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{
"title": "Independent reporter held by NYPD while covering pro-Palestinian march",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-reporter-held-by-nypd-while-covering-pro-palestinian-march/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-14T20:07:39.945754Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-22T13:33:49.076059Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-22T13:33:48.964931Z",
"date": "2024-05-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ehpwj\">Independent reporter Katie Smith was briefly detained by New York City Police Department officers while covering a pro-Palestinian protest on the Manhattan Bridge on May 11, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"dng4o\">Smith, who <a href=\"https://twitter.com/probablyreadit\">covers</a> protests and social movements in New York, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was documenting a protest that began in downtown Brooklyn but broke into separate groups, with one group of about 100 people heading over the bridge toward Manhattan.</p><p data-block-key=\"9k2ml\">Smith said she was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/probablyreadit/status/1789421761726947521\">filming</a> the protesters as they marched across the bridge, with a group of NYPD officers walking toward them as they approached the Manhattan side.</p><p data-block-key=\"37qvg\">At that point, Smith, around 20 feet in front of the protesters, said she made sure to position herself to avoid obstructing police as she filmed. “I saw the officers and I realized I don’t want to get caught up in the group. I want it to be very obvious that I’m press, so I made sure my credential was clearly displayed and made sure I was off to the side.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8inph\">However, one of the commanding officers then approached her. “He told me, ‘You’re press. You’re not allowed to be on the bridge. You’re under arrest.’ And then put me in cuffs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9chts\">Smith said she was then taken to the middle of the bridge and off to the side by another officer, so was unable to observe what was happening. She added that she was one of the first people to be placed under arrest on the bridge and made sure that other journalists were aware that she was being detained so they could document it.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkrk1\">“I was in cuffs for about 15 minutes, and other journalists were able to flag down one of the commanding officers” to alert him that a member of the press had been detained, Smith explained. The officer came over and cut off the cuffs, she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qiqm\">According to Smith, three other journalists on the bridge were also briefly detained, but were released around two minutes later and allowed to continue documenting the events on the bridge. “I was slightly in front but only by a little bit, so I’m not really sure what logic they were using to determine which ones were going to be detained or not.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6bs23\">Smith added that the only other woman journalist on the bridge was also detained. “It definitely seemed to me as if we weren’t really taken seriously.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4sblr\">Ultimately, at least 150 protesters were reported <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/manhattan-bridge-protesters-arrested/\">taken into custody</a> after blocking traffic on the bridge that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"fm92f\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Smith_arrest.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7f5mb\">Independent reporter Katie Smith is detained by New York City Police Department officers on May 11, 2024, as she documented a pro-Palestinian protest on the Manhattan Bridge. She was released around 15 minutes later.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-05-11",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"assailant": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"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": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Katie Smith (Independent)"
],
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{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved, microphone damaged at NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-microphone-damaged-at-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-31T18:16:06.989141Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-31T18:16:06.989141Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-31T18:14:40.698919Z",
"date": "2024-05-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"erhhh\">Independent photojournalist Peter Hambrecht was shoved into a bus mirror by a New York City police officer, damaging his microphone, while he was covering a pro-Palestinian protest near the Manhattan Bridge on May 11, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"coqpt\">Hambrecht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest began in downtown Brooklyn near Barclays Center before demonstrators marched up Flatbush Avenue. The protest broke into separate groups following rounds of arrests by police, with a large group walking beside and <a href=\"https://x.com/peterhvideo/status/1789749939859304681\">attempting to enter</a> the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.</p><p data-block-key=\"disb5\">He said that he was walking behind officers from the New York City Police Department’s Strategic Response Group, a heavily armored unit used for crowd control, and higher-ranking officers wearing white shirts when they arrested a demonstrator who had been drumming.</p><p data-block-key=\"48mj\">“They grabbed someone and pushed them against the school bus that’s right next to me,” Hambrecht said. “I’m trying to back up a little bit and then I get shoved by a white shirt, ramming me into the front mirror and it ends up cutting my shoulder open and pinning my microphone, which damaged it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4nfkr\">In Hambrecht’s <a href=\"https://twitter.com/peterhvideo/status/1789741599917740202\">footage</a> of the drummer’s arrest, an officer can be seen pushing a second individual against the bus in front of Hambrecht. Within seconds and without warning, a commanding officer shoves Hambrecht backward into the mirror extending from the hood of the bus and the sound on the footage cuts out. When sound resumes, the officer can be heard saying, “On the sidewalk.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police, now running to keep up with the march, make more arrests after protestors refuse to leave the street.<br><br>Assistant Chief Charles McEvoy then slams me into the mirror of a school bus which cut my shoulder and damaged my microphone. He continues to push me after I am already… <a href=\"https://t.co/Wlx47Q3Osg\">pic.twitter.com/Wlx47Q3Osg</a></p>— Peter Hambrecht (@peterhvideo) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/peterhvideo/status/1789741599917740202?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 12, 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=\"erhhh\">“He pushed me on the sidewalk and kept pushing me further even once I was on it,” Hambrecht told the Tracker. “It was very aggressive.” He added that he was wearing a press credential issued by the mayor’s office and was clearly identifiable as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pm9b\">After beginning to document protests in early 2024, Hambrecht said, he has observed police singling out visual journalists. “Ever since getting my city-issued pass I’ve noticed that they target the photographers and really they try to get you out of there and separate you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ofkq\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Hambrect_assault.e6ce2923.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6dtya\">Independent photojournalist Peter Hambrecht captured this image moments after a New York City police officer pushed him into the bus mirror, at center, cutting his arm and damaging his microphone, while he was covering a Brooklyn protest on May 11, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Peter Hambrecht (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist shoved to the ground, arrested at NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-shoved-to-the-ground-arrested-at-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-09T15:57:25.131480Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-09T16:19:59.634406Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-09T16:19:59.501842Z",
"date": "2024-05-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pv91o\">Freelance photojournalist Olga Fedorova was shoved to the ground and arrested by New York City police while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest on May 7, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"2btj6\">Officers had moved in to dismantle a protest outside of Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology, the last campus encampment in the city, <a href=\"https://gothamist.com/news/fit-protesters-surprised-by-nypds-crackdown-on-their-pro-palestinian-encampment\">according to Gothamist</a>. A separate group of protesters had marched from Union Square a mile to the campus in solidarity with the calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and divestment from Israeli companies.</p><p data-block-key=\"25ecq\">Fedorova told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was on assignment for two news outlets — taking stills for the European Pressphoto Agency and video for FreedomNews.TV while covering the Union Square <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FreedomNTV/status/1787993004491387030\">march</a> and then the student <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FreedomNTV/status/1788044901764018403\">rally</a> to protect the encampment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebj5k\">“There were reports that a police sweep of the encampment was imminent,” Fedorova said. “When there eventually was a sweep, I ran around to where the students who had been arrested would be loaded into buses and taken away. And, as has happened pretty frequently recently, people tried to block the buses from leaving and attempt to de-arrest the students.”</p><p data-block-key=\"veat\">Police then moved in to arrest everyone in the street, Fedorova said, and she remained to document the violent detention of a woman, the photographer kneeling to capture an image of the woman’s face between the legs of the officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"23buf\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1788057078877106547\">footage</a> from Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina, officers can be seen arresting protesters and directing everyone to get off the street or face arrest. At 1:04 in the video, Fedorova can be seen beginning to kneel and raise her camera when an officer forcefully pushes her to the ground and shouts for her to go to the edge of the street.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨BREAKING: NYPD ARREST Journalists Outside Pro-Palestinian encampment at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. Police also arrested and assaulted MULTIPLE protestors.<br><br>Via <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JonFarinaPhoto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JonFarinaPhoto</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/2kkl5JyIeH\">pic.twitter.com/2kkl5JyIeH</a></p>— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1788057078877106547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 8, 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=\"pv91o\">Fedorova then points her camera up at the officer, and the officer moves to grab her camera before ultimately pulling her up by her arm and behind the advancing line of police. Fedorova and Farina both verbally identified her as a journalist, and in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexKentTN/status/1788059502148833527/photo/2\">photo</a> captured by photojournalist Alex Kent, her professional camera and press credential can be clearly seen hanging around her neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"js1c\">Fedorova told the Tracker that during her arrest one of her camera lenses was dented and a lens hood lost. Her press badge was damaged both when she fell and when officers roughly tried to pull it off her.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsd2s\">A second photojournalist, independent photographer Josh Pacheco, was arrested moments before Fedorova; their arrest is documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-dragged-to-the-ground-arrested-at-nyc-protest/\">here</a>. Both journalists were transported to New York City Police Department headquarters at One Police Plaza, where they were processed. </p><p data-block-key=\"2behl\">Fedorova said they were released nearly four hours later, in the early morning of May 8, and informed that the arrests had been voided. She told the Tracker she doesn’t know what the charges were before they were dropped.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/JP_OTG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JP_OTG</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/olgafe_images?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@olgafe_images</a> were released from jail after 2 hours. Both with marks on their wrists from cuffs being too tight. Charges were voided. <a href=\"https://t.co/e9RWAdtEdD\">pic.twitter.com/e9RWAdtEdD</a></p>— Jon Farina (@JonFarinaPhoto) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JonFarinaPhoto/status/1788111714308768169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 8, 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=\"pv91o\">“I received zero paperwork from them. It almost seemed like they wanted to make it go away, like it never happened,” Fedorova told the Tracker, adding that the worst part was that the arrest prevented her from continuing her coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"4kgcv\">Both journalists reported having marks on their wrists from being cuffed too tightly, and Fedorova told the Tracker that one of her hands was still numb.</p><p data-block-key=\"3pobv\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"9469n\">Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that while voiding the charges was a good step, the journalists should not have been arrested in the first place.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5jdv\">“While the NPPA is glad that some common sense prevailed by the NYPD not charging these two photographers with any crime, we are very concerned that they are perfecting ‘catch-and-release’ to an art form,” Osterreicher said. “The fact that they took two photojournalists off the street, preventing them from making any more images or transmitting the ones they already had on a matter of extreme public concern, is very disturbing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f8mn5\">Osterreicher added that he and other attorneys involved in a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?case_number=1:21-cv-06610\">2021 lawsuit</a> on behalf of multiple news photographers against the NYPD for press freedom aggressions had a scheduled meeting with the city and police on May 8 to discuss the historic settlement reached in that case. The <a href=\"https://d3dv5x9lc36tse.cloudfront.net/US_District_Court_VS_Southern_District_of_New_York_466f756d74.pdf\">settlement</a> included extensive rules governing the NYPD’s interactions with journalists, and Osterreicher said they raised the issue of Fedorova and Pacheco’s arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lvqa\">“From our perspective, they’re not living up to the terms of the agreement that we fought for three years to get,” he said. “We raised those issues with the city and the NYPD and we plan to have further meetings with them soon to avoid these continuing abridgments of journalists’ rights.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"r0430\">Photojournalist Olga Fedorova was knocked to the ground by a New York City police officer while covering pro-Palestinian protests at the Fashion Institute of Technology on May 7, 2024. She was arrested moments later, but the charges were later dropped.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
