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{
"title": "Student reporter driven off Columbia campus, kettled by NYPD",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-reporter-driven-off-columbia-campus-kettled-by-nypd/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-03T19:01:49.182043Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-06T19:52:03.151784Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-06T19:52:03.048904Z",
"date": "2024-04-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hyoll\">Samaa Khullar, a reporting fellow with the Columbia Journalism School, was among a group of student reporters that New York City police drove off campus and detained in a kettle for more than an hour as officers rounded up protesters on April 30, 2024. </p><p data-block-key=\"7ic4l\">Due to restrictions on outside press access to the campus, Khullar and other student reporters were the only <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-campus-student-protests-war-beb2c274c0960eee48c82485ca9b3f96\">media allowed</a> there on April 30, when New York Police Department officers <a href=\"https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/columbia-university-protests-nypd-video-hamilton-hall/5371376/\">cleared</a> Hamilton Hall, a building that had been occupied by protesters. </p><p data-block-key=\"cpfn3\">“It’s probably going to be the day I remember most out of my experience here. I was like, there’s no one here except us,” Khullar, who has been covering pro-Palestian demonstrations on the campus, <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/02/us/video/journalism-students-columbia-university-protests-digvid\">told CNN in an interview.</a> “Campus was on lockdown and no outside press was allowed in.” </p><p data-block-key=\"eq0s2\">In an <a href=\"https://www.curbed.com/article/locked-out-columbia-campus-nypd-raid-student-press.html\">article about her experience</a> published by Curbed, Khullar wrote that she was with other reporters from the graduate school and reporters with both the Columbia Spectator and campus radio station WKCR outside Hamilton Hall at around 9 p.m. when NYPD officers arrived.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fj43\">The officers “immediately told us to move away from the stairs” at the front entrance to Hamilton Hall and “began to kettle us,” Khullar recounts. </p><p data-block-key=\"9f8c8\">The officers then drove some of the reporters toward John Jay Hall, a residential building across from Hamilton, she said. </p><p data-block-key=\"e4mqq\">Other student reporters who were taking photographs of the encampment on Columbia’s main quad were ordered to disperse, Khullar wrote. Jelani Cobb, dean of Columbia Journalism School and a staff writer for the New Yorker, and journalism professor Sheila Coronel let those reporters into Pulitzer Hall, the home of the journalism school. Police told them to keep the reporters inside the building, Khullar wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"dceq5\">Khullar said that she avoided being driven into John Jay or Pulitzer, but “I found myself in the biggest group of student reporters and professors herded by police outside of campus” to 114th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, where they were surrounded by “dozens” of officers and confined to that location for more than an hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"d8451\">She told CNN, “They made us leave campus. We kept yelling, ‘we’re the press, we’re the press.’ It was not going through their heads.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8tp5g\">“We began to realize that there was no press left at Hamilton to document what was going on,” Khullar wrote. </p><p data-block-key=\"9ujkp\">Police said they arrested 109 people during the sweep on Hamilton, <a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/city-news/2024/05/01/nypd-confirms-arrest-of-109-individuals-following-sweep-of-occupied-hamilton-hall-and-gaza-solidarity-encampment/\">the Columbia Spectator reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"am13u\">“For many of the student reporters, it was our first time being completely shut out from reporting on an event that happened on campus,” Khullar wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"71fpa\">Khullar wrote that the reporters forced off campus weren’t allowed back in until after midnight after professors in the journalism building assisted in getting them escorted by police into Pulitzer Hall. </p><p data-block-key=\"6cn5j\">Khullar and the NYPD did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ceupx\">New York Police Department officers stand guard while others enter a Columbia University building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters on April 30, 2024. A Columbia student reporter was detained in an off-campus kettle by the NYPD during the operation.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
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"actor": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"kettle",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Samaa Khullar (Columbia Journalism School)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Police block journalist from leaving Columbia building during arrest of protesters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-block-journalist-from-leaving-columbia-building-during-arrest-of-protesters/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-08T14:49:48.277310Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-08T14:49:48.277310Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-08T14:49:48.088616Z",
"date": "2024-04-30",
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"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g78hk\">New York City police officers blocked a reporter for independent newsroom THE CITY, along with other journalists, from leaving a building on Columbia University’s campus during mass arrests of pro-Palestinian protesters on April 30, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"be42q\">Journalist Gwynne Hogan, who said she was displaying her press credentials, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GwynneFitz/status/1785481107523223759\">posted</a> on social media platform X shortly before 9:30 p.m. that she and a group of fellow reporters and students were “pushed” into a building adjoining Hamilton Hall — which protesters had occupied and dubbed “Hind’s Hall” — as police descended on campus and began a sweep of the occupied building.</p><p data-block-key=\"3hti0\">“NYPD had fully cleared the area where students started camping out last night, rows of demonstrators linked arms around the entryway to ‘Hinds Hall’ are the only ones left outside,” Hogan wrote in the post. “I'm with a crowd of students and reporters pushed back into an adjoining building.”</p><p data-block-key=\"avo29\">Moments later, Hogan <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GwynneFitz/status/1785484291280957582\">posted video</a> and reported that she was being blocked in by police, adding, “They won't let me out despite showing many of them my NYPD press pass.” In the video, several officers in riot gear can be seen through the doors, barring the exits as other officers in the background lead away protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"chdgp\">Shortly after midnight, Hogan <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GwynneFitz/status/1785522275657130372/photo/1\">posted</a> “Made it out, NYPD and campus safety escorting groups of students out from buildings that were previously locked down.”</p><p data-block-key=\"97see\">In <a href=\"https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/05/01/campus-columbia-city-college-encampments/\">a May 1 article</a> for THE CITY detailing police crackdowns at Columbia and other New York City colleges, Hogan wrote of Columbia that “student journalists and a CITY reporter were forced into adjoining buildings and blocked in for several hours, unable to observe officers entering Hamilton Hall, or the arrests of students who’d linked arms to try and block the entryway to the hall.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dj07g\">Hogan did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4fosc\">A person waves a Palestinian flag from atop Hamilton Hall at Columbia University. When police retook the building from protesters on April 30, 2024, officers prevented reporter Gwynne Hogan from leaving a campus building to cover arrests.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-04-30",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Gwynne Hogan (THE CITY)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Student reporter confined to building during Columbia protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-reporter-confined-to-building-during-columbia-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-07T20:28:31.147600Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-07T21:03:49.842377Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-07T21:03:49.710567Z",
"date": "2024-04-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"otmxy\">Columbia Journalism School student Oishika Neogi was among a group of student reporters herded away from a pro-Palestinian protest, confined to a campus building and threatened with arrest by New York City police, who were retaking another building occupied by protesters on April 30, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"r033\">Neogi, an investigative journalism fellow and master’s student at the school, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had been reporting on the campus protests since mid-April, when protesters set up an encampment. Due to restrictions on outside press access to the campus, Neogi and other student reporters were the only <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-campus-student-protests-war-beb2c274c0960eee48c82485ca9b3f96\">media allowed</a> there that day, when New York Police Department officers in riot gear <a href=\"https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/columbia-university-protests-nypd-video-hamilton-hall/5371376/\">cleared</a> the occupied Hamilton Hall.</p><p data-block-key=\"9cu4c\">Neogi told the Tracker that when the police entered the campus at around 9 p.m., she was stationed at the side of Hamilton Hall, while other student journalists were in front of the building or at the center of campus. “As soon as they came in, they started pushing us away from Hamilton,” she said. Police had batons and were yelling to “move back,” but did not hit any of the journalists, Neogi added.</p><p data-block-key=\"2gc8b\">She said she was wearing her Overseas Press Club ID around her neck and a student press sign on her back, and had her Columbia student press ID in her bag.</p><p data-block-key=\"eca37\">Neogi and other journalists standing with her were forced by the NYPD to move to an exterior staircase near Hamilton where she could not see the building or what was happening in front of it. She said she was in that location for about 45 minutes. During that time, “We just didn’t know what was happening at Hamilton, which was the biggest problem.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3c8cu\">Neogi then went back to Pulitzer Hall, where the journalism school is located and where she was keeping her equipment, and planned to go back out to report. She learned from a colleague, however, that police were outside, warning that people who tried to leave would be arrested. She then went with faculty members and the school’s dean to the gate of the building to speak with police, who told them, “Stay in, or you can get arrested.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1bddv\">“Basically, Pulitzer was on lockdown after that. All student journalists who were on campus who were covering this had to be inside Pulitzer Hall. And we couldn’t see anything,” Neogi said.</p><p data-block-key=\"36e8g\">She added that there was no official notification from the police about when they were allowed to exit the building. Neogi left around 1:30 a.m., but still could not go near Hamilton or other areas where there was police activity.</p><p data-block-key=\"cl2e9\">“We should have been in front of Hamilton. There was no other press from the outside,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6lfpp\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bqnnc\">New York Police Department officers stand guard at Columbia University on April 30, 2024. During an NYPD operation to clear out pro-Palestinian protesters, a student reporter was confined to a campus building and threatened with arrest if she left.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-04-30",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
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],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist pushed, his phone charger stolen at UCLA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pushed-his-phone-charger-stolen-at-ucla-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-02T20:33:42.796481Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:23:50.283835Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-10T17:23:50.173838Z",
"date": "2024-04-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6fn99\">Independent journalist Anthony Cabassa was pushed against a wall and his phone charger stolen while reporting on pro-Palestinian protests at the University of California, Los Angeles, on April 30, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"15lna\">UCLA’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, <a href=\"https://dailybruin.com/2024/04/25/ucla-community-organizes-encampment-in-response-to-national-call-for-escalation\">reported</a> that protesters had erected the encampment on campus April 25 to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and demand that the UC system divest from companies that invest in weapons manufacturers for the Israeli military.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2i3b\">Shortly after 1 p.m. on the 30th, Cabassa <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1785399887309508794\">reported on social media</a> that an individual had stolen his phone charger because he refused to stop filming in a public space. He noted that by the time he was able to speak to university police, the thief was long gone.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just had my phone charger stolen from me from a protestor because we refused to stop filming in a public area. I asked security to help retrieve my property and they said they don’t have authorization, “talk to admin”, I talked to admin they said tell school police, school police… <a href=\"https://t.co/oZxqXmt85H\">pic.twitter.com/oZxqXmt85H</a></p>— Anthony Cabassa (@AnthonyCabassa_) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1785399887309508794?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 30, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6fn99\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1785437645616853225\">subsequent</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonyCabassa_/status/1785448436030226933\">posts</a>, Cabassa also said that a group of protesters grabbed him and kept him pinned against a wall for approximately a minute in order to prevent him from entering or otherwise reporting on the encampment. In footage of the incident, Cabassa can be heard identifying himself as a credentialed journalist and stating that he has a right to be on public property.</p><p data-block-key=\"3o6t1\">Cabassa did not immediately respond to requests for additional comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"b01q6\">Pro-Palestinian protesters gather at an encampment on the University of California, Los Angeles, campus on April 29, 2024. While covering protests there the following day, independent journalist Anthony Cabassa was pushed and had his phone charger stolen.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "miscellaneous equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist pepper-sprayed, shoved while covering Oregon campus protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pepper-sprayed-shoved-while-covering-oregon-campus-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-14T19:55:11.708535Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-16T18:05:46.896504Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-16T18:05:46.809691Z",
