CNN Reporter Hit By Tear Gas in Pittsburgh Protests

The protests in Pittsburgh by self-described anarchists, coinciding with the G-20 Summit, have led to arrests, violence and this unbelievable but true video.

Today things are calmer, but one reporter was in the line of fire yesterday.

CNN’s Brian Todd was in the middle of the showdown yesterday afternoon when the police began using tear gas to drive back the protesters. The video calls to mind protests and reporting from Iran recently, and other foreign conflicts of the past. But this is Pittsburgh, and the level of violent confrontation is striking.

The video has gained major traction online, and CNN has replayed it eight times on-air, according to TV Eyes.

“At first it didn’t feel like much,” said Todd in a phone interview after it happened. “As the protesters faded back, we faded back with them. It got very hard to breathe and it just kind of crept into your lungs and also into your throat. It was just hard to breathe and hard to see at that point.”

Over on Drudge, related G-20 protest information is getting ominously billed as “SCENES FROM AMERICA, 2009…”

Here’s the Todd video:

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