Channel 9 United States correspondent Tim Arvier and his crew have been handcuffed and detained by police in Minneapolis while covering protests following the death of an African-American man in police custody.
Scenes of destruction continued to spread across the U.S. as the death George Floyd at the hands of white cop Derek Chauvin ignited outrage over police brutality against African-American men.
Floyd, a 46-year-old father-of-two, was filmed gasping for breath as Chauvin knelt on his neck for eight minutes before he died in custody of the Minneapolis Police Department on Monday.
Arvier, a veteran reporter on the scene in Minneapolis, was arrested along with his cameraman and security guard about 1am Sunday morning local time in the epicentre of the nationwide protests.
Channel 9 United States correspondent Tim Arvier tweeted a photo of himself, a Channel 9 cameraman and their security guard sitting in a gutter with their hands cuffed behind their backs
The trio told police they were media as they neared the roadblock, but officers ordered the trio out of their car
Scenes of destruction continued to spread across the U.S. as the death of black man George Floyd at the hands of white cop Derek Chauvin ignited outrage over police brutality against African-American men
He tweeted a photo of himself, a Channel 9 cameraman and their security guard sitting in a gutter with their hands cuffed behind their backs.
‘Just been detained and searched by #Minneapolis Police. They cuffed my cameraman and our security but were respectful and have now let us go,’ Arvier Tweeted on Sunday evening, Australian time.
Arvier said he and his crew heard gunshots as they approached a police blockade in their car.
Despite the city of 425,000 people being placed in lockdown due to the protests, journalists are exempt and are allowed to travel.
They told police they were media as they neared the roadblock, but officers ordered the trio out of their car.
‘Police are really cracking down on anyone who is out and about,’ Arvier said.
‘You have to stop, put your hands out the window and show your credentials. We were yelling out we were press.
‘One police officer freaked out, pulled his gun out and got us to get out of the car.
New York: NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio and President Trump clashed Saturday night over New York’s response to the escalating crisis there
Chicago: A Chicago police vehicle is set on fire during violent protests and bricks are hurled at it
New York: NYPD officers are poised with their batons after Trump praised their response – despite footage showing mutlipel scenes where cops manhandled protesters violently Friday
Washington DC:A protester holds up a sign saying ‘Stop killing us’ as a pack of military police are sen in the background
‘They pulled out our camera man hand cuffed him, pulled out the security, handcuffed him. They pulled me out of the car, sat me down, they searched me.
‘I didn’t get handcuffed and was placed up against the car before they moved me to the gutter.’
Arvier said the police officers became calm once they realised they were dealing with a group of reporters and not protesters.
‘While they were a bit aggressive and confrontational at the start, it’s how nervous they are after what has happened over the last few nights,’ he said.
Minnesota – where Floyd died – has born the brunt of the protests which began there Tuesday before fanning out across the country.
In Minneapolis, protesters were seen fleeing after cops hurled tear gas into the crowds while some responded by launching fireworks back at officers.
Channel 7 journalist Ashlee Mullany was almost taken out by a stun grenade as police closed in on a protest.
Mullany, who is the US correspondent for Channel 7, crossed to the Sunrise newsroom live from Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon to report on the mayhem as protests raged on in the city for a third day.
Footage showed the journalist duck for cover as a stun grenade was fired in her direction by police officers who descended on the protest.
Mullany, who is the US correspondent for Channel 7, crossed to the Sunrise newsroom live from Minneapolis on Thursday afternoon to report on the mayhem
Minneapolis: State troopers form a line in Minneapolis Saturday night on the fifth day of protests in the city
Philadelphia: A man walks past a vandalized business where ‘I can’t breathe’ is written on the windows – some of Floyd’s last words as he begged the white cop for his life
Officer Derek Chauvin (pictured) was identified as the officer pinning down George Floyd in video footage that was widely shared on Tuesday
Mullany said tensions only grew when police arrived to control the crowds of outraged citizens.
‘What happened was about six police cars out of nowhere arrived and they came out in riot gear,’ she told the Sunrise newsroom.
‘It seems like they were prepared for some sort of confrontation.’
‘But it really was like throwing a match in the tinder at that point. It was incredible to see how that anger exploded in a matter of seconds.
‘The police were not welcome on the streets here.’
The National Guard was activated to defend the White House from attack as the Secret Service agents on the ground struggled to keep control of crowds descending on the seat of the US government.
The Big Apple was ablaze as NYPD vehicles were torched and ransacked while shocking footage emerged of cops violently detaining protesters.
A man was left critically injured in Dallas when he was attacked and stomped on by a group of people when he allegedly tried to defend a store with a large sword.
In Atlanta a cop suffered ‘significant injuries’ when they were hit by an ATV, while in Chicago, a man commandeered a police horse and rode off on it.
Los Angeles deployed the National Guard for the first since the 1992 riots when the police officers who beat up black man Rodney King walked free of all charges and California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency in LA County.
Minneapolis: Heavily armed police officers stand guard in Minnesota – the city where Floyd died – which has born the brunt of the protests
Philadelphia: A protester throws items in to a fire in the street as calls mount for the other three cops involved in Floyd’s death to be charged
Philadelphia: A man and police confront each other in the streets of Philadelphia Saturday night
A total of 11 states and the District of Columbia had activated the National Guard by the early hours of Sunday, as law enforcement buckled under the strain of the protests.
States calling for Guard assistance included California, Georgia, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Washington state.
Meanwhile at least 25 cities roll out emergency curfews to try to bring rioting and looting under control, including San Francisco, Atlanta, Louisville, Los Angeles, Portland, Columbia, South Carolina, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Seattle.
President Trump has put the Army on notice to deploy to the streets with a four-hour notice – the first time this will have been done in almost 20 years during the 1992 LA riots over the beating of black man Rodney King by cops.