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{
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{
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{
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"name": "New York",
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"protest"
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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"Olga Fedorova (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist dragged to the ground, arrested at NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-dragged-to-the-ground-arrested-at-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-09T16:18:44.587350Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-09T16:18:44.587350Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-09T16:13:39.850824Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xq3km\">Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco was pulled to the ground, punched, kicked and arrested by New York City police while documenting a pro-Palestinian protest on May 7, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"6009c\">Officers had moved in to dismantle a protest outside of Manhattan’s Fashion Institute of Technology, the last campus encampment in the city, <a href=\"https://gothamist.com/news/fit-protesters-surprised-by-nypds-crackdown-on-their-pro-palestinian-encampment\">according to Gothamist</a>. A separate group of protesters had marched from Union Square a mile to the campus in solidarity with the calls for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and divestment from Israeli companies.</p><p data-block-key=\"2i4hu\">Pacheco arrived at FIT just as police had erected barricades to bar access to the encampment, with hundreds of officers stationed on the street, they told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"fb0vb\">“Things were relatively calm and consistent: student protesters rallying, chanting on the side. Very little confrontation except from counterprotesters that were walking by,” Pacheco said. They said that things began to escalate only after police began arresting students at the encampment and loading them into a correctional bus.</p><p data-block-key=\"3p2jk\">As some demonstrators attempted to prevent the prisoner transport vans from leaving with the detained students, Pacheco said they heard someone say, “Take it to the street,” and assumed the protesters were preparing to march.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ff67\">“I made my way to where the protesters were and, within 30 seconds of walking toward the protesters, I was grabbed by a sergeant or a lieutenant,” Pacheco said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5a6u6\">Pacheco posted <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6s0H3QOlaU/?igsh=bDJtbzNuZzc5enUw\">footage</a> to Instagram in which an officer with a bullhorn can be heard saying, “Let’s start making arrests here, guys. They’re blocking traffic, that’s it.” Officers then advance on the protesters, pushing and throwing them to the ground, while other police direct everyone to get off the street or face arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2vi6\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1788057078877106547\">footage</a> from Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina, an officer can be seen at 0:45 pushing Pacheco backward as police detain a protester, and the photojournalist continues recording from between two parked cars.</p><p data-block-key=\"aon7h\">Seconds later, an officer wearing a white shirt — typically worn by higher-ranking officers — is then seen grabbing Pacheco by the arm and neck and pulling them into the street before forcing them onto the ground.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨BREAKING: NYPD ARREST Journalists Outside Pro-Palestinian encampment at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC. Police also arrested and assaulted MULTIPLE protestors.<br><br>Via <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JonFarinaPhoto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JonFarinaPhoto</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/2kkl5JyIeH\">pic.twitter.com/2kkl5JyIeH</a></p>— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StatusCoup/status/1788057078877106547?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 8, 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=\"xq3km\">Once Pacheco was on the ground, they said, officers punched and kicked them multiple times and dragged them across the ground, ripping their clothing and damaging one of their camera lenses. One of Pacheco’s lens hoods was also lost during the arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"5cd2h\">“I kept saying that I was press. I was clearly marked. I had my press pass on me,” Pacheco told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"8na6i\">Pacheco added that the officers were “handsy” while arresting them, and that an officer callously looked them up and down before saying, “Male or female? Just pick one.”</p><p data-block-key=\"behms\">A second photojournalist, freelancer Olga Fedorova, was arrested moments after Pacheco; her arrest is documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-shoved-to-the-ground-arrested-at-nyc-protest/\">here</a>. Both journalists were transported to New York City Police Department headquarters at One Police Plaza, where they were processed.</p><p data-block-key=\"73ecs\">Pacheco said that both journalists were released nearly four hours later, in the early morning of May 8, and informed that the arrests had been voided. They told the Tracker that they don’t know what the charges were before they were dropped.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/JP_OTG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JP_OTG</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/olgafe_images?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@olgafe_images</a> were released from jail after 2 hours. Both with marks on their wrists from cuffs being too tight. Charges were voided. <a href=\"https://t.co/e9RWAdtEdD\">pic.twitter.com/e9RWAdtEdD</a></p>— Jon Farina (@JonFarinaPhoto) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JonFarinaPhoto/status/1788111714308768169?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 8, 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=\"xq3km\">Mickey Osterreicher, general counsel for the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker that while voiding the charges was a good step, the journalists should not have been arrested in the first place.</p><p data-block-key=\"2okec\">“While the NPPA is glad that some common sense prevailed by the NYPD not charging these two photographers with any crime, we are very concerned that they are perfecting ‘catch-and-release’ to an art form,” Osterreicher said. “The fact that they took two photojournalists off the street, preventing them from making any more images or transmitting the ones they already had on a matter of extreme public concern, is very disturbing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2cepr\">Osterreicher added that he and other attorneys involved in a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?case_number=1:21-cv-06610\">2021 lawsuit</a> on behalf of multiple news photographers against the NYPD for press freedom aggressions had a scheduled meeting with the city and police on May 8 to discuss the historic settlement reached in that case. The <a href=\"https://d3dv5x9lc36tse.cloudfront.net/US_District_Court_VS_Southern_District_of_New_York_466f756d74.pdf\">settlement</a> included extensive rules governing the NYPD’s interactions with journalists, and Osterreicher said they raised the issue of Fedorova and Pacheco’s arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"1p15v\">“From our perspective, they’re not living up to the terms of the agreement that we fought for three years to get,” he said. “We raised those issues with the city and the NYPD and we plan to have further meetings with them soon to avoid these continuing abridgments of journalists’ rights.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"wis3f\">Photojournalists Josh Pacheco, left, and Olga Fedorova display press credentials following their release from police custody on May 8, 2024. They were both arrested while covering pro-Palestinian protests in New York City the night before.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2024-05-08",
"detention_date": "2024-05-07",
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{
"quantity": 1,
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{
"quantity": 1,
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"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
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"Josh Pacheco (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "News camera spray-painted twice during Seattle protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-camera-spray-painted-twice-during-seattle-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-20T14:29:37.138429Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-20T14:29:37.138429Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-20T14:29:37.052623Z",
"date": "2024-05-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Seattle",
"longitude": -122.33207,
"latitude": 47.60621,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hwf61\">A news crew with KOMO-TV was harassed and its camera vandalized while reporting on student protests at the University of Washington in Seattle on May 7, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"cakq8\">Students erected an encampment on the Liberal Arts Quadrangle, the main gathering place on campus, on April 29, The Seattle Times <a href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/education/uw-encampment-protesters-want-school-to-cut-ties-with-israel-boeing/\">reported</a>, calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war, divestment from Israeli companies and for the university to sever any ties with Boeing, which is a supplier for the Israeli Air Force.</p><p data-block-key=\"acc41\">KOMO-TV <a href=\"https://komonews.com/news/local/uw-seattle-pro-palestinian-protesters-university-washington-charlie-kirk-encampment-cherry-blossoms-campus-quad-tents-liberation-zone-demonstrators-israel-boeing-hamas-gaza-palestine-students\">reported</a> that the demonstration grew to its largest size on May 7, with more than 200 pro-Palestinian protesters. Conservative commentator and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk <a href=\"https://komonews.com/news/local/charlie-kirk-university-washington-campus-uw-quad-encampment-pro-palestinian-vaccines-foreign-policy-gender-police-officers-security-faculty-palestine-gaza-hamas-conflict-turning-point-usa#\">appeared on campus</a> that day for a speaking event and set up his own tent near the encampment.</p><p data-block-key=\"fc2l8\">Amid heightened tensions, KOMO-TV reported that its news crew witnessed at least one fight, and that individuals sprayed the crew’s camera with spray paint twice.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5d5k\">KOMO-TV News Director Philip Bruce did not respond to a request for additional information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/KOMO_Equip_Damage.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"u6nyl\">Individuals vandalized a KOMO-TV news camera twice, spray-painting the lens while the news crew was reporting on protests at the University of Washington in Seattle on May 7, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"actor": "private individual",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Washington",
"abbreviation": "WA"
},
"updates": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 17 (KOMO-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist pushed with baton while reporting on protest in NYC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-with-baton-while-reporting-on-protest-in-nyc/",
"first_published_at": "2024-06-03T19:53:41.472905Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-03T19:54:39.584004Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-03T19:54:39.501748Z",
