Arrested HuffPo Reporter Cites Being Journalist, White as 'Place of Privilege' in Ferguson

Arrested HuffPo Reporter Cites Being Journalist, White as 'Place of Privilege' in Ferguson

On Wednesday, an obviously shaken Ryan Reilly, reporter for the Huffington Post, talked to MSNBC’s Chris Hayes, anchor of “All In,” about his arrest and subsequent release while covering the unfolding situation in Ferguson, MO.

Reilly suggested he was mistreated by the local authorities, but cited being a journalist and being white as two things aided him in this plight.

“This was just a terrible experience,” Reilly said. “The worst part was he slammed my head against the glass purposefully on the way out of McDonald’s and then sarcastically apologized for it. It was just a terrible experience and you know, I recognize that I’m sort of in a place of privilege both as a journalist and as a white person, quite frankly in that I was – that was evidently the [key] in the decision not to go ahead and hold us.”

Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor

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