CNN political analyst April Ryan is under fire over a video purportedly showing a man identified as a security guard getting into a physical altercation with a local news editor who was covering an event that featured her as the keynote speaker.
Ryan reportedly told the crowd, “I don’t have news covering my speech.”
Local news editor Charlie Kratovil of New Brunswick Today attended the New Jersey Parent Summit at the Heldrich Hotel August 3 and says he covered it for hours without any issues:
Later in the day, Joel Morris – who Kratovil identifies as Ryan’s security guard – approached the reporter, demanded to know what organization he was with, and allegedly threatened to take Kratovil’s camera down.
“I declined to acquiesce to this threat from a stranger,” Kratovil wrote.
“Just as Rep. Payne was praising Ms. Ryan for her recent @rcfp ‘Freedom of the Press’ award, the public relations people started to gather around me at my table, pressuring me to stop recording,” he continued in a Twitter thread, detailing what led up to the altercation.
“As soon as things started going south, I began recording audio of our conversation,” he added:
He was warned by others to stop recording and told that Ryan would not take the stage as long as he had his camera rolling. Kratovil exited the room to discuss the matter further. Ryan’s security guard whispered something to Ryan as she spoke on stage, and he reportedly unplugged Kratovil’s camera:
At that point, Ryan reportedly told the crowd, “When I speak, I don’t have news covering my speech”:
Things quickly escalated, with Shennell McCloud, executive director of Project Ready, allegedly demanding Kratovil’s removal. At that point, Kratovil says Morris grabbed him and forced him out of the hotel lobby:
Surveillance video also captured the incident:
Kratovil said he intends to press charges:
Notably, Kratovil is a Trump critic who has stood with Ryan and her network’s supposed devotion to “freedom of the press,” but he now says Ryan is at a crossroads.
“I think that the President deserves much criticism for his administration’s lack of transparency, his own irresponsible rhetoric towards the media, and his childish attacks on individual reporters like Ms. Ryan,” Kratovil said, according to Fox News.
“Her reputation now depends on finally addressing this situation head-on and proclaiming that what happened that night in New Brunswick cannot be tolerated,” he added.
Ryan has yet to publicly address the incident.
This is just the latest episode in a drama-filled week for CNN. Primetime Chris Cuomo has been under fire over a video that surfaced Monday, showing the anchor raging and threatening violence against an individual who referred to him as “Fredo” and comparing the pop-culture nickname to the “N Word.” A CNN spokesman affirmed that the network believes the term is an “ethnic slur” despite several CNN contributors and guests using it on-air.
CNN’s Don Lemon is also in the hot seat after being accused of assault, according to a lawsuit filed over the weekend:
Representatives for CNN PR have not respond to Breitbart News’s request for comment.
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