Police detain CNN correspondent on camera during LA protests
Police detain CNN correspondent on camera during LA protests
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The Insurrection Act explained: What it is and how presidents use it
The Insurrection Act allows presidents to deploy the military within the country during unrest. Here's what the law says and how it's been used.
Police briefly detained CNN correspondent Jason Carroll while on air during the network's coverage of the Los Angeles protests.
CNN was covering the protests live when in-studio anchors briefly lost contact with Carroll, who could be seen being led away from the protests by Los Angeles Police Department officers with his hands behind his back. Carroll returned to the mic, informing the anchors: "I am being detained."
An officer then can be heard telling Carroll: "We're letting you go. You can't come back. If you come back, you will be arrested."
Carroll then thanked the officers after being left behind the police perimeter.
"I was called over, and the officer told me to put my hands behind my back. I said, 'Am I being arrested?' and he said, 'You are being detained,'" Carroll explained. He later added that he clarified who he was and that he was with CNN, to no avail. "They did not put me in zip ties, but they did grab both my hands as I was escorted over to the side. They said you are being detained while we lead you out of this area. You are not allowed to be in this area."
In a statement, a CNN spokesperson said the situation was handled quickly.
"A CNN reporting team was briefly detained in Los Angeles while capturing the events that were unfolding as police attempted to clear an area during the ongoing protests and police and military response in the city," the statement read. "We are pleased the situation resolved quickly once the reporting team presented law enforcement with their CNN credentials. CNN will continue to report out the news unfolding in Los Angeles."
USA TODAY has reached out to the LAPD for comment.
Carroll said these situations come with the territory of covering protests.
"You take a lot of risks as press. This is low on that scale of risks, but it is something that I wasn't expecting, simply because we've been out here all day," he continued. "I've covered any number of protests, and normally the officers realize that the press is there doing a job."
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