Chinese authorities pull CNN off air after police kick, push and punch journalist as he tries to report on human rights activist's trial

Reporter David McKenzie was covering the trial of human rights activist Xu Zhiyong in Beijing

While walking up to the courthouse, he was stopped by police

They grabbed McKenzie and threw him into a police van and took him away from the courthouse

The crew's camera was broken in the altercation, but the film remained intact

Following the incident, Chinese authorities blocked CNN's broadcast signal within the country



Chinese authorities blocked CNN's broadcast in the country after a reporter was 'kicked, pushed and punched' while trying to cover the trial of a human rights activist in Beijing - and the police abuse was caught on camera by his news crew.



David McKenzie was covering the trial of Xu Zhiyong, a former law lecturer, who was arrested in July for organizing protests against official corruption.



While walking up to the court where Zhiyong was scheduled to appear, police physically barred McKenzie and his crew from getting close and the situation 'violently escalated'.

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No reporters allowed: CNN reporter David McKenzie was trying to cover the trial of human rights activist Xu Zhiyong when he was physically barred from getting near the court by Chinese police



Evidence: McKenzie remained calm as police manhandled him, and his crew continued to capture everything on tape

Unheard: McKenzie continued to tell the police men that he had a right to report in a public space and not to manhandle him but they did not listen

Removed: They eventually shoved him into a police van where he and his crew were transported several blocks away from the courthouse

All the while, his camera crew continued to film and captured police abusing McKenzie.



'They're physically manhandling us, they're physically manhandling me,' McKenzie said as he remained calm and continued to report.



'This is a public space, I'm allowed to report. I'm allowed to report,' he continued to say.



The video shows police shoving McKenzie into a police van before he and his crew are taken to a location several blocks away from the court house.



Broken: Once dropped off by police, McKenzie shows the damage they did to their camera's view finder. Luckily the tape remained in tact

During the chaos, police ripped off the viewfinder from the CNN crew's camera but the film remained in tact.



A policeman told the crew that they were just following orders and a government spokesman said they would be investigating the incident.



After being dropped off McKenzie said that the incident 'really shows how much China wants to manage the message.'



In a live interview later on, McKenzie told CNN anchor Suzanne Malveaux that reporters have to be extra careful when working in China.



On trial: McKenzie was trying to cover the trial of human rights activist Xu Zhiyong

'This is a one party state that controls the media entirely on the local level. There's really no such thing as an independent Chinese media within the country. So foreign reports play this role that is trying to get the word out when, say, others can not.'



He went on to say that following the incident, CNN's signals within the country were blocked by authorities so Chinese nationals couldn't watch their broadcast.



'Often it's not so much reporting to the rest of the world that's an issue. It's they don't want us reporting to China and Chinese nationals,' he said.



Zhiyong was arrested last summer in Beijing for organizing a series of protests in the city about political corruption.



He pointed to instances like President Xi Jiping's brother-in-law setting up companies in the tax haven of the British Virgin Islands as one example.