"date": "2024-04-29",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zw4ef\">Independent videographer Brandon Farley was shoved to the ground and sprayed with a chemical irritant by a group of assailants on April 29, 2024, while filming a pro-Palestinian protest on Portland State University’s campus in Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"f1soi\">Farley, who told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting this demonstration as a journalist, was recording protesters assembled around the university’s main library — which was <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/psu-portland-state-library-months-damage-pro-palestine-protests/283-1588d8e0-7a76-41fe-bf9b-1eeaa1b3fe4b\">occupied</a> by them for days — when the assault began. He <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealFarley/status/1785125262570803437\">posted on the social network X</a> that a group of people came up on him from behind while he was filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"6m4d4\">“One of them grabbed my strap and started pulling as others began swarming me. I was then pushed to the ground and maced in the face while I was retreating,” Farley wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mh55\">Farley is heard in the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealFarley/status/1785125262570803437\">video</a> telling the assailants that he is leaving the scene, while an assailant follows behind and calls him a “Nazi bitch.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Update: Still having blurry vision out of my right eye, but at least much of the burning has gone away.<br><br>I landed pretty hard on my right buttocks, so still feeling some discomfort from that.<br><br>All in all, it could have been a lot worse, given their hatred.<br><br>FUCK ANTIFA EXTREMISTS <a href=\"https://t.co/TKFWVoFvqn\">pic.twitter.com/TKFWVoFvqn</a></p>— Brandon M. Farley (Portland Video Journalist) (@TheRealFarley) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealFarley/status/1785179106172350699?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 30, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zw4ef\">In an email exchange with the Tracker, Farley said that in addition to the two assailants, one of whom he described as a “large man,” at least two other individuals approached him during the assault. He noted that he has been attacked in the past while filming protest movements in Portland.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ie40\">“They view me as a target who constantly needs to be dealt with, but often, they treat it as a joke, like yelling out a ‘Nazi’ or a ‘fascist’ in an attempt to get others to come after me with blind rage,” Farley told the Tracker. “I know many of their tactics by now, but sometimes I still get injured, as was the case on April 29th.”</p><p data-block-key=\"627d\">Farley said he did not report the April 29 incident to law enforcement, nor did he seek medical attention following the attack. “I've been accosted and physically attacked by them dozens of times with no recourse from law enforcement,” he added. “I stopped asking for their help in early 2020, after realizing what little they could do to mitigate my situation.”<br/><br/><i>Editor’s Note: This article was updated to reflect Brandon Farley’s self-identification as a journalist at the demonstration. For more on who the Tracker counts as a journalist, see our</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\"><i>frequently asked questions</i></a><i> page.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZXHYZ_-_Reuters_-_Jan_Sonnenma.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vaec4\">Portland State University’s library, above, was taken over by pro-Palestinian protestors in late April 2024. On April 29, assailants there knocked independent journalist Brandon Farley to the ground and pepper-sprayed him.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Brandon Farley (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist harassed, phone knocked to ground at UCLA protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-harassed-phone-knocked-to-ground-at-ucla-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:31:50.912338Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:31:50.912338Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-10T17:31:25.611860Z",
"date": "2024-04-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3ztw7\">Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was repeatedly harassed and his phone knocked to the ground while reporting on a pro-Israeli counterprotest to the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, on April 29, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"4jbhg\">UCLA’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, <a href=\"https://dailybruin.com/2024/04/25/ucla-community-organizes-encampment-in-response-to-national-call-for-escalation\">reported</a> that protesters had erected the encampment on campus April 25 to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and demand that the UC system divest from companies that invest in weapons manufacturers for the Israeli military.</p><p data-block-key=\"34t4b\">A large, pro-Israeli counterprotest was organized next to the encampment, with barricades erected to separate the groups, Reuters <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pro-palestinian-protests-keep-roiling-us-college-campuses-2024-04-28/\">reported</a>. Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-headbutted-shoved-at-ucla-counteprotest/\">headbutted and shoved</a> by a man while reporting on the clash between the two groups on April 28.</p><p data-block-key=\"28hs9\">Throughout his coverage the following evening, Beckner-Carmitchel said, multiple individuals targeted him for harassment and assault.</p><p data-block-key=\"6sb9o\">“At one point, one of the pro-Israel protesters stood in front of me and blared an air horn directly in my ear for like five minutes straight,” he said. “They also threw what I’m guessing was a wadded up sign at my head at one point.”</p><p data-block-key=\"72ce3\">In footage Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C6YiA3Drb7B/\">posted on Instagram</a>, an air horn can be heard resounding as he filmed counterprotesters attempting to break into the encampment. He added that at various points individuals called him slurs, knocked the phone from his hands and came up from behind him and blew a whistle in his ear.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZV7ER.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"lb7z1\">Pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counterprotesters gather at the encampment on UCLA’s campus on April 29, 2024. Multiple individuals harassed and assaulted journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel while he was covering the demonstrations.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist headbutted, shoved at UCLA counterprotest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-headbutted-shoved-at-ucla-counterprotest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:15:30.350009Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-17T13:07:51.113132Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-17T13:07:51.022751Z",
"date": "2024-04-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6r33m\">Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was headbutted and pushed by a man while reporting on a pro-Israeli counterprotest to the pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, on April 28, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddchk\">UCLA’s student newspaper, the Daily Bruin, <a href=\"https://dailybruin.com/2024/04/25/ucla-community-organizes-encampment-in-response-to-national-call-for-escalation\">reported</a> that protesters had erected the encampment on campus April 25 to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and demand that the UC system divest from companies that invest in weapons manufacturers for the Israeli military.</p><p data-block-key=\"c1mio\">A large, pro-Israeli counterprotest was organized next to the encampment, with barricades erected to separate the groups, Reuters <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pro-palestinian-protests-keep-roiling-us-college-campuses-2024-04-28/\">reported</a>. Some demonstrators broke through the barrier, however, and individuals from both sides began pushing one another and shouting insults and chants.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ip62\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was reporting on the clash between the two protests when he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1784783261635629369\">captured photos</a> of a man who appeared to be a counterprotester. When the man noticed he had been photographed, he demanded that the journalist delete the images.</p><p data-block-key=\"6mfro\">“Generally my policy is, if someone asks me to delete a photo, I’m doing quite the opposite: I’m favoriting that, I’m sending it to a couple of people and it’s probably going to end up being published,” Beckner-Carmitchel said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At one point earlier during the pro-Palestine/pro-Israel protests at UCLA, a man wearing what appeared to be fascist symbolism on his shirt was attacking pro-Palestinian demonstrators.<br><br>At that point I took photos, he demanded I deleted them. I refused, and he attacked me. <a href=\"https://t.co/JAQ1wSVPKr\">pic.twitter.com/JAQ1wSVPKr</a></p>— acatwithnews (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1784783261635629369?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 29, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6r33m\">In footage of the incident, the man headbutts Beckner-Carmitchel before someone wearing a neon vest steps between them. When Beckner-Carmitchel moves to walk away, the man pursues him, asking repeatedly, “What are you doing?”</p><p data-block-key=\"6q70o\">“Just doing my job,” Beckner-Carmitchel responds.</p><p data-block-key=\"5qo87\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that the man repeatedly told him to delete the picture, pushed him and attempted to grab the phone from his hands. He said that ultimately it appeared that individuals from both protests helped remove the man.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZTL9U.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"g6fq4\">Pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel counterprotesters scuffle during demonstrations at the University of California, Los Angeles, on April 28, 2024. A man headbutted and shoved journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel while he was covering the clash.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
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"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Broadcast reporter charged following investigation of protest arrest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-reporter-charged-following-investigation-of-protest-arrest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-01T21:49:19.430844Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-01T21:49:19.430844Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-01T21:49:19.128986Z",
"date": "2024-04-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Austin",
"longitude": -97.74306,
"latitude": 30.26715,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ath38\">KTBC broadcast photographer Carlos Sanchez was charged on April 26, 2024, with the felony assault of a peace officer, the Austin American-Statesman <a href=\"https://www.statesman.com/story/news/local/2024/04/30/ut-austin-pro-palestinian-protest-fox-7-photojournalist-felony-charge-dropped/73515493007/\">reported</a>, two days after he was arrested filming a student protest at the University of Texas at Austin. The charge was downgraded to two misdemeanors on April 30.</p><p data-block-key=\"46ih6\">Sanchez said he was pushed into a state trooper as Texas Department of Public Safety officers drove back a pro-Palestinian protest line on campus, <a href=\"https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austin-photojournalist-faces-felony-charge-after-arrest-during-ut-protest-affidavit-says/\">NBC affiliate KXAN-TV reported</a>. Another officer immediately pulled him backward and threw him to the ground, arresting him. Sanchez was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-arrested-while-filming-pro-palestinian-protest-at-university-of-texas/\">initially charged</a> with criminal trespassing, but the charge was dismissed the following day.</p><p data-block-key=\"9dcqn\">The American-Statesman reported that the law enforcement agency then launched a criminal investigation into the incident. A warrant for Sanchez’s arrest on the second-degree felony charge was issued on April 26, after additional witnesses — including the trooper who was said to have been hit — were identified and additional footage obtained.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1vr5\">E.G. “Gerry” Morris, an attorney representing Sanchez, told the American-Statesman that they learned the felony charge had been dropped when Sanchez arrived at the jail on April 30 to turn himself in.</p><p data-block-key=\"nrob\">KTBC <a href=\"https://www.fox7austin.com/news/fox-7-photographer-faces-2-misdemeanors-after-felony-charge-was-dropped\">reported</a> that the Texas Department of Public Safety detective investigating the incident acknowledged that the allegations did not rise to a felony offense. A new warrant for Sanchez’s arrest was issued later that day on two misdemeanor counts: assault against a peace officer and impeding a public servant.</p><p data-block-key=\"bt0n1\">Morris told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Sanchez turned himself into custody on May 1 and was released on his own recognizance after being booked.</p><p data-block-key=\"am2ge\">“Mr. Sanchez was performing an important news gathering function during a chaotic event when he inadvertently bumped into a police officer. He did not commit a crime,” Morris wrote the Tracker via email. “We look forward to someone taking a unbiased look at the evidence and exonerating Mr. Sanchez. That may ultimately occur with a jury.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6kh4t\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AshantiBlaize/status/1785487561978495436\">thread posted</a> on the social media platform X, Society of Professional Journalists President Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins called the new misdemeanor charges “blatant retaliation and intimidation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2qer2\">“TX DPS is trying to make an example out this photographer to scare other journalists from covering these highly publicized protests on campuses across TX,” Blaize-Hopkins wrote. “What they are doing is unconstitutional and just plain vindictive.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZLLQY_-_REUTERS_-_Nuri_Vallbon.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mkskn\">Texas state troopers at a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas at Austin on April 24, 2024. A photographer with TV station KTBC was charged with a felony, downgraded to two misdemeanors, following his arrest while covering the protest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Texas Department of Public Safety",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Carlos Sanchez (KTBC)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Breitbart reporter pushed out of UCLA encampment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pro-palestinian-protesters-push-breitbart-reporter-out-of-ucla-encampment/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-01T14:34:13.157458Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-03T12:44:44.454008Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-03T12:44:44.331649Z",