"date": "2024-05-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vggvf\">Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco was shoved with a baton by a New York City police officer while covering a pro-Palestinian protest in Manhattan on May 6, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"dnvgn\">Pacheco told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were reporting on a protest that began at Hunter College at 4 p.m. and marched toward the Met Gala, an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 15 blocks away. WCBS-TV <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/hunter-college-protests-prompt-school-to-go-fully-remote-heres-what-students-had-to-say/\">reported</a> that the protesters were stopped by police before they reached the museum.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmhmg\">At 1:10 in the WCBS-TV video report on the protests, police can be seen using batons to push multiple individuals who appear to be wearing press credentials and holding professional cameras. Pacheco confirmed that they were one of the journalists, and a second was identified as independent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-while-reporting-on-protest-in-nyc/\">Peter Hambrecht</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6bl4m\">Pacheco <a href=\"https://x.com/JP_OTG/status/1787621443452228070\">reported on social media</a> that as the march moved up Madison Avenue, police arrested multiple protesters and attacked members of the press with batons. In their footage, someone can be heard saying, “We’re all press, stop pushing us!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At least 8 arrests so far on Madison Ave between 83rd and 85th st. Police attack press with batons. Protesters are being snatched off the sides of the roads. <a href=\"https://t.co/Chfkgc4y6R\">pic.twitter.com/Chfkgc4y6R</a></p>— Josh Pacheco (They/Them) (@JP_OTG) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JP_OTG/status/1787621443452228070?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\"><p data-block-key=\"vggvf\">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=\"1pyle\">Independent photojournalist Josh Pacheco captures this image as a New York City police officer shoved them back while they covered a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the Met Gala, an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on May 6, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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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": [
"Josh Pacheco (Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Independent journalist arrested at UCLA ahead of planned protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-arrested-at-ucla-ahead-of-planned-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:02:32.413151Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:02:32.413151Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-10T17:01:38.696677Z",
"date": "2024-05-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0yhd5\">Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was arrested while documenting the detainments of more than 40 individuals early on May 6, 2024, when officers intercepted a group of protesters on the University of California, Los Angeles, campus.</p><p data-block-key=\"6int\">The Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-06/dozens-detained-at-ucla-early-monday\">reported</a> that UCLA police officers detained the students, who had gathered in a parking garage set as the 6 a.m. rendezvous point ahead of a peaceful sit-in at a campus building.</p><p data-block-key=\"4hkoi\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had received a tip the night before that there would be some sort of protest action, but hadn’t received details. He said he went to the UCLA campus on a hunch and walked around until he noticed two people running out of a parking garage, chased by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"cbl2f\">Before he was able to enter the garage, Beckner-Carmitchel said, an officer ordered him to stop and provide his identification. When he asked if he was being detained, the officer responded that he was, on suspicion of violating a campus curfew order that was in place from midnight to 6 a.m. Beckner-Carmitchel said he was detained at 5:58 a.m. and was released five minutes later after he said he would call an attorney if he was delayed any longer.</p><p data-block-key=\"63oio\">Once in the garage, Beckner-Carmitchel said that 30 to 40 UCLA students had also been detained on suspicion of violating curfew.</p><p data-block-key=\"128q3\">“I stayed back at all times to document and watched them get flex cuffed for a little while,” he told the Tracker. “Then, quite suddenly, a University of California police officer just ran up to me, put my hands behind my back and flex-tied me. Quite ironically, he did it poorly, and I was able to live tweet for a while.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d5b0q\">Shortly before 7 a.m., Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1787481125692297264\">posted</a> that he had been arrested. In the clip Beckner-Carmitchel posted, an officer can be heard saying, “This guy right here,” and pointing at the journalist. Seconds later, another officer tells him to put his hands behind his back and to give the officer his phone.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Cuffed. Typing with one hand. I’ll update when I. Am out. <a href=\"https://t.co/uiByZkKIOd\">pic.twitter.com/uiByZkKIOd</a></p>— acatwithnews (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1787481125692297264?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\"><p data-block-key=\"0yhd5\">Beckner-Carmitchel can clearly be seen wearing a press credential as officers place him in zip cuffs, in a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwY8XFBe87E\">livestream</a> captured by <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-06/independent-journalist-observers-detained-on-ucla-campus\">prominent police critic</a> William Gude. Gude was also arrested at the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"dhv4r\">In a clip Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1787482445539111230\">posted</a> a few minutes later, a woman who identifies herself as the person authorized to speak on behalf of the students says that she attempted to speak to a sergeant about why they were under arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"a7g5e\">“As we’re standing and asking those questions, press — who’s holding the phone now — was detained. The legal observers have been detained. Other students who were trying to film what was happening have been detained,” the woman says.</p><p data-block-key=\"ap3uu\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that he asked to speak to a supervisor or public information officer dozens of times, and was always rudely shut down.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ju45\">“At one point I said, ‘Hey, this is probably a First Amendment issue. You should really send that supervisor or PIO over,’” he said. “I’m thinking to myself, ‘There’s no way they’re actually going to go through with this, they’re not that dumb.’ Little did I know.”</p><p data-block-key=\"l59o\">Freelance journalist Cerise Castle <a href=\"https://twitter.com/cerisecastle/status/1787576314985435470\">reported</a> that Beckner-Carmitchel was taken to the LAPD’s Van Nuys Community Police Station and that he was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/cerisecastle/status/1787603096690200624\">released</a> from police custody at approximately 3 p.m., nearly eight hours after his arrest.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ACatWithNews</a> has been released from LAPD custody. He was charged with conspiracy to commit burglary. That is absurd - he is a journalist who was doing his job. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/JournalismIsNotaCrime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#JournalismIsNotaCrime</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/ZZsp7BYDOR\">pic.twitter.com/ZZsp7BYDOR</a></p>— Cerise Castle (@cerisecastle) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/cerisecastle/status/1787603096690200624?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\"><p data-block-key=\"0yhd5\">Beckner-Carmitchel said that he was told that the charge against him — conspiracy to commit burglary — would be dropped, and he was issued a certificate of detention, indicating that the police were not documenting it as an arrest. He added that the certificate specifically states that they can choose to file the charges in the future, and he is weighing his legal options.</p><p data-block-key=\"516ni\">The Society of Professional Journalists <a href=\"https://twitter.com/spj_tweets/status/1787631187822813409\">condemned his arrest</a> in a statement and demanded that authorities drop any charges against him. “This unwarranted arrest flagrantly violates Sean’s First Amendment right to film police and protesters on public property,” SPJ National President Ashanti Blaize-Hopkins said.</p><p data-block-key=\"b833k\">The UCLA Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Sean_Beckner-Carmitchel_arrest.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"638x2\">Independent journalist Sean Beckner-Carmitchel filmed as UCLA campus police officers arrested him on May 6, 2024, while he was documenting the detainment of around 40 students who had gathered in a campus parking garage ahead of a planned sit-in.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "UCLA Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-05-06",
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"was_journalist_targeted": null,
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"subpoena_type": null,
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"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved while reporting on protest in NYC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-while-reporting-on-protest-in-nyc/",
"first_published_at": "2024-06-03T19:50:02.644395Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-03T19:54:18.557881Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-03T19:54:18.470599Z",
"date": "2024-05-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qzqyv\">Independent photojournalist Peter Hambrecht was shoved with a baton by a New York City police officer while covering a pro-Palestinian protest in Manhattan on May 6, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"117m8\">Hambrecht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting on a protest that began at Hunter College at 4 p.m. and marched toward the Met Gala, an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, 15 blocks away. WCBS-TV <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/hunter-college-protests-prompt-school-to-go-fully-remote-heres-what-students-had-to-say/\">reported</a> that the protesters were stopped by police before they reached the museum.</p><p data-block-key=\"2gvjj\">At one point when police were making arrests, Hambrecht said, an officer tackled a demonstrator against a car near where he was standing.</p><p data-block-key=\"ej5eq\">“The police really started aggressively pushing us back,” Hambrecht said. “Then an officer came with their club and just rams me on my side and slams me against a car. They tried to push me back onto the sidewalk, behind the car so I can’t see what they’re doing to this person.”<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"5q9a7\">Hambrecht said it appeared to be a deliberate police strategy to obstruct the press, as he was standing alongside other journalists who were also forced out of view of the detainment.</p><p data-block-key=\"efmjs\">At 1:10 in the WCBS-TV video report on the protests, police can be seen using batons to push multiple individuals who appear to be wearing press credentials and holding professional cameras, including Hambrecht and independent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-with-baton-while-reporting-on-protest-in-nyc/\">Josh Pacheco</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bup5r\">Pacheco <a href=\"https://x.com/JP_OTG/status/1787621443452228070\">reported on social media</a> that as the march moved up Madison Avenue, police arrested multiple protesters and attacked members of the press with batons. In their footage, someone can be heard saying, “We’re all press, stop pushing us!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At least 8 arrests so far on Madison Ave between 83rd and 85th st. Police attack press with batons. Protesters are being snatched off the sides of the roads. <a href=\"https://t.co/Chfkgc4y6R\">pic.twitter.com/Chfkgc4y6R</a></p>— Josh Pacheco (They/Them) (@JP_OTG) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JP_OTG/status/1787621443452228070?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\"><p data-block-key=\"qzqyv\">After beginning to document protests in early 2024, Hambrecht said, he has observed police singling out visual journalists. “Ever since getting my city-issued pass I’ve noticed that they target the photographers and really they try to get you out of there and separate you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"523vi\">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/Hambrecht_assault_56.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tw8ol\">Independent photojournalist Peter Hambrecht, left, was shoved with a baton by a New York City police officer while documenting a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the Met Gala, an annual fundraiser for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, on May 6, 2024.</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": "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": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Peter Hambrecht (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Army subpoenas CBS News for unaired interview footage in sexual abuse case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/army-subpoenas-cbs-news-for-unaired-interview-footage-in-sexual-abuse-case/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-20T18:39:49.320771Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-20T18:39:49.320771Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-20T18:39:03.290933Z",
"date": "2024-05-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Joint Base Lewis-McChord",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ejp1x\">The U.S. Army issued a subpoena on May 5, 2024, to CBS News seeking unaired footage of two interviews of veterans as part of court-martial proceedings against a military doctor at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington.</p><p data-block-key=\"8a0l0\">According to court filings, the Army served the subpoena at the request of defense attorneys for Maj. Michael Stockin, who faces a court-martial in the Army’s 6th Judicial Circuit Court. Stockin, an anesthesiologist at the base’s Madigan Army Medical Center, is charged with 47 counts of abusive sexual contact and five counts of indecent viewing under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccgul\">CBS News aired an <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/patients-of-army-doctor-accused-of-sexual-abuse-describe-betrayal-of-trust-fight-to-endure/\">investigative report</a> on Feb. 22 featuring interviews with two of Stockin’s accusers. The men were in shadow to keep their identities anonymous.</p><p data-block-key=\"1km66\">The subpoena from Stockin’s attorneys sought access to both the aired and unaired interview footage. The unaired video would identify the retired servicemen, CBS News said in court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"44p3a\">“The subpoena appears to be nothing more than a fishing expedition,” attorneys for CBS News argued in their motion to quash the subpoena.</p><p data-block-key=\"38cvj\">In challenging the subpoena, attorneys invoked reporter’s privilege, which protects journalists from revealing unpublished material and confidential sources. Although a reporter’s privilege hasn’t been established in the military court system, CBS argued that it is rooted in the First Amendment and common law.</p><p data-block-key=\"o8c9\">“The existence of a free press has long been understood to depend on the ability of journalists to effectively gather news and to operate independently of the government,” the motion said. “Those principles are undermined when journalists are compelled to disclose their sources or their unpublished journalistic work product.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5kutr\">If the judge doesn’t quash the subpoena as requested, CBS asked that the issue be postponed until trial. Then, if either of the two accusers testified, a judge could view the unaired footage privately — referred to as in camera review — and admit only that which contradicted the testimony, if any did so.</p><p data-block-key=\"4329c\">The government, in a response to the motion, contended that the sources weren’t confidential because they are among the defendants in the case. It argued against quashing the subpoena and in favor of an in camera review of the footage ahead of the trial.</p><p data-block-key=\"dtrbd\">Following a hearing on Aug. 15, the court asked CBS and the government to submit additional briefs before it would make a ruling on the motion to quash.</p><p data-block-key=\"c8tck\">The trial is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2025.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/CBS_Stockin_subpoena.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yg3wh\">Two sources who had been granted anonymity by CBS News speak on camera about their alleged sexual assaults by a military doctor. The Army has subpoenaed CBS News for the unaired footage of the interviews.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Washington",
