Police: Teens broke into CNN newsroom to check Facebook pages

By Mike Morris and Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The two teens caught checking their Facebook pages after allegedly breaking into CNN's Atlanta newsroom weren't able to post status updates Friday afternoon. That's because they were in jail, each held on $500 bond.

Fulton County Jail Francis Mutemwa, 17, was charged with a misdemeanor for sneaking into CNN's newsroom and using a computer to check Facebook. The charges were dropped and he was released without bond.

Fulton County Jail, Fulton County Jail Aldayne Fearon, 18, was charged with a misdemeanor for sneaking into CNN's newsroom and using a computer to check Facebook. The charges were later dropped and he was released without bond.

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Two teens were arrested around 3:30 a.m. Friday on the fifth floor of CNN Center, where they were found checking their Facebook pages, according to police.

Atlanta police spokeswoman Kim Jones said CNN security contacted officers from Zone 5, which is also headquartered in CNN Center, to report that there was “someone in their secure area newsroom.”

Aldayne Fearon, 18, and Francis Mutemwa, 17, climbed over a ledge from the Omni Hotel to gain access to the CNN newsroom “and started working on two computers,” Jones said. “At the time of their arrest, they were checking their Facebook pages on those computers.”

The teens initially refused to give officers their names, Jones said, but later relented and identified themselves. They were charged with criminal trespass.

Turner Broadcasting System Inc. released a statement Friday afternoon to the AJC regarding the incident.

"A security incident occurred at CNN Center on Friday morning and was resolved," the statement read. "It is being handled by the Atlanta Police Department."

The teens apparently drove from their DeKalb County homes to the CNN Center in a red Mercedes, but it was not immediately known who the vehicle belonged to, police said.