"date": "2024-04-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tn9ik\">Joel Pollak, a senior editor-at-large for Breitbart News, was obstructed from filming and pushed out of a pro-Palestinian protest encampment by several unidentified demonstrators at the University of California, Los Angeles, on April 26, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffki7\">In a video <a href=\"https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/04/26/watch-activists-assault-breitbart-news-journalist-at-ucla-palestine-solidarity-encampment/\">published</a> by Breitbart, a conservative news outlet, Pollak — who is filming with his phone and is heard but not seen — arrives at a “media check-in” point at the edge of the encampment, which was set up the day before by students and was surrounded by plywood barriers erected by the protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"afrlr\">The students, part of a larger movement on campuses <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/university-protests-palestine-04-29-24/index.html\">across the U.S.</a>, are calling for the university to divest from companies tied to the Israeli military and to cut ties with Israeli academic institutions, among other demands, the <a href=\"https://dailybruin.com/2024/04/25/ucla-community-organizes-encampment-in-response-to-national-call-for-escalation\">Daily Bruin reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfube\">After identifying himself as a member of the media, Pollak is initially told by a protester that they are “not letting any media in today. … We had some chaos yesterday with media and counterprotesters and we’re just trying to keep it chill.” The journalist can be heard on the video responding, “It’s a public university, there’s a First Amendment right to freedom of the press. I’m going to walk through the encampment. You can arrest me if you want. But I’m entitled to be here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3h8s4\">Pollak, whose responses were provided to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via a spokesperson, said that he was wearing his Breitbart press credential around his neck. “I really was just looking to stroll thru and film for 2 minutes,” Pollak told the Tracker via email.</p><p data-block-key=\"fc2aa\">The video then shows Pollak entering the encampment after donning a mask at the request of another protester. A few seconds later, protesters ask him to stop filming, saying, “We need people to consent” and citing the encampment’s “community guidelines.” Protesters then hold up scarves, hands and other materials to block his view of the encampment.</p><p data-block-key=\"nups\">The journalist continues to walk around and attempt to film the encampment, but several protesters impede his progress. “I have the same right to be here that you do,” Pollak tells them.</p><p data-block-key=\"cufoa\">After around four minutes, several protesters say, “Link arms,” and the group appears to surround the reporter. Both Pollak and at least one protester say that they’re being touched and pushed by the other.</p><p data-block-key=\"fakgg\">Soon after, a protester is heard saying, “Push” and “Step forward.” The reporter responds, “You’re pushing me. I’m being assaulted by this group.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2c52k\">The group then appears to form a semicircle around Pollak and gradually push him out of the encampment, chanting, “One, two, three, again.” As they near the entrance, several other members of the media can be seen filming the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"2oa97\">Pollak told the Tracker via email that he was “pushed and shoved a lot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e1aeb\">The Tracker contacted UCLA seeking clarification of the university’s policy toward students limiting press access to the encampment, but its media relations office did not respond directly to the inquiry.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZNMVR_-_Reuters_-_Mike_Blake.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kbgmv\">Students gather at a protest encampment in support of Palestinians at the University of California, Los Angeles, on April 25, 2024. The next day, protesters pushed Breitbart News editor Joel Pollak out of the encampment as he attempted to film.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"case_type": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joel Pollak (Breitbart News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Phone knocked from student journalist’s hands while reporting at Northwestern U",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/phone-knocked-from-student-journalists-hands-while-reporting-on-northwestern-u-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-29T15:55:11.189916Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-02T13:13:01.851335Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-02T13:13:01.672109Z",
"date": "2024-04-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Evanston",
"longitude": -87.69006,
"latitude": 42.04114,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"npqyv\">Logan Schiciano, the news director for the student-run broadcaster Northwestern News Network, had his phone knocked from his hands while reporting on a student protest on the university’s campus in Evanston, Illinois, on April 25, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"50s9p\">Students had erected tents on a central campus green that morning in support of Palestinians, <a href=\"https://dailynorthwestern.com/2024/04/22/campus/sjp-ejp-and-jvp-resolution-demands-nu-divest-from-companies-with-ties-to-israel-protect-student-speech/\">calling</a> on the university to divest and cut ties with companies and institutions connected to Israel, The Daily Northwestern <a href=\"https://dailynorthwestern.com/2024/04/25/campus/live-pro-palestinian-student-activists-set-up-encampment-on-deering-meadow/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4fr39\">Schiciano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he arrived at the encampment about an hour and a half after students set up their tents. A few minutes later, he began filming with his phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"5poj8\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/loganschiciano/status/1783569410248020251\">video</a> Schiciano posted on social media, individuals can be seen erecting tents on a lawn when they notice Schiciano filming. Two individuals rush toward the student journalist, and one appears to lunge at Schiciano and knock the phone from his hand.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Unfortunately some protesters at Northwestern’s newly-formed encampment weren’t too thrilled with us reporting. <a href=\"https://t.co/kUXFWt9Kvd\">pic.twitter.com/kUXFWt9Kvd</a></p>— Logan Schiciano (@LoganSchiciano) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LoganSchiciano/status/1783569410248020251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 25, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"npqyv\">Schiciano said that his phone fell to the ground, but was undamaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vc0v\">“They tried to claim that I wasn’t allowed to film because they didn’t consent to having their faces shown. I tried to level with them and explain that press — or anyone really — can film in a public space on campus,” Schiciano told the Tracker. “It was a bit of an off-putting start to my coverage there, but thankfully since that incident I haven’t had anything like that and for the most part the organizers have been pretty receptive, understanding that there’s media there trying to cover their encampment.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/dji_fly_20240426_115250_630_17141.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"dsuti\">Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gather at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, on April 26, 2024. The day prior, a protester knocked a phone from the hands of student journalist Logan Schiciano while he reported on the encampment.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Logan Schiciano (Northwestern News Network)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist violently arrested while documenting UT Austin protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-violently-arrested-while-documenting-ut-austin-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-06T19:48:20.765567Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-04T15:18:36.061095Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-04T15:18:35.937182Z",
"date": "2024-04-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Austin",
"longitude": -97.74306,
"latitude": 30.26715,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"570jq\">Freelance photojournalist Joseph Rushmore was violently arrested on April 24, 2024, by Texas Department of Public Safety officers and charged with misdemeanor trespassing while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest on the University of Texas at Austin campus, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"2anah\">Rushmore arrived at the university’s South Lawn between 5:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., he told the Tracker, and saw that law enforcement had cordoned off the lawn and formed a ring around it, surrounded by protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"9g1gt\">The protest generally seemed peaceful, Rushmore said, and for about an hour, law enforcement made periodic arrests of single protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"6pffn\">Then, he said, state troopers formed a line and started using their shields to push the crowd on one side of the lawn, where Rushmore was standing. He was pushed into an alcove on the side of a building and fell on top of protesters who had been pushed along with him.</p><p data-block-key=\"a78ba\">“Their shields are on my back,” Rushmore recounted. “I’m crushing three or four people under me. I’m yelling, ‘We’re crushed, we can’t move.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"460v3\">One of the state troopers pulled Rushmore back into the police line. “At first I thought they were trying to relieve the crush that was happening,” he said. Then a trooper put a knee on Rushmore’s back, shoved his face into the ground and zip-tied his hands.</p><p data-block-key=\"c8anh\">“I yell, ‘I’m press, I’m press, I’m press,’” Rushmore said. “No response. So I stop talking. I realize I’m getting arrested.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eab5k\">Rushmore was held for 30 minutes in a law enforcement van and then taken to Travis County Jail, where he was held overnight.</p><p data-block-key=\"86osq\">At 8 a.m. the following day, Rushmore said, “They come and get me and a group of four protesters; they say, ‘OK, your charges are dropped’; they give us our stuff back; and we’re out the doors.” His camera equipment, which the officers had confiscated overnight, did not appear to have been damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"62oie\">At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-arrested-while-filming-pro-palestinian-protest-at-university-of-texas/\">one other journalist</a> was arrested that day on campus.</p><p data-block-key=\"154nv\">Rushmore said that he believes that law enforcement cracked down simply to prevent the protest from occurring.</p><p data-block-key=\"1rbb8\">“It felt like they were trying to make a point: if you come and do this, we will arrest you,” he said. “I was targeted not for being press but for being there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9oh3\">Rushmore told the Tracker that he had a large camera around his neck but had not been wearing any visible press identification at the time of his arrest, adding: “I feel like the same constitution that protects me as a journalist is also protecting the right to nonviolently protest — which is exactly what was happening. To see that level of nonantagonistic gathering assaulted in the way it was, was pretty astounding.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/042424_UTProtest_101.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"o2b5d\">Photojournalist Joseph Rushmore, pictured at center here, was violently arrested while covering clashes between law enforcement and pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Texas at Austin on April 24, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Texas Department of Public Safety",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2024-04-25",
"detention_date": "2024-04-24",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joseph Rushmore (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Student photojournalist knocked down by police at UT Austin protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-photojournalist-knocked-down-by-police-at-ut-austin-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-07T18:29:05.488529Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-07T18:29:05.488529Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-07T18:29:05.268607Z",
"date": "2024-04-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Austin",
"longitude": -97.74306,
"latitude": 30.26715,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"c3o8x\">Student photojournalist Manoo Sirivelu was pushed and knocked to the ground multiple times by law enforcement while covering a police crackdown on a pro-Palestinian protest April 24, 2024, on the University of Texas at Austin campus, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"863o4\">Sirivelu, the associate photo editor at UT Austin’s student newspaper The Daily Texan, told the Tracker he arrived at the protest at 1:15 p.m. and saw state troopers as well as officers from both the Austin Police Department and the UT Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"dv65e\">Sirivelu’s photo editor, who was also there, told him that she and another photographer had been pushed repeatedly by police on horses, so he said they were on “high alert.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9juv0\">Police deployed riot shields and batons and tackled protesters, pushing them off the school’s Main Mall lawn. Sirivelu was photographing arrests when a Texas Department of Public Safety officer accidentally hit him in the chest with his fists while wrapping his arms around a protester to arrest her.</p><p data-block-key=\"8mtg0\">Sirivelu was also pushed into chains that surround the lawn as the troopers advanced. “My legs were getting crushed against the chains,” he said. “I just fell on my butt. I said, ‘Stop, stop, the chains,’ they paused for a moment and I made my way out,” he recalled. The experience of being pushed into the chains was scary, Sirivelu said, so he took a break in a building near the lawn.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1bmk\">After returning, Sirivelu was standing nearby when UT Austin police officers tackled a protester to the ground. One of them then pushed him down.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rrl8\">“The guy right in front of me shoved my chest,” he said. “I fell. I was lying on the ground, police in front of me. I was pretty shocked when I fell on the floor. The shock came from being on the same level and space as the girl who was being arrested and zip-tied. I was looking her straight in the eyes. I sat up, made some space, found the gap between legs, and took that photo.” The image was <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/may/02/university-protests-gaza-student-pictures?mc_cid=c1dd4cb9bb&mc_eid=d54a865283\">later published by The Guardian</a>. </p><p data-block-key=\"4vrfm\">Sirivelu told the Tracker that he did not suffer any injuries and his camera was undamaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"angt5\">But he stayed farther away from law enforcement for the rest of the day. “I am definitely more situationally aware now,” he said. And after working that day with no press identification, he and his colleagues at The Daily Texan wore press tags the next time they went out to report.</p><p data-block-key=\"7itr9\">“If I had to do the same thing again, despite them having pushed me down, I would,” Sirivelu told the Tracker. “There’s no other way I would have gotten that picture.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZLLR0_-_Reuters_-_Nuri_Vallbon.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"b1er5\">Law enforcement officers confront pro-Palestinian protesters at the University of Texas at Austin on April 24, 2024. Student photojournalist Manoo Sirivelu was knocked down and pushed multiple times by law enforcement while covering the clashes.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Manoo Sirivelu (The Daily Texan)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photographer arrested while filming pro-Palestinian protest at University of Texas",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-arrested-while-filming-pro-palestinian-protest-at-university-of-texas/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-25T21:05:06.683650Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-01T21:49:56.191988Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-01T21:49:56.048606Z",
"date": "2024-04-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Austin",
"longitude": -97.74306,
