The Rebel News reporter has defended his security guard shoving a man.
The fallout from a confrontation between diners & Avi Yemini in Melbourne is continuing tonight, with Yemini defending his guard's actions.
On Friday evening, Yemini, who reports for Canadian-based outlet Rebel News, approached a group of diners in the CBD who told him to “f**k off.”
Video posted to YouTube shows a man walking over to swipe away the Rebel microphone, before a security guard shoves him back.
The man then yells at Yemini, before a group of police officers intervene after being called over.
According to news.com.au, Victoria Police are investigating after “a man…pushed 2 others before leaving the area.”
Rebel News also posted a video with their footage the next day.
When asked why he didn’t leave the group alone, Yemini told 6 News that “a journalist's job is to ask tough questions, often at times from people who don't want to answer them after doing something wrong.”
“I try not to walk away from people trying to intimidate me. I prefer to expose them for who and what they are.”
He goes onto explain he has a guard because “since receiving death threats for my work, Rebel News has a policy that I have to attend public events with security.”
Yemini defending his security guard shoving the man, saying he “applied proportional force based on the threat.”
You can read his full answers to our multiple questions below.
Reaction online has been mixed, with some - including those who said they support Yemini - questioning why he didn’t walk away, while others said he acted appropriately.
On Twitter, the phrases “Avi Yemini” and “Jewish Nazi” have trended, with the latter referring to Yemini’s own comments sarcastically describing himself as “the world’s proudest Jewish Nazi” while turning around to show a crowd his Kippa.
In a since-deleted tweet, he said that “they’re getting desperate.”
Read Yemini's full answers to our questions below & watch our full report on the confrontation here.
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