Deplorable Me
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Filming outside of City Hall in downtown Oakland, Calif., on Monday, a TV news crew was interviewing a city official for a story about a recent spate of violent crime when the journalists became victims themselves.
“I think Oakland deserves better,” Guillermo Cespedes, the city’s chief of violence prevention, told the NBC Bay Area reporters just before two armed men interrupted the interview, knocking a camera to the ground.
The Oakland Police Department said a scuffle broke out as the robbers demanded the cameraman hand over his equipment, the East Bay Times reported. The news crew’s security guard pulled out his own gun and ordered the would-be robbers to leave. They left without stealing any equipment, police said.
“Our colleagues were conducting an interview at Oakland City Hall when they were approached by two armed individuals,” Liza Catalan, a spokeswoman for NBC Bay Area, told The Washington Post in an email. “Thankfully, our colleagues are safe and unharmed.”
