Anderson Cooper Attacked By Protesters in Egypt

By John Mitchell Posted Feb 2nd 2011 10:45AM

Anderson Cooper and his crew were attacked by supporters of embattled Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo early Wednesday, according to the Huffington Post. CNN Coverage Manager Steve Brusk tweeted that Cooper "was punched 10 times in the head as pro-Mubarak mob surrounded him and his crew trying to cover demonstration."

Cooper was covering dueling demonstrations between pro-Mubarak supporters and those calling for the president to be removed from office when he and his crew came under attack. No major injuries were reported, and the anchor spoke to CNN's 'American Morning' early Wednesday about the attack. "My team were set upon by the crowd," Cooper said via satellite from a Cairo hotel. "There was no rhyme or reason to it -- it was just people looking for a fight, looking to make a point and punching us."

"They at first started going for the cameras; they didn't want any pictures taken," Cooper said. "The crowd kept growing, kept throwing punches, kicks ... suddenly a young man would look at you and punch you in the face."

CNN issued an update this morning indicating there were no serious injuries sustained during the attack. Cooper and his crew had been trying to steer clear of the protesters by remaining in a neutral zone between the two groups. But as the size of the crowd increased, the situation became less stable, resulting in violence between the two factions in the increasingly unstable country.

"Anderson Cooper witnessed a huge crowd of Mubarak supporters surge across a no-man's land dividing them from the anti-Mubarak crowd and overturn a military vehicle on the street as a huge roar went up. A large cloud of smoke arose at the east entrance to Tahrir Square," CNN wrote. "Military vehicles were separating pro- and anti-Mubarak demonstrators, and several gasoline bombs had been tossed."

Major anti-government protests began in Egypt on Jan. 25 -- the "Day of Anger," also National Police Day -- and have escalated in size and violence since. Millions have turned out to demand President Mubarak and his regime's immediate removal from office amid allegations of abuse of power and corruption within his administration. More recently, however, supporters of the president have turned out to stage counter protests that have become extremely violent, with the two sides attacking each other with stones, bottles and sticks and the Egyptian military forced to police the situation.

► Catch Up: Mubarak Supporters Clash With Protesters | Obama to Mubarak: Time's Up

Tags: anderson cooper, cnn

Comments

(1058)

Wednesday 02 February

By JEB BUCKINGHAM

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I love it. These guys go in to a place of unrest in the world, they end up getting hurt, and then they want sympathy. It's like the old joke, "Doctor, it hurts when I do this". "Well, don't do THAT"!

By Paul Leach

It couldn't have happened to a more deserving guy.

By J.J.

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Jeb,
In what supermarket tabloid did you read that Anderson Cooper wanted sympathy? That's what's always so wrong with so many conservative's rant : they draw "facts" from whence there is none! We won't agree with you because of this.

By keith

man you hit the nail right on the head

By Joe

Were in that report is he asking for sympathy? All I heard is him reporting what happened. Isnt that what they are supposed to do?

By lively

j.j., I agree with Jeb. Not that he's trying to promote sympathy, but for goodness sake, he put himself and his crew into that position in that politcal unrest, just so he could say he got a better story. "we were attacked for no reason" NO, ding bat, you were attacked because you were insisting on being in a highly volatile situation!

By John

LOL! This would have never happened to Bill O'Reily or Rush Limbal. Even the middle east can't stand liberals!

By Dennis

cnn what a joke they are, he got what he deserved, cnn go to hell

Thursday 03 February

By Tom

If I was there I would have gotten in a few licks my self...

By Al

What an jerk you are! Would you rather be in the dark about what's happening in the world?
If that's the case, just stick your head in the sand - ostrich-style, and give the rest of us a break.

By Cody

>>That's what's always so wrong with so many conservative's rant : they draw "facts" from whence there is none!

By popeater pop

This is what I think happened: The Egyptians are a conservative culture. Their gaydar went off & they could detect that Cooper is a mulberry & wanted to eradicate him from the species.

By pks29733steel

@JEB BUCKINGHAMI Anderson Cooper made no mention of wanting (to quote you) 'sympathy". He and his news team are there to do just that 'GIVE US NEWS'. It seems from your attitude you must be a subscriber of the 'National Enquirer' or the 'Globe'. I guess you aren't really used to REAL NEWS.

By Susie

Exactly what America will be like in a year. Citizens fightingn with Illegals and Immigrants wanting to finish the take over of our country. They have planned it for decades and are almost done. They knew the smartest time to do a take over of the USA was when Obama is in office we are the weakest we have ever been. It will be a civil war like no other country has seen when the US citizens stand up for this land that is OURS.

By Coy

good job

By Sara

Anderson Cooper. The most frustrated non-actor not living in California. Lights, camera, action. Spare us please!

By mickey

Hmmmm.. Sounds like bullying to me. Where's Ellen Degeneres when you need her?

By gokmorgan

cody: what conservatives? what rant? Where did you draw your 'facts' from? Just like a liberal to throw mud for no reason based on no facts.

By timohays1

HAHA, maybe it happened because he used the word "target or cross-hair." LOL

By josh

Jon, O'Reilly and Limbaugh don't have half the balls of Cooper to go out there.