A protest at the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., grew so rancorous that Fox News' Shannon Bream said she and her crew had to leave after feeling threatened by the crowd.
Bream was in front of the building to cover the reaction to President Donald Trump's announcement of his nomination to the Supreme Court Monday.
Democrats and others on the left reacted negatively to the president choosing Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the nomination. But according to Bream, that anger turned to threats from protesters in front of the Supreme Court.
"Very few times I’ve felt threatened while out in the field," she tweeted from her official social media account. "The mood here tonight is very volatile. Law enforcement appears to be closing down 1st Street in front of SCOTUS."
She added more details in a second tweet, saying, "Literally had to bail on our live show from #SCOTUS. Moving the show back to the safety of the studio."
Andrew Peng, a Democratic journalist, witnessed the altercation and cast doubt on Bream's characterization of the events.
Fwiw: Here’s the vibe at 9:42pm. Fox setup was located on the right side of the SCOTUS steps. There were more TV crews lined up (ABC, etc), then the main rally area. pic.twitter.com/4n5ippHu5N
— Andrew Peng (@TheAPJournalist) July 10, 2018
"I’m not in the position to determine how others should feel, and don’t know the specifics that led @ShannonBream and her team to move," he tweeted. "I just know that I was right behind the Fox setup at SCOTUS for around 15 minutes and thought things were fine, besides the occasional heckler."
I’m just adding my own observations because I was surprised when the @FoxNews crew packed up. Only seeing the reasoning now as things being “very volatile”
— Andrew Peng (@TheAPJournalist) July 10, 2018
But others noted that the environment at the Supreme Court had gotten very hostile at times after the announcement. Protesters chanted, "protect Roe now! My body, my choice!" and "hey, hey, ho, ho, Kavanaugh has got to go!”
"This is very concerning," responded CNN's Brian Stelter to Bream's retreat.
#Now outside Supreme Court —Protesters are chanting “hey, hey, ho, ho, Kavanaugh has got to go.” #SCOTUSNomination pic.twitter.com/LIAsft8Nqv
— Anna-Lysa Gayle (@ABC7Annalysa) July 10, 2018