"latitude": 30.26715,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"62iqk\">A photographer with television station KTBC in Austin was thrown to the ground and arrested by Texas Department of Public Safety officers on April 24, 2024, while filming a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas. The photographer, who was not named by the station, was charged with criminal trespassing and released the next day.</p><p data-block-key=\"9obt6\">As seen in <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/zDN8GEVSCxs?feature=shared&t=9334\">video footage</a> taken by the photographer, who was livestreaming the student protest, and in a <a href=\"https://www.fox7austin.com/news/ut-texas-protest-palestine-israel-gaza-rally-college-university-campus\">report</a> by KTBC, the journalist was filming members of law enforcement as they moved back the protest line when he was either pushed or fell into an officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"fi9b1\">The photographer was then <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Chris_Kuhlman00/status/1783246503907311936\">pulled backward onto the ground</a> by an officer, who can be heard shouting at him to “Get on the ground,” to which the journalist replied, “I was moving.” He was then placed in handcuffs and escorted to a police car outside the protest zone.</p><p data-block-key=\"6in5u\">His video camera continued to film the events, as it was picked up and carried by an unidentified person who walked alongside the photographer and the police until the livestream was cut off.</p><p data-block-key=\"84c1s\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RemadnaKXAN/status/1783245177668141167\">video</a> posted on the social platform X by Nabil Remadna, a reporter with Austin station KXAN-TV, the photographer identifies himself only as “Carlos” and says, “They were pushing me and they said I hit an officer. I didn’t hit an officer. They were pushing.” He added, “I told them I was the press.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This man says he is a member of the press. An officer said his camera hit an officer. The man claims it was not on purpose. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KXAN_News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KXAN_News</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/mZUcTSNJuZ\">pic.twitter.com/mZUcTSNJuZ</a></p>— Nabil Brent Remadna KXAN (@RemadnaKXAN) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RemadnaKXAN/status/1783245177668141167?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 24, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"62iqk\">KTBC <a href=\"https://www.fox7austin.com/news/ut-texas-protest-palestine-israel-gaza-rally-college-university-campus\">said</a> the photographer was booked at Travis County jail and charged with criminal trespassing. He was released the following morning, it <a href=\"https://www.fox7austin.com/news/ut-austin-palestine-rally-protesters-released-from-jail\">added</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"eh3t3\">Nearly <a href=\"https://www.fox7austin.com/news/ut-texas-protest-palestine-israel-gaza-rally-college-university-campus\">60 people</a> were arrested during the April 24 protest, in which students walked out of classes to demand that the university divest from companies supplying weapons to Israel used in its war in Gaza.</p><p data-block-key=\"43khn\">In a statement on X, the Texas Department of Public Safety <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TxDPS/status/1783259674931769787\">said</a> it responded to the University of Texas campus in Austin “at the request of the University and at the direction of Texas Governor Greg Abbott, in order to prevent any unlawful assembly and to support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including criminal trespass."</p><p data-block-key=\"c83ef\">The Texas Department of Public Safety and KTBC didn’t respond to requests for additional information about the incident, including the photographer’s full name and details of the charges.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Remadna_still.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"s9exd\">A screenshot from a video taken during the arrest of KTBC broadcast photographer Carlos Sanchez, who was arrested while filming a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of Texas at Austin on April 24, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Texas Department of Public Safety",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2024-04-25",
"detention_date": "2024-04-24",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-04-25 00:00:00+00:00) Charge dropped against photographer arrested while filming University of Texas protest",
"(2024-04-26 15:31:00+00:00) Assault charges filed, quickly dropped against photographer arrested at Texas protest",
"(2024-04-30 11:02:00+00:00) Broadcast photographer faces two new misdemeanor charges following protest arrest"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Carlos Sanchez (KTBC)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist, camera struck by officer at NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-camera-struck-by-officer-at-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-30T19:19:21.739324Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-30T19:19:21.739324Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-30T19:15:56.780438Z",
"date": "2024-04-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xxf7y\">Independent photojournalist Michael Nigro said a New York City police officer smacked his camera while he was documenting a pro-Palestinian demonstration in Brooklyn on April 23, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"5l15e\">The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/23/nyregion/schumer-seder-protest-brooklyn.html\">reported</a> that hundreds gathered in Grand Army Plaza, one block from the home of Sen. Chuck Schumer, to protest against a final congressional vote approving $26 billion in aid to Israel and to call for a cessation of military support amid the Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"3s6li\">Nigro told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the demonstration was one of the most peaceful he has documented. But while photographing the protests, Nigro said he saw an officer pull out his baton and moved to follow him.</p><p data-block-key=\"cea1b\">“This officer came over and said, ‘Don’t follow my officers.’ I said, ‘I can be here, this is what this badge says I can do,’” he told the Tracker, referring to his visible press credential. “Then he just said, ‘Get away from me!’ and smacked my camera.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ddot0\">Nigro said that his equipment wasn’t damaged, but that officers have routinely obstructed photojournalists documenting pro-Palestinian protests over recent months.</p><p data-block-key=\"9e5u6\">“The tactic of late with the NYPD and the press is to block us from covering it,” Nigro said. “They’ll stand in front of your camera and put their hands in front of it or just push you back and back. Or, the newest tactic has been taking the press and detaining them, sometimes flexy-cuffing them, and then letting them go.”</p><p data-block-key=\"63ifs\">Nigro said such tactics are “extremely troubling” and that journalists covering New York City protests are banding together to watch each others’ backs and document police aggressions against them.</p><p data-block-key=\"ejn8k\">“The fact that some of these officers are getting all these complaints and — whether they’re allegations or substantiated — nothing seems to be happening except what I don’t even want to say is a slap on the wrist but more of a pat on the back,” Nigro said. “I feel that if you don’t hold them accountable it’s just going to get worse.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2nm1g\">The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cwdrj\">At a demonstration on April 23, 2024, New York City police detain protesters who had demanded that the U.S. government end military support for Israel. Independent photojournalist Michael Nigro was struck by police while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Nigro (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck by officer attempting to knock phone from his hands",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-by-officer-attempting-to-knock-phone-from-his-hands/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-29T16:12:19.033366Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-29T16:12:19.033366Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-29T15:11:49.692621Z",
"date": "2024-04-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9wmlp\">Independent photojournalist Gabe Quinones was struck by a New York City police officer who attempted to knock the phone from his hands as he reported on a protest outside Columbia University on April 20, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ttm4\">Protesters at Columbia set up an encampment on campus on April 17 to call for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and divestment from Israeli-owned companies, inspiring similar demonstrations at universities and colleges nationwide.</p><p data-block-key=\"cq8v5\">Quinones told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was wearing his press credentials and working alongside other members of the press when police instructed everyone to move back from the university gates. Quinones said he walked backward to continue filming as he complied with the orders and that an officer became fixated on him.</p><p data-block-key=\"99ljt\">In a clip Quinones <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C6ByVDJO4Xw/\">shared on Instagram</a> with the audio removed, the officer appears to order Quinones to get back before attempting to grab the phone from his hands or knock it to the ground. As he returns to filming, the officer again appears to order him to get back while pushing Quinones and another member of the press away from the advancing police line.</p><p data-block-key=\"4l2cj\">“At Columbia University I witnessed and filmed police as they became aggressive with members of the press trying to document the action,” Quinones wrote. “I watched as they deliberately stood in front of cameras and denied legal observers the opportunity to document a situation where the officers stormed through the middle of the group of peaceful protestors.”</p><p data-block-key=\"db2kk\">The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZEAVB.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"z7crv\">Protesters gather outside Columbia University in New York City in solidarity with the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus on April 20, 2024. A police officer struck photojournalist Gabe Quinones that day when attempting to grab the phone from his hands.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Gabe Quinones (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalists pepper-sprayed, threatened and harassed at campus protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-pepper-sprayed-threatened-and-harassed-at-campus-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-20T19:50:22.632667Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-02T21:00:39.548576Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-02T21:00:39.418682Z",
"date": "2024-04-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9zzgf\"><i>Following the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel’s resulting monthslong war in Gaza, protests have erupted across the United States — and the globe — calling for a cease-fire. Some of the loudest voices have come from U.S. campuses. On April 17, 2024, protesters at Columbia University in New York City set up an encampment on campus, inspiring similar demonstrations nationwide, with students occupying campus buildings or erecting encampments to demand that administrations divest from weapons manufacturers and Israeli-owned companies. As professional and student journalists alike have worked to document these demonstrations, they have been exposed to chemical irritants, harassed by both protesters and counterprotesters, and subject to restrictions enacted by campus authorities or law enforcement. Below is a roundup of such incidents, grouped by campus. This collection will be updated as additional incidents are verified.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"fs69k\"><i>A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-04-17&date_upper=2024-05-10&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\"><i>here</i></a><i>. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/about/\"><i>https://pressfreedomtracker.us/about/</i></a><i>.</i></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"17frc\"></p><p data-block-key=\"22o9h\"><b>Columbia University</b></p><p data-block-key=\"efs8d\"><i>April 20, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"9vehu\">Independent photographer <b>Madison Swart</b> told the Tracker that while documenting a rally outside campus, New York City police officers forced her and other members of the press further and further back from the university gates ahead of making arrests. She said the decision to do so seemed random, and that she had never seen officers push press photographers as far back as they did that night.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"4q462\"><i>April 30, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"9b3pk\">The <b>Columbia Spectator</b>, the university’s student-run newspaper, published <a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/opinion/2024/05/04/letter-from-the-editors-columbia-enabled-the-nypd-to-suppress-free-press-as-it-brutalized-our-peers/\">a letter from the editors</a> detailing how its staff was denied access or harassed by law enforcement while they attempted to document the clearing of Hamilton Hall. Pro-Palestinian protesters had occupied the administrative building early that morning, following the April 18 <a href=\"https://columbianewsservice.com/2024/05/03/protest/\">sweep</a> of the campus encampment that resulted in the arrests of over 100 demonstrators. <b>Isabella Ramírez</b>, editor-in-chief and president, and <b>Esha Karam</b>, managing editor and vice president, wrote that when the campus first went under complete lockdown, they and countless other journalists were stuck outside. Ramírez, Karam and two other Spectator journalists were eventually allowed to return to campus after speaking to the university’s Office of Public Affairs. As New York City police officers advanced on Hamilton Hall, however, they reported that police pushed them further and further from the building. Once the journalists were approximately 400 feet away and near John Jay Hall, where they had left their belongings, officers prevented them from entering the building, instead forcing them off campus via the nearby exit at 114th Street near Amsterdam Avenue.<br/><br/> One block away, at 114th Street and Broadway, police argued with two other Spectator reporters about whether they were indeed journalists, with the officers reportedly “jeering at their makeshift press passes.” In the middle of the block, an officer grabbed another Spectator journalist by the shoulder to move her out of the way while ordering everyone off the street. Another student journalist in the same area was shoved twice, grabbed and pushed to the side by an NYPD officer.<br/><br/>Another group of Spectator journalists were standing on the bridge over Amsterdam Avenue near Columbia Law School when officers rushed at the crowd, threatening arrest. “Officers mocked our journalists and told them to run, swearing at them and laughing as students bolted away in panic,” the editors reported. The officers then chased the reporters until a university public safety officer intervened.<br/></li><li data-block-key=\"4f4hc\"><b>Şeyma Bayram</b>, a fellow at Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, <a href=\"https://x.com/SeymaBayram0/status/1785727176651796832\">reported on social media</a> that she was among the journalists prevented from covering the raid on Hamilton Hall and was removed from campus.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NYPD officers raided the Columbia University campus at the request of Columbia University President Minouche Shafik on Tuesday evening, April 30. The officers also forcibly removed journalists, myself included, who were covering the raid. Photos by me for <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AP</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/LW8J8tA9wO\">pic.twitter.com/LW8J8tA9wO</a></p>— Şeyma Bayram (@SeymaBayram0) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SeymaBayram0/status/1785727176651796832?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 1, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"9zzgf\"><b>Olga Fedorova</b>, a freelance photojournalist, and other members of the press were <a href=\"https://x.com/olgafe_images/status/1786419065843523867\">ordered</a> to leave the area around Hamilton Hall under threat of arrest. At around 9:30 p.m., New York City police officers advanced on the building and began arresting the protesters outside. In footage Fedorova posted to social media a few days later, an officer can be heard telling the journalists, “Get out! Guys, I’m asking you to leave. Now. Now! Get off the stairs!” A second officer can also be heard threatening them with arrest if they don’t comply.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Prior to making arrests at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Columbia_University?