Charlotte protests: CNN reporter Ed Lavandera knocked to ground while live on air

The reporter brushed off the incident and later revealed his attacker had apologised

A television reporter in Charlotte was knocked to the ground by a man while reporting live on air. And he remained remarkably professional when it happened.

CNN reporter Ed Lavandera was shown being bumped to the ground as he was speaking to anchor, Anderson Cooper. “Ed, are you OK,” the anchor asked, as the reporter scrambled to his feet.

“Yeah yeah, we’re fine, Anderson,” said Mr Lavandera, as he put his earpiece back in. “Just someone taking out their frustration on me.”

About 15 minutes later, the CNN reporter was once again broadcasting as the second night of protests in the North Carolina city, which had initially been violent, turned violent.

“Are you doing OK?” Cooper asked. The reporter, responded with a joke.

“We’re fine, Anderson,” he said. “I was kind of joking about it - I told my producer that the hit wasn’t - he doesn’t have much of a future in the NFL (National Football League) with a hit like that. But we’re good.”

Mr Lavandera, who had been standing on a corner near the city’s Omni Hotel, provided more details about what had happened, later in the evening.

“Well, we were just doing the report, and I didn’t see it coming,” he told a later anchor, Don Lemon. “All I heard was someone yelling at me that I need to, quote, tell the truth. The next thing you know, I got kind of blindsided.”

He said that while he was trying to look for the man who had assaulted him, the individual introduced himself and apologised.

“He came up to me and actually hugged me and apologised for what he had done. I asked him what had happened, what had made him so angry, and he didn’t really explain anything,” said Mr Lavandera.

“I’ve lost him now. I’m trying to find him again. Kind of another odd moment in this surreal evening.”