TORONTO – Fox News reporter Geraldo Rivera got into a heated argument with protestors in Baltimore Tuesday night while trying to conduct a live interview.
The confrontation has since gone viral.
Rivera arrived shortly before the citywide curfew was set to begin Tuesday night to interview Maryland State Senator Catherine Pugh.
As the interview started, protestors started voicing their anger about Fox News’ coverage of the Baltimore riots, saying that their cameras were there to cover the riots, but not the root causes and issues facing the city and its residents.
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Protests erupted earlier this week following the funeral of 25-year-old Freddie Gray, a black man who died of spinal injuries while in police custody.
The rioting started in West Baltimore on Monday afternoon – within a mile of where Gray was arrested and placed into a police van earlier this month – and by midnight had spread to East Baltimore and neighbourhoods close to downtown and near the baseball stadium.
Rivera started his live interview by describing the angry crowds as “excited,” a word choice that didn’t sit well with many of the protesters.
Within moments, he is lost in the crowd as one protester jumps in front of the Fox News camera.
“Stop it, you’re making a fool of yourself!” an angry Geraldo shouts at the man.
Senator Pugh later told Rivera the presence of his news camera was “inciting” people.
The two walked away from protesters to finish their interview.
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A video posted to YouTube shows the same protester in a shouting match with Rivera that same evening. He accuses Rivera of ignoring the real story in his coverage.
“I want you and Fox News to get out of Baltimore city, because you’re not here reporting on the boarded up homes, you’re not reporting on the poverty levels, ” said the protester.
Baltimore streets previously rocked by riots were quiet Wednesday morning at the lifting of a nighttime curfew that was enforced by 3,000 police and National Guardsmen. The curfew ended at 5 a.m. with no reports of disturbances in the early morning hours.
-With files from the Associated Press
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