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Columbia_University</a> NYPD cleared nearly all journalists from the area, then threatened me and other members of the press with arrest. <a href=\"https://t.co/fNFRh6wey7\">pic.twitter.com/fNFRh6wey7</a></p>— Olya Fedorova (@olgafe_images) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/olgafe_images/status/1786419065843523867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 3, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"i8jmd\"><b>Fordham University</b></p><p data-block-key=\"euje6\"><i>May 1, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"btpf8\">Independent reporter <b>Katie Smith</b> <a href=\"https://x.com/probablyreadit/status/1785794877474718150/history\">recorded</a> as university staff hung a tarp over the window of a campus building to block the press and the public’s view of a protest encampment as New York City police officers prepared to make arrests. New York Focus <a href=\"https://nysfocus.com/2024/05/09/fordham-university-encampment-arrest\">reported</a> that a few dozen students had erected the encampment inside the building earlier that morning and the tarp wasn’t big enough to block the entire window.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NOW: Staff at Fordham University hang a tarp over the window to block the view of the encampment as NYPD prepares to make arrests <br><br>Protesters then broke through police barricades are are now closed heading to the other entrance <a href=\"https://t.co/qOgruDGRHr\">pic.twitter.com/qOgruDGRHr</a></p>— katie smith (@probablyreadit) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/probablyreadit/status/1785794877474718150?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 1, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9zzgf\"><b>Harvard University</b></p><p data-block-key=\"9gla\"><i>May 10, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"bkjt3\">A <b>student journalist</b> for The Harvard Crimson, the university’s student-run newspaper, <a href=\"https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/5/11/harvard-crimson-reporter-involuntary-leave-protest/\">was sent</a> an “involuntary leave of absence notice,” alongside 20 students whom the Harvard administration identified as having remained in the student encampment. The Crimson <a href=\"https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2024/5/10/harvard-palestine-encampment-involuntary-leave/\">reported</a> that the students who were issued notices would not be able to finish their exams or remain on campus, and were functionally trespassed from the campus. The Crimson’s leadership alerted Harvard College officials that they had issued a notice to a freshman reporter who had been on assignment covering the encampment and had not participated in the protest. The College retracted the notice and apologized for the error, but did not offer an explanation for how the mistake was made.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"bcrq\"><b>New York University</b></p><p data-block-key=\"ahf7a\"><i>April 22, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"fokpo\"><b>Samson Tu</b>, a photojournalist for the student newspaper Washington Square News, was pepper-sprayed while reporting on student protests on NYU’s campus. “I was documenting the use of barricades to block police access when I was sprayed,” Tu said. “I did not intend nor did I interfere with police instructions.” He told the Tracker that he was not wearing his New York City press corps credential at the time, and didn’t think the New York police officers targeted him as a journalist. Tu noted that other student journalists from the News were pepper-sprayed as well, but did not identify them.<br/><br/>Tu told the Tracker in June that he filed a report with New York City’s Civilian Complaint Review Board, which investigates police misconduct, specifically excessive use of force, abuse of authority, discourtesy and offensive language. He said that, following his initial interview, he was told it might take months to investigate the incident.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">One of the people NYPD maced last night is a photojournalist for NYU’s student paper, Washington Square News.<br><br>Photo shared with me by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Gabe_Vascon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Gabe_Vascon</a>, a journalism student at NYU. <a href=\"https://t.co/ZBs4C7Ecam\">pic.twitter.com/ZBs4C7Ecam</a></p>— Talia Jane ❤️🔥 (@taliaotg) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/taliaotg/status/1782719521364574630?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 23, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9zzgf\"><b>The City College of New York</b></p><p data-block-key=\"f3d1r\"><i>April 30, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"5odgr\"><b>An unidentified journalist</b> was pepper-sprayed while reporting on protests on the campus that day. In a video shared online, the journalist can be seen receiving treatment, with individuals instructing him to keep blinking while they pour water over his face. Another person, who appears to be holding a professional camera and wearing a press credential, can be seen supporting the man receiving treatment and heard thanking those providing aid. The Tracker was unable to identify the journalists. NYCity News Service, a student news service out of the CUNY Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, <a href=\"https://www.nycitynewsservice.com/2024/05/04/pepper-spray-and-surging-crowds-videos-show-flashpoints-at-city-college/\">reported</a> that university public safety officers deployed a cloud of pepper spray against protesters at close range.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨🇺🇸BREAKING: JOURNALIST PEPPER-SPRAYED AT CCNY<br><br>Police allegedly used pepper spray on a journalist during ongoing campus protests at City College. <br><br>Source: Quds News <a href=\"https://t.co/WdDA1Bc1b9\">https://t.co/WdDA1Bc1b9</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/Z6FiJxpOWe\">pic.twitter.com/Z6FiJxpOWe</a></p>— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarioNawfal/status/1785474358372397062?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 1, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9zzgf\"><b>University of California, Los Angeles</b></p><p data-block-key=\"b54r8\"><i>April 30, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"7quoo\"><b>Anna Dai-Liu</b>, a student journalist for UCLA’s student newspaper the Daily Bruin, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yaxiins/status/1785880589700342026\">reported on social media</a> that she was “gassed” within minutes of entering Dickson Plaza, where pro-Palestinian protesters had erected an encampment at the heart of campus. A group of approximately 100 pro-Israeli counterprotesters attempted to storm the encampment that day, the Bruin <a href=\"https://dailybruin.com/2024/05/01/pro-israel-counter-protesters-attempt-to-storm-encampment-sparking-violence\">reported</a>, tearing down the barricades surrounding it, shooting fireworks inside and releasing chemical irritants.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dailybruin?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@dailybruin</a> reporters return to Dickson Plaza for the second time in 24 hours, a look back on the violence that occurred last night toward students – including me, as I was gassed minutes after entering the plaza: <a href=\"https://t.co/5HOW6Vraej\">https://t.co/5HOW6Vraej</a></p>— Anna Dai-Liu (@yaxiins) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yaxiins/status/1785880589700342026?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 2, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9zzgf\"><i>May 2, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"n1o7\"><b>Three Daily Bruin photographers</b> were <a href=\"https://dailybruin.com/stonewall\">threatened with arrest</a> by California Highway Patrol officers while documenting the police sweep of the encampment early that morning. The officers ordered the photojournalists to leave, despite the fact they were carrying press passes signed by the university police, as well as letters from Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications Mary Osako granting them access to a building on campus to aid in their reporting.</li></ul><p data-block-key=\"d6jna\"><b>University of Southern California</b></p><p data-block-key=\"crtob\"><i>May 5, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"7v1qo\">Student journalists for <b>Annenberg Media</b> were prevented from covering the Los Angeles Police Department’s clearing and destruction of the pro-Palestinian protest encampment on campus early that morning. The student-led news platform <a href=\"https://www.uscannenbergmedia.com/2024/05/05/campus-reopens-after-lapd-clears-divest-from-death-encampment/\">reported</a> that officers established a “press staging area” outside an auditorium several hundred feet from the encampment.<br/><br/> <b>Mohammed Zain Shafi Khan</b>, an editor for Annenberg Media, told <a href=\"https://www.thewrap.com/usc-palestine-student-journalists-police/\">TheWrap</a> that officers pushed student journalists beyond the point where they could see what was happening. “We tried to set up, we tried to ask them multiple times, but they kept pushing media towards the back, towards the end, where we really couldn’t see anything,” Khan said. “We really had to sort of put ourselves at risk, actually, to sort of go towards the front so we could document.”<br/><br/>Annenberg Media reporter <b>Makayla Idelburg</b>, who was with Khan that night, <a href=\"https://x.com/IcebergMakayla/status/1787363243868180528\">recorded</a> as officers ordered her to return to the staging area or leave campus. One of the officers can be heard saying, “If you mouth off, we’re going to go ahead and treat you like the protesters. Act like the media.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Early this morning, myself and other student journalists were prevented from gaining appropriate access to cover the encampment clear-out. When I questioned the officer, I received aggressive responses and threats. <br><br>*this is my vid*<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/USC?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#USC</a><a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/university_students?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#university_students</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/studentjournalism?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#studentjournalism</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/GtceHKiVlh\">pic.twitter.com/GtceHKiVlh</a></p>— Makayla Idelburg (@IcebergMakayla) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IcebergMakayla/status/1787363243868180528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 6, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"9zzgf\"><b>Jeremy Lindenfeld</b>, a freelance reporter, was also among the members of the press <a href=\"https://x.com/jeremotographs/status/1787085353398223014\">ordered back</a> to a media staging area hundreds of feet away from the encampment. An officer can be heard telling him to go there “before you get hit by an officer.” Lindenfeld also filmed as USC Journalism professor Alan Mittelstaedt <a href=\"https://x.com/jeremotographs/status/1787078373468262754\">argued</a> with an officer about the staging area being hundreds of feet from the encampment as he and multiple other journalists were ordered to remain on the far side of the auditorium.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD giving illegal orders moving media hundreds of feet away from the encampment. We are too far to see anything. <a href=\"https://t.co/eO43aM2vdJ\">pic.twitter.com/eO43aM2vdJ</a></p>— Jeremy Lindenfeld (@jeremotographs) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jeremotographs/status/1787085353398223014?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 5, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"9zzgf\">Freelance journalist <b>Jon Peltz</b> was first directed out of view of the encampment and then off campus. In <a href=\"https://x.com/JonnyPeltz/status/1787091757395857802\">footage</a> he posted on social media, officers direct the crowd — which appears to consist of protesters, legal observers and members of the press — to “leave the area.” The crowd appears to be ushered through the gate of a wrought iron fence that is then closed behind them.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Got pushed out by a baton. <a href=\"https://t.co/j68vNSMJdM\">pic.twitter.com/j68vNSMJdM</a></p>— Jon peltz (@JonnyPeltz) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JonnyPeltz/status/1787091757395857802?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 5, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9zzgf\"><b>University of Texas at Austin</b></p><p data-block-key=\"2ntgd\"><i>April 29, 2024</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"cf8nv\"><b>Maryam Ahmed</b>, a senior news reporter for the student newspaper The Daily Texan, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Maryamahm92/status/1785918524583522763\">posted on social media</a> that she was pepper-sprayed and had a flash-bang grenade “knock out” her eardrums while reporting on the protests on the UT Austin campus. In her <a href=\"https://thedailytexan.com/2024/04/29/ut-austin-pro-palestine-encampment-dismantled-by-law-enforcement-over-100-protesters-arrested/\">coverage</a> of law enforcement’s dismantling of the protest encampment on April 29, she wrote that university police officers issued their first dispersal order shortly after 1 p.m. Department of Public Safety officers arrived on campus shortly after, and law enforcement began making the first arrests at 1:45 p.m. Just under three hours later, Ahmed wrote, officers began pepper-spraying protesters and set off two flash-bang grenades.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">In the last week I’ve been pepper sprayed; I’ve had flashbangs knock out my eardrums; I’ve seen protesters beaten, choked and arrested (footage from Monday’s protest 4/29 ⬇️ TW: violence). It’s been a hell of a week. <a href=\"https://t.co/9SaxlGN7xK\">pic.twitter.com/9SaxlGN7xK</a></p>— Maryam Ahmed (@Maryamahm92) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Maryamahm92/status/1785918524583522763?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 2, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZV3WP.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"v4o9g\">Columbia University students gather at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment on the New York City campus on April 29, 2024. Journalists reporting on similar encampments across the country faced chemical irritants, harassment, threats and restricted access.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
"title": "Photojournalist detained while documenting NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-detained-while-documenting-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-18T18:41:50.952263Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-26T21:26:46.187989Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-26T21:26:46.047605Z",
