CNN’s Omar Jiminez Released From Custody Following On-Air Arrest in Minneapolis (VIDEO)

Omar Jiminez
CNN

Early Friday morning, CNN correspondent Omar Jiminez was arrested while covering the ongoing protests in response to George Floyd’s death that are taking place in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Protests began earlier this week after a video began circulating of a white police officer arresting Floyd, an African American man, and kneeling on Floyd’s neck, continuing to hold him down in spite of pleas that he couldn’t breathe. This ultimately resulted in Floyd’s death.

On scene in Minneapolis, Jiminez and a small CNN crew took to the streets to report in the early hours of May 29, but were interrupted when the police presence moved in and ultimately arrested the journalist without a clear explanation. At the start of the segment, Jiminez notes the line of police behind himself as his producer and cameraman captured the action.

When a nearby protestor approaches the crew, the police move in to apprehend the civilian before surrounding the reporters. “We can move back to where you’d like,” Jiminez offers, before informing police they’re “live on air right now.”

CNN Omar Jiminez

(Credit: CNN)

As law enforcement surround the crew, Jiminez continues to clarify the situation to viewers, explaining, “This is part of the advanced police presence that we saw come over the course of really minutes… This is among the state patrol unit that was advancing up the street.” He’s then apprehended midway through explaining how he and the other CNN crew members had tried getting out of the way before going live.

Jiminez was the first to be arrested of the CNN crew, followed by his producer, cameraman, and hired security that were on the scene. Hours later, Jiminez was back on air after being released from police custody.

Jiminez explained what happened after he was arrested, saying that they were led to a van and held there until their identities were confirmed. As for an apology from law enforcement, Jiminez said, “There was no sort of, ‘sorry this was a big misunderstanding’… because it seems that conversation may have happened but it didn’t happen with us in particular.”

See the full segment of Jiminez’s report following the arrest below: