Statement from The NewsGuild of New York on the Arrest of CNN’s Omar Jimenez and His Colleagues

CNN reporter Omar Jimenez and his production team were unjustly arrested this morning while reporting on police brutality protests in Minneapolis. They were taken into custody during a live broadcast while they were simply doing their jobs. While we’re pleased to see Mr. Jimenez and the CNN crew have been released, their arrest is a blatant example of the interference and intimidation that journalists encounter on a daily basis, particularly journalists of color. It’s certainly not lost on us that Mr. Jimenez, a black reporter, was arrested while covering protests that stemmed from a black man’s death while in police custody. As long as journalists of color face added risk and persecution for reporting the truth, our democracy suffers. We cannot have truly independent journalism without racial justice, and we cannot allow one of our greatest strengths — a free press — to be silenced.