A video of the incident. (Via Channel 4)
Hungarian TV news N1TV fired an employee for “unacceptable” behavior covering the refugee crisis.
The station’s camera person, identified by news outlets as Petra László, was videotaped tripping refugees who were trying to flee the camp and police officers.
“Frustrated at the conditions in the camp, hundreds of migrants — among them Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans — burst through police lines at the camp on Tuesday, the CNN correspondent Arwa Damon reported,” according to the New York Times.
Watch the video below.
Lage in #Roeszke #Hungary weiter schlimm – Polizei überfordert – Flüchtlinge durchbrechen Polizeikette – Verletzte! pic.twitter.com/GlMGqGwABb
— Stephan Richter (@RichterSteph) September 8, 2015
@JotDownSpain aquí tienes a la misma cámara haciendo zancadillas a otros refugiados (incluyendo una niña) https://t.co/11xKFBKmAM
— Jaime Prades (@Jaime_Prades) September 8, 2015
According to the Washington Post, a translation of the N1TV statement on the firing reads: “Today, a N1TV colleague behaved unacceptably at the Roeszke reception center. The cameraman’s employment was terminated with immediate effect.”
The statement was also posted on Facebook, signed to editor-in-chief Szabolcs Kisberk.
KÖZLEMÉNY/RELEASEAz N1TV munkatársa a mai napon elfogadhatatlanul viselkedett a röszkei gyűjtőpontnál. Az operatőr…
Posted by Nemzeti Televízió on Tuesday, September 8, 2015
German reporter Stephan Richter is credited with posting the video of the incident.
A lot of question about my video with the camerawoman: no! I don't know her and no: she's not my colleague.
— Stephan Richter (@RichterSteph) September 8, 2015
In addition, Agence France Presse noted: “Footage of the incident from the camerawoman’s perspective later appeared on N1TV, an internet-based TV station close to Hungary’s far-right Jobbik party.”
According to the New York Times, “The footage was edited to conceal the fact that Ms. Laszlo, wearing a surgical mask, had stuck out a leg to send the man sprawling.” The YouTube video is here.
UPDATE:
Shortly after Laszlo’s firing, N1TV said it was hacked.
Laszlo also apologized in an open letter, saying she thought she was being attacked. “I sincerely regret what happened,” Laszlo wrote, according to a Google Translate of her open letter. “In fact I am in shock from what they did and what they did to me.”
