Omar Jimenez is an American journalist resides in Washington, D.C. He is a national correspondent to CNN Worldwide. ^{[1] [3] [28]}

Omar Jimenez is of hispanic and black descent. ^[1]

Omar Jimenez grew up in Kennesaw, Georgia.

His best place to eat is "The Spot" in Mount Vernon.

Jimenez attended Northwestern University from 2011 - 2015, receiving a degree in journalism. He attended the Medill School of Journalism at.Northwestern ^{[1] [3]}

While in college, Jimenez played basketball on the NCAA men's varsity team. ^{[3] [1]}

In 2012, Jimenez served as a Republican National Convention Runner for NBC News, being responsible for tending to and escorting guests set to be on The Cycle, Andrea Mitchell Reports, or NBC Nightly News. During 2013m he was a NBC News Network Intern.^[3]

He continued his career^[12] as a general assignment reporter for WGEM-TV in Quincy, Illinois from March 2014 to June 2014. He then worked as a reporter for WBAL-TV in Baltimore, Maryland and covered a variety of topics including breaking news, politics, and natural disasters. ^{[3] [1]}

In June 2014, Jimenez first joined CNN as an intern, working for CNN International and with the CNN affiliate desk. He also worked with the Chicago Innocence Project, where he investigated potential wrongful convictions alongside other journalism and law students across Chicago, Illinois. ^{[3] [1]}

From 2017-2019, he worked as a National Correspondent for CNN Newsource. Since August 2019, Jimenez has been a National Correspondent for CNN Worldwide.^[3]

Jimenez is also a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists. ^{[1] [3]}

On May 29, 2020, in the midst of the Minneapolis riots, Jimenez was taken into police custody shortly after 6 a.m. during a live broadcast at the site of the protests, after clearly identifying himself to officers. Jimenez's crew, producer Bill Kirkos and photojournalist Leonel Mendez, were also placed in handcuffs.^[25]

The crew was near the 3rd Precinct when state troopers and members of the National Guard began clearing the streets at daybreak. The journalists were coverings the second night of fires and looting in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd on Memorial Day. ^[33]

In a statement posted to Twitter, the Minnesota State Patrol said the CNN crew was released once “they were confirmed to be members of the media.” They tweeted the following:

Jimenez said that what actually gave him comfort was that the arrest was shown live on TV: “The country was seeing what was happening…right before their eyes,” he said.

“You don’t have to doubt my story, it’s not filtered in any sort of way.”

CNN noted on air that Jimenez, who is black, was arrested while just blocks away another network reporter, who is white, was not. Jimenez returned later that morning on air.^[29][32]

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologized for the incident later that morning.^[26]

Jimenez has about 203,000 followers on his OmarJimenez Twitter account. He posts CNN articles and comments on current world events.

He also has about 34,000 followers on his omarcnn Instagram account. He primarily posts work photos.^[12][14]