An MSNBC Reporter Was Bizarrely Confronted By A Man Apparently Mad About Hurricane Coverage

Reporting on natural disasters is one of the most difficult things a journalist can do, and people screaming at you can only make it even more difficult. Which is why a video of one MSNBC reporter being confronted on live TV during his coverage of Hurricane Ida got a lot of attention in the wake of the storm pummeling the Gulf Coast.

Shaquille Brewster was on the ground covering the aftermath of the storm for MSNBC on Monday when a man pulled up in a truck and interrupted the broadcast from Gulfport, Mississippi. Brewster was on a beach giving an update on conditions there when a man got out of a truck and moved toward the camera, in the background of the live shot. Smartly, Brewster attempted to move with his camera operator so they could continue broadcasting without the man in the background.

Things looked OK for a moment, and the broadcast put up a split-screen of Brewster and footage from earlier in the storm’s landfall to further keep him off camera. But the man then suddenly moved toward Brewster, yelling about accuracy while making contact with a startled reporter trying to work on live TV.

It was a bizarre scene to say the least, and the in-studio crew at MSNBC appeared troubled about what happened to one of their colleagues on the scene. It’s unclear what the man in question was trying to accomplish interrupting the broadcast, but no harm appears to have been done to Brewster and his crew at his hand. Brewster tweeted on Monday that he and his crew were OK, but it was certainly a harrowing thing to cut away from quickly on live TV.

Some on social media hoped to find out who it was that confronted him, and a local news report said as of Monday night that the man had been identified. But in an era where we’ve seen reporters see on-camera violence from passersby, watching a reporter deal with a ranting stranger in an already dangerous circumstance is a tough watch for sure.