The Huffington Post’s Ryan Reilly continued to criticize the police officers who arrested him in Ferguson, Mo., saying during a television appearance Thursday that those cops might enjoy wearing their uniforms a bit too much.
Reilly, a former reporter here at TPM, described the scene inside a Ferguson McDonald’s, where he and the Washington Post’s Wesley Lowery were arrested by officers who were attempting to clear the premises.
“They basically just came through and were closing down the street. Everything was peaceful, the McDonald’s was tranquil before. It looked like any other McDonald’s and we just happened to be able to pack up our stuff quickly enough to their liking,” Reilly told MSNBC’s Joy Reid. “And, you know, a couple people who like playing dress up decided to lock us up. So, you know, it’s a situation that just was completely unnecessary.”
Reilly, who is on the ground in the St. Louis suburb reporting on the fallout from the deadly police shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown, tweeted photos earlier on Thursday of the officer who he said “assaulted” him.
Nevertheless, Reilly told Reid that he’s uncomfortable being at the center of the story.
“It’s not as much fun to be on this side of things despite what some people might think,” he said. “I’d much rather be out there reporting on what’s happening to other people than sitting here talking about what happened to myself.”
It appears Lowery feels the same way. The Washington Post scribe tweeted that he won’t be “doing any more media” on his arrest after Thursday.
