While taking part in a march of Antifa terrorists through the streets of the Adams Morgan neighborhood in Washington, D.C., Alex Marquardt tried to spin their chaos and violence for CNN Tonight host Don Lemon. “Until now, I'm not going to say it's been peaceful but it hasn't quite been violent,” he suggested as he admitted that police had dawned riot gear.
The march was in response to a Kentucky grand jury’s decision not to charge Louisville police officers in the death of Breonna Taylor. So, of course, Marquardt’s goal was to make D.C. Metro Police look to be the aggressors because they had put on riot gear. And he did that while batting an Antifa member’s umbrella out of his face:
Well – [bats umbrella out of his face] – Don, we’ve been marching with these protesters from the White House for about an hour. And I’ve got to tell you, just since you got in the air in the last few moments, this has taken a turn for a much more violent march. And I just want Adelfo [the cameraman] to turn around here. This is the line of riot police. Until now, we have not seen police in this kind of gear. And that has really indicated that there has been a significant escalation. In just the last few moments.
“It's unclear what prompted this police response. Until now, I'm not going to say it's been peaceful but it hasn't quite been violent,” Marquardt proclaimed as he led the camera pass an outdoor dining area with flipped over tables and chairs and terrified patrons.
Accidently exposing how he was playing dumb as to why officers were wearing riot gear, the CNN reporter admitted he had seen people “banging on street signs with batons and bats. Fireworks have been fired off. We’ve seen graffiti sprayed on a variety of buildings. And even seen an Antifa flag clearly being flown and waved at the front of the march.” [The flag is pictured above but was from a different live-shot an hour later.]
In response to what his man the ground with showing him, Lemon said that he saw some “chaos” but suggested, “it doesn't look particularly violent.” He then wondered if the police response was an overreaction.
Continuing to paint officers as the sources of the hostility, Marquardt recounted watching an Antifa terrorist get arrested. He would later admit to watching Antifa members gear up and discuss their “tactics”:
We did see one young man, I believe, taken into custody. But other than that, there have not been violent altercations with the police. The police are not wearing gas masks. Which is usually a sign that they, at least for now, are not planning on firing tear gas. But the protesters themselves, as we left the White House, they did start putting on helmets and goggles. And start talking about keeping a tight group. And frankly, talking about marching tactics.
“So, it's clear, at least, they thought there was a possibility that things could turn violent,” he concluded as Lemon asked him to “stay safe.”
CNN’s march with Antifa terrorists was made possible because of lucrative sponsorships from Chevrolet, Carvana, and ADT Security Services. Their contact information is linked so you can tell them about the biased news they’re funding.
CNN Tonight
September 23, 2020
10:03:44 p.m. Eastern(…)
DON LEMON: Alex Marquardt is covering this story for us from Washington, D.C. where protestors are near the Capitol. Alex, you have been marching with the protestors. What are you seeing, what are you hearing from these protesters? What are they saying about this verdict?
ALEX MARQUARDT: Well – [bats umbrella out of his face] – Don, we’ve been marching with these protesters from the White House for about an hour. And I’ve got to tell you, just since you got in the air in the last few moments, this has taken a turn for a much more violent march. And I just want Adelfo [the cameraman] to turn around here. This is the line of riot police. Until now, we have not seen police in this kind of gear. And that has really indicated that there has been a significant escalation. In just the last few moments.
Now, the protesters have started going down this way in the response. It's unclear what prompted this police response. Until now, I'm not going to say it's been peaceful but it hasn't quite been violent. Since leaving – Adelfo, follow me down here.
Since leaving the White House where it was a quiet, somber, more peaceful march, these protesters, scores of them have been marching through some of the nicer parts of D.C. Through neighborhoods where there are restaurants and bars and apartments chanting all sorts of things. Anti-gentrification slogans. Anti-police slogans. Some have been banging on street signs with batons and bats. Fireworks have been fired off. We’ve seen graffiti sprayed on a variety of buildings. And even seen an Antifa flag clearly being flown and waved at the front of the march. We are now at the back of the march.
Again, Don, we started with this march at the White House, about an hour ago. We are now in Adams Morgan. There had, until about five minutes ago, not been any confrontation with the police. The police allowing this crowd to essentially go where ever they wanted to. To escort them. You can see here there are policemen on bikes. They are not in riot gear.
But Don, as you know, there is point, usually in the protests, where you wonder which way is it going to go. Is it going to stay peaceful, relatively quiet? Which is had been. Or is it going to get violent? Which we have seen indications of. For now, this crowd continuing to walk through Adams Morgan, here in Washington, D.C., Don.
LEMON: So, where you are now, I mean, it doesn't look particularly violent. It does look like there's chaos there, Alex. Is there a stronger presence of police or response from police? Talk to me about that.
MARQUARDT: Yeah. It had been much stronger. And the reason it looks quieter, is frankly because the march had moved on as the police moved in. The Police were chanting “move back.” And move back they did. The crowd certainly has shown no sign of dissipating or going home. They are just moving on. They did not engage with the police.
We did see one young man, I believe, taken into custody. But other than that, there have not been violent altercations with the police. The police are not wearing gas masks. Which is usually a sign that they, at least for now, are not planning on firing tear gas.
But the protesters themselves, as we left the White House, they did start putting on helmets and goggles. And start talking about keeping a tight group. And frankly, talking about marching tactics. So, it's clear, at least, they thought there was a possibility that things could turn violent. Well, certainly, we'll see where it goes. For now, the march is continuing.
LEMON: Alex Marquardt. We'll get back to you. Alex, stay safe.
(…)
