More protests and riots erupted all over the country on Saturday in connection with the killing of George Floyd, and Pittsburgh Penguins CEO David Morehouse helped save a local cameraman from what could have been a disaster.
Morehouse, who serves as the president and CEO of the Penguins, witnessed a group of protesters beating KDKA-TV cameraman Ian Smith outside of PPG Paints Arena. According to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, Morehouse so he could wait to be transported to a hospital.
Smith had been thrown to the ground by protestors and had his camera smashed to pieces. He tweeted a photo of himself giving a thumbs up sign with a bloody thumb inside the ambulance.
I’m was attacked by protestors downtown by the arena. They stomped and kicked me. I’m bruised and bloody but alive. My camera was destroyed. Another group of protesters pulled me out and saved my life. Thank you! @KDKA pic.twitter.com/clyANKodth
— Ian Smith (@ismithKDKA) May 30, 2020
Longtime local anchor and news reporter Larry Richert said he reached out to Smith after seeing the photo. Smith wasn’t aware of who helped save him, but he thanked the people and said he “could have been killed.” After digging a bit deeper, Richert learned that Morehouse pulled Smith inside the arena. The Penguins also confirmed the act to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Richert praised Morehouse for putting his own safety at risk to help out.
“It was a very volatile situation. You have a police car on fire,” Richert said. “You’ve got all this stuff going on. He had the guts to come out and save him from a potentially very tragic ending.”
We saw some sad things happen during the Pittsburgh protests, but we’re glad Smith wasn’t seriously injured. Kudos to Morehouse for helping him avoid that.
