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Broadcast footage shows the moment an angry man interrupted an NBC news report about Hurricane Ida on Monday, lunging at a reporter and shouting at him to ‘report accurately.’
Journalist Shaquille Brewster was covering the storm from a beach in Gulfport, Mississippi – east of where Ida came ashore the previous night as a Category 4 hurricane.
Suddenly the unidentified man pulls up in a white pickup truck behind Brewster, gets out and sprints towards him.
NBC reporter Shaquille Brewster was covering the aftermath of Ida, which had come ashore as a Category 4 hurricane the previous night, when a man parked his pickup truck and began sprinting at him and his camera crew
The man runs up to the crew shouting, ‘Y’all reporting this accurately right?’ as Brewster has his crew shift the camera away from the man
The man, however, continues to shout and the segment ends just as he lunges towards Brewster, shouting, ‘Report accurately!’
Brewster was reporting on how life had begun to return to normal that morning in the areas around where the storm made impact just hours prior.
Hurricane Ida has now been downgraded to a tropical depression.
‘Just a couple of minutes ago people were walking their dogs. They’re back on the beach right now. That’s the sense you’re getting,’ he says as the man approaches from behind.
‘The rain has stopped, the wind is still going there, and I think we have a random person going around.’
The man can be heard shouting at the reporter and his camera crew as he approaches, saying: ‘Y’all reporting this accurately right?’
Brewster attempts to continue the segment, asking the crew to turn the camera away from the man as he also shifts his position away from him.
The man, however, continues shouting, and Brewster is eventually forced to tell anchor Craig Melvin that he will need to cut the broadcast short.
‘Craig I’m gonna toss it back to you, because we have a person who needs a little help right now,’ he says as the man lunges at him, shouting, ‘report accurately!’
Brewster tweet shortly after that he and his crew were unharmed in the incident
The broadcast cuts away just as Brewster raises his forearm to defend himself.
‘Hey, hey, hey,’ Melvin says.
‘We’re going to check in with Shaq Brewster just to make sure all is well. There’s a lot of crazy out there, a lot of crazy.’
Moments after Brewster tweeted out that he and his crew were alright.
‘Appreciate the concern guys. The team and I are all good!’ he wrote.
MSNBC President Rashida Jones released a statement regarding the incident, calling Brewster a ‘consummate professional.’
The incident came as fears mounted that the area affected by the storm might see and increase in crime. A group of looters were caught in drone footage trying to loot a destroyed market in neighboring New Orleans on Monday
‘Like the consummate professional, he did not let someone intimidate him from doing his job. We’re glad he and the team are safe, and we couldn’t be more proud and supportive of their work,’ she said.
The incident came as fears rise that the area could see a spike in crime in the aftermath of the storm, as it did when Hurricane Katrina struck 16 years ago, and as the true damage of the storm is assessed.
In neighboring Louisiana, a group of men were caught by a drone camera trying to rob an ATM machine in the scorched remains of a market in the New Orleans neighborhood of St. Claude.
New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a press conference Monday that the city is cracking down on looting and all offenders will be charged with a state felony
In another incident, witnesses used their cell phone to record several people looting a store in New Orleans East.
However, Mayor LaToya Cantrell said at a press conference Monday that the city is cracking down on looting and all offenders will be charged with a state felony.
She said, ‘My directive has been very clear: lock ’em up. We will not tolerate and we have not tolerated it.’
Police Chief Shaun Ferguson added that the department deployed a group of ‘anti-looting’ officers and is working with the Louisiana National Guard to protect businesses from looters.
The image above shows flooded streets in Kenner, Louisiana on Monday – a day after Hurricane Ida rampaged through the area
A truck in Houma, Louisiana drives past a metal sign downed by Hurricane Ida’s winds on Monday
The city has already made ‘several arrests’ involving looters, Ferguson said and urged residents to report looting when they see it.
It is not clear if the pair from the drone video were apprehended or got away with any cash from the ATM machine they are seen in the footage trying to pry open.
The damage from Hurricane Ida is still being assessed and President Joe Biden recently warned that the death toll – which currently stands at two people – will rise as the human cost of the storm that ravaged the state began to emerge.
Speaking on a conference call to governors affected by the extreme weather event Monday, the president warned he expected the number of people found killed as a result of Ida to rise considerably
Biden also urged Edwards to ‘just holler’ for help after Hurricane Ida ravaged the state.
The massive storm rolled through southeastern Louisiana before gradually weakening while making its way toward Mississippi on Monday
‘We’re providing any help that you’re going to need,’ the president told Louisiana and Mississippi mayors and governors during a conference call Monday afternoon as Ida made its way north.
He said the federal government has sent 200 generators to the area as one million people remain without power in the wake of the hurricane.
The president added that he has asked the Federal Aviation Administration to authorize the use of drones to assess Ida’s damage to energy infrastructure.
Biden said he has also ordered the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to make available any satellite imagery that could help assess the extent of the damage.
Source: dailymail
