Anderson Cooper and his CNN news crew were set upon by Egyptian protesters and report that they were physically attacked in the streets of Cairo. According to Anderson himself, the attack came out of nowhere and forced him and his crew to retreat from the area or risk further physical violence.
Anderson Cooper and his crew were attacked by supporters of Hosni Mubarak in Cairo on Wednesday. CNN’s Steve Brusk tweeted that Cooper was punched in the head ten times. The incident came as pro-Mubarak supporters attacked protesters calling for the Egyptian president to step down. Speaking on “American Morning” after the attack, Cooper said that he and his crew had been trying to go to a neutral zone between the two groups. “We never got that far,” he said. “We were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters punching us in the head.” Cooper said that he and the crew tried to escape, but that the crowd only grew: “the crowd kept growing, kept throwing punches, kicks…suddenly a young man would look at you and punch you in the face.”
Yikes!! Well, at least we know that neither Anderson nor anyone (that we know of) in his crew were seriously injured. It’s a dangerous game getting into the mix of a revolution in order to report a news story. I hope the Coop stays safe down there. My thoughts and best wishes go out to all of the people of Egypt during these politically tumultuous times. Let’s all hope for a peaceful and democratic resolution to the unrest going on there right now.
[Source]
I have been glued to CNN for the past couple of days and I’m just sadden by what is going on. I hope Egypt finally gets the peace they want (but I have a strong feeling this isn’t gonna end well)
I’ve been watching the live feed on Al-Jazeera for days now and it’s just horrid. They FINALLY turned the internet back on again and my heart leapt when I finally got a message from my friend in Cairo, but he says its absolute hell.
How scary! It is sad that there is so much violence today, when yesterday they had so many people protesting peacefully.
Anderson and his crew are not the only journalists who got attacked by pro-mubarak protesters…. A french canadian cameraman got beat up almost to death!!!! Journalists are getting targeted, it must be total hell indeed.
With all that’s going on there we’re going to concentrate on one celebrity journalist? I love him too, but come on… My thoughts are with the protesters who are trying to do so peacefully. It’s sad what power, money and corruption can do.
IMO, Anderson is a journalist, not a “celebrity journalist”. Also, a lot of times the press is left alone in times of political chaos. In many conflicts, the press will talk with both sides and share their view points. So it is pretty surprising that they are getting violent with the media.
He is most definitely a celebrity.
Hoping Anderson and all the members of the press are safe and the Egypt’s government and citizenry can resolve their differences without violence. But if you look at Egypt’s history of supressing and even black-bagging dissenters, this isn’t really surprising.
*that
Not to be rude, but….what did they expect?
As someone already said, it is hell over there. These people are fighting for their lives and for their freedom. I hate how a lot of our privileged reporters (not even singling out Anderson Cooper) go over there and act like they are untouchable or only go over there to make a good story. It’s sick.
Cooper is not the only one being attacked. All international media is at serious risk. Equipment has been stolen, reporters have been detained, and physical violence has been a risk they’ve all been taking. The Egyptian government and its supporters do not show the violence on state TV and they do not want the people to see it. I have respect for all unbiased international media that takes this risk, however I find the coverage of Al-Jazeera is really the only one I would follow at this time. CNN relies in part on the sensationalism of stories while Al-Jazeera is uncensored live coverage.