas" that were also used on the crowd. 

"Just so that everybody's clear, I was front and center at the protest, at the riot," Gannon began. 

"Don't do that," one reporter interjected. 

"There was no riot," another pushed back.

"It was," Gannon doubled down. "The officers that were putting themselves in harm's way were being pelted with frozen cans of pop, they were being pelted with concrete blocks. And yes, we had our helmets on and we had other protection and gear but an officer was injured, hit in the head with a brick ... so we had to make decisions. We had to disperse the crowd because we cannot allow our officers to be harmed."

Last year, following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, NBC reportedly told its journalists to only refer to unrest in Minnesota as "protests" and not "riots."

MSNBC host and "Today" co-anchor Craig Melvin  shed some light on how the network was framing its reporting at the time.

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"This will guide our reporting in MN," he tweeted. "'While the situation on the ground in Minneapolis is fluid, and there has been violence, it is most accurate at this time to describe what is happening there as 'protests' -- not riots.'"

Critics who accused the network of downplaying the violence that took place in the city following Floyd's death in May 2020.