CNN anchor gets restraining order

A Maine man showed up outside CNN’s Atlanta headquarters earlier this month, claiming anchorwoman Robin Meade used on-air body language to tell him to travel to Atlanta, according to a police report.

Atlanta police have not arrested Gregory Fitzgerald, 32, of Lewiston, Me., but advised Meade to seek a restraining order against him, the police report said.

Apparently, CNN or Meade followed through. Fitzgerald was served with a restraining order before he returned to Maine, said his stepfather, Paul Stufflebeam of Lewiston.

The cable television network says Fitzgerald has e-mailed Meade and called CNN more than 30 times since November 2007, expressing a “love interest” in her and asking to meet, CNN security official Chico Robinson reported to police on Sept. 17

Meade anchors the Headline News morning show, “Morning Express with Robin Meade.”

Fitzgerald could not be reached for comment, but Stufflebeam said his stepson is mentally disabled and has never been accused of stalking before. He also said Fitzgerald isn’t violent and that Meade should not fear for her safety.

“He’s a good kid,” Stufflebeam said. “He’s never hurt anybody. He doesn’t have an aggressive bone in his body.”

Fitzgerald told Stufflebeam that he was flying to Atlanta to spend time with a woman he met on the Internet and had been chatting with her for a couple years, Stufflebeam said.

Fitzgerald showed up at the CNN Center in downtown Atlanta on Sept. 16, claiming that Meade told him to come by “waving her hands, blinking her eyes and crossing her legs on television,” the report said.

Meade said that, to her knowledge, she has never met Fitzgerald, the report said.

Though Fitzgerald still has feelings for the anchorwoman, he will not be contacting her again, his stepfather said.

“We talked to him about it,” Stufflebeam said. “We’re going to get some help for him.”

When reached Monday, a CNN spokeswoman declined to comment.