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As it turns out, not even the radical inhabitants of the co-called Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) in Seattle, Washington are down with their friendlies in the mainstream media and the Democratic party characterizing the zone as a “summer of love” type of “street festival.”

MSNBC reporter Vaughn Hillyard found this out the hard way on Saturday while out conducting supportive “man on the street” interviews with some of CHAZ’s inhabitants. Everything seemed to be going fine until Hillyard described the zone as having a “street festival-type atmosphere”:

“No, it is not a street festival!” one of the protesters shouted.

“With a very intentional purpose,” Hillyard attempted to calm him down to no avail.

“It is not a street festival. It is not a street festival,” the CHOP demonstrator told the reporter. “Do not say that. Shame on you for saying that.”

The protester then pointed to the camera, “Learn, right now, that it’s not a street festival. It is not.”

The angry CHAZ inhabitant basically took over the segment, with his fellow “citizens” echoing his sentiment. One even stated people there had seen “traumatizing things” in their clashes with police, and that some protesters suffered from PTSD as a result.

MSNBC anchor Joshua Johnson, who was in the studio, rushed to express solidarity with the protesters, agreeing with them that his colleague had allegedly mischaracterized what was going on around them. He also made sure Hillyard let the protesters know that MSNBC was on their side.

It was a very surreal but revealing moment on live TV. Watch the exchange below, via MRC-TV:

This was reminiscent of the report last week from a CNN reporter to anchor Anderson Cooper on the goings-on, in which the reporter talked about how peaceful things allegedly are at CHAZ. As the reporter continued to talk, an anarchist tried to take over the segment and had to be restrained by security. It was only then the reporter got real, and noted some of the protesters were “no doubt armed.”

Memo to the media: When these people tell you who they are, it might be a good idea for you to start paying attention – and stop gaslighting.