Los Angeles police detained a CNN reporter and his crew on live television Tuesday night as anti-ICE riots continued to roil the city following federal immigration enforcement raids.
CNN correspondent Jason Carroll was captured on live television with his hands behind his back, surrounded by officers in riot gear during Laura Coates’ 11 p.m. broadcast.
“I’m being detained, Laura,” Carroll can be heard saying after police briefly restrained him and his crew, according to a report from the New York Post.
Officers ultimately allowed Carroll to leave, but warned him not to return to the area.
“We’re letting you go, but you can’t come back … if you come back in, then you go,” an officer told the reporter.
A CNN spokesperson confirmed to the New York Post that the news team was “briefly detained” while documenting events as police cleared the area, adding they were “pleased the situation resolved quickly once the reporting team presented law enforcement with their CNN credentials.”
The CNN correspondent had just finished his report from the scene of the riot on CNN’s “Laura Coates Live,” when the host noticed the confrontation and went back to the L.A. crew.
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“Wait one second, John,” she said, interrupting her panel guest. “Hold on. I wanna – Jason, what’s going on? I hear you. Am I seeing Jason Carroll being – what happened? Jason?”
“I am being detained,” Carroll replied. “I’m being detained, Laura.”
Carroll narrated the encounter while the LAPD escorted him away.
CNN’s reporter on scene in Los Angeles: I’m being detained.. pic.twitter.com/DANNms8ZZj
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“I’m not being arrested, correct, officers?” he asked.
“Did you hear what he told you?” an officer asked the reporter.
“No,” Carroll replied.
“We’re letting you go, but you can’t come back,” the officer said. “Because then if you come back in, then you go. Ok, please?”
“Ok, thank you, officer,” Carroll replied before attempting to communicate with Coates again.
“If you guys can still hear me, what happened was, I was –” Carroll said before being cut off by an alleged New York Times reporter.
“I’m Chris with The New York Times. We got video of you guys. If you need it later, call The New York Times.”
The Post notes it is still unclear who “Chris” is at this time, and the Times has yet to confirm his role at the paper at the time of publication.
“Thank you, I appreciate that,” Carroll said before going back to Coates.
“So here’s what happened, Laura,” he said. “I was called over, and the officer told me to put my hands behind my back. I said, ‘Am I being arrested?’ He said, ‘You are being detained.’ I was walked out of the area. They took down my information.”
Carroll’s audio suddenly cut out, leading Coates to turn to CNN Chief Law Enforcement Analyst John Miller for analysis.
Miller, the former Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence and Counterterrorism of the NYPD, said police officers have to remain skeptical of “press” credentials when responding to protests because “you have anarchist groups and agitators who show up and say, ‘Well, I have a blog, so therefore I’m press. So therefore, even though I’ve been throwing bottles and screaming epithets, I’m not part of the protest. I want to be treated as media.’ So they sort through people one at a time.”
The Los Angeles anti-ICE protests, which began somewhat peacefully early Saturday after reported raids in the area, deteriorated into more chaotic scenes by late afternoon, leading President Donald Trump to deploy thousands of National Guard troops to the area.
On Sunday, a reporter for the CNN-affiliated 9News Australia was struck by a rubber bullet fired by law enforcement while conducting a live broadcast.
