CNN Reporter Expresses Frustration Over “Yet Another” Shooting At A Place Of Worship
CNN reporter Sara Sidner expressed deep frustration Saturday while covering another act of gun violence at a synagogue or church.
During the cable news network’s coverage at 4:48 p.m. PT, anchors Alisyn Camerota and Don Lemon said Sidner had just arrived at the Chabad of Poway, just north of San Diego, California.
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Earlier in the day, a gunman opened fire at the synagogue, killing a woman, injuring a rabbi and two others as they observed the last day of Passover. The San Diego County Sheriff’s Office said a 19-year-old man was arrested in connection with the shooting.
In her live report, a visibly upset Sidner said, “It is so hard to keep saying the same thing over and over again. They were praying. They were trying to honor those who had died before them, their relatives, and here they are victims of yet another shooting, at yet another place of worship.”
She went on the say she had interviewed a man who was inside the synagogue when the shooting occurred. The man said he and his wife left Iran and moved to California to escape anti-semitism and “being persecuted” as Jews.
The couple chose Poway — considered one of the safest communities in California — because it is a “calm, quiet, loving, wonderful community that accepted us and anyone else from another religion.”
Before arriving at the crime scene, Sidner tweeted: “Please lord not again. I’m heading to scene of a shooting at the Poway Synagogue near San Diego. Spokesperson tell’s CNN: The Medical Center is receiving one trauma patient from the shooting & has been told to expect as many as four patients.”
.@cnnbrk Please lord not again. I'm heading to scene of a shooting at the Poway Synagogue near San Diego. Spokesperson tell's CNN: The Medical Center is receiving one trauma patient from the shooting & has been told to expect as many as four patients.
— Sara Sidner (@sarasidnerCNN) April 27, 2019
After Sidner tossed back to the studio during her live report, Camerota said it’s becoming increasingly difficult to report on mass shootings.
“You can hear how hard it is for Sara to keep covering, as it is for all of us,” she said. “It’s happening too often.”
Camerota then introduced Rabbi Chuck Diamond, who previously served as spiritual leader, at the Tree of Life temple in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where a gunman killed 11 people and injured half a dozen others on October 27, 2018.
Diamond thanked Sidner and Camerota for their thoughtful coverage, saying: “It’s like living a nightmare all over again. I’m listening to your broadcast and thank both of you for the great job that you’re doing.”
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