"abbreviation": "WA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"CBS News"
],
"tags": [
"military"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist arrested while covering Virginia campus protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-while-covering-virginia-campus-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-31T13:45:19.604656Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-31T13:45:19.604656Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-31T13:45:19.409795Z",
"date": "2024-05-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Charlottesville",
"longitude": -78.47668,
"latitude": 38.02931,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g81u6\">Journalist Evan Urquhart was arrested while covering a Virginia State Police operation to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from the University of Virginia’s campus in Charlottesville on May 4, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"70cov\">Students had set up an encampment on a university lawn April 30 to protest Israel’s war in Gaza and call for the school to divest its endowment from Israel, according to <a href=\"https://www.vpm.org/news/2024-05-05/university-of-virginia-gaza-protest-state-police-arrests-grounds\">Virginia Public Media</a>. After protesters erected tents to shelter from rain on the night of May 3, in violation of what the university said was school policy, state police in riot gear moved in the next day to clear the encampment. At least 25 protesters and onlookers were arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"cp4se\">Urquhart, a freelance journalist and founder of news website <a href=\"https://www.assignedmedia.org/\">Assigned Media</a>, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email that he had visited the encampment for a potential story around five times, to “look around, looking for things like anti-semitic signs or chants, counter-protesters, and of course police activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5qg8\">“I was very careful all of the times I went, including on May 4, to identify myself clearly as press and avoid anything that could be construed as participating in the protest or showing support for the protest,” he told the Tracker. “I told anyone who asked my name, my website's name, and some of the outlets where I'd freelanced in the past.”</p><p data-block-key=\"t1qq\">When he arrived at the campus May 4 to cover the protest, the journalist said that police had already separated the encampment itself from a gathering crowd of onlookers and protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"9b55p\">Urquhart ended up at the front of the crowd, straining to see around the police line and taking photos. He said he was wearing a name tag with “PRESS” handwritten on it and told the police he was a journalist. “This not being my usual beat, I realize now my positioning was bad to avoid what happened after the encampment itself was cleared,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"2g2fs\">He went on to describe how the police line pushed forward, moving the crowd of onlookers back. “Near the start of that process I was pushed over by one of the police officers as he moved forward, and then arrested after I fell.” The journalist added that he had “no reason to think the officer intended to push me down,” saying, “I may have been distracted or I may have tripped as I tried to step back, maybe both.”</p><p data-block-key=\"507bm\">Urquhart said he was charged with misdemeanor trespassing and released five or six hours after his arrest. The charges were dropped May 15, after the district attorney said there wasn’t enough evidence to justify proceeding with the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"dk6pe\">He said he also received a no trespass order from the university May 4, denying him access to the campus grounds. “Until that moment I hadn't heard anything about trespassing from the police or through any sort of sign or alert,” Urquhart said.</p><p data-block-key=\"28abu\">He said he appealed the order May 9 and it was lifted May 15.</p><p data-block-key=\"5kjio\">The Virginia State Police did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Urquhart_arrest_crop_655x440.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"a6s1z\">Journalist Evan Urquhart, on ground at rear in yellow jacket, was arrested by Virginia State Police while covering a protest on the University of Virginia campus in Charlottesville on May 4, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Virginia State Police",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-05-04",
"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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"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": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
"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": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Evan Urquhart (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist arrested while covering pro-Palestinian protest at SUNY New Paltz",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-while-covering-pro-palestinian-protest-at-suny-new-paltz/",
"first_published_at": "2024-06-26T16:36:08.442150Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-02T18:06:25.537699Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-02T18:06:25.449905Z",
"date": "2024-05-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New Paltz",
"longitude": -74.08681,
"latitude": 41.74759,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yl1s5\">A multimedia journalist for Spectrum News 1 was arrested May 2, 2024, while covering a pro-Palestinian protest on the campus of the State University of New York at New Paltz, according to New York State Police.</p><p data-block-key=\"1krt9\">John Camera was reporting on the protest for the cable news channel when tensions escalated between the students at a protest encampment and police. It wasn’t clear whether he wore a press pass or identified himself as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"67kb\">Trooper Steven Nevel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Camera didn’t move when ordered to disperse. Troopers then arrested him, along with 132 others, according to a <a href=\"https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/hudson-valley/education/2024/05/03/several-arrested-at-suny-new-paltz-pro-palestinian-protest?cid=id-app15_m-share_s-web_cmp-app_launch_august2020_c-producer_posts_po-organic\">Spectrum News report</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Members of New York State Police and the Ulster County Sheriff's Office forcibly removed protesters on the SUNY New Paltz campus. Several people were arrested, including a Spectrum News 1 reporter who was working to cover the situation.<a href=\"https://t.co/5jOUM7Gz9v\">https://t.co/5jOUM7Gz9v</a></p>— Spectrum News 1 HV (@SPECNews1HV) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SPECNews1HV/status/1786380815267479981?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=\"yl1s5\">Camera was transported to a police station in Kingston, N.Y., without incident, but not jailed, Nevel told the Tracker. He was later charged with a trespassing violation and is scheduled for a court hearing on July 9 at the New Paltz town court. Nevel said he expected the charge to be dropped.</p><p data-block-key=\"b30uq\">Neither Camera nor Nick Cowdrey, the station’s director of news, responded to email or phone messages requesting comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/SUNY-NewPaltz-arrest-screenshot3_.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vzcic\">Law enforcement officers broke up an encampment at a pro-Palestinian protest at the State University of New York at New Paltz on May 2, 2024. A multimedia reporter for Spectrum 1 News was among those arrested.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York State Police",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-05-02",
"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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"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": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-06-11 00:00:00+00:00) Charge dropped against journalist arrested at NY college 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": [
"John Camera (Spectrum News 1 | Hudson Valley)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Independent journalist arrested, shoved at Oregon university protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-arrested-shoved-at-oregon-university-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-13T16:32:41.933499Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-29T14:30:28.273076Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-29T14:30:28.169667Z",
"date": "2024-05-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"959y9\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar was shoved to the ground and later arrested by law enforcement while covering a pro-Palestinian protest at Portland State University in downtown Portland, Oregon, on May 2, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"85lcu\">Students first erected an encampment on April 25, The Oregonian <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2024/04/after-student-activism-portland-state-will-press-pause-on-boeing-philanthropy.html\">reported</a>, calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war and for the university to sever any ties with Boeing, which is a supplier for the Israeli Air Force. Students then <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2024/04/portland-state-standoff-with-protesters-continues-as-students-faculty-urged-to-stay-away.html\">occupied</a> the university’s main library, barricading one of the entrances.</p><p data-block-key=\"1sohq\">Azar told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had been covering the student protests since they began. In the early morning of May 2, she said she received multiple calls informing her that Portland Police Bureau and Oregon State Police officers were on campus preparing to raid the encampment.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1ebi\">After initially clearing demonstrators out of the library, law enforcement engaged in standoffs with the students and other protesters, at times retreating before returning in what Azar characterized as violent pushes. She said it was during one of the latter instances that an officer shoved her to the ground while she was filming in front of the police line.</p><p data-block-key=\"7tp3e\">“I kept getting pushed with the baton and they were telling me to get back even though at that point it was physically impossible,” Azar told the Tracker. “I ended up getting pushed to the ground and immediately after the cops rushed the group and started hitting and shoving everyone.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8289l\">Following another period of retreat in which officers pulled back to a nearby campus building, Azar said, the demonstrators returned to the area around the library.</p><p data-block-key=\"boqh7\">“I was standing next to a bunch of other journalists, reporters and photographers,” Azar told the Tracker, noting that the group included those from local outlets and a reporter from The New York Times. She said the journalists were standing in a city park across from the library.</p><p data-block-key=\"c943c\">She said that after some time the officers suddenly emerged from the other side of the building and began making arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rbis\">“I was standing there recording because they immediately went after random people. It was a really intense situation: Almost everyone I saw that was arrested had already been detained and had more than four cops on them,” Azar said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9vjdk\">In Azar’s <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C6jwYvgvGb6/?hl=en\">footage of the incident</a>, groups of police can be seen arresting each protester, and one officer waves at the journalist as he jogs past her. Seconds later, a Portland police officer approaches Azar and, in quick succession, says, “Leave. You’re under arrest.” He then pulls Azar’s arms behind her back and tells her that if she resists, force will be used against her.</p><p data-block-key=\"7r97e\">Azar said she was detained at approximately 7 p.m. She added that she was wearing press credentials issued by the National Press Photographers Association and believes the police targeted her for arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"9tbc2\">“Exactly one minute before my video of my arrest started, I took photos of two of the cops, one whispering to the other and just staring at me,” Azar said, sharing the photo with the Tracker. “After I was arrested they made a handful of comments about me and ‘our time together in 2020,’ because I was out there reporting almost every night at that time.” Azar <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Alissa+Azar\">extensively covered</a> Portland protests against police brutality following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that year.</p><p data-block-key=\"2dilh\">Azar told the Tracker she was transported to the Multnomah County Justice Center, where she was processed and placed in a cell.</p><p data-block-key=\"bcgpb\">She noted that when she was able to make a phone call to the National Lawyers Guild’s Mass Defense Hotline, officers played an alert that said “no third-party caller” every 10 to 15 seconds. “The person on the other end of the line said they sometimes do that to certain callers to mess with them,” Azar said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ese26\">Azar told the Tracker she was released at around 1:30 a.m. the following day, charged with one count of criminal trespass. Her initial appearance hearing is scheduled for June 7.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"i0hd2\">Portland Police Bureau officers prepare to advance on students and other protesters at Portland State University in Oregon on May 2, 2024. Shortly after taking this photo, independent journalist Alissa Azar was arrested on a charge of criminal trespass.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Portland Police Bureau",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2024-05-03",
