Alex Perez
Alex Perez is a national correspondent for ABC News, based in his hometown of Chicago. He reports for “Good Morning America,” “World News Tonight with David Muir,” “Nightline,” “20/20,” ABC News Live and ABC News’ other digital and streaming platforms.
Since joining ABC News in 2012, Perez has traveled the world to report on current events and major news stories. Domestically, he’s reported from nearly every major city in America and countless small towns.
Perez has extensively reported on police brutality and gun violence in America. He was one of the first journalists on the scene of the horrific Fourth of July parade shooting in Highland Park, Illinois. He was in Kansas City covering the Chiefs’ Super Bowl victory celebration when a shooting erupted in the crowd, leading to several days of subsequent coverage.
Perez was one of the first national correspondents on the ground in Minneapolis after the killing of George Floyd and covered the subsequent monthlong protests and national reckoning on race. Perez also reported from Florida in the wake of Trayvon Martin’s death and from Ferguson, Missouri, in the hours after the police shooting of Michael Brown. He also closely followed and reported on the shooting of Black teenager Ralph Yarl, who was shot by a white homeowner after ringing the doorbell at an incorrect address. Perez also interviewed the mother of 6-year-old Palestinian American Wadea Al-Fayoume, who authorities say was brutally stabbed to death for being Muslim.
Throughout his career, Perez has worked extensively to shed light on the gun and other violence plaguing the south side of Chicago.
In 2022, alongside ABC’s Juju Chang, Perez co-anchored “Viral: A World Without AIDS,” a special report marking 40 years since the start of the AIDS epidemic.
Additionally, Perez has reported on other significant stories. He spent weeks in Barron, Wisconsin, covering the disappearance of 13-year-old Jayme Closs and her unbelievable story of escape and survival. He reported from Chicago on the international headline-making story of the alleged attack on actor Jussie Smollett, later deemed a hoax by authorities, and walked viewers through every step of the case. Perez also reported from San Juan, covering the destruction and aftermath of Hurricane Maria and the resilience of the Puerto Rican people. He’s covered hurricanes from up and down the East Coast, Gulf Coast and Caribbean, has reported from the frontlines of wildfires on the West Coast, and tornadoes that ripped through Oklahoma and other parts of Tornado Alley.
Perez was part of the team that received a prestigious Peabody Award for coverage of Superstorm Sandy in 2012. He was awarded a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Journalism—Long-form for “PRIDE: To Be Seen – A Soul of a Nation Presentation.” In 2022, OUT Magazine named Perez to its distinguished OUT 100 list.
Before joining ABC, Perez worked as a reporter for NBC Chicago, where he covered former President Barack Obama’s first campaign for the White House. Prior to that, he lived on the U.S.-Mexico border, reporting in depth on immigration issues for KVIA-TV in El Paso, Texas.
Perez was awarded the prestigious Marshall Memorial Fellowship and traveled across Europe, meeting with government leaders, learning more about the political landscape, and analyzing the EU’s financial crisis.
Perez is a lifetime member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, a member of the National Association of Black Journalists, and a proud Brother of Sigma Lambda Beta International Fraternity, Inc. His mother immigrated to the United States from Cuba, and his father is Puerto Rican. Perez and his husband, Kevin, live in Chicago with their French bulldog, Javí.
