Obama protester busts into Jay Levine report

Jay Levine

Jay Levine

A live report by WBBM-Channel 2’s Jay Levine on President Obama’s fundraising visit to Chicago Wednesday was disrupted by a protester shouting: “Obama is a war criminal.”

Levine, chief correspondent for the CBS-owned station, had just begun his report from River North on the 5 p.m. newscast when an unidentified man lunged for his microphone. A second view of the incident was captured by WMAQ-Channel 5’s Mary Ann Ahern, who was reporting live for the NBC-owned station nearby.

In the NBC 5 video, Levine appeared to take a swing at the protester before the man was wrestled to the ground by others. “I’ve obviously gotten a little reinforcement here from one of the protesters who decided to speak his mind on live TV,” Levine said. “Obviously that’s his right to do.”

Here is a composite video of the two reports posted on YouTube by Joe Walsh, the former congressman who now hosts a talk show host on WIND AM 560: