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{
"title": "CNN headquarters in Atlanta vandalized during protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-headquarters-atlanta-vandalized-during-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-08-04T13:27:05.745128Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:28:57.475314Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:28:57.396920Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3az88\">On May 29, 2020, CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, was targeted by individuals who threw objects, broke windows and graffitied the large “CNN” logo out front.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ene4\">The crowd had gathered in Centennial Park earlier in the day, <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/us/cnn-center-vandalized-protest-atlanta-destroyed/index.html\">CNN reported</a>, but by about 7 p.m. individuals were damaging the news organization’s headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"3kmwk\">The protests in Atlanta were part of a national response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"doq4y\">As the crowd became rowdier on May 29, they set an Atlanta Police Department vehicle on fire and a SWAT team was called in, <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/us/cnn-center-vandalized-protest-atlanta-destroyed/index.html\">CNN reported</a>. As police faced off with protesters, someone threw either a firework or a flash-bang grenade over a line of officers. It <a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/furious-demonstrators-swarm-cnn-center-in-atlanta-during-protest-of-george-floyds-death\">detonated in front of</a> CNN correspondent Nick Valencia and his crew as they reported from the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"7c0ha\">Despite that dramatic incident, no CNN employees were harmed, according to a CNN spokesperson.</p><p data-block-key=\"8g1ic\">“The protests were not directed at CNN and they were not protesting us/CNN, but our office in downtown Atlanta is a landmark location,” Bridget Leininger, CNN senior director of communications said.</p><p data-block-key=\"0unsm\">A <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/us/cnn-center-vandalized-protest-atlanta-destroyed/index.html\">CNN report</a> did note that some protesters were “chanting anti-media rhetoric.” In one <a href=\"https://twitter.com/fernalfonso/status/1266512702958112768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1266512702958112768&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2020%2F05%2F29%2Fus%2Fcnn-center-vandalized-protest-atlanta-destroyed%2Findex.html\">social media video</a> someone can be clearly heard yelling, “Fuck CNN!”</p><p data-block-key=\"qs2xv\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sbuaq\">Protesters stand in front of a vandalized CNN logo at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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"targeted_institutions": [
"CNN"
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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{
"title": "Reporter for Swedish outlet struck with projectile during Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-european-outlets-hit-projectiles-during-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-27T19:54:17.894924Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:19:17.030017Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:19:16.955619Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"b6xme\">Nina Svanberg, a reporter for the Swedish outlet Expressen, was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"o39m9\">Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"hbcy4\">Svanberg told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that she and Thomas Nilsson, a photojournalist for Norwegian outlet Verdens Gang, had walked with protesters up from the Third Precinct to the Fifth Precinct on the 29th. National Guard troops and police arrived to the area to disperse the crowd and enforce the 8 p.m. curfew.</p><p data-block-key=\"xbqgo\">At about 11:30 p.m., Minneapolis Police Department officers began indiscriminately firing projectiles and tear gas to disperse the crowd, Svanberg said. One hit her on the hip.</p><p data-block-key=\"hbnvo\">“All of a sudden, I feel a sudden pain in the leg, and I’m losing my balance and falling down,” Svanberg told CPJ.</p><p data-block-key=\"n2d4a\">She said that she crawled behind a car to avoid being hit again, but was caught in the tear gas. Nilsson was affected by the chemical irritant as well. The Tracker documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-for-norwegian-outlet-targeted-with-projectiles-during-minneapolis-protest/\">his assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7we55\">The journalists eventually met up in an alley where an Australian news team was sheltering with its security team.</p><p data-block-key=\"gt9bb\">Svanberg told CPJ that both she and Nilsson were wearing press passes.</p><p data-block-key=\"2q9vz\">“The thing is, I think it was obvious that we were there working,” Svanberg said. “We were behaving like journalists and not demonstrators.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6r8vj\">The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to multiple phone and emailed requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ankef\">“We stood there for a while,” Svanberg said. “And then we just went from the corner and continued working.”</p><p data-block-key=\"z1vj4\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "Minnesota",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Nina Svanberg (Expressen)"
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{
"title": "Indianapolis Star journalist pepper sprayed, threatened, shot with projectile",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indianapolis-star-journalist-pepper-sprayed-threatened-shot-projectile/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-22T22:40:27.320438Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:48:03.823637Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:48:03.732427Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Indianapolis",
"longitude": -86.15804,
"latitude": 39.76838,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uxjqr\">Indianapolis Star photojournalist Kelly Wilkinson was tear gassed, pepper sprayed, threatened and shot with a pepper ball on May 29, 2020, while documenting the first night of protests in Indianapolis, Indiana.</p><p data-block-key=\"rh7a5\">The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"t2r7l\">Wilkinson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protests that day had been largely peaceful until shortly after sunset when something triggered a back-and-forth between protesters and law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"rhkhu\">“It sort of spiraled downhill after that,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"jbwbv\">Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers began launching tear gas into the crowd, Wilkinson said. It was the first time she had experienced the chemical irritant.</p><p data-block-key=\"rl3fp\">“I don’t know whether I had a panic attack or what, but that first time that it got me, it got me good,” Wilkinson said. “I thought I was going to die.” After taking a few minutes to recover she said she was able to resume working.</p><p data-block-key=\"4rw4v\">Shortly before 10 p.m., as the skirmish between police and demonstrators continued, Wilkinson said she was working near a street corner where a number of police officers were assembled in a line. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ericweddle/status/1266564799384649728\">a video captured</a> by Eric Weddle, a reporter with NPR affiliate WFYI, Wilkinson can be seen approaching the intersection with one of her cameras raised as she photographs the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"25fh3\">An officer breaks away from the police line and approaches Wilkinson with his weapon trained on her. A second officer appears to intervene and directs Wilkinson to step back; as she does, the first officer appears to begin lowering his weapon.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">On the ground moments ago in Indianapolis. <a href=\"https://t.co/H4fto941z0\">pic.twitter.com/H4fto941z0</a></p>— Eric Weddle (@ericweddle) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ericweddle/status/1266564799384649728?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rkgx3\">Wilkinson told the Tracker that she didn’t remember the incident happening until she saw the video and that she hadn’t felt threatened at the time. “It does look quite shocking though, when you see it,” she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"uxwsj\">Wilkinson noted that in a separate incident that night she was struck above the knee with a pepper ball. She didn’t realize what hit her until she researched the wound pattern when she got home.</p><p data-block-key=\"1k0d5\">Later that evening, after Wilkinson had put on a gas mask to protect herself from the tear gas, officers directly pepper sprayed her, Wilkinson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"gl0l2\">“It looked like he was pointing right at me,” Wilkinson said. “I was maybe 8 to 10 feet away from him, so not too far.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gu1nj\">“Again, I thought I looked like a photographer, but maybe I didn’t. I did have all of my equipment on me,” she added, noting that she was carrying two cameras, a fanny pack and her press pass.</p><p data-block-key=\"1w300\">The following day, Wilkinson said the Star issued new press passes that are bright yellow and marked PRESS in large capital letters. Editors from the Star did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"7x21c\">The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ou1ns\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
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"shot / shot at"
],
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{
"title": "CNN producer, crew arrested on-air while documenting Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-producer-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-22T16:16:58.135257Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T17:56:30.661884Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T17:56:30.556105Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yn71d\">CNN Producer Bill Kirkos was arrested with two other members of his CNN news crew while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early morning of May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"62i4i\">Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Thousands gathered around the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the police department’s Third Precinct building in the days that followed.</p><p data-block-key=\"uaioe\">At least five journalists were hit with crowd-control ammunition while covering the Minneapolis protests on <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-struck-projectiles-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/\">May 26</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-hit-less-lethal-rounds-during-second-day-minnesota-protests/\">May 27</a> as police officers launched tear gas, stun grenades and less lethal ammunition into the crowd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jwumz\">Just after 5 a.m. on May 29, the CNN news crew — comprised of Kirkos, correspondent <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-news-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Omar Jimenez</a> and photographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-photojournalist-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Leonel Mendez</a> — was reporting live a few blocks from the Third Precinct, which had been set on fire by protesters the night before, CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protest-updates-05-28-20/index.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"xgn5t\">In the <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/29/minneapolis-protests-omar-jimenez-arrested-newday-vpx.cnn\">live footage</a>, Minnesota State Patrol troopers can be seen approaching the news crew and asking them to move.</p><p data-block-key=\"t4udc\">Jimenez calmly shows the officers his CNN identification and is heard telling the troopers, “We can move back to where you’d like. We are live on the air at the moment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"u0wuw\">Within minutes, officers in riot gear approach and arrest each member of the news crew in turn while the camera continues to broadcast live.</p><p data-block-key=\"6o2yt\">Soon after the arrests, CNN posted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/1266321293974134784\">a statement on Twitter</a> condemning the arrests as a violation of the journalists’ First Amendment Rights and demanding that the news crew be released.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A CNN reporter & his production team were arrested this morning in Minneapolis for doing their jobs, despite identifying themselves - a clear violation of their First Amendment rights. The authorities in Minnesota, incl. the Governor, must release the 3 CNN employees immediately.</p>— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/1266321293974134784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 29, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dx98f\">The three journalists were released from the Hennepin County Public Safety facility in downtown Minneapolis at around 6:40 a.m., CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protest-updates-05-28-20/index.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"d4cup\">The local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists released a <a href=\"http://www.mnspj.org/2020/05/29/mnspj-and-tcbj-condemn-arrest-of-cnn-news-team/\">joint statement</a> condemning the arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"nydn3\">The statement reads, in part: “Police, State Patrol and other law enforcement officers should be well aware of the importance of the media whose job it is to document and report on breaking news for the benefit of the general public. We implore the responding parties to alert their officers on the rights of the press and the necessity of their presence as they continue to report on the current unrest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"g8eft\"><a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/minneapolis-minnesota-police-arrest-cnn-reporter-live-tv/\">Freedom of the Press Foundation</a>, the <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2020/05/cnn-team-arrested-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/\">Committee to Protect Journalists</a> and other press advocacy groups also released statements condemning the arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"tt1yt\">Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologized for the arrests during a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs4VjEsigiU\">press conference</a> a few hours after the journalists were released, stating that it should not have happened.</p><p data-block-key=\"byb6t\">“This one is on me and I own it,” Walz said. “I am a teacher by trade and I have spent my time as governor highlighting the need to be as transparent as possible and to have the media here: I failed you last night in that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"za51e\">Walz added that ensuring that there is a safe place for journalists to report during such incidents is vital, and that the arrest of journalists can increase fear in affected communities.</p><p data-block-key=\"eszpi\">“We will continue to strive to make sure that that accessibility is maintained,” Walz added. “The protection and security and safety of the journalists covering this is a top priority, not because it’s a nice thing to do, because it’s a key component of how we fix this.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dkmvq\">Neither CNN nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to multiple emailed requests for comment about the incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bh13r\">CNN producer Bill Kirkos is arrested with two other members of the news crew during a live broadcast from protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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{
"title": "CNN photojournalist, crew arrested on-air while documenting Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-photojournalist-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-22T16:12:55.313880Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:28:29.494788Z",
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"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e3ujl\">CNN photojournalist Leonel Mendez was arrested with two other members of a CNN news crew while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early morning of May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"dgfbp\">Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Thousands gathered around the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the police department’s Third Precinct building in the days that followed.</p><p data-block-key=\"484qx\">At least five journalists were hit with crowd-control ammunition while covering the Minneapolis protests on <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-struck-projectiles-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/\">May 26</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-hit-less-lethal-rounds-during-second-day-minnesota-protests/\">May 27</a> as police officers launched tear gas, stun grenades and less lethal ammunition into the crowd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"z5dok\">Just after 5 a.m. on May 29, the CNN news crew — comprised of Mendez, correspondent <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-news-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Omar Jimenez</a> and producer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-producer-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Bill Kirkos</a> — was reporting live a few blocks from the Third Precinct, which had been set on fire by protesters the night before, CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protest-updates-05-28-20/index.