Anderson Cooper is not the only reporter in Egypt finding it increasingly difficult to cover the escalating violent protests today (video after the jump).
CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann wrote about the protests he’s covering:
“My colleague’s small camera was in his pocket, but we stood out as Americans. People began pushing and shoving both of us, especially him. We’ve been in these situations enough to know you just try to get out as quickly as you can. But we were trapped. From behind, I saw him get pushed and shoved, and then three separate people ran up to throw punches at him as he ducked to get out of the melee. He later told me he had also been maced.”
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ABC’s Christiane Amanpour wrote in her “Reporter’s Notebook” today:
An angry mob surrounded us and chased us into the car shouting that they hate America. They kicked in the car doors and broke our windshield as we drove away.
Reporters in the area are turning to Twitter to report some of their stories today. Their Tweets after the jump…
ABC correspondent David Muir:
@DavidMuirABC: Pro Mubarak demonstrators and anti Mubarak demonstrators hurling rocks. Watched as demonstrators smashed slabs of concrete #Tahrir Square
NBC’s Richard Engel:
@richardengelnbc: #egypt watching flaming bombs being dropped from buildings..
CNN’s Ben Wedeman:
@bencnn: Government-sanctioned mass lynch underway in Tahrir Square. #jan25 #Egypt
FBN’s Ashley Webster:
@AshWebsterFBN: Security burst into our hotel room and forced our camera off the balcony shouting “they’re going to kill us!!”
CNN’s Anderson Cooper:
@AndersonCooper: Got roughed up by thugs in pro-mubarak crowd..punched and kicked repeatedly. Had to escape. Safe now
And here’s Cooper’s report on the violence he experienced: