MS Now’s Ali Velshi found himself accused of lying on camera while covering ICE protests in New Jersey Saturday, having just told viewers there was “no less than 10- or 12-feet between protesters and police” before the man yelled out, “That’s not true!”
In a clip shared online, Velshi had noted that police were creating a buffer between protestors and ICE the night before.
“That didn’t work out last night, they head a lot of tension, so they brought in Newark police, local police. They also have state police here, but they were not in the front lines, but they created barricades,” he said.
“There was no less than 10 or 12 feet between protesters and police almost at any time,” he added. Velshi was then interrupted by a man carrying a camera.
“That’s not true! There were more than 10 or 12 people that were protesting,” the man said. As Velshi attempted to clarify, the man added, “That’s an absolute lie! You just lied on camera!”
Velshi then asked the man what he said.
“You just said there were 10 or 12 protesters, which is all bulls–t!” the man answered. “Can you just hold on for a second? I actually said there was never more than 10 or 12 feet between —” Velshi continued before he was interrupted again.
“This is the problem, why this s–t happens!” the man added before he left.
Velshi’s colleague Pablo Torre then said from the studio, “It’s hard not to watch you and think of how you are living the meta conversation around the story while covering the story … We all heard you very clearly. That gentleman decided to, I think, embody an internet commenter in real life, which is a surreal experience for you, I’m sure, as you’re covering a real, serious event. But the idea here, just to reset us, this is a warehouse that has been used to house people who are now getting the word out, alleging that they are being mistreated.”
Velshi was also escorted back from the protests by police in the same video clip. He repeatedly asked why he and other reporters were being moved and told authorities that being moved would impede their work.