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"wt435\">In the <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/29/minneapolis-protests-omar-jimenez-arrested-newday-vpx.cnn\">live footage</a>, Minnesota State Patrol troopers can be seen approaching the news crew and asking them to move.</p><p data-block-key=\"7v9l8\">Jimenez calmly shows the officers his CNN identification and is heard telling the troopers, “We can move back to where you’d like. We are live on the air at the moment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gf9dr\">Within minutes, officers in riot gear approach and arrest each member of the news crew in turn while the camera continues to broadcast live.</p><p data-block-key=\"qrz7x\">Soon after the arrests, CNN posted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/1266321293974134784\">a statement on Twitter</a> condemning the arrests as a violation of the journalists’ First Amendment Rights and demanding that the news crew be released.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A CNN reporter & his production team were arrested this morning in Minneapolis for doing their jobs, despite identifying themselves - a clear violation of their First Amendment rights. The authorities in Minnesota, incl. the Governor, must release the 3 CNN employees immediately.</p>— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/1266321293974134784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 29, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ysgj9\">The three journalists were released from the Hennepin County Public Safety facility in downtown Minneapolis at around 6:40 a.m., CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protest-updates-05-28-20/index.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"0aonj\">The local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists released a <a href=\"http://www.mnspj.org/2020/05/29/mnspj-and-tcbj-condemn-arrest-of-cnn-news-team/\">joint statement</a> condemning the arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"y4bmc\">The statement reads, in part: “Police, State Patrol and other law enforcement officers should be well aware of the importance of the media whose job it is to document and report on breaking news for the benefit of the general public. We implore the responding parties to alert their officers on the rights of the press and the necessity of their presence as they continue to report on the current unrest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tdcqb\"><a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/minneapolis-minnesota-police-arrest-cnn-reporter-live-tv/\">Freedom of the Press Foundation</a>, the <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2020/05/cnn-team-arrested-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/\">Committee to Protect Journalists</a> and other press advocacy groups also released statements condemning the arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"xaesi\">Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologized for the arrests during a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs4VjEsigiU\">press conference</a> a few hours after the journalists were released, stating that it should not have happened.</p><p data-block-key=\"xf9mt\">“This one is on me and I own it,” Walz said. “I am a teacher by trade and I have spent my time as governor highlighting the need to be as transparent as possible and to have the media here: I failed you last night in that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"u05j4\">Walz added that ensuring that there is a safe place for journalists to report during such incidents is vital, and that the arrest of journalists can increase fear in affected communities.</p><p data-block-key=\"yther\">“We will continue to strive to make sure that that accessibility is maintained,” Walz added. “The protection and security and safety of the journalists covering this is a top priority, not because it’s a nice thing to do, because it’s a key component of how we fix this.”</p><p data-block-key=\"v3foe\">Neither CNN nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to multiple emailed requests for comment about the incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mendez.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1gtax\">The camera operated by CNN photojournalist Leonel Mendez continues to broadcast from Minneapolis, Minnesota as Mendez and two other members of the CNN news crew are arrested live on-air on May 29, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Minnesota State Patrol",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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},
{
"title": "Photographer assaulted by police officer during protests; now part of lawsuit against NYPD",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-assaulted-by-police-officer-during-protests-part-of-lawsuit-against-nypd/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-18T14:25:30.757966Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-14T14:20:39.359062Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-14T14:20:39.175845Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4hy2l\">Visual journalist and documentary filmmaker Amr Alfiky was repeatedly assaulted by police officers while photographing a protest in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, on May 29, 2020, according to a federal lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"at081\">Alfiky is one of five news photographers who filed a <a href=\"https://nppa.org/news/news-photographers-file-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-new-york-city-police-department\">federal lawsuit</a> on Aug. 5, 2021, “seeking to hold the New York Police Department [NYPD] accountable for its violation of their First Amendment rights.” The suit is being led by the National Press Photographers Association, of which four of the journalists are members, in partnership with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.