'Not so peaceful': CNN's Don Lemon avoids using the word 'riot,' yet tells reporter to 'watch her back'

By the end of another night of violent unrest in Brooklyn Center, Minn., on Wednesday, police had arrested 24 people, some of whom threw bricks and other projectiles at law enforcement. But CNN's Don Lemon and Sara Sidner noticably avoided using the word "riot."

Instead, Lemon referred to the action behind Sidner, who was reporting on the ground, as "unrest," or "a crowd of protesters on the scene who are very active," while Sidner described the crowd as, "a lot of folks [who] are filled with anger and pain," adding that this demonstration is a "response" to police-involved killings and it speaks to the "helplessness they feel when they come into police contact themselves."

Despite both their downplayed descriptions, Lemon and Sidner admitted the scene unfolding on the street was making both of them uneasy.

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"Closer to curfew, this is when it gets not so peaceful," Lemon told viewers during the 10 p.m. hour of his show.

Lemon then told Sidner to "watch her back" as the situation got more tense and flash bangs went off behind her.

"There’s a firework it looks like," Sidner said at the sound of a loud boom.

CNN's narrative was also contradicted by Sidner's on-the-ground interviews. As she spoke to a young woman who came out to peacefully protest, Sidner asked her if she was "afraid" of the police presence. The young woman said she had "mixed feelings." Sidner then offered, "from the police perspective, they are getting some rocks thrown at them."

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Sidner had another interesting exchange with a young, animated man named "Tiger" who was carrying a can of soup he claimed was "for my family" as he winked into the camera.

"You’re not planning on throwing that are you?" Sidner asked him.

"As I said, it’s for my family," Tiger said.

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Other CNN personalities used alternative terms to describe the scene.

Kim Potter, the former Minneapolis officer who shot Wright, is being charged with second-degree manslaughter. She is expected in court on Thursday. In the bodycam footage of the shooting, she appears to mistakenly believe she was deploying her Taser.

Sidner said the manslaughter charge is not enough for the "protesters" who showed up on Wednesday, and there will be no communication between the crowd and the police.

"The time for talking was before police shot and killed another Black man," Sidner said.

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The violence in Brooklyn Center is occurring during the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin for the death of George Floyd.