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Texas TV reporter arrested in connection with Minneapolis riot

Amarillo reporter LaMyiah Harvel was arrested, booked and released pending a formal complaint.

Amarillo reporter LaMyiah Harvel was arrested, booked and released pending a formal complaint.

KVII-TV reporter LaMyiah Harvel appears in an undated photograph. (Photo: KVII/Facebook, Graphic: The Desk)

A television news reporter from Texas was arrested earlier in the week in connection with a protest that occurred several hundred miles away.

LaMyiah Pearlinia Harvel, 24, was booked into the Hennepin County Jail on August 26 after being arrested on a probable cause standard by the Minneapolis Police Department.

Jail records reviewed by The Desk showed Harvel was taken into custody on suspicion of rioting. She was released with no bail several hours after her arrest, according to booking information.

Harvel is a general assignment reporter for Amarillo ABC affiliate KVII-TV (Channel 7), which is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group. A station executive has not yet returned a request for comment.

Harvel’s arrest came after demonstrators gathered in downtown Minneapolis to protest a local police incident involving a man who was wanted on suspicion of homicide. The man committed suicide after police approached him at a local mall.

Large crowds quickly formed throughout Minneapolis, the result of social media “rumors” that contained misinformation, according to local authorities.

That evening’s protest was unrelated to other demonstrations across the country following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man from Wisconsin who was left paralyzed following the encounter.

Harvel is originally from Minneapolis, according to a bio page on KVII’s website. Days before her arrest, she posted on Facebook about her plan to take time off for a vacation.

Before joining KVII, Harvel worked as an intern for KRIV (Channel 26), the Fox-owned television station in Houston. She also worked for Eyeconic Television, a business-oriented network broadcast on low-power TV station KVVV-LP (Channel 15).

Harvel’s arrest is the second involving talent at KVII in less than a year. In January, KVII morning news anchor Anthony Pittman was arrested by police after he allegedly conspired to pay a prostitute for sex.

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About the Author:

Matthew Keys

Matthew Keys covers the business of broadcast and streaming TV, radio broadcasting, social media, technology and telecommunications. A journalist for over 15 years, Matthew previously worked at Thomson Reuters, KGO-TV in San Francisco, KTXL in Sacramento and McNaughton Newspapers. He received 9 California Journalism Awards between 2018 and 2020, and is a member of IRE (Investigative Reporters and Editors).
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