</p><p data-block-key=\"xrf3d\">According to the <a href=\"https://nppa.org/sites/default/files/Gray%20v%20City%20of%20New%20York%20et%20al%20-%20Complaint%20-%20Filed%208-5-2021.pdf\">complaint</a>, Alfiky was covering a demonstration near Barclays Center with his camera in one hand and press pass in the other when an NYPD officer began shouting at him. Alfiky repeated, “I'm a journalist, I have a press pass,” but the officer responded with “I don't give a fuck about your press pass,” shoving him in the chest with a baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"73wjf\">The complaint stated that the officer continued to shove Alfiky back, causing him to trip and fall with “such force that an approximately one-inch-wide benign cyst on his back ruptured,” which led to "excruciating pain.” The officer continued to hit him with his baton and did not stop until two protesters pulled Alfiky away and helped him stand, according to the complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"xqnj5\">“As a result of this assault, Mr. Alfiky suffered fever and infection. He later had to undergo medical treatment including a surgical procedure to clean the infected area in his back, and an additional procedure to remove the ruptured cyst,” the complaint noted. “Mr. Alfiky has also suffered back pain since the assault, which has been evaluated as likely caused by a traumatic incident.”</p><p data-block-key=\"alh6d\">“He was showing his credential and not only did the officer completely disregard it, but actually said, ‘I don't give a fuck,’” Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the NPPA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “That seems to sum up, unfortunately, a lot of the attitude of law enforcement toward journalists.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1n8da\">Alfiky and the New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39KII_-_Reuters_-_Shannon_Stap.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"p1ik8\">Police officers at a protest in New York City on May 29, 2020, following the killing of George Floyd. Journalist Amr Alfiky was shoved and beaten by an officer while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:21-cv-06610",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-02-07 00:00:00+00:00) Judge accepts journalists’ settlement with NYPD",
"(2023-09-05 17:02:00+00:00) Journalists reach ‘historic’ settlement with NYPD in First Amendment suit",
"(2025-04-09 00:00:00+00:00) Appeals court affirms photographers’ settlement with NYPD",
"(2023-09-08 00:00:00+00:00) Judge voids First Amendment settlement with NYPD"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Amr Alfiky (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "San Jose journalist hit with rubber bullet in back during live coverage of protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-jose-journalist-hit-rubber-bullet-back-during-live-coverage-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-14T17:19:51.500695Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:53.317313Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:53.224628Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Jose",
"longitude": -121.89496,
"latitude": 37.33939,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k43og\">Len Ramirez, a news reporter for KPIX 5 News, was shot in the back with a rubber bullet on May 29, 2020 while covering a protest in downtown San Jose, Calif.</p><p data-block-key=\"xr6xr\">The protest was part of a wave of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital. The officer has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were present face felony charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"nxywl\">Ramirez was covering a crowd of protesters at San Jose City Hall when they were confronted by a police line. Officers declared the protest an illegal assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3upu\">Ramirez was live on the air for the Bay Area CBS affiliate with a camera person, who had a backpack transmitter. Ramirez was wearing a camera and holding a microphone labelled with the Channel 5 logo.</p><p data-block-key=\"tp7ef\">Officers began firing rubber bullets into the crowd and deploying flash-bang grenades.</p><p data-block-key=\"qpkna\">“I pulled back and was actually walking back and out of the area when I got shot,” Ramirez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I was wearing a white shirt, it left a black mark on the back and left a small bruise.” Ramirez was live on air at the time. In the clip from the broadcast he says, “Whoa, I just got hit with something.”</p><p data-block-key=\"r7phz\">The next day Ramirez tweeted: “Thanks to all for your concerns. I was shot in the back with a rubber bullet that left a bruise and mark on my shirt. I am fine. I was hit while reporting live on<a href=\"https://twitter.com/KPIXtv\"> @KPIXtv</a> during last night’s protest in downtown San Jose. I knew there were risks in being in the middle of that.” The tweet included an image of the black mark on the back of his shirt.