"detention_date": "2024-05-02",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-01-23 16:55:00+00:00) Trespassing charge against Oregon journalist dropped"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
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},
{
"title": "Dartmouth journalist arrested while reporting on campus protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dartmouth-journalist-arrested-while-reporting-on-campus-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-06T15:53:07.657157Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-10T19:07:55.206595Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-10T19:07:55.023257Z",
"date": "2024-05-01",
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"city": "Hanover",
"longitude": -72.28954,
"latitude": 43.70229,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ekz54\">Student journalist Charlotte Hampton and a colleague at their college newspaper were arrested while reporting on a pro-Palestinian encampment at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, on May 1, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"fn9s4\">The student newspaper, The Dartmouth, <a href=\"https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2024/05/campus-encampments-live-updates-police-start-taking-students-away\">reported</a> that a group of students planned to erect an encampment at 6:30 p.m. that day in solidarity with protests at universities across the country calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct4m4\">Hampton, a managing editor and reporter for The Dartmouth, and reporter and photographer Alesandra Gonzales were among the student and professional journalists covering the demonstration.</p><p data-block-key=\"egrkp\">The Dartmouth reported that officers with multiple departments, including the New Hampshire State Police and Hanover Police Department, arrived on campus shortly after 8 p.m. They gave protesters a final warning to leave the area under threat of arrest, noting that physical force may be used, then began making arrests approximately 30 minutes later.</p><p data-block-key=\"dls3d\">Both Hampton and Gonzales were wearing credentials issued by the newspaper and standing alongside other press and a representative from the college’s communications department, Gonzales told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9pu\">Gonzales said she had just finished filming the aggressive arrest of a history professor when two officers grabbed her.</p><p data-block-key=\"6umqt\">Hampton was standing next to her, Gonzales said, and tried to intervene. “From what I understand,” Gonzales said, “she was arrested while telling them not to arrest me because I was press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9g2g9\">According to The Dartmouth, they were detained at around 9:45 p.m. and transported to the Lebanon Police Department seven miles away, Gonzales said, where they were booked on charges of criminal trespassing. The journalists were released on bail at 11:30 p.m., The Dartmouth reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"8gt10\">Gonzales told the Tracker that in addition to their $40 bonds, both student journalists are barred from multiple locations on campus as a condition of their bail, including the green where the protest took place, the administrative building and the hall where the president’s office is located.</p><p data-block-key=\"2cm6t\">Both student journalists have initial appearance hearings scheduled for Aug. 5.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8fg8\">In an <a href=\"https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2024/05/verbum-ultimum-drop-the-charges-against-charlotte-hampton-26-and-alesandra-gonzales-27\">editorial</a> published by The Dartmouth the following day, the newspaper condemned the arrests and said the college should be embarrassed.</p><p data-block-key=\"dlo5u\">“We are glad Hampton and Gonzales are back in the newsroom safely, but having to retrieve them from the station at all was a slap in the face,” the editorial board wrote. “If Dartmouth has any commitment to the freedom of the press, it must do everything in its power to get the relevant authorities to drop the charges against our reporters.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qnj0r\">Pro-Palestinian protesters stand off against law enforcement at Dartmouth College on May 1, 2024. Student journalist Charlotte Hampton was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing that night while reporting on the student encampment.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Lebanon Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-05-01",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New Hampshire",
"abbreviation": "NH"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-05-07 00:00:00+00:00) Trespassing charge dropped against Dartmouth student journalist"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Charlotte Hampton (The Dartmouth)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Student journalist injured in targeted attack at UCLA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-injured-in-targeted-attack-at-ucla-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-02T19:17:45.582306Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:22:48.141945Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-10T17:22:48.034937Z",
"date": "2024-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k82sh\">Student journalist Catherine Hamilton and three colleagues were assaulted by counterprotesters while reporting on a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the early hours of May 1, 2024. Hamilton was briefly hospitalized following the attack, in which she was repeatedly punched and another student journalist beaten and kicked.</p><p data-block-key=\"8rbj\">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=\"e3c1j\">As the protest neared its seventh day, a group of approximately 100 pro-Israeli counterprotesters attempted to storm the encampment, 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 and shooting fireworks inside.</p><p data-block-key=\"45b6j\">Hamilton, news editor for the Bruin, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-01/four-student-journalists-attacked-by-counterprotesters-at-ucla\">told the Los Angeles Times</a> that shortly before 3:30 a.m., counterprotesters started chanting her name while shining a light on her, and that she recognized the leader of the group as someone who had previously harassed her.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Counter-protesters just started chanting my name repeatedly while shining a bright light on me. Person who started the chant was the same one who harassed me the other night.</p>— Catherine Hamilton (@cat__hamilton5) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/cat__hamilton5/status/1785613466587529280?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=\"k82sh\">The individual directed the others to encircle Hamilton and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-05-01&date_upper=2024-05-01&targeted_institutions=Daily+Bruin&tags=protest%2CIsrael-Gaza+war\">three other Bruin journalists</a>, Hamilton told the Times. The group then began spraying the journalists with a chemical irritant while continuing to shine lights on them and chanting Hamilton’s name. As she tried to break free, Hamilton said the assailants punched her repeatedly in the chest and abdomen, and another student journalist was beaten and kicked on the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"b68la\">Hamilton told the Times that the Bruin reporters were instructed to travel in pairs, report from outside the student encampment and leave if the protest became unsafe.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qg29\">“We expected to be harassed by counterprotesters,” Hamilton said. “I truly did not expect to be directly assaulted.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6n6uh\">The Times reported that the attack lasted approximately five minutes, and the journalists returned to the Bruin newsroom afterward. Hamilton went to the hospital when she experienced difficulty breathing and standing, but reported in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/cat__hamilton5/status/1785679743335203187\">post on social media</a> that she was released several hours later.</p><p data-block-key=\"2474a\">“Wasn’t expecting the night to end like this, but please continue following the Daily Bruin’s coverage on the pro-Palestine encampment at UCLA and the violence toward it,” she wrote. “Amid the assaults on reporters, student journalism will remain so important.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZZX5E.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"m23ow\">Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, on May 1, 2024. Early that morning, counterprotesters attacked student journalist Catherine Hamilton and three other journalists for UCLA’s Daily Bruin.</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": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Catherine Hamilton (Daily Bruin)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Texas TV reporter injured at campus protest when sheriff’s deputy struck camera",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/texas-tv-reporter-injured-at-campus-protest-when-sheriffs-deputy-struck-camera/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-09T20:02:50.074822Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-09T20:02:50.074822Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-09T20:02:49.898704Z",
"date": "2024-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Richardson",
"longitude": -96.72972,
"latitude": 32.94818,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sjqd5\">TV reporter Blake Hanson injured a finger while covering a protest at the University of Texas at Dallas on May 1, 2024, when his camera was hit with bolt cutters by a Collin County Sheriff’s Office deputy.</p><p data-block-key=\"cdp25\">Hanson, a reporter and weekend evening news anchor at KDFW in Richardson, said <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BlakeFox4News/status/1785837560649887996\">in a post</a> on the social network X that he was reporting on law enforcement’s dismantling of a pro-Palestinian encampment and the arrests of protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"fb802\">The posted video of the incident shows a man wearing a uniform with a “Sheriff” label on his chest, who smacks Hanson’s camera with bolt cutters. Hanson shouts, “Fox 4 media! Media!” The man responds, “Get back!” Hanson repeats, “Media! You’ve got to warn me first!” The man orders him a second time to get back.</p><p data-block-key=\"9o3b3\">The station <a href=\"https://www.fox4news.com/news/ut-dallas-protests-palestine\">reported</a> that law enforcement had shown up in riot gear to dismantle the encampment, and that some were using bolt cutters to remove objects chained to trees.</p><p data-block-key=\"frlcq\">Hanson wrote <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BlakeFox4News/status/1785838019456446773\">on X</a> that he was filming the arrest of a protester at the time of the attack. “I realized I was standing in the man’s walking path, so I started backing up. That’s when he struck me and then told me to back up after,” adding, “I had a microphone in my hand, phone recording, clearly media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aqs19\">Hanson suffered a swollen finger but said he was otherwise fine. “But all law enforcement needs to respect the media’s right to operate in that highly-charged environment — obviously while respecting their area to work and do their duties.”</p><p data-block-key=\"spt8\">Neither Hanson nor KDFW responded to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"8eha8\">A spokesperson for the Collin County Sheriff’s Office told the Tracker via email that the incident had been referred to their Internal Affairs Section for investigation. “As of now, we have no comment, nor do we have any further information to share,” she wrote.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/table1.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"8lzkx\">Law enforcement dismantles a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Texas at Dallas on May 1, 2024. A sheriff’s deputy, pictured in blue jeans, hit reporter Blake Hanson’s camera with bolt cutters, injuring Hanson’s finger.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"actor": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Blake Hanson (KDFW)"
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},
{
"title": "Student journalist kicked, beaten at UCLA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-kicked-beaten-at-ucla-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-02T20:08:53.652585Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:23:09.131738Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-10T17:23:09.025289Z",
