Omar Jimenez

Omar Jimenez is a CNN Correspondent based in Chicago.

Since starting as a correspondent in 2019, Jimenez has helped lead CNN's coverage on numerous national and international stories including: the murder of George Floyd, the first major COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, the sudden death of Kobe Bryant, and more.

While in Minneapolis covering protests after George Floyd's death, he and his team were handcuffed and detained live on air by Minnesota State Patrol. His team was held for a little over an hour before they were released and could return back to coverage. Over the ensuing months, he helped lead the network's coverage in both the trial and conviction of the former officer found responsible for murdering Floyd.

Throughout his time as a correspondent, Jimenez also helped cover the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, both economic and medical, from some of the hardest hit areas of the United States including from inside emergency rooms, jails, and numerous city hotspots.

Jimenez started with CNN in 2017 for the network's affiliate service, CNN Newsource, based in Washington, D.C. While there, he covered breaking news stories for CNN's more than 900 affiliates nationwide reporting both in the United States and internationally in France and Mexico.

Among his work at Newsource: He reported from the ground in Paris in the aftermath of the Notre Dame Cathedral fire; from Las Vegas just hours after the mass shooting there, the deadliest in modern American history; and from Florida and Texas during the 2017 hurricanes that became part of CNN's Emmy-nominated coverage.

Jimenez won his first National News & Documentary Emmy Award in 2021 for his work covering the death of George Floyd.

Prior to joining CNN, Jimenez worked for WBAL-TV in Baltimore, Maryland where he was a reporter and fill-in anchor. While there, he received an individual Emmy nomination for general assignment reporting.

He covered the trials for the officers charged in the death of Freddie Gray, was the lead story on the station's Emmy award-winning special on opioids, and published pieces on opioid influence in Maryland and the fight against child sex trafficking across the state.

Jimenez began his on-air career as a multimedia journalist for WGEM- TV in Quincy, IL, where he covered a wide variety of stories, including the business behind the local methamphetamine trade at the time.

He graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, where he also played on the varsity men's basketball team.