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WATCH: MSNBC Reporter Says CHAZ Idyllic, Like A ‘Street Festival.’ Protesters, MSNBC Anchor Rebuke Him Hard.

Hank Berrien
WATCH: MSNBC Reporter Says CHAZ Idyllic, Like A ‘Street Festival.’ Protesters, MSNBC Anchor Rebuke Him Hard.
Photo by Lucas Racasse/Getty Images

On Tuesday, as he prepared to talk to protesters in the “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” in Seattle, MSNBC reporter Vaughn Hillyard got himself into deep trouble when he attempted to portray the zone as a peaceful, idyllic atmosphere, characterizing it as “almost like a street festival-type atmosphere.” The comment precipitated one protester to get in Hillyard’s face, yelling, “Shame on you for saying that,” while back in the studio, the MSNBC anchor, eager to show MSNBC had not “mischaracterized” the zone, pleaded for a chance to placate the angry protesters.

Hillyard started by saying to MSNBC anchor Joshua Johnson in the studio, “This is a part of the conversation, Joshua, and we heard here in these streets, is the extent to which it has been peaceful since Monday, after more than a week of clashes between the demonstrators and the police, now you’ve seen essentially almost like a street festival-type atmosphere, a street festival-type atmosphere with a very —”

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