A CNN journalist’s bodyguard faces criminal charges after he allegedly forced a local reporter out of an event in New Brunswick, first taking the journalist’s camera and then twisting his arm behind his back.

Charlie Kratovil, editor of New Brunswick Today, said a guard working for long-time White House correspondent April Ryan violently removed him from the August 3 event at The Heldrich Hotel.

The incident comes as journalists continue to decry censorship and violence on the job, as well as the degrading language politicians have used to subvert the media. Ryan herself has proved a prominent figure in those very pushbacks, and has said she hired a bodyguard after receiving death threats.

She published a book last year titled “Under Fire,” detailing the challenges journalists face as President Donald Trump has vilified the press.

Warning: The below video contains profanity.

A criminal complaint dated August 19 charges 30-year-old Joel Morris of Country Club Hills, Illinois, with harassment, assault and theft. It alleges Morris took Kratovil’s arm and shoved it behind his back, injuring his forearm and shoulder. The harassment and theft charges stem from Morris taking the camera, according to the complaint.

Kratovil said a public relations firm had alerted him to Ryan’s appearance and invited him to attend the NJ Parent Summit. He said he received permission and arrived at the hotel, checked in and recorded other speakers for two hours without issue.

But shortly before Ryan took the stage, a man began to question his camera and his presence, he said.

In video of the incident, Ryan appears before the crowd and soon stops speaking. She pauses as a man comes up to the podium and then moves to the camera.

“What I will say, when I speak, I don’t have news covering my speeches,” Ryan tells the crowd.

“Don’t touch my camera," Kratovil is heard saying. “Don’t you dare, put that down, sir. That’s my camera.”

The footage spins as the camera moves, sometimes going dark, at others catching glimpses of a lobby and the bodyguard.

“At that point, I had no choice” but to leave the room, Kratovil told NJ Advance Media in a phone call. “That camera is worth more than my car. I was able to retrieve it but was not able to avoid being attacked by this guy."

In a second video posted to YouTube by Kratovil, the guard is seen forcing him across the room and out the door.

“While journalists may have no special rights superior to members of the public, they do not have fewer rights than others," the Society of Professional Journalists said in a statement. “A no-photography policy should apply to everyone. Nor should the perceived viewpoint of a news organization be regarded as grounds to deny admittance to a member of the media; people who make news do not have a license to dictate how and by whom they are covered.”

Kratovil said he still does not know why he was suddenly removed from the event — other local reporters remained, and many people in the audience had taken out their phones to take photos or videos.

Ryan did not immediately return a request for comment Monday afternoon. The hotel’s general manager, Lloyd Van Horn, said the hotel was cooperating with the investigation but declined to comment, citing a policy barring him from speaking about guests.

“Her silence is deafening at this point. It’s been more than two weeks,” Kratovil said. “Anybody who’s a journalist should be condemning this.”

Amanda Hoover can be reached at ahoover@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @amandahoovernj. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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