"date": "2024-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ts2m7\">Student journalist Christopher Buchanan and three colleagues from his college paper were assaulted by counterprotesters while reporting on a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the early hours of May 1, 2024. Buchanan was beaten and kicked, another journalist was repeatedly punched and briefly hospitalized, and all were sprayed with chemical irritants.</p><p data-block-key=\"c6bfu\">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=\"32kn\">As the protest neared its seventh day, a group of approximately 100 pro-Israeli counterprotesters attempted to storm the encampment, 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 and shooting fireworks inside.</p><p data-block-key=\"cffmj\">Buchanan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was mainly covering the protest for CalMatters, a nonprofit newsroom where he is a student fellow, but was also capturing footage for the Bruin. As he and three fellow Bruin journalists were returning to the newsroom at approximately 3 a.m., they were set upon by a group of men whom Buchanan said didn’t appear to be students.</p><p data-block-key=\"1sac6\">Catherine Hamilton, news editor for the Bruin, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-01/four-student-journalists-attacked-by-counterprotesters-at-ucla\">told the Los Angeles Times</a> that the counterprotesters started chanting her name while shining a light on her, and that she recognized the leader of the group as someone who had previously harassed her.</p><p data-block-key=\"v6d5\">Hamilton told the Times that the individual directed the others to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-injured-in-targeted-attack-at-ucla-protest/\">encircle her</a>, senior staff reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-at-ucla-protest/\">Shaanth Kodialam</a> and the two <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ucla-journalist-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-at-protest/\">other</a> Bruin journalists. The group then began spraying the journalists with a chemical irritant while continuing to shine lights on them and chanting Hamilton’s name.</p><p data-block-key=\"8o7ok\">Buchanan told the Tracker that he was shoved and someone attempted to tackle him from behind, but missed, falling onto the sidewalk in front of him.</p><p data-block-key=\"bbbbc\">“As I approached him, the group of men came around and grabbed me, shoved me to the ground, and they were beating and kicking me for about a minute,” Buchanan said. “I wasn’t seriously injured at all: I just had bruised ribs and a couple of bruises on my face.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6qdt0\">He noted that they sprayed him with a chemical irritant again while he was being beaten, and that his phone fell from his pocket in the course of the attack. When he attempted to retrieve it after the men had left, he found it in a nearby trash can, shattered. Buchanan said all of his protest footage from that night was lost.</p><p data-block-key=\"a07g7\">Hamilton told the Times that the Bruin reporters were instructed to travel in pairs, report from outside the student encampment and leave if the protest became unsafe, but that she didn’t expect they’d be directly assaulted.</p><p data-block-key=\"1lpqq\">The encounter lasted approximately five minutes, the Times reported, and the journalists returned to the Bruin newsroom afterward. Hamilton was the only student who reported going to the hospital for injuries sustained during the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs9mi\">“It’s not easy to do that job. It’s not easy to cover this event,” Kodialam told the Times. “At the end of the day, we’re all trying our best to serve our campus community and make sure our students, our faculty, our staff get the information they need.”</p><p data-block-key=\"87b6l\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated, first to identify the student journalist as Christopher Buchanan and then to include the damage to his phone and comment he gave to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7l8nm\">Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, on May 1, 2024. Four student journalists for UCLA’s Daily Bruin newspaper were attacked by counterprotesters early that morning.</p>",
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"student journalism"
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{
"title": "UCLA journalist sprayed with chemical irritant at protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ucla-journalist-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-at-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-02T20:27:21.499723Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:23:21.171814Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-10T17:23:21.085542Z",
"date": "2024-05-01",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xhxmr\">Four student journalists were assaulted by counterprotesters while reporting on protests at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the early hours of May 1, 2024. One was beaten and kicked, another repeatedly punched and briefly hospitalized, and all were sprayed with chemical irritants.</p><p data-block-key=\"eeof4\">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=\"a3ujn\">As the protest neared its seventh day, a group of approximately 100 pro-Israeli counterprotesters attempted to storm the encampment, 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 and shooting fireworks inside.</p><p data-block-key=\"3autg\">Catherine Hamilton, news editor for the Bruin, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-01/four-student-journalists-attacked-by-counterprotesters-at-ucla\">told the Los Angeles Times</a> that shortly before 3:30 a.m., counterprotesters started chanting her name while shining a light on her, and that she recognized the leader of the group as someone who had previously harassed her.</p><p data-block-key=\"c4k6b\">Hamilton told the Times that the individual directed the others to <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-injured-in-targeted-attack-at-ucla-protest/\">encircle her</a>, senior staff reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-at-ucla-protest/\">Shaanth Kodialam</a> and two <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-kicked-beaten-at-ucla-protest/\">other</a> Bruin journalists. The group then began spraying the journalists with a chemical irritant while continuing to shine lights on them and chanting Hamilton’s name.</p><p data-block-key=\"27lhd\">As she tried to break free, Hamilton said, the assailants punched her repeatedly in the chest and abdomen. Another student journalist was pushed to the ground and then beaten and kicked for nearly a minute, the Times reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"8gk2a\">Kodialam told the Times they watched as their friend was pummeled and begged the counterprotesters to stop.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0aag\">Hamilton said that the Bruin reporters were instructed to travel in pairs, report from outside the student encampment and leave if the protest became unsafe.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t707\">“We expected to be harassed by counterprotesters,” Hamilton said. “I truly did not expect to be directly assaulted.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9sj1c\">The encounter lasted approximately five minutes, the Times reported, and the journalists returned to the Bruin newsroom afterward. Hamilton was the only student who reported going to the hospital for injuries sustained during the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"dp2nj\">“It’s not easy to do that job. It’s not easy to cover this event,” Kodialam said. “At the end of the day, we’re all trying our best to serve our campus community and make sure our students, our faculty, our staff get the information they need.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"s8ine\">The sun sets at a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, on May 1, 2024. Early that morning, counterprotesters attacked a group of four student journalists for UCLA’s Daily Bruin newspaper.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified journalist 11 (Daily Bruin)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Student journalist sprayed with chemical irritant at UCLA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-at-ucla-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-02T19:58:15.058868Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-10T17:22:37.426343Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-10T17:22:37.336229Z",
"date": "2024-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6x53h\">Student journalist Shaanth Kodialam and three colleagues were assaulted by counterprotesters while reporting on a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, in the early hours of May 1, 2024. Kodialam was sprayed with a chemical irritant — as were the others — while another was repeatedly punched and briefly hospitalized and a fourth beaten and kicked.</p><p data-block-key=\"baf32\">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=\"1rr96\">As the protest neared its seventh day, a group of approximately 100 pro-Israeli counterprotesters attempted to storm the encampment, 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 and shooting fireworks inside.</p><p data-block-key=\"557d0\">Catherine Hamilton, news editor for the Bruin, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-05-01/four-student-journalists-attacked-by-counterprotesters-at-ucla\">told the Los Angeles Times</a> that shortly before 3:30 a.m., counterprotesters started chanting her name while shining a light on her, and that she recognized the leader of the group as someone who had previously harassed her.</p><p data-block-key=\"fpjib\">Hamilton told the Times that the individual directed the others to encircle her, Kodialam and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-kicked-beaten-at-ucla-protest/\">two</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ucla-journalist-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-at-protest/\">other</a> Bruin journalists. The group then began spraying the journalists with a chemical irritant while continuing to shine lights on them. As Hamilton tried to break free, she said the assailants <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-injured-in-targeted-attack-at-ucla-protest/\">punched her repeatedly</a> in the chest and abdomen, and another student journalist was beaten and kicked on the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"75dru\">Kodialam, a senior staff reporter for the Bruin, told the Times they begged the counterprotesters to stop as they watched their friend get pummeled.</p><p data-block-key=\"3h5gd\">“It’s not easy to do that job. It’s not easy to cover this event,” Kodialam said. “At the end of the day, we’re all trying our best to serve our campus community and make sure our students, our faculty, our staff get the information they need.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2j5nb\">Hamilton told the Times that the Bruin reporters were instructed to travel in pairs, report from outside the student encampment and leave if the protest became unsafe, but that she didn’t expect they’d be directly assaulted.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fsqk\">The encounter lasted approximately five minutes, the Times reported, and the journalists returned to the Bruin newsroom afterward. Hamilton was the only student who reported going to the hospital for injuries sustained during the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"9dd71\">Kodialam told the Times that they resumed their coverage of the encampment that same day.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fntk\">“I can’t sit back while I watch my friends, my peers, the people who have trained me, the people who I have trained, be hurt that way and allow myself to not continue to do my job,” Kodialam said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTSZZY4W.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"69lbn\">Pro-Palestinian protesters gather at an encampment at the University of California, Los Angeles, on May 1, 2024. Early that morning, counterprotesters attacked student journalist Shaanth Kodialam and three other journalists for UCLA’s Daily Bruin.</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,
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"stopped_previously": false,
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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": [
"chemical irritant",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Shaanth Kodialam (Daily Bruin)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Editor struck, sprayed with chemical irritant at UCLA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/editor-struck-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-at-ucla-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-06T15:43:32.396097Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-06T15:43:32.396097Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-06T15:39:53.301120Z",
"date": "2024-05-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qsjmu\">Dolores Quintana, co-editor of the weekly newspaper the Santa Monica Mirror, was sprayed with a chemical irritant, struck in the back and harassed while reporting on pro-Palestinian protests at the University of California, Los Angeles, on May 1, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tsgg\">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=\"3ee1m\">As the protest neared its seventh day, a group of approximately 100 pro-Israeli counterprotesters attempted to storm the encampment, 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 and shooting fireworks inside.</p><p data-block-key=\"52gjg\">Quintana told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived shortly before 1 a.m. on May 1 while the clash was well underway.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ph2k\">“My job as a journalist is to get the story, to take photos and capture video,” Quintana said. “So I walked right into it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"egl2o\">Over the 15 minutes that followed, the journalist told the Tracker, she was assaulted multiple times. First, she said she felt pain on her back and believes she was struck with one of the sticks she had seen counterprotesters carrying. Then, as someone stepped backward and she raised an arm to prevent them from toppling into her, another individual shouted “Fuck you!” at her and grabbed her.</p><p data-block-key=\"ev0or\">Quintana told the individual to let go of her and they listened, after which she moved to another area of the protest encampment. While there, she said an individual deliberately knocked her phone from her hands. Though it took her a couple of minutes to find her phone in the darkness, Quintana was able to retrieve it undamaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"cq76a\">As she then moved back toward the main protest area, Quintana told the Tracker someone came from behind her and sprayed a chemical irritant on the left side of her face from inches away.</p><p data-block-key=\"97gqk\">“I saw the spray go into my eye, that’s how close they were,” she said. “I was lucky that they didn’t choose to continue attacking me in that moment, because what could I have done?”</p><p data-block-key=\"8chpj\">Quintana said a medical student came to her aid and helped flush her eyes with water and saline.</p><p data-block-key=\"cohgn\">She told the Tracker that later that night, after she had regained her bearings, a group of individuals she identified as counterprotesters surrounded and began harassing her, filming her and shining lights in her eyes while calling her derogatory names.</p><p data-block-key=\"cv04l\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/doloresquintana/status/1785703729054056839\">post on social media</a>, Quintana shared images of her face after she was sprayed and of the residue left on her mask, and a video clip of individuals surrounding and harassing her.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The protesters and students are suffering the worst injuries, but they're also coming after the journalists too. I was maced with bear spray, hit, they tried to take my phone, and circled and harassed. I heard the screams of The Daily Bruin reporter that they attacked. <a href=\"https://t.co/siMdnAVlR0\">pic.twitter.com/siMdnAVlR0</a></p>— doloresquintana (@doloresquintana) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/doloresquintana/status/1785703729054056839?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=\"qsjmu\">“They are deliberately targeting us so that there’s no one there to take pictures and get video of the crimes that they are committing,” Quintana <a href=\"https://twitter.com/doloresquintana/status/1785704219183566956\">wrote</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbjs4\">Quintana told the Tracker she intends to file a police report about the attacks she suffered that night.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"eckbk\">Dolores Quintana, co-editor of the Santa Monica Mirror, was assaulted multiple times, sprayed with a chemical irritant and had her phone knocked from her hands while covering clashing protests at the University of California, Los Angeles, on May 1, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Dolores Quintana (Santa Monica Mirror)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Student journalist arrested while covering protest at Dartmouth College",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-arrested-while-covering-protest-at-dartmouth-college/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-06T15:53:05.402066Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-10T19:08:00.005276Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-10T19:07:59.795030Z",
