'It's hard to breathe': CNN reporter exposed to tear gas during live segment

Editor's note: This headline has been updated.

While reporting from the scene of a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, CNN correspondent Laura Coates suddenly began coughing uncontrollably after saying there was "something in the air."

During a Thursday live report from Minneapolis, Coates noted that some in the crowd were "asking for milk," which is a common treatment for tear gas. She reported that there was "a lot of tension" between the "angry" crowd and a group of roughly 40 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents on the scene, who were about to be replaced in a scheduled shift change. She then remarked that something was causing her to "cough a little bit."

"People are covering their mouths. There's something happening right now," Coates said. "It's intense. It is intense. It's so intense right now. It's happening. They're backing up now. Back behind the distance as the crowds are there. You have an elevated presence right now. But remember, we've seen people come up there shooting some kind of pellets. The gas has come down right now. We're going to back up a little bit more. It's in the air."

At that point, CNN host Kasie Hunt encouraged Coates to ensure her own safety, but that the network was "sticking with" her as long as she was comfortable continuing her report.

"It's hard to breathe. Something is out. Something's on the ground right now," Coates said. "They put something on the crowd right now. Some sort of a pellet of some type. They're facing the crowd."

As Coates observed that some of the ICE agents were "filming the crowd," she then announced that there had been "tear gas" deployed and that "people are coughing."

"It feels a little like you're choking in your chest, and it feels like you're trying to catch your breath. It inflames your nostrils. It's a burning sensation in your chest. It's a burning sensation in your nostrils as well," Coates said. "I'm not going to go further right now, but it does makes you cough."

"People are agitated, they are angry. And now they have been tear gassed yet again," she added. "... You still feel the remnants of what is this gas that has been deployed in the air right now."

Thousands of Minneapolis residents have taken to the streets in the wake of Wednesday's fatal shooting of 37 year-old mother Renee Nicole Good, who was a U.S. citizen attempting to flee ICE agents in her vehicle before she was shot in the face.

Watch the segment below:

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