"date": "2024-04-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"v5n9v\">Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova was repeatedly shoved and briefly detained by New York Police Department officers while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on April 15, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"4j211\">Fedorova told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was on assignment for FreedomNews.TV covering a protest that shut down the Brooklyn Bridge. The demonstration was part of a national campaign to block roads on Tax Day to disrupt economies and pressure leaders into advocating for a cease-fire, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/15/world/middleeast/ceasefire-palestine-gaza-protest.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3u7od\">Protesters and police were engaged in what Fedorova described as a game of cat and mouse, as officers attempted to prevent the demonstration from moving onto the bridge. Fedorova said officers repeatedly pushed her as she was filming while walking backward, nearly knocking her over.</p><p data-block-key=\"7kphh\">As a group of protesters made their way onto the bridge at around 3:30 p.m., blocking vehicular traffic, Fedorova told the Tracker she and fellow photojournalists <a href=\"/all-incidents/status-coup-photojournalist-briefly-detained-while-covering-nyc-protest/\">Jon Farina</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-pro-palestinian-protest-in-nyc/\">Neil Constantine</a> followed in order to continue their coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"8nqu2\">“The protesters were being chased by cops on bicycles, and a group of them climbed over to the pedestrian side in order to evade the bicycle unit,” Fedorova said.</p><p data-block-key=\"624ea\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1779966316100604000\">footage</a> captured by Farina, he and Fedorova can be heard identifying themselves as press. An officer responds that he understands but orders them to keep moving across the bridge.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨NYPD officers temporarily detain Status Coup cameraman <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JonFarinaPhoto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JonFarinaPhoto</a>, who has covered over 40 Ceasefire protests in NYC and D.C for Status Coup. "I can't climb over [the fence], I've got too much equipment on," Jon told officers. They eventually un-cuffed him/let him go... <a href=\"https://t.co/gSIzB5mWuc\">pic.twitter.com/gSIzB5mWuc</a></p>— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1779966316100604000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"v5n9v\">After most of the protesters had climbed the fence or been arrested, Fedorova said she decided to climb over the fence as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"br17c\">“As I approached the fence and had my back turned to the cops — on my backpack I have a patch that says ‘PRESS’ — one of them grabbed me and pulled me by the hair backwards,” Fedorova said. “I identified myself as press and showed him my press badge, but they cuffed me and then cuffed Jon Farina.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dv5he\">Fedorova said both she and Farina identified as press multiple times, but were detained in zip-tie cuffs for approximately 10 minutes. The officers called the department’s Legal Bureau, she said, which advised them to release the journalists without charge.</p><p data-block-key=\"fkjjg\">“There’s a pattern of what seems to be ignorance or lack of understanding of what the press does or the rights of the press,” Fedorova said. “Sometimes it’s like some of the officers have never seen a press badge before or haven’t been educated as to what that is.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e9fp8\">She told the Tracker she plans to file a complaint with the deputy commissioner of public information. The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Fedorova_arrest.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"65gr4\">Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova, right, was briefly detained and handcuffed by New York Police Department officers while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest that shut down the Brooklyn Bridge on April 15, 2024. She was released without charges.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "New York",
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"protest"
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist arrested at pro-Palestinian protest in NYC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-at-pro-palestinian-protest-in-nyc/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-18T19:29:20.681998Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-28T15:13:17.031269Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-28T15:05:15.047432Z",
"date": "2024-04-15",
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"longitude": -74.00597,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7fq8e\">Neil Constantine, a photojournalist for the monthly newspaper The Indypendent, was arrested by New York Police Department officers while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on April 15, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"41lbh\">Constantine told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived to document the protest as demonstrators gathered in front of the New York Stock Exchange in Manhattan at around 2 p.m. Protesters then made their way toward City Hall and the Brooklyn Bridge. The demonstration was part of a national campaign to block roads on Tax Day to disrupt economies and pressure leaders into advocating for a cease-fire, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/15/world/middleeast/ceasefire-palestine-gaza-protest.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"b3o1f\">Police had blocked most entrances to the bridge, Constantine said, but a group of at least 100 protesters found a way onto the roadway at around 3:30 p.m., blocking vehicular traffic. Constantine said he followed the demonstrators to continue his coverage and was toward the back of the group.</p><p data-block-key=\"3rua1\">Bicycle officers with the Strategic Response Group followed the protesters as they marched across the bridge, and when protesters began running to evade arrest, Constantine said he remained behind.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ood8\">“Two officers on bikes pulled up and told me to stop and that I was under arrest,” Constantine said. “I wasn’t given an order to get off the bridge or disperse or anything, I was just arrested.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aumi5\">Constantine told the Tracker that he identified himself as a journalist to the officers and that both his city-issued and National Press Photographers Association credentials were visible. One of the officers told him that he didn’t care and that he was trespassing.</p><p data-block-key=\"9f3e0\">The photojournalist was placed in zip-tie cuffs and loaded into a van with eight demonstrators. Two other photojournalists, <a href=\"/all-incidents/status-coup-photojournalist-briefly-detained-while-covering-nyc-protest/\">Jon Farina</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-detained-while-documenting-nyc-protest/\">Olga Fedorova</a>, were briefly detained by police after the majority of protesters had been arrested or had successfully climbed over a fence to the bike lane.</p><p data-block-key=\"7964v\">Constantine said he was then taken to police headquarters in Manhattan for processing. Throughout his booking process, he identified himself as a member of the press, which he said seemed to surprise some of the officers, one of whom asked, “Wait, really? Was your pass visible?”</p><p data-block-key=\"b8u73\">“I ended up being let out first, or close to first, even though I wasn’t the first one in,” Constantine told the Tracker. “At the summons desk, when they were trying to get my paperwork in order, one of the officers told a higher-up, ‘Oh, he’s the one.’ And the other said, ‘He’s that one? He needs to go. You need to get him out of here now.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"21bih\">The photojournalist was released at approximately 7:30 p.m. with a summons for walking on the roadway. His initial appearance hearing is scheduled for May 3. Constantine said he was able to resume his coverage, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheIndypendent/status/1780039621700636862\">filming</a> as demonstrators were released and began protesting again.</p><p data-block-key=\"49a7e\">Constantine told the Tracker that police aggression toward protests and the journalists covering them has ramped up in recent months.</p><p data-block-key=\"665k6\">“Since January, they’ve started cracking down on many aspects of protesting. They’ve started going after you if you don’t have a permit and start using a microphone and now also for being in the street,” Constantine told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2v19\">The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"nkuaw\">Shortly after Neil Constantine, photojournalist for The Indypendent, captured this image of demonstrators marching across the Brooklyn Bridge in New York City on April 15, 2024, he was arrested and charged with walking in the roadway.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2024-04-15",
"detention_date": "2024-04-15",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
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},
"updates": [
"(2024-06-20 00:00:00+00:00) Charge dropped against photojournalist arrested during New York City protest"
],
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],
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"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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"Neil Constantine (The Indypendent)"
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},
{
"title": "Status Coup photojournalist briefly detained while covering NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/status-coup-photojournalist-briefly-detained-while-covering-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-18T19:13:42.934365Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-18T19:35:22.812948Z",
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"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nd69a\">Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina was briefly detained by New York Police Department officers while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on April 15, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"cn3pi\">Farina told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he documented the protest as demonstrators made their way from Wall Street in Manhattan to the Brooklyn Bridge, shutting it down. The demonstration was part of a national campaign to block roads on Tax Day to disrupt economies and pressure leaders into advocating for a cease-fire, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/15/world/middleeast/ceasefire-palestine-gaza-protest.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"71nd\">Police had blocked most entrances to the bridge, Farina said, but a group of approximately 100 protesters found a way onto the roadway at around 3:30 p.m., blocking vehicular traffic. Farina said he and freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova followed the demonstrators to continue their coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"aonpn\">Bicycle officers with the Strategic Response Group followed the protesters as they marched across the bridge, then began to arrest them one by one.</p><p data-block-key=\"67tbl\">“I stayed behind with Olga to document as the rest of the protest continued forward,” Farina said. “The officers started telling us to move along, and they were in Olga’s face trying to prevent her from documenting the arrests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ap9g2\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1779966316100604000\">footage</a> captured by Farina, he and Fedorova can be heard identifying themselves as press, and an officer responds that he understands but orders them to keep moving across the bridge. A few moments later, another officer orders Farina to climb over the fence to the pedestrian side.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨NYPD officers temporarily detain Status Coup cameraman <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JonFarinaPhoto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JonFarinaPhoto</a>, who has covered over 40 Ceasefire protests in NYC and D.C for Status Coup. "I can't climb over [the fence], I've got too much equipment on," Jon told officers. They eventually un-cuffed him/let him go... <a href=\"https://t.co/gSIzB5mWuc\">pic.twitter.com/gSIzB5mWuc</a></p>— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1779966316100604000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 15, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nd69a\">Farina said he responded that he had too much equipment and that he didn’t want to risk damaging it, so he told the officer that he’d walk to the end of the bridge. When Fedorova saw that he wasn’t climbing over she also stayed to walk with him, Farina told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"3mb9g\">As they neared the end of the bridge, officers boxed in <a href=\"/all-incidents/photojournalist-detained-while-documenting-nyc-protest/\">Fedorova</a> and handcuffed her, despite her protestations that she was a member of the press documenting the demonstration. Moments later, Farina was detained and cuffed with zip ties as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"d56sp\">“We’re in the street documenting because there’s action happening — officers are making arrests or protesters are marching. We’re not there for no reason,” Farina told the Tracker. “If we can’t be there to properly document the arrests, then people aren’t going to see the truth of what’s happening on the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c386t\">In an interview with the Tracker, Fedorova said the two of them were detained for approximately 10 minutes. The officers called the department’s Legal Bureau, she said, which advised them to release the journalists without charge.</p><p data-block-key=\"892ch\">Farina contended that the lack of charges shows that they shouldn’t have been detained in the first place and that such actions are part of a larger problem with the NYPD’s response to demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0ld1\">“This is an issue and it’s been growing each week, every protest. The police, the violence and the chaos they cause, and the assaulting of journalists and the detaining of journalists, it’s just been getting worse,” Farina said. “I’m hoping we can fight back against this because it’s getting out of control.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bnpe0\">Farina told the Tracker he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-by-police-twice-while-documenting-nyc-protest/\">assaulted</a> while covering a separate pro-Palestinian protest on March 28. The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Farina2x.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3t529\">In screenshots of footage captured by a bystander, New York Police Department officers detain Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina while he was covering a pro-Palestinian protest. He was released without charges after approximately 10 minutes.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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},
{
"title": "Independent photojournalist to stand trial on charges from NYC protest arrest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photojournalist-to-stand-trial-on-charges-from-nyc-protest-arrest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-25T16:59:43.452299Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-06T16:03:29.252759Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-06T16:03:29.035167Z",
"date": "2024-03-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dphq0\">Independent photojournalist Javier Soriano was arrested while covering a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on March 30, 2024, according to social media posts and court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"5qah\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JavierSorianoNY/status/1774465379097616811\">post on social media</a>, Soriano wrote that he was arrested by New York Police Department officers while covering a “<a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/30/land-day-what-happened-in-palestine-in-1976\">Land Day</a>” march from Manhattan’s City Hall Park to Union Square to commemorate a deadly 1976 protest in Israel over the seizure of Palestinian land.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thanks Neil and Talia for the pic. of NYPD cops arresting me while I was covering the march <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/LandDay?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#LandDay</a> organized by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WOLPalestine?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WOLPalestine</a>.<br><br>I love the image of Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata. “Land and freedom” was Zapata's motto.Mexican Pres. AMLO dedicated 2019 to Emiliano Zapata. <a href=\"https://t.co/mXGrsL5Jdd\">https://t.co/mXGrsL5Jdd</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/VxQyD5fgTP\">pic.twitter.com/VxQyD5fgTP</a></p>— Javier Soriano (@JavierSorianoNY) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JavierSorianoNY/status/1774465379097616811?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 31, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dphq0\">The photojournalist could clearly be seen wearing press credentials at the time of his arrest in a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C5KlSohM7Ua/\">photo</a> captured by Neil Constantine, a photojournalist for the monthly newspaper The Indypendent.</p><p data-block-key=\"1d90v\">Soriano was charged with walking in the roadway, according to court records. He told the Tracker that he opted to move forward with a trial during his initial appearance hearing on April 18, but declined to comment further. His bench trial is scheduled for May 2.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Soriano2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"dx5qo\">Independent photojournalist Javier Soriano, center, was arrested and charged with walking in the roadway while reporting on a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on March 30, 2024. He is set to face trial on the charge in May.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-03-30",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-05-02 11:27:00+00:00) Charges dropped against independent photojournalist arrested at NYC protest"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Javier Soriano (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved by police twice while documenting NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-by-police-twice-while-documenting-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-18T19:08:47.444038Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-18T19:34:52.283123Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-18T19:34:52.193268Z",
