Our reporters are definitely under a lot of pressure right now…
Our international Aussie reporters are without a doubt showing immense bravery in the current times, covering various riots and protests across the world from the front lines. So far we’ve had cameraman punched, reporters get rushed and now we’ve had a reporter literally get attacked live on air.
Reporter Sophie Walsh was covering the Black Lives Matter protests from Park Lane in London when a man appeared out of nowhere and attempted to attack her. Footage wasn’t captured of the incident but you can very clearly hear Ms Walsh screaming and left visibly shaken after the incident, saying “Sorry, I just had someone come up and try and… yeah. A man just came up and grabbed me. He’s not armed. A man just came up and grabbed me though”.
According to a fellow presenter, cameraman Jason Conduit and various bystanders chased the man down, eventually detaining and holding him until police arrived.
Another presenter Brenton Ragless described the attack in greater detail, saying “he attacker grabbed Sophie during Adelaide’s 6pm news bulletin just an hour ago. He yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ while making motions to stab her”.
Ms Walsh later wrote on Twitter: “Thank you for your messages. The man has been arrested for threats to kill and carrying a weapon. I’m shaken but okay”.
Nine's Europe Correspondent Sophie Walsh has been assaulted live on air while covering upcoming protests from London. @sophie_walsh9 #9News pic.twitter.com/C7Oin84kiy
— Nine News Perth (@9NewsPerth) June 3, 2020
Pretty intense stuff, the attack comes as another reporter Ben Avery and his cameraman were set upon by protesters and forced to flee just this morning.
#BREAKING: Nine News Europe Correspondent @benavery9 has had to abandon his coverage as protesters clash with police in London. #9News pic.twitter.com/xL3x7ACdvj
— Nine News Australia (@9NewsAUS) June 3, 2020
Properly scary, we gotta give our international correspondents mad props for their covering the protests while facing huge danger to themselves, lets hope our reporters don’t have as much bad luck from here on out…
