A news crew was attacked while filming a segment about escalating crime on Miami's South Beach this week. CBS4 reporter Bobeth Y...
A news crew was attacked while filming a segment about escalating crime on Miami's South Beach this week.
CBS4 reporter Bobeth Yates and photojournalist Ebenezer Mends were reporting on the wave of violence along the popular party strip when a fight broke out Wednesday night.
Yates said they were filming the incident when a group of people then turned on them.
She and Mends were both 'attacked', 'pushed' and 'hit' by the attackers who 'surrounded' them and threw liquid in their faces, she said.
A news crew was attacked while filming a segment about escalating crime on Miami's South Beach this week
Miami Beach Police said the incident unfolded just before 9 pm Wednesday, when a large fight broke out on Ocean Drive.
The CBS Miami crew was in the area reporting on the Miami Beach City Commission's decision to ban alcohol sales in the district after 2 am. That decision was taken in an effort to curb the rise in violence and antisocial behavior in the area.
The crew noticed the fight and started filming it.
The CBS camera picked up what happened next, as the group confronted Yates and Mends and told them to stop filming.
The footage shows at least one man pushing the camera as more people surround the two-person crew.
Yates is heard shouting 'stop' before the visual and audio both become unclear when the camera is knocked to the ground.
Yates regaled the incident live on air on the network's 11 pm news broadcast, confirming the two crew members were uninjured but were 'shaken' from the attack and that their equipment had been damaged.
CBS4 reporter Bobeth Yates and photojournalist Ebenezer Mends were reporting along the popular party strip when a fight broke out Wednesday night. Yates said they were filming the incident when a group of people then turned on them, pushing the camera and 'hitting' them
Two different people were also seen pushing the camera as well before the crowd of people started to leave the area
'Just really shaken up. Been reporting for a very long time, don't want to date myself, but about 20 years, and I've never been attacked like this on a story,' Yates said.
'The ironic part was we were actually covering crime on South Beach.
'Normally we would walk up and down the strip trying to interact with people getting interviews but in this instance they came to us.'
Yates said the group 'surrounded' them and she 'tried to push them back.'
She added that she and Mends also had what they believe was alcohol thrown at them.
Two different people were also seen pushing the camera as well before the crowd of people started to leave the area.
Yates regaled the incident live on air on the network's 11 pm news broadcast, confirming the two crew members were uninjured but were 'shaken' from the attack and that their equipment had been damaged
Police said two men were arrested and charged with criminal mischief and battery over the incident. Their names have not been released.
The incident comes amid a wave of crime along South Beach that has led local officials to clamp down on its party reputation.
Miami-Dade County - which includes South Beach - saw murders rocket to 272 in 2020, up from 241 in 2019.
That was also far more than the 232 murders recorded in 2017, and 252 in 2015.
Experts blamed COVID-19 for creating friction between cops and members of the public, rocketing gun sales, a tanking economy, and children being kept out of school.
The Miami Beach City Commission voted Wednesday on the late-night alcohol ban as Mayor Dan Gelber described how 'an entertainment-only district has given us something we just can't control'.
It will go into effect May 22 for a seven-month trial period.
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