CBS News Reporter Attacked While Covering Celebration in Egypt's Tahir Square

Eli Rosenberg 664 Views Feb 15, 2011

CBS News released a statement today saying that 60 Minutes correspondent Lara Logan was attacked while covering the celebration in Tahrir square after Hosni Mubarak stepped down on Friday. CBS said Logan was surrounded and separated from her crew and then "suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers." Logan returned to the U.S. for medical treatment on Saturday and is currently recovering in a hospital. The attack is the most violent faced by an American journalist covering the unrest in Egypt.

On Feb. 2, CNN's Anderson Cooper was menaced and punched while trying to cover the protests and aired footage of the incident. He soon left the country citing the danger that journalists faced while covering the story. Others, including ABC News' Christiane Amanpour as well as journalists working for the BBC, Al Jazeera, Fox News also encountered hostile crowds. Last week, Assistant Secretary of Defense PJ Crowley noted on Twitter, "We are concerned about detentions and attacks on news media in #Egypt. The civil society that Egypt wants to build includes a free press."

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Eli Rosenberg