- Grant Hermes, a journalist with WHDH 7News, covered a Bruins game
- A young man ran after him, grabbed his shoulders and shouted “Yes boy!”
- Hermes then chased the man off camera and shouted at him: ‘Don’t do that, dude’
This is the moment an irate Boston TV reporter chases away a man who grabbed him from behind during a live broadcast.
Grant Hermes, of WHDH 7News, stood outside TD Garden after the Bruins’ win against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
At first everything seemed normal as Hermes waited for his signal to start broadcasting. A woman jumped into view in the distance, waving her arms and screeching.
But suddenly a young man in a flannel shirt jumped behind Hermes, leaned down and shouted “Yes boy!”
He wrapped his arms around the journalist’s shoulders as Hermes turned around, confused.
Grant Hermes, a reporter with WHDH 7News, reported outside TD Garden in Boston
An older woman appeared in the background, waving her arms, before a man in a flannel shirt ran after him
The man bent and shouted ‘Yes boy!’ and grabbed Hermes from behind, giving him no time to react
The reporter pushed the man away and chased him away from the camera, admonishing, “Don’t do that, dude.”
The reporter pushed the stranger away and chased him away, saying, “Don’t do that, dude.”
Shortly after the incident, Hermes posted the clip on social media with a message.
‘I’m fine. My photo is fine. But I want to be clear that this is not okay,” he wrote.
‘The people you see on TV are at work, at a job where people regularly threaten us. So we don’t know when you’re yelling at us, coming across our live shots or grabbing us, we don’t know what you’re doing here.”
Hermes continued, “I’m glad this man wasn’t someone with a gun or a knife or who wanted to hurt me or my photographer. But the point is that there are people. We have seen it happen.
“So the next time you think about getting your three seconds of fame at a reporter’s expense. Do not.’
In the aftermath of the incident, several other journalists expressed their support.
“Not OK at all,” news anchor Dave Bondy wrote.
“Oh no, this is what we are NOT going to do. I would be willing to roll up my sleeves,” said Johnathon Hayes, weekend anchor at KTUL News. “Glad you’re doing well, buddy.”
Hermes took to social media in the wake of the surprise attack, pleading with people to respect his space and that of his colleagues
“We have seen it happen,” Hermes said of acts of violence to reporters
He urged people to think before seeking ‘3 seconds of fame at a reporter’s expense’
Hermes is an award-winning journalist who started working at 7News in 2023
Although the surprise attack was not an act of violence, journalists have seen increasing threats in recent years – of kidnapping, torture and even murder.
According to the International Press Institute, 66 journalists and media members were murdered worldwide last year in connection with their profession.
This number is a sharp increase compared to the 45 journalists murdered in 2021.
The incident in Boston took place just weeks after the ninth annual International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, which was held on November 2.
The day, established by the United Nations General Assembly, draws attention to the fact that most crimes against journalists go unpunished.
According to the latest UNESCO data on the murder of journalists, the global impunity rate is a shocking 86 percent.