"date": "2024-03-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yqwbi\">Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina was shoved multiple times by a police officer while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest in New York City on March 28, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"2p95u\">Farina told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10owcIuZ2mo&t=6400s\">reporting live</a> on the demonstration held outside Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, where Democrats were holding a reelection <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/democrats-election-2024-fundraiser-new-york-ebfbc81d3b70f38745ae00c7ce6a382d\">campaign fundraiser</a> for President Joe Biden.</p><p data-block-key=\"6d5fc\">Demonstrators were marching in the street and blocking traffic, Farina said, when police began making arrests, targeting one of the organizers.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ng9d\">“I’m in the street documenting, my credentials are out and I’m obviously filming,” Farina told the Tracker. “A cop grabs me by my jacket and shoves me back. I tell him that I’m press and that I can be here to document. And he just kept screaming in my face, ‘Get on the sidewalk!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"as99t\">As the march continued, Farina said he looked for the officer in order to obtain his name and badge number. Once he saw him, the photojournalist said he walked into a crosswalk that the officer was nearing and filmed his badge.</p><p data-block-key=\"eft8b\">“He grabbed me again by my shirt, by my jacket, and lifted me up off the street and pushed me all the way back onto the sidewalk,” Farina said. “He bruised up my arm from that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3uh42\">In Farina’s <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/live/10owcIuZ2mo?feature=shared&t=6480\">footage of the second encounter</a>, the officer can be heard threatening the photojournalist with arrest the next time he steps foot in the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"78sge\">Farina told the Tracker that the incident was symptomatic of a police crackdown on protests and the press that covers them.</p><p data-block-key=\"ac7ud\">“This is just getting worse. NYPD is getting worse. Attacks on journalists are getting worse,” he said. “It’s the same strategy to eliminate the witness so that there’s no documentation, no proof of crimes being committed.”</p><p data-block-key=\"esd9r\">At a protest a few days later, Farina said he approached a police captain to identify himself as a journalist and “set some ground rules” for covering the protest, telling the officer that he had been assaulted a few days prior.</p><p data-block-key=\"7r8m6\">“He kind of just said, ‘Oh, when things are getting crazy and chaotic, we don’t know who’s who, and we can’t distinguish who’s press and who’s not,’” Farina recounted. “I said, ‘Well that’s why we have our credentials out. Once you see these and our cameras, you should know we’re there documenting and just leave us alone.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"b61uo\">The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Farina_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0v7jf\">A New York Police Department officer yells at Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina moments before grabbing and shoving the journalist backward during a protest on March 28, 2024. The same officer grabbed Farina a second time that day, bruising his arm.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jon Farina (Status Coup)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Oklahoma TV station sues after its journalists barred from public meetings",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oklahoma-tv-station-sues-after-its-journalists-barred-from-public-meetings/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-26T18:51:53.293248Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-12T19:47:21.204818Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-12T19:47:20.956545Z",
"date": "2024-03-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Oklahoma City",
"longitude": -97.51643,
"latitude": 35.46756,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2fn9\">Journalists from Oklahoma City broadcast station KFOR-TV were barred from attending Oklahoma State Board of Education meetings and news conferences on four occasions in 2024, starting in March. The outlet’s parent company and three of its journalists filed a federal lawsuit Sept. 23 against the state officials behind the exclusions.</p><p data-block-key=\"295qq\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.ifs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Complaint.pdf\">complaint</a>, KFOR-TV journalists were the only members of the press sent to an “overflow” room to observe the meetings on March 28, June 27, July 31 and Aug. 22 — despite ample space in the board meeting room — and were barred from attending the subsequent news conferences.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6392\">Dan Isett, the press secretary for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, made it clear that the outlet as a whole was excluded, despite the station having been granted two statehouse press credentials by the state’s Legislative Services Bureau.</p><p data-block-key=\"uo8d\">After watching a livestream of the July 31 board meeting from the overflow room, reporter Dylan Brown and photographer Kevin Josefy attempted to attend the news conference with Superintendent Ryan Walters. But, the suit said, Isett stopped them before they reached the door.</p><p data-block-key=\"3jb28\">In <a href=\"https://www.ifs.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Kfor-Osde-1.mp4\">footage of the interaction</a> that followed, Brown asks Isett, “We can’t ask him (Walters) questions?” to which Isett responds, “No, that’s a privilege for press.” The journalists defend the reputation of the station, the oldest TV broadcaster in the state, and Josefy then asks, “You’re saying we aren’t a legitimate news organization? Is that what you are trying to say?” Isett simply responds, “Yes.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dhgrb\">During a similar incident on Aug. 22 that was also recorded, Isett intercepted Brown and Josefy at the door of a postmeeting news conference, placing his hands on Brown and blocking him from entering.</p><p data-block-key=\"7l4lm\">Brown asked Isett to give a reason why they were not permitted in the room, but Isett moved to close the door, preventing their entry. As he did so, Brown said, “If you close that door on me you’re restricting my First Amendment rights of access to a public official, sir. That’s what you’re doing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ek2e8\">When <a href=\"https://x.com/mikesimonsphoto/status/1826810578154697070\">asked</a> by another journalist inside why KFOR-TV was being denied access, Isett reportedly said, “I don’t think they’re a legitimate news organization.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Dan Isett with the State Department of Education bars <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kfor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kfor</a> journalists from entering the room for a news conference with Superintendent Ryan Walters. When asked why Isett said, "I don't think they're a legitimate news organization." <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/oklaed?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#oklaed</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/oklahoma?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#oklahoma</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/journalism?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#journalism</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/VgFWYP3Jnl\">pic.twitter.com/VgFWYP3Jnl</a></p>— Mike Simons (@mikesimonsphoto) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mikesimonsphoto/status/1826810578154697070?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 23, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2fn9\">The Society of Professional Journalists <a href=\"https://www.spj.org/news.asp?ref=3035\">condemned</a> the barring of the KFOR-TV journalists, saying that it is not within Isett’s power to choose which outlets are “legitimate.”</p><p data-block-key=\"acevp\">“This is a blatant violation of press freedom by a government agency,” SPJ National President Ashanti-Blaize Hopkins said. “By denying these journalists access to the news conference, he illegally prevented them from carrying out their duty to inform the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"977je\">SPJ said that when it reached Isett via email, he replied, “Our office works with hundreds of journalists across the state and around the country to keep the public informed about the success Oklahoma students are seeing under Superintendent Walters. We will not work with tabloids who consistently editorialize and report false information rather than inform the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"57o2t\">Isett did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for further comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f2fn9\">The lawsuit argued that the exclusion of KFOR-TV is in retaliation for the outlet’s editorial stance, and requested a temporary restraining order requiring that its journalists be granted full access to upcoming Board of Education meetings, including one <a href=\"https://x.com/dylantbrown/status/1839297426127204412\">on Sept. 26</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"30oic\">A judge <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.okwd.128571/gov.uscourts.okwd.128571.14.0_1.pdf\">granted the request</a> during a hearing on Sept. 25, ruling that the station is likely to succeed in its First Amendment claim against the state officials and that the justification for the exclusion is “little more than a ruse.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7gt5\">District Judge Bernard Jones wrote that permitting a governmental agency to restrict access based on a unilateral decision that an outlet’s reporting is false “would empower the government to act as the final arbiter of truth, chilling investigative journalism and suppressing dissenting viewpoints.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ca0nd\">“The First Amendment has never permitted the government to silence the press simply because it disagrees with the content of its reporting,” Jones added.</p><p data-block-key=\"689hg\">Brown <a href=\"https://x.com/dylantbrown/status/1839044672187957407\">posted</a> on the social platform X about the order and quoted a response from Isett: “A judge can give KFOR privileges, but that doesn’t keep the organization from being fake news.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5hg06\">The temporary restraining order grants KFOR-TV access for two weeks while hearings in the case continue, which will include the station’s request for a preliminary injunction to ensure access through the duration of the suit.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Soooo….we were let in. An hour early. OSDE meeting gets underway in an hour! Not in the overflow room, so this is different. Less than 24 hours after a federal judge said “let them in” - <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kfor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kfor</a> is let in! <a href=\"https://t.co/0j33nuq85u\">pic.twitter.com/0j33nuq85u</a></p>— Dylan Brown (@dylantbrown) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dylantbrown/status/1839297426127204412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 26, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/KFOR-TV_denial.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"wc53s\">Dan Isett, director of communications for the Oklahoma State Department of Education, prevents KFOR-TV journalists Dylan Brown and Kevin Josefy from attending a news conference after a state Board of Education meeting on Aug. 22, 2024.</p>",
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"case_number": "5:24-cv-00980",
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"name": "Oklahoma",
"abbreviation": "OK"
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"(2024-12-11 00:00:00+00:00) Oklahoma TV journalists win access to public meetings"
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{
"title": "Tennessee reporter arrested while covering student protest against Israel-Gaza war",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-reporter-arrested-while-covering-student-protest-against-israel-gaza-war/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-28T18:33:43.195920Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-29T16:09:55.698142Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-03-29T16:09:55.547208Z",
"date": "2024-03-26",
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"city": "Nashville",
"longitude": -86.78444,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"v3guo\">Eli Motycka, a reporter for the alternative newsweekly Nashville Scene, was arrested while covering a student protest at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee on March 26, 2024. The trespassing charge against the journalist was dropped after a few hours.</p><p data-block-key=\"bn98v\">Motycka told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived on campus around noon to report on an ongoing sit-in student protesters were holding at the Kirkland Hall administrative building in opposition to the Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"bshej\">The Vanderbilt Hustler, the university’s student-run newspaper, <a href=\"https://vanderbilthustler.com/2024/03/26/inside-kirkland-hall-vanderbilt-divest-coalition-protestors-report-inhumane-treatment-amid-student-suspensions-and-arrest-of-reporter/\">reported</a> that the demonstrators were calling on the administration to allow the student government to vote on participating in the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement.</p><p data-block-key=\"d03k6\">After calling and texting his press contacts at the university for comment, Motycka told the Tracker he went to one of the doors of the hall and spoke with a Vanderbilt University Police Department officer standing guard there.</p><p data-block-key=\"bv4b7\">“I asked if I could go inside, after identifying myself as a journalist. He told me that he was under orders not to let anyone in and that he wished he could let me in but he couldn’t,” Motycka said. “I went to other doors and talked to at least four officers and each of them told me different things: Some told me there was construction going on, some told me that the building was closed, some told me that they might be able to let me in later.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1dke9\">After his colleague, photographer Hamilton Matthew Masters, arrived on campus, Motycka said he spoke to a final VUPD officer through a door and asked who he should contact for comment or about being granted access to the building. He said that at no point was he told to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"43l1p\">At approximately 1:30 p.m., two officers approached the journalists, ordered Motycka to put his hands behind his back and told him he was under arrest for criminal trespassing.</p><p data-block-key=\"d7rmv\">In footage of the arrest captured by Masters, an officer can be heard telling Motycka that he had previously been told to leave under threat of arrest, which Motycka disputed.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Scene reporter Eli Motycka (<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ejmotycka?