NEW HAVEN, CT - An associate producer for CNN International was kicked out of a private reception this morning at the Yale President Richard C. Levin's office for asking a question about protests against Chinese leader Hu Jintao.
Before Mr. Hu gave his prepared address at Yale University at 11:30am today, a large number of Falun Gong practitioners, Tibet supporters, and human rights activists had gathered on campus and elsewhere to protest human rights abuses in China. Also in their midst was a huge crowd of pro-Beijing supporters who waved flags and blasted nationalistic tunes out of loudspeakers.
The spokesperson for CNN identified the associate producer as Joe Vaccarello. According to the spokesperson, Vaccarello was escorted out of the building after he asked Levin whether Mr. Hu had seen the demonstrations.
Helaine Klasky, a Yale spokesperson, said that the journalist was sent out of the meeting because he broke "all ground rules" and engaged in disorderly behavior.
The CNN spokesperson disagreed. "We weren't aware of any ground rules," he told The Epoch Times .
The ousted producer himself chose not to comment.
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