I'm Hit!': ABC Correspondent Beaten in Bahrain Protest Crackdown

Expanding unrest across the Middle East entangled another American journalist in violent protests Wednesday evening after an ABC News correspondent was attacked while covering protests in Bahrain.

According to ABC, reporter Miguel Marquez was beaten during a military crackdown in Bahrain's capital of Manama. The military action reportedly left two people dead.

Marquez was on the scene early Thursday (local time) as military police stormed Pearl Square, a gathering point for thousands of anti-government protesters. Though he says he was not seriously injured in the ordeal, the ABC correspondent said he was hit with billy clubs and that his camera was confiscated as he tried to explain that he was a journalist.

Like Egyptian protesters, the anti-government movement in Bahrain is pushing for sweeping political reforms from the country's ruling monarchy.

Marquez was actually on the phone with ABC News in New York when the police crackdown commenced.  "There was a canister that looked like -- No! No! No! Hey! I'm a journalist here!" he could be heard yelling.

"I'm going! I'm going! I'm going! I'm going!" he said. "I'm hit." "I just got beat rather badly by a gang of thugs," Marquez said later. "I'm now in a marketplace near our hotel where people are cowering in buildings."

He delivered the following report live at the scene:

"I mean, these people are not screwing around," Marque added. "They're going to clear that square, tonight, ahead of any protest, on Friday. The government clearly does not want this to get any bigger."