NBC Reporter Jo Ling Kent Hit By Police Flash-Bang Grenade In Seattle
NBC News correspondent Jo Ling Kent was struck by a police flash-bang grenade as she covered a Seattle protest against George Floyd’s death, the network reported.
Kent, wearing a gas mask in Monday’s now-viral incident at a sports field in the Capitol Hill neighborhood, reported on air for MSNBC that the police were advancing on protesters when she was hit by the device.
“Oh my gosh we’re moving,” she said, running with her crew in an attempt to find safety.
Kent tweeted Tuesday that her jacket sleeve was “singed,” but she was “totally fine.” She told “Today” that “a device landed to my left and appeared to have bounced before grazing my arm.”
NBC reported after reviewing the footage that the device was a flash-bang grenade. Some viewers thought it was a tear gas canister, and Kent and Brian Williams initially identified the explosion as a firework.
The Seattle Police Department has been using flash-bang grenades as unrest continues over Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a white Minneapolis cop knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes, according to The Seattle Times. The paper described the grenades as “military-style percussion devices often used to control crowds.”
Hey everyone. Thankfully, our whole team is ok and safe. I’m totally fine - my jacket sleeve got singed and that’s it.
So sorry for the curse words.. and thank you for the sweet texts, calls and tweets ❤️ https://t.co/WQdtxU4FIz— Jo Ling Kent (@jolingkent) June 2, 2020
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.