Frankly I’m not gonna sound like the people on the comments sections, because if some newsslime people showed up at a funeral in my family they would have gotten their asses kicked too.
...approaching a group of people standing near a memorial for 27-year-old Chester Jackson set up on the sidewalk outside the restaurant.
The reporters were on a public sidewalk.
I wouldn’t strike a reporter, but in the same situation, I may “escort” them out, may even let their feet touch the ground while I was doing it, if I were in a good mood.