If you were one of the 30,000 people who tuned in on Facebook late Saturday night to his live stream from the epicenter of the dangerous scene on South Pearl Street in Albany, you know exactly who Ryan Lorey is. But you may not have known his name before today.

Earlier Saturday, peaceful protests were held in the city of Albany over the death of George Floyd. After nightfall, along a stretch of South Pearl Street, a different, more violent and dangerous scene erupted as Albany police and dozens of people clashed, with a tractor trailer set on fire, fireworks set off, rubber bullets fired, tear gas sprayed and more.

Lorey, a reporter with Fulton County Area News, reported live for 3 hours and 25 minutes from his phone directly to Facebook. During that time, Lorey was exposed to tear gas multiple times, his coughs heard throughout the live stream, and was even shot in the leg by a rubber bullet as the situation continued.

"There was some massive, massive danger in that residential neighborhood last night," Lorey said.

Lorey said he did not necessarily feel threatened as he reported on the scene, but he did feel unsafe as he continued to film what was occurring in downtown Albany. Still, he continued because he felt that it was important to show those outside the area what was unfolding.

"I just felt an obligation to stay there, to continue to film and to let people know exactly what was going on and where it was happening," Lorey said.

To hear more of Lorey's comments, watch the video above. You can see the original livestream from Fulton County Area News' Facebook page below.

 

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