(CNN) – CNN correspondent Omar Jiménez and his team have been released from police custody after being arrested by police this Friday morning while giving a television report. Live in Minneapolis, where the team covered the ongoing protests over the death of George Floyd.
The team was released from Hennepin County Public Safety facilities in downtown Minneapolis.
The team was handcuffed and detained when Jiménez was giving a live report on a Minneapolis street shortly after 5 a.m. CT (6 a.m. ET).
LOOK: So was the 911 call that led to the arrest of George Floyd
Police told the team they were detained because they were told to move, and they did not, a CNN team member told the network.
“A CNN journalist and his production team were arrested this morning in Minneapolis for doing their job, despite identifying themselves, a clear violation of their First Amendment rights. Minnesota authorities, including the Governor, must release all three CNN employees immediately, ”CNN said in a statement.
The police officers approached the team as they went to arrest a protester behind them.
Jiménez could be seen holding his CNN badge as he reported, identifying himself as a reporter and telling officers that the team would move to where the police needed them. An agent grabbed his arm while Jiménez spoke, then handcuffed him.
“We can go back wherever you want. We are on the air here now … Put us back where you want us. We are moving out of your way, wherever you want us to go, we will get out of your way, ”Jiménez said before they took him away.
“We were getting out of your way when you walked through the intersection,” said Jiménez.
CNN’s Josh Campell, who was also in the area but was not standing next to the airborne team, said police approached him as well, but allowed him to remain there.
“I identified myself … they said, ‘Okay, you’re allowed to be in the area,'” said Campbell, who is white. “They treated me very differently from (Jiménez).”
Jiménez and the team had been reporting from the site, near a compound of the city Police Department, that the protesters had been burned and the agents had left overnight. About a block away, a fire was burning in a different four-story building that had contained restaurants.
More than 100 state police officers in armor and riot gear arrived and lined up near the area where the CNN team was, near the precinct building on East Lake Street.
After the cameraman was arrested, his camera was put down and he continued to broadcast live images.
CNN President Jeff Zucker spoke to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz on Friday morning, following the arrest of the CNN team in Minneapolis,
Walz said he “deeply apologizes” for what happened and said he was working to get the CNN team released immediately.
Walz described the arrests as “unacceptable,” said the CNN team clearly has a right to be there, and said he wants the media to be in Minnesota to cover the protests.
– .
