CNN reporter Miguel Marquez asked a police officer “are we under martial law?” during an argument with law enforcement while covering arrests after Baltimore’s 10 pm curfew on Friday.
Marquez, while interviewing someone who had been arrested, was ordered to step back by police. He said that police were trying to cordon off the arrested protesters so that the media couldn’t talk to them. Later, while he was reporting, an officer ordered the press to move, to which Marquez asked “why’s that?” The officer responded, “because they asked you to, sir. Please comply.” Marquez asked “are we under martial law?” The officer continued to ask Marquez to move and said that there was a curfew, Marquez stated “the media has a right to work” in response. As Marquez was arguing with the police, anchor Don Lemon told him, “it’s not worth it.”
Marquez, after his disagreement with the police was resolved, remarked, “it is shocking that in a city like this that this would — it would come to this. Most police officers have let us move fairly freely, but tonight, clearly, they want it to stop. I don’t know that it is going to serve their purposes.” And “I think that the First Amendment and the Constitution still applies in Baltimore, Maryland under a curfew. They made that rule very, very clear when they put this into effect.”
Earlier, National Correspondent Jason Carroll was pushed back by police while trying to cover other arrests.
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