"date": "2024-05-01",
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"city": "Hanover",
"longitude": -72.28954,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e2ma0\">Student journalist Alesandra Gonzales and a colleague at their college newspaper were arrested while reporting on a pro-Palestinian encampment at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, on May 1, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"8g296\">The student newspaper, The Dartmouth, <a href=\"https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2024/05/campus-encampments-live-updates-police-start-taking-students-away\">reported</a> that a group of students planned to erect an encampment at 6:30 p.m. that day in solidarity with protests at universities across the country calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"c4fsu\">Gonzales, a reporter and photographer for The Dartmouth, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was on assignment to photograph the demonstration as protesters erected tents, and student and community members formed a barrier around them.</p><p data-block-key=\"858j0\">The Dartmouth reported that officers with multiple departments, including the New Hampshire State Police and Hanover Police Department, arrived on campus shortly after 8 p.m. They gave protesters a final warning to leave the area under threat of arrest, noting that physical force may be used, then began making arrests approximately 30 minutes later.</p><p data-block-key=\"9p24i\">“At least in my perspective, we were relatively clearly separated from the protesters themselves,” Gonzales said. “We were with a group of other journalists, both for The Dartmouth and other local organizations, as well as being with a representative from the college’s Office of Communications.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2oemt\">Gonzales said she had just finished filming the aggressive arrest of a history professor when two officers grabbed her.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ort5\">“I told them many times while I was being arrested that I was press, and even my arresting officer took a picture of my press credential,” Gonzales said. “So I think they were very aware that I was press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"39mel\">Her colleague, managing editor and reporter Charlotte Hampton, was standing next to her. “I called out to her,” Gonzales said, “both as another journalist and as a mentor, because I wasn’t sure entirely of what was going on.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f3jl6\">It wasn’t until they were loaded into the same van that Gonzales realized that <a href=\"/all-incidents/dartmouth-journalist-arrested-while-reporting-on-campus-protest/\">Hampton had been arrested</a> as well. According to The Dartmouth, they were detained at around 9:45 p.m. Gonzales told the Tracker that both were wearing press credentials issued by the newspaper, and that she was holding her professional camera while Hampton had her reporter’s notebook.</p><p data-block-key=\"3nr9t\">They were transported to the Lebanon Police Department seven miles away, Gonzales said, where they were booked on charges of criminal trespassing. The journalists were released on bail at 11:30 p.m., The Dartmouth reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"8de9n\">Gonzales told the Tracker that in addition to their $40 bonds, both student journalists are barred from multiple locations on campus as a condition of their bail.</p><p data-block-key=\"727qp\">“Because of that, we cannot walk across or on the green. We cannot enter the administrative building or Parkhurst Hall, which is where the president’s office is located as well as various other departments,” Gonzales said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6dcgj\">Both student journalists have initial appearance hearings scheduled for Aug. 5.</p><p data-block-key=\"6prjl\">In an <a href=\"https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2024/05/verbum-ultimum-drop-the-charges-against-charlotte-hampton-26-and-alesandra-gonzales-27\">editorial</a> published by The Dartmouth the following day, the newspaper condemned the arrests and said the college should be embarrassed.</p><p data-block-key=\"9629s\">“We are glad Hampton and Gonzales are back in the newsroom safely, but having to retrieve them from the station at all was a slap in the face,” the editorial board wrote. “If Dartmouth has any commitment to the freedom of the press, it must do everything in its power to get the relevant authorities to drop the charges against our reporters.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"k6a6x\">Alesandra Gonzales, a journalist with The Dartmouth student newspaper, center, was arrested while covering a pro-Palestinian protest on the Dartmouth College campus in Hanover, New Hampshire, on May 1, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Lebanon Police Department",
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"name": "New Hampshire",
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"(2024-05-07 00:00:00+00:00) Trespassing charge dropped against Dartmouth student reporter"
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{
"title": "NYPD confines student reporter to building, threatens arrest as Columbia protests cleared",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nypd-confines-student-reporter-to-building-threatens-arrest-as-columbia-protests-cleared/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-07T14:42:01.613863Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-02T21:00:08.480136Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-02T21:00:08.391113Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"j8y47\">Francesca Maria Lorenzini, a student reporter at the Columbia Journalism School, was among a group of student journalists forced into a campus building by New York City police and threatened with arrest on April 30, 2024, as officers retook another building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ircq\">Lorenzini had been <a href=\"https://citynewsroomcjs.com/author/florenzini/\">covering</a> the protests on Columbia University’s campus for City Newsroom, a news outlet staffed by journalism school students. Due to restrictions on outside press access to the campus, Lorenzini and other student reporters were the <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinian-campus-student-protests-war-beb2c274c0960eee48c82485ca9b3f96\">only 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=\"5l8cu\">Lorenzini told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and other student journalists were reporting outside Hamilton Hall around 9 p.m. when NYPD officers arrived at the campus. She said she was wearing a Columbia Journalism School press pass around her neck and a sign on her back that said “press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ga74\">She said that for a brief time, the reporters were able to remain in front of Hamilton, but then police began to progressively push them away from the building. That prevented the journalists from reporting on what was happening inside or taking videos of the operation, in which more than 100 protesters were <a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/news/2024/05/03/officer-fired-gun-during-hamilton-hall-sweep-nypd-confirms/\">arrested</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6fg62\">After about an hour, Lorenzini said, police began to clear a protest encampment on campus, and officers then told the reporters to go into the journalism school building.</p><p data-block-key=\"6g6f9\">“Shortly before they started clearing the encampment, they pushed us into Pulitzer Hall, which is the main building of the Columbia Journalism School, telling us not to go out, otherwise we would have been arrested,” she said, adding that there was no physical contact from the police.</p><p data-block-key=\"3f7bq\">She said one of the journalism school deans went out to talk to the NYPD, “telling them that we were press, we’re not just students.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1ljc2\">Lorenzini said she remained in Pulitzer Hall for about an hour and a half before she was allowed to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"9kbbh\">“Nobody was there to document what was happening” during the police operation, Lorenzini noted, “So I feel like that night, freedom of the press was really severely limited.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8b7gm\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hcz14\">New York City Police Department officers stand guard at Columbia University, where a student reporter was forced into a campus building and threatened with arrest on April 30, 2024, during an NYPD operation to clear out pro-Palestinian protesters.</p>",
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"name": "New York",
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{
"title": "TV reporter arrested at Northern California university protest; charges dropped",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-reporter-arrested-at-northern-california-university-protest-charges-dropped/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-01T21:06:37.867810Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-01T21:06:37.867810Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-01T21:04:53.592238Z",
"date": "2024-04-30",
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"city": "Arcata",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"609na\">TV journalist Adelmi Ruiz was arrested in the early hours of April 30, 2024, while covering student protests at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, her outlet KRCR-TV reported. The charges have since been dropped against Ruiz, who is a reporter for the Redding station and its Arcata-Eureka bureau, KAEF-TV.</p><p data-block-key=\"40ttb\">In an <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Alh9T0dzVE\">interview</a> with KRCR-TV, Ruiz said she arrived shortly after 10 p.m. on April 29 to begin documenting the pro-Palestinian student encampment and protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"b3iu\">“I got b-roll, I was recording sound and I was trying to get interviews, but a lot of protesters were denying to be on camera,” Ruiz said. She told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was reporting from behind the students’ barricades when police moved in.</p><p data-block-key=\"dde3k\">At approximately 2:30 a.m., the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and Cal Poly Humboldt Police Department led an operation to clear and secure multiple campus buildings, utilizing law enforcement officers from across the state, KRCR-TV reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"1viaj\">In Ruiz’s <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/100063468133544/videos/941762844619848\">live recording</a> from the scene, lines of officers can be seen advancing onto campus. While what appears to be a final line of university police officers assembles near where Ruiz is reporting, one of the officers calls out to tell her to come behind the police line and out of the way. Ruiz complies and seconds later is placed in flex cuffs and told she’s being detained.</p><p data-block-key=\"1b1ki\">“Wait, I’m press,” Ruiz tells the officer, adding that she was there doing her job. The officer, who was from California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, replies, “OK, well, find a different job if it causes you to break the law.”</p><p data-block-key=\"lfs9\">Ruiz told the Tracker that she repeatedly identified herself as a journalist and showed the officers her press badge and jacket, but it didn’t make a difference.</p><p data-block-key=\"9hvl0\">Ruiz said a work-issued cellphone fell from her pocket and was lost when officers removed her backpack, and that the bag and her personal cellphone remained in the deputies’ custody on campus while she was transported to the Humboldt County Correctional Facility.</p><p data-block-key=\"74al6\">At the county jail, Ruiz said she received a thorough pat-down and had mug shots taken, but was not fingerprinted. According to the <a href=\"https://humboldtgov.org/DocumentCenter/View/127969/20240430_BookingSheet\">daily booking sheet</a>, Ruiz was charged with trespassing, unlawful assembly, obstructing an officer and obstructing a business.</p><p data-block-key=\"aumtg\">Shortly after 5 a.m., Ruiz told the Tracker, Sheriff William Honsal pulled her aside to talk about how she had been caught up in the arrests. He apologized for what happened and said that he would finish processing her paperwork and that she’d be free to go.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebf2q\">Ruiz was released at 5:25 a.m., according to <a href=\"https://humboldtgov.org/DocumentCenter/View/128007/20240501_Released\">law enforcement records</a>, under a California statute that allows officers to release an arrestee when they believe there are insufficient grounds for pursuing the charges. When reached by phone, the Humboldt County Superior Court confirmed that there are no pending charges against Ruiz.</p><p data-block-key=\"2p5ha\">Honsal drove her back to campus himself, Ruiz told the Tracker, and she was able to resume her reporting once her belongings were returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"6dk4n\">“I am extremely thankful to the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Department for William Honsal, who was able to get everything resolved as quickly as possible,” Ruiz said.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Ruiz_arrest.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0fltq\">Adelmi Ruiz, a reporter for KRCR-TV and KAEF-TV, filmed the police response to pro-Palestinian protests at California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, in the early hours of April 30, 2024. Moments later, she was arrested.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Cal Poly Humboldt Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"detention_date": "2024-04-30",
