A tense moment played out on CNN’s air Tuesday when a police officer trying to clear an area where demonstrators had been protesting immigration raids in Los Angeles confronted a reporter for the network seemingly caught in the chaos.
As CNN’s Kyung Lah was reporting live from the demonstrations, the camera caught Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officers telling her and other members of CNN’s crew that they needed to leave the area.
As Lah attempted to break through the crowd and get away, an officer was heard yelling “are you grabbing me? Get away from me!”
“No, I didn’t,” the reporter shouted back.
The dust up came just hours after a second CNN reporter, Jason Carroll, was briefly detained as police cleared a separate area on Monday.
The civil unrest in LA has led a number of press groups to urge federal authorities on the ground there and LAPD to “ensure that any federal officers or personnel, or anyone acting under their direction and control, refrain from any unlawful, indiscriminate, and excessive use of force against members of the press and public who are merely covering events of public concern in the Los Angeles area.”
In a statement on Wednesday morning, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security — which conducted the mass immigration raids that sparked the demonstrations — said “we remind members of the media and journalists to exercise caution as they cover these violent riots.”
“We have seen rioters throwing rocks, Molotov cocktails, setting fires, and other violent acts,” the spokesperson continued. “President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring law and order in Los Angeles.”
The turmoil also comes after the Trump administration deployed thousands of National Guard troops and Marines to quell the protests. The move, which Trump doubled down on early Wednesday, has led to another heated feud between the president and California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D).
