Activists protest outside CNN anchor Jake Tapper’s home over reporting
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Activists, including a volunteer from the group CODEPINK, gathered outside the home of CNN anchor Jake Tapper last week to protest his coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas.
A video of the incident began circulating on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, showing protesters standing in the street and shouting outside the house. CODEPINK did not officially organize the protest.
One protester holding a megaphone claimed that Tapper was “spreading Israeli propaganda.” The group of activists also criticized him for not calling the deaths of civilians in Gaza a “genocide.”
Finally, the video shows Tapper’s children, their faces blurred, standing on a balcony and waving to protesters as the U.S. national anthem plays.
“You may be laughing now, but one day you’re going to realize the damage your father has done, and I promise you this big house won’t be worth it,” the protester with the megaphone said. “You wave and watch and think it’s really funny, but the truth is – it’s really sick, okay?”
Tapper, who is of Jewish descent, has covered extensively the devastation in Gaza but has also denounced anti-Semitic incidents on college campuses during demonstrations against Israel’s war. His reporting has recently come under scrutiny from some left-leaning observers, as well as journalists and numerous other media outlets.
The war in the Gaza Strip continues to rage since Hamas’s attack on Israel, a key US ally, on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 Israelis.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have reportedly died, and the United Nations Office for Human Rights said last week that the Israeli military may have committed numerous war crimes and made little effort to protect civilians.
In response, pro-Palestinian activists directed their anger at members of the press who they said had downplayed the bloodshed and devastation in the Gaza Strip.
US officials, including President Joe Biden, have said Israeli forces are not committing genocide in Gaza.
Some Twitter users have spoken out in support of Tapper in recent days, calling the demonstration in front of his house “disgusting” and “unacceptable.”
“These people are filming themselves screaming and harassing the family of one of the NICEST, most respectful, responsible news anchors in the business,” says Amanda Carpenter, a writer for Protect Democracy, a nonprofit founded by former Obama administration lawyers.
“That’s what you’re talking about, telling on yourself,” she added.
Tapper is scheduled to co-moderate Thursday’s presidential debate between Biden and former President Donald Trump with fellow CNN anchor Dana Bash, the first time the candidates have faced off since 2020.
Washington’s Metropolitan Police Department confirmed it was called to the block where protesters had gathered Friday morning, but officers did not take a report. USA TODAY has asked the U.S. Secret Service for more information.
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