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],
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"tags": [
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{
"title": "NYPD orders student reporter into building, threatens arrest as Columbia protest cleared",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nypd-orders-student-reporter-into-building-threatens-arrest-as-columbia-protest-cleared/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-13T20:12:28.300749Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-13T20:12:28.300749Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-13T20:12:19.136101Z",
"date": "2024-04-30",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tyxk6\">Student reporter Chris Mendell was confined to a building entryway and threatened with arrest while covering a New York City police operation to clear pro-Palestinian protesters from Columbia University’s campus on April 30, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"3f5pm\">Mendell, a <a href=\"https://www.columbiaspectator.com/contributors/chris-mendell/\">staff writer</a> with the Columbia Daily Spectator, the student newspaper, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had been covering the <a href=\"https://www.thecity.nyc/2024/04/30/columbia-hamilton-hall-blockade/\">takeover</a> of the university’s Hamilton Hall by protesters in the early morning of April 30.</p><p data-block-key=\"5s90j\">After going home to get some sleep, Mendell tried to return to campus. But the university had restricted access at that point, and Columbia Public Safety officers would not allow him onto campus even though he showed them his Columbia ID and his Spectator press ID.</p><p data-block-key=\"d4nre\">To try to get a better view of the activity on campus, Mendell walked to a nearby block where student dorms and other university buildings were located. He said the New York City Police Department was setting up barriers, behind which members of the press, students and bystanders had gathered.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhcaf\">Mendell took photos and videos until around 8 p.m., when the NYPD ordered everyone off the sidewalk and into any of the nearby residence halls.</p><p data-block-key=\"2598e\">“Within seconds of the cop making that announcement, some officers started chasing people with batons, hitting them and shoving them into dorms,” he said, adding that he was not physically assaulted. “This is press and students, these are bystanders, these are people not involved. And it was really, really chaotic.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3rekv\">Mendell said he retreated into the entryway of Ruggles Hall dorm with about 15 other people. Two police officers were stationed at the door and did not allow people to leave. Because they were not residents of the building, they were stuck in the entryway.</p><p data-block-key=\"bv813\">Mendell said he opened the door at one point and asked officers if he could leave. “They said, ‘No. If I let you leave, we’re going to arrest you.’ I was wearing my press badge, so I was identified as press the whole time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"44kkg\">Later, he said he saw other Spectator reporters walking by. He reiterated that he was a member of the press and asked if he could go with them. An officer again denied his request and threatened to arrest him if he stepped out of the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6gm7\">Around 9 p.m., police in riot gear <a href=\"https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/columbia-locks-down-all-but-one-entry-point-as-protesters-take-over-hamilton-hall/5367323/\">entered</a> the campus and Hamilton Hall at the request of Columbia’s administration, arresting protesters and clearing those who occupied the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"5p67s\">Mendell said that from his vantage point, he was able to see some protesters from Hamilton being led out of a campus exit, police entering the campus and police buses driving past. However, he was not able to view any of the police operations on campus.</p><p data-block-key=\"76dca\">At one point, Mendell was put in touch with NBC News and <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/columbia-student-says-police-threatened-arrest-if-they-leave-dorm-building-210015813936\">conducted a live interview</a> with the network from the entryway of Ruggles, describing his situation. In a video, a woman can be seen telling an officer guarding the door that people are stuck without their medications; the officer replies that she does not know when they will be able to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"e4lor\">Mendell told the Tracker that about 20 minutes after the NBC interview aired, the officers guarding the door were replaced and one of the new officers escorted all who did not live in Ruggles out into the street. Mendell said he was in Ruggles for about three hours.</p><p data-block-key=\"77dqu\">In a May 4 <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/\">letter from the editors</a>, Spectator Editor-in-Chief Isabella Ramírez and Managing Editor Esha Karam described numerous violations faced by the paper’s journalists as the NYPD entered the campus, including journalists being confined to buildings and threatened with arrest, threatened with arrest if they did not leave campus, mocked for being student press and pushed and grabbed by officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"3le32\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"r4qxv\">Columbia Daily Spectator’s Chris Mendell, right, speaks live with Gadi Schwartz of NBC News from a campus building in New York City on April 30, 2024, after police ordered Mendell inside and threatened him with arrest while officers cleared protesters.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"detention_date": "2024-04-30",
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{
"title": "Student journalist forced into building by NYPD during Columbia protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-forced-into-building-by-nypd-during-columbia-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-08T16:42:41.530501Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9lix5\">Columbia Journalism School student Iryna Humenyuk was among a group of student reporters that New York City police forced into a campus building and prevented from leaving for several hours on April 30, 2024, as officers retook another building occupied by pro-Palestinian protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"doolq\">Due to restrictions on outside press access to the campus, Humenyuk 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 <a href=\"https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/columbia-university-protests-nypd-video-hamilton-hall/5371376/\">cleared</a> Hamilton Hall, a building being occupied by protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"apdju\">Humenyuk and other student reporters were told by police to move away from Hamilton toward John Jay Hall, a nearby residence hall, at around 9 p.m., according to an account <a href=\"https://www.curbed.com/article/locked-out-columbia-campus-nypd-raid-student-press.html\">published</a> in Curbed by <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-reporter-driven-off-columbia-campus-kettled-by-nypd/\">Samaa Khullar</a>, a reporting fellow at the journalism school.</p><p data-block-key=\"4v74c\">“They used their batons to push us inside,” Humenyuk was quoted as saying in the article, whose details she confirmed in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"1opvv\">Humenyuk was crowded with about 50 others into a small entryway behind the doors of John Jay, Khullar wrote. NYPD officers locked the doors after the vestibule filled and then stood outside, guarding the entrance and blocking the view of Hamilton. Because the student journalists did not live in the building, they remained confined in the vestibule area.</p><p data-block-key=\"4sjpm\">“People were yelling at the police and they just wouldn’t acknowledge anyone or answer any questions,” Humenyuk was quoted as saying.</p><p data-block-key=\"djp81\">At midnight, Humenyuk was told that those inside could leave in groups of two, with escorts, Khullar wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"fos5e\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ya8u4\">New York police detain a pro-Palestinian protester at Columbia University on April 30, 2024. A Columbia Journalism School student was among a group of reporters that police forced into a campus building and confined for several hours during mass arrests.</p>",
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{
"title": "Police shove journalist covering pro-Palestinian protest outside NYC campus",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-shove-journalist-covering-pro-palestinian-protest-outside-nyc-campus/",
"first_published_at": "2024-05-02T15:36:20.046816Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-02T15:36:20.046816Z",
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"date": "2024-04-30",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mgsuv\">Independent journalist Katie Smith was shoved by police officers while covering a pro-Palestinian protest outside a New York City college campus on April 30, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"2tl24\">Smith, who <a href=\"https://twitter.com/probablyreadit\">covers</a> protests and social movements in New York, was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/probablyreadit/status/1785394440745423065\">documenting</a> a group of protesters visiting student encampments at five campuses around New York that day. When the protesters reached City College of New York in upper Manhattan, they were met by police at metal barricades and gates blocking access to the encampment, according to local news <a href=\"https://abc7ny.com/city-college-protests-nypd-officers-arrest-demonstrators-in-hamilton-heights-campus-operations-move-online-until-further-notice/14748471/\">reports</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/probablyreadit/status/1785452583588393235\">Smith’s</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/probablyreadit/status/1785458110166896696\">posts</a> on the social media platform X.</p><p data-block-key=\"67lik\">At one point, Smith <a href=\"https://twitter.com/probablyreadit/status/1785458110166896696\">posted</a> that “the situation at CCNY has rapidly spiraled out of control,” adding, “Protesters tried to break through the barricades which led to absolute chaos breaking out. People thrown to the ground and journalists (including me) were hit and shoved by officers in the melee.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">NOW: The situation at CCNY has rapidly spiraled out of control<br><br>Protesters tried to break through the barricades which led to absolute chaos breaking out<br><br>People thrown to the ground and journalists (including me) were hit and shoved by officers in the melee <a href=\"https://t.co/6CDVknzM8C\">pic.twitter.com/6CDVknzM8C</a></p>— katie smith (@probablyreadit) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/probablyreadit/status/1785458110166896696?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=\"mgsuv\">Smith detailed her encounter for the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, explaining that she was standing on the sidewalk outside the CCNY campus and filming with her phone when protesters started moving barricades that the police had set up.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddnkh\">“Officers began grabbing and pushing protesters near the barricades when a group of Community Affairs officers moved in behind me and grabbed a protester. At that point, I intentionally backed up so I was not directly in front,” she told the Tracker. “Then, a group of Community Affairs officers moved in from behind and grabbed and surrounded a protester, which is when one of the Community Affairs officers shoved me hard directly in the center of my chest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dirv7\">Smith said she was “wearing my NYC-issued press credential around my neck, clearly displayed.” She added, “I believe I was just caught up in the protest for the most part.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6aekn\">There were additional confrontations between police and campus protesters in New York that night, leading to several hundred arrests at CCNY and Columbia University, <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/columbia-university-protests-nypd-arrests/\">according</a> to news reports.</p><p data-block-key=\"ducin\">In response to a request for comment about the incident and any measures the department was taking to protect the safety of journalists covering the protests, the NYPD sent the Tracker a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/1785661500767752670\">video</a> of a news conference held May 1 by Mayor Eric Adams, Police Commissioner Edward Caban and other police officials.</p><p data-block-key=\"3kirf\">While the officials did not directly address Smith’s case, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry said press access needed to go through the department so that the media didn’t interfere with police operations or get mistaken for students or protesters.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"va4vc\">A screenshot from video of New York Police Department officers pushing back pro-Palestinian protesters outside City College of New York on April 30, 2024. Independent journalist Katie Smith was shoved by an officer while filming the protest.</p>",
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"name": "New York",
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