Two teenagers were arrested early this morning for breaking into CNN’s Atlanta newsroom. The incident happened around 3:30 a.m. on the fifth floor of CNN Center.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports 17-year-old Francis Mutemwa, and 18-year-old Aldayne Fearon climbed over a ledge from the Omni Hotel to gain access to the CNN newsroom. “At the time of their arrest, they were checking their Facebook pages” on CNN computers, said Atlanta police spokeswoman Kim Jones.
In a statement, a spokesperson from Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. acknowledges the “security incident,” adding, “It is being handled by the Atlanta Police Department.”
The teens are charged with criminal trespass. The CNN Center opened in 1976 as the Omni Center and houses the Omni Hotel and the attached corporate headquarters for TBS, parent of CNN and its networks. News employees from CNN/U.S., CNNI, HLN and CNN.com work out of the building. The large atrium food court and gathering space was once home to CNN’s daytime program “Talkback Live.”