American Urban Radio correspondent and CNN political analyst April Ryan had a journalist forcibly removed from one of her speaking engagements in early August, and the whole thing was caught on video.
The journalist, New Brunswick Today editor Charlie Kratovil, says that he was confronted by Ryan’s bodyguard and removed from The Heldrich Hotel where Ryan was set to speak at the fourth Annual New Jersey Parent Summit on Aug. 3, shortly after he began to film the event.
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Footage captured by Kratovil’s camera shows Ryan at the podium speaking for about 20 seconds before being approached by the bodyguard, who has since been identified as Joel Morris by Fox News. Ryan then pauses her speech for half a minute before Ryan’s bodyguard approaches the camera and appears to take it.
As the camera jitters, Ryan can be heard breaking her silence to say “when I speak, I do not let the news cover my speech.” Kratovil can also be heard asking the bodyguard to put down his camera while being escorted out of the room.
Security camera footage obtained by New Brunswick Today shows a second perspective of the confrontation. As the two men enter the lobby, the journalist demands his camera back once again. Morris adheres to the request, but remains in front of the journalist, and continues to demand that he leave the hotel.
Kratovil is also approached and berated by the executive director of the organization holding the event. After a short back and forth, Morris grabs Kratovil by the arms and starts to push him out of the hotel by force.
Kratovil says he was invited to the event. The RSVP and subsequent approval was further corroborated by Fox News, who was the first to report this story.
The New Jersey editor told Fox News that he’s actually a big fan of Ryan, an outspoken critic of President Trump.
“I think that the president deserves much criticism for his administration’s lack of transparency, his own irresponsible rhetoric towards the media, and his childish attacks on individual reporters like Ms. Ryan,” Kratovil told Fox News Wednesday. “Her reputation now depends on finally addressing this situation head-on and proclaiming that what happened that night in New Brunswick cannot be tolerated.”
Kratovil told Fox News that he intends to press charges against Morris sometime later this week.
VICE News reached out to both CNN and American Urban Radio Networks. Neither has responded to requests for comment.
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Ryan has been a trailblazer in the journalism industry for more than two decades. She has been the only black woman covering urban issues from the White House since she became American Urban Radio’s chief White House correspondent in 1997.
In 2017, she rose to national prominence for her persistence against Trump’s first communication director Sean Spicer. She was named Journalist of the Year by the National Association of Black Journalists later that year.
It hasn’t been a great week for talent on CNN’s payroll. On Tuesday, CNN anchor Chris Cuomo went viral for footage of him getting into a heated argument with a heckler who called him “fredo.”
Cover: Journalist April Ryan attends the National Board of Review awards gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
