Several journalists were roughed up by Chinese police outside a Beijing courthouse on Wednesday.
The journalists were reporting on the trial of Xu Zhiyong, an advocate for increased government transparency who has been detained for "gathering crowds to disrupt public order." Just moments after CNN journalist David McKenzie began reporting on the case, he was immediately confronted by authorities.
"This is a public street," McKenzie said after one of the guards grabbed him and began yelling. "There's no need to shout."
The situation escalated quickly, and the guards began pushing McKenzie and his colleagues with more force, taking away their phones and even breaking the camera, McKenzie said. McKenzie was eventually forced onto the ground, detained, and thrown into the back of a van and dumped onto a street corner far off from the court house — all of which was caught on tape.
"They're physically manhandling me. This is a public space, I am allowed to report," he said, as police tried to corral him.
Other journalists, including Sky News' Mark Stone and BBC's Martin Patience, were also reportedly "manhandled" while attempting to report at the trial.
Watch the video to see McKenzie's entire experience caught on camera.
(h/t: Time)
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article stated that the man in the video was BBC reporter Martin Patience. It is CNN's David McKenzie. Patience's report can be seen here.
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