WATCH: After the News Hour cut away from the live broadcast at English Bay, our cameraman captured what Chris Gailus had to say to the protestor
A tense, unexpected confrontation on the News Hour tonight was resolved peacefully after the cameras stopped rolling.
While News Hour anchor Chris Gailus was talking to reporter Rumina Daya in English Bay about the oil spill in English Bay, a man decided to block a Global News’ camera.
Gailus and Daya asked the man to let them finish their live interview. However, he continued to stand in front of the camera, leaving our producers with no choice but to cut back to our studios, where Robin Stickley continued the broadcast.
“We kind of wondered if things were going to go sideways,” said Gailus, who said the man was known to their crew, and been wandering around the cameras for some time before the News Hour began.
“As soon as he realized we were off the air, he stopped. There were no physical altercation, it was just me trying to convince him that what he was doing was completely counterproductive and a waste of everyone’s time…but you’re never going to convince a guy like that.”
The man left five minutes later, and the rest of the News Hour went ahead as scheduled.
“It’s unfortunate people were distracted by that and we weren’t able to talk about what we wanted to talk about,” said Gailus.
WATCH: A News Hour interview live in English Bay had to end abruptly after a protester blocked our camera and wouldn’t leave