Minnesota State Police issued a statement about their arrest of CNN reporter Omar Jimenez — and got instantly fact-checked.

Jimenez and his live crew were arrested while broadcasting Friday morning from Minneapolis, where protests erupted into violence over the police killing of George Floyd, but State Police insisted troopers did not know they were journalists.

“In the course of clearing the streets and restoring order at Lake Street and Snelling Avenue, four people were arrested by State Patrol troopers, including three members of a CNN crew,” said the State Police. “The three were released once they were confirmed to be members of the media.”

In the course of clearing the streets and restoring order at Lake Street and Snelling Avenue, four people were arrested by State Patrol troopers, including three members of a CNN crew. The three were released once they were confirmed to be members of the media.

— MN State Patrol (@MnDPS_MSP) May 29, 2020

But viewers called them out for inaccurately describing the situation.

We all saw it live. This is not an accurate depiction of what occurred.

— Midwin Charles (@MidwinCharles) May 29, 2020

Bullshit. They identified themselves as media before the arrest, your officers didn’t give a shit.

— kyle (@solace) May 29, 2020

Get bent, we saw what happened.

— JJ in NH (@JustJoshinNH) May 29, 2020

They showed their credentials before they were arrested. Nice try. They said they were just following orders. So who gave the order?

— Brina Kay Music (@brinakaymusic) May 29, 2020

Did the mic and camera crew and them saying “we’re cnn” give it away

— joe perticone (@JoePerticone) May 29, 2020

They confirmed they were members of the media before they were arrested. Your tweet is a lie. The entire world saw what happened. Why do you think you can get away with lying?

— Carter Gaddis (@DadScribe) May 29, 2020

They identified themselves and their credentials at the time.

Maybe you have a problem in your ranks.

— The Holocron (@The_Holocron) May 29, 2020

That’s not even close to what happened. The world was watching. Do you not know that?

— Counselor Foyle (@counselorfoyle) May 29, 2020

You can’t just “uh oh spaghettios!” this one guys.

— evan (@theeschwartz) May 29, 2020

you mean to tell me that we did not just witness them identify themselves multiple times as members of the media, but they had to prove their innocence?

you wont learn until the city is a smoldering pile of ashes will you?

— Beta Pup Loki (@PupLoki_NC) May 29, 2020

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