Anderson Cooper from CNN and a handful of other journalists from international media were attacked by pro-Mubarak crowds in Egypt on Wednesday as anti- and pro-government protestors clashed for the first time since the protests began.
On Wednesday afternoon, CNN’s Anderson Cooper and two colleagues were in front of the Egyptian Museum when they were caught between pro- and anti-Mubarak groups and were confronted.
“We were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters, punching us in the head, attacking my producer MaryAnne Fox my cameraman as well, trying to grab his camera and break his camera,” Cooper said on the air just minutes after the attack.
He said, recalling what just happened, “we immediately started to turn around. We realized the situation would get very bad very quickly,” so the three CNN journalists tried to walk away calmly.
But instead, “the crowd kept growing, kept throwing more punches [and] kicks, trying to grab us,” Cooper said. “It was pandemonium.”
Other journalists who were caught in the mayhem and were assaulted included two Associated Press reporters, the agency reported.
Additionally, a correspondent from Al-Arabiya television based in Dubai suffered a concussion after being hit in the head during the confrontations, according to the International Press Institute, citing the station’s Bureau Chief Randa Abul-Azm.
Sources inside Egypt also told the International Press Institute that a Spanish journalist from TV3, a Danish TV journalist, and a reporter from Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm were also attacked.
Media watchdogs, like the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said that the recent escalation in attacks on journalists were due to government policies attempting to censor the media.
“The Egyptian government is employing a strategy of eliminating witnesses to their actions,” Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in a statement.
“The government has resorted to blanket censorship, intimidation, and today a series of deliberate attacks on journalists carried out by pro-government mobs.”
Cooper’s recount of the attack seems to confirm Dayem’s remarks. His attackers “first started going for the camera, they didn’t want any pictures taken,” he told CNN.
On Wednesday afternoon, CNN’s Anderson Cooper and two colleagues were in front of the Egyptian Museum when they were caught between pro- and anti-Mubarak groups and were confronted.
“We were set upon by pro-Mubarak supporters, punching us in the head, attacking my producer MaryAnne Fox my cameraman as well, trying to grab his camera and break his camera,” Cooper said on the air just minutes after the attack.
He said, recalling what just happened, “we immediately started to turn around. We realized the situation would get very bad very quickly,” so the three CNN journalists tried to walk away calmly.
But instead, “the crowd kept growing, kept throwing more punches [and] kicks, trying to grab us,” Cooper said. “It was pandemonium.”
Other journalists who were caught in the mayhem and were assaulted included two Associated Press reporters, the agency reported.
Additionally, a correspondent from Al-Arabiya television based in Dubai suffered a concussion after being hit in the head during the confrontations, according to the International Press Institute, citing the station’s Bureau Chief Randa Abul-Azm.
Sources inside Egypt also told the International Press Institute that a Spanish journalist from TV3, a Danish TV journalist, and a reporter from Egyptian newspaper Al Masry Al Youm were also attacked.
Media watchdogs, like the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said that the recent escalation in attacks on journalists were due to government policies attempting to censor the media.
“The Egyptian government is employing a strategy of eliminating witnesses to their actions,” Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in a statement.
“The government has resorted to blanket censorship, intimidation, and today a series of deliberate attacks on journalists carried out by pro-government mobs.”
Cooper’s recount of the attack seems to confirm Dayem’s remarks. His attackers “first started going for the camera, they didn’t want any pictures taken,” he told CNN.