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ejmotycka</a>) was arrested by Vanderbilt police while reporting on student protests. <a href=\"https://t.co/5HPcRHtI7H\">pic.twitter.com/5HPcRHtI7H</a></p>— Nashville Scene (@NashvilleScene) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NashvilleScene/status/1772700392058454389?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">March 26, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"v3guo\">“No, I haven’t been warned,” Motycka says. “I am here doing my job and I will happily leave, if someone warns me that I’m in danger of trespassing, to avoid all of this.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ui3v\">The officers allowed Masters to take all of Motycka’s belongings before escorting him to a VUPD vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mp6a\">“I’m a credentialed member of the media. I’m a reporter for the Nashville Scene. I wasn’t warned today that I’d be taken off of this campus in handcuffs,” Motycka says in Masters’ footage. “I was here interviewing students. I was here witnessing a protest. And now it’s about me, I guess.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3jitb\">Motycka told the Tracker that he was taken to the Downtown Detention Center, where he was processed and fingerprinted. He was released shortly after 4 p.m. after a public defender informed him that Judicial Magistrate Timothy Lee had determined there was no probable cause and dropped the charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ftoe\">In a <a href=\"https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/scene-reporter-arrested/article_522c14b8-eba6-11ee-b344-ebb6b5f6f03e.html\">statement to the Scene</a>, Nashville District Attorney Glenn Funk said, “This office will not prosecute a journalist for peacefully doing his or her job.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b1h7e\">Motycka’s arresting officer drove him back to campus soon after, Motycka said. The officer said he believed the arrest was justified and told Motycka that he would risk further arrest if he returned to campus without a legitimate purpose and authorization from the administration.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e7cp\">A different VUPD officer began following Motycka once he was returned to campus, he told the Tracker. Unclear whether Motycka could be rearrested, his editor advised him to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"4uorp\">In a written statement to the Tracker, a Vanderbilt University spokesperson said that Kirkland Hall was on lockdown and police were on “high alert” when Motycka repeatedly attempted to enter the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"9d6r8\">“It has long been the practice of Vanderbilt University to grant access to members of the media who request and receive clearance to be on campus,” the statement said. “In yesterday’s case, though the reporter made his presence known, he did not have permission to access locked administrative buildings, which are on private property.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a8614\">Motycka told the Tracker that he had never been told he needed clearance to be on campus. He added that while there are no pending charges, he is concerned about his ability to continue reporting on the university and the broader chilling effect of his arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"3cdkr\">“I definitely feel intimidated to go back to campus, because I’m not sure of whether and where I can and can’t be to do my job,” he told the Tracker. “I think it functions as an act of intimidation against the press and has a cooling effect on all reporters in Nashville who may want to report on Vanderbilt, who now feel that they could be arrested without warning.”</p><p data-block-key=\"97ggu\">D. Patrick Rodgers, the editor-in-chief of the Scene, expressed his dismay over Motycka’s arrest and his support for Motycka, Masters and Scene reporter Kelsey Beyeler for their coverage of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"3euaa\">“It's alarming and disappointing that Vanderbilt University — with so many eyes on them as a result of ongoing student protests — would arrest a reporter in the process of doing his job,” Rodgers said. “We’ll have more coverage in the days to come.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tte6x\">Nashville Scene reporter Eli Motycka was arrested by Vanderbilt University Police while reporting on a student sit-in at the Tennessee campus on March 26, 2024. The trespassing charge against him was dropped later that day.</p>",
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{
"title": "Missouri attorney general subpoenas Media Matters after report on X",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/missouri-attorney-general-subpoenas-media-matters-after-report-on-x/",
"first_published_at": "2024-04-18T16:37:53.784895Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-14T19:47:44.732413Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sr2vu\">Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey issued a civil investigative demand, a form of subpoena, to Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Media Matters for America on March 25, 2024, for documents related to its reporting about the social platform X. A day later, Bailey filed a lawsuit in Missouri circuit court seeking to enforce his demand, according to court documents reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"aid31\">On Nov. 16, 2023, Media Matters published a <a href=\"https://www.mediamatters.org/twitter/musk-endorses-antisemitic-conspiracy-theory-x-has-been-placing-ads-apple-bravo-ibm-oracle\">report</a> written by its investigative reporter Eric Hananoki that found advertisements for major brands appeared next to pro-Nazi posts on X. Following the report’s publication and a post on X by owner Elon Musk that appeared to endorse an antisemitic conspiracy theory, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/17/technology/elon-musk-twitter-x-advertisers.html\">several</a> major companies <a href=\"https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/17/23965928/apple-x-ads-elon-musk-antisemitic-posts\">paused</a> their advertising on the platform.</p><p data-block-key=\"cp5lg\">The report touched off a <a href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/news/missouri-attorney-general-promises-elon-musk-hes-investigating-media-matters-over-nazi-report/\">firestorm</a> of response from X and from Republican politicians across the country. X filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.txnd.383454/gov.uscourts.txnd.383454.1.0_1.pdf\">lawsuit</a> on Nov. 20 against both Media Matters and Hananoki, alleging that they had manipulated the platform’s algorithms to produce the report’s findings in order to harm X’s relationship with advertisers. (Media Matters filed a motion to dismiss X’s suit in March 2024.)</p><p data-block-key=\"drg8p\">Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also cited allegations of algorithm manipulation in a probe he initiated into “potential fraudulent activity,” issuing his own <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/texas-attorney-general-subpoenas-media-matters-after-report-on-x/\">civil investigative demand</a> on Dec. 1, 2023, that Media Matters turn over documents related to its reporting on X. Media Matters <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/internet/media-matters-elon-musk-texas-attorney-general-ken-paxton-rcna129402\">sued</a> to block that demand and was granted a preliminary injunction against Paxton in April 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"cnk7i\">Bailey opened his investigation into Media Matters on Dec. 11, 2023, <a href=\"https://ago.mo.gov/wp-content/uploads/2023.12.11-Notice-of-Investigation-MMFA-Final.pdf\">alleging</a> that it appeared to have used the “coordinated, inauthentic activity” described in X’s lawsuit “to solicit charitable donations from consumers.” He said that his office would look into whether this violated Missouri’s consumer protection laws, “including laws that prohibit nonprofit entities from soliciting funds under false pretenses.” Bailey instructed the nonprofit to preserve all records related to the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"37psd\">Three days later, Bailey <a href=\"https://ago.mo.gov/attorney-general-bailey-directs-letter-to-advertisers-amidst-media-matters-investigation/\">announced</a> that he and then-Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (now serving as governor) had sent letters to several major companies that paused their advertising on X, including Apple, Disney, IBM and Sony, informing them of the investigation into Media Matters.</p><p data-block-key=\"4kd17\">Bailey then issued a civil investigative demand similar to Paxton’s and <a href=\"https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/ago.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=55bd24fd8f5e7d3dc227d1072&id=db4680359b&e=5061322ab3__;!!EErPFA7f--AJOw!ETYd6-r89czF7zE17gLE1hiQGpb-d6nFvURvBmLd5C5hnpNE48q4-5B7kDa_RWdG0trenZqszeKvVFdR6_JbXWk$\">petitioned</a> a state court to enforce it, arguing that given Media Matters’ response to Paxton, it was unlikely to comply by his April 15 deadline.</p><p data-block-key=\"8nckc\">Bailey’s <a href=\"https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/ago.us20.list-manage.com/track/click?u=55bd24fd8f5e7d3dc227d1072&id=b6ed931e46&e=5061322ab3__;!!EErPFA7f--AJOw!ETYd6-r89czF7zE17gLE1hiQGpb-d6nFvURvBmLd5C5hnpNE48q4-5B7kDa_RWdG0trenZqszeKvVFdRm4ayoAE$\">demand</a> included requests for Media Matters’ 2023 and 2024 donation records, documents associated with Hananoki’s reporting and materials “related to generating stories or content intended to cancel, deplatform, demonetize, or otherwise interfere with businesses located in Missouri, or utilized by Missouri residents,” among other records.</p><p data-block-key=\"1meec\">“My office has reason to believe Media Matters used fraud to solicit donations from Missourians in order to bully advertisers into pulling out of X, the last social media platform dedicated to free speech in America,” Bailey said in a <a href=\"https://ago.mo.gov/attorney-general-bailey-files-suit-against-media-matters-for-refusal-to-cooperate-with-investigation/\">news release</a>. “If there has been any attempt to defraud Missourians in order to trample on their free speech rights, I will root it out and hold bad actors accountable.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9srir\">The organization has objected to Bailey’s demand in full. Media Matters President Angelo Carusone <a href=\"https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/03/missouri-ag-sues-media-matters-in-lawsuit-echoing-elon-musks-complaints/\">told Ars Technica</a>, “This Missouri investigation is the latest in a transparent endeavor to squelch the First Amendment rights of researchers and reporters; it will have a chilling effect on news reporters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9p00r\">In a response to Bailey’s announcement of the suit on X, Elon Musk <a href=\"https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1772339333673972131\">wrote</a>: “Much appreciated! Media Matters is doing everything it can to undermine the First Amendment. Truly an evil organization.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dclkv\">Carusone, in the Ars Technica article, countered: “Far from the free speech advocate he claims to be, Elon Musk has actually intensified his efforts to undermine free speech by enlisting Republican attorneys general across the country to initiate meritless, expensive, and harassing investigations against Media Matters in an attempt to punish critics.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hynhn\">Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey in Washington, D.C., in March 2024. That month, he demanded documents from nonprofit Media Matters related to its reporting about the social platform X and accused it of manipulating X’s algorithms.</p>",
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"(2024-08-22 00:00:00+00:00) Media Matters wins injunction against Missouri attorney general",
"(2025-02-10 00:00:00+00:00) Media Matters settles with Missouri attorney general",
"(2024-04-24 00:00:00+00:00) Media Matters sues Missouri attorney general in federal court"
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{
"title": "Colorado council member sends threatening note to local weekly over reporting",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-council-member-sends-threatening-note-to-local-weekly-over-reporting/",
"first_published_at": "2024-03-27T17:59:39.596726Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-03-27T18:00:40.097763Z",
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"date": "2024-03-20",
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"city": "Ouray",
"longitude": -107.67145,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2vg5k\">Council member Peggy Lindsey of Ouray County, Colorado, mailed a threatening note to the Ouray County Plaindealer mid-March 2024, several weeks after the paper published a story detailing her texts about a high-profile sexual assault case.</p><p data-block-key=\"skea\">“What comes around goes around, and you haven’t seen yours yet, but it is coming,” Lindsey wrote in the note from a personalized notepad. “May your days be numbered.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fget0\">The story, written by Plaindealer co-Publisher Mike Wiggins, reported on city officials’ responses to the sexual assault, which allegedly occurred inside the home of the Ouray County police chief.</p><p data-block-key=\"2julm\">The note is the latest in an ongoing saga following the Plaindealer’s coverage of the case. On Jan. 18, 2024, a Colorado resident <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-resident-swipes-issues-of-local-weekly-covering-sexual-assault-case/\">stole</a> more than 200 copies of the paper after it published its first article on the allegations.</p><p data-block-key=\"5taui\">In an <a href=\"https://www.ouraynews.com/2024/03/20/councilors-threat-wont-work/\">account of the most recent incident</a>, the paper wrote that for his Feb. 21 story, Wiggins filed an open records request for communications by officials, including about the police chief before he was placed on paid administrative leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"6uivd\">The records Wiggins obtained revealed that Lindsey first sent the chief a text message following the allegations, in which she wrote, “And this 2 shall pass. I’ve been in the hot seat many times for many reasons. You will be ok.”</p><p data-block-key=\"duijv\">She then texted a friend questioning the chief’s ability to keep his job, writing “I doubt you’ll ever see him in uniform again. … It’s too small of a town to overcome this, I think.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qdjb\">Wiggins later wrote in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mikewiggins76/status/1770877492091298022\">thread</a> on X, formerly Twitter, that Lindsey had reached out to him before the records request was fulfilled, and asked him not to include the conversation with her friend, saying that it was a private conversation.</p><p data-block-key=\"9eg47\">“The text concerned public business and therefore was a matter of public record,” Wiggins said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/mikewiggins76/status/1770886377288151509?s=20\">tweet</a>. “The city wouldn’t have provided it to us otherwise. Lindsey was angry and said she would pull her advertising, which she did.”</p><p data-block-key=\"831s7\">Plaindealer co-Publisher Erin McIntyre, in her <a href=\"https://www.ouraynews.com/2024/03/20/councilors-threat-wont-work/\">explanation to readers</a>, wrote, “Our job requires us to act independently. That means when someone threatens us to try to affect the outcome of our reporting and prevent a story from being published, we need to move forward and do the job, because the priority is the public’s right to know. No matter how uncomfortable that may be sometimes, especially in a small community, it’s what we’re charged to do.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4rjs1\">McIntyre and Wiggins were not able to comment at the time of publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"ajpc4\">Lindsey declined to answer questions about the note.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hi11s\">Screenshot of an editorial published by the Ouray County Plaindealer on March 20, 2024, with an accompanying photograph of what it described as an “ominous” note sent by a local council member to the Colorado paper.</p>",
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