Washington(CNN) Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz personally apologized Wednesday to CNN reporter Omar Jimenez for the arrest of him and his crew last week as they reported live on the protests over the death of George Floyd.
"Thank you for the professionalism, thank you for understanding, and I'm deeply sorry," Walz, a Democrat, said to Jimenez during an interview at the site of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis. "And you can know that we've made other mistakes on this as far as making sure that you have access. But protocols and everything else, as we're learning, have to change because we have to create the space for you to tell the story."
The governor's apology comes as journalists are facing assault and arrest while reporting on the nationwide protests and unrest. Since May 29, at least 125 press freedom violations have been reported nationwide by journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday. On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union said it is filing a class-action lawsuit and asking a Minnesota court to stop what it calls "unconstitutional conduct targeting journalists."
Jimenez, producer Bill Kirkos and photojournalist Leonel Mendez were arrested Friday morning in Minneapolis as Jimenez was reporting live, and even after they identified themselves to state police as media. They were released about an hour later and went right back to reporting on the protests.
Walz apologized for their arrest during a press conference later that day, saying that it should have never happened and that he takes "full responsibility" for the incident. But Wednesday was the first time he apologized directly to Jimenez.
"I'm, again, deeply sorry that that happened. I appreciate you being back out here again covering (this)," he told Jimenez.
Wednesday was also Walz's first visit to the memorial at the site of Floyd's death.
Walz told Jimenez that he wanted to visit the site so he can "personally and viscerally feel" the community's pain.
"I don't think we get another chance to fix this in the country. I really don't. I don't think that's hyperbole. Being at the heart of this and seeing the community's pain so viscerally, this is going to have to be that change we look for," he said.