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thanks to all for your concerns. I was shot in the back with a rubber bullet that left a bruise and mark on my shirt. I am fine. I was hit while reporting live on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KPIXtv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KPIXtv</a> during last night’s protest in downtown San Jose. I knew there were risks in being in the middle of that. <a href=\"https://t.co/4UsUVDH8Qi\">pic.twitter.com/4UsUVDH8Qi</a></p>— Len Ramirez (@lenKPIX) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lenKPIX/status/1266922145944186880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"me2mu\">A photo provided to the Tracker shows bruising in the same area on his back. SJPD and KPIX 5 News owner CBS have yet to comment on this incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"xroo5\">On June 4, <a href=\"https://kcbsradio.radio.com/articles/sj-officials-to-reconsider-use-of-rubber-bullets\">KCBS Radio</a> reported that San Jose leaders were “questioning the use of aggressive police tactics and are re-evaluating how they police protests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vx62g\">“I knew that there were risks involved in covering riots because I’ve covered several over the past 36 years that I’ve been a TV reporter,” Ramirez told the Tracker, “this is the most danger that I’ve felt in covering riots or police activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3cduf\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Len Ramirez (KPIX-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist bruised, camera broken during NYC protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-bruised-camera-broken-during-nyc-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-01T02:28:16.859384Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:35.976252Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:35.879812Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q76tp\">Joel Marklund, a photojournalist with the Scandanavian photo agency Bildbyrån, was hit by pepper spray and involved in an altercation with New York City Police that damaged his camera and left him bruised while covering protests in the borough of Brooklyn on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"wfh1q\">The protest at Barclays Center was one of many demonstrations sparked across the country by the May 26 release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd during an arrest the prior day. Floyd, a Black man, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"n6nve\">Marklund, who has been covering the protests since they began, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that this particularly large gathering numbered in the hundreds or thousands. Police contained the protest by using portable fencing. Around 7:15 p.m., as tensions between protesters and police intensified, officers picked up the fencing and used it to push the crowd back. They also began to “go wild” with the pepper spray, Marklund said, and some of it landed on him.</p><p data-block-key=\"nknjp\">Goggles and a facemask protected Marklund from the worst effects of the spray. But he said the spray also hit his exposed neck and arms, leaving him with a burning sensation that lasted for five or six hours. Marklund was wearing press credentials around his neck, but said that he wasn’t targeted for being a journalist. “They didn't look to see if it was press or someone else,” he said of the officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"h3ayp\">Around 8:30 p.m. during the same protest, a police officer swung his baton near Marklund to force the crowd back. In the scrum, the photographer was struck by something — probably the baton, but he could not say for sure — that left a bruise the size of his hand on his stomach, he told the Tracker. Something also made contact with the lens and body of his camera. Marklund anticipated costly repairs to his camera but expected his insurance to cover most of the expense.</p><p data-block-key=\"syywe\">“The police were very, very aggressive,” Marklund told the Tracker. “They’ve been shoving me and other media every single night. It's been very intense, but we haven't been close to what I see other photographers and media have experienced in other cities where they’ve been shot at [with projectiles]. But it's definitely been an aggressive atmosphere where it doesn't really matter if you're press or not.”</p><p data-block-key=\"88lxm\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">Find these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Marklund_floyd_0529.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qmp7b\">Photojournalist Joel Marklund, who captured this image, said he was pepper sprayed, hit with a baton and had his camera broken while documenting protests in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on May 29, 2020.</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": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera lens"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joel Marklund (Bildbyrån)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Individuals at protest in Tucson target journalist with repeated physical attacks",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-protest-tucson-target-journalist-repeated-physical-attacks/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-24T03:17:09.266840Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:18.417528Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:18.318818Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Tucson",
"longitude": -110.92648,
"latitude": 32.22174,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9gd82\">Individuals assaulted a freelance video journalist at a protest that devolved into violence in downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the evening of May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ssgpv\">The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"5099u\"><a href=\"http://www.ericrosenwaldphotography.com/\">Eric Rosenwald</a> was capturing footage of police and protesters outside the main police station in downtown Tucson around 10:30 p.m. when individuals in the crowd began to criticize him for filming them, claiming he was “with the police,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"j7e66\">Rosenwald, who was wearing a yellow safety vest adorned with a reflective patch that read “PRESS” and carrying a still camera, was clearly identifiable as a member of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"af2eb\">Rosenwald was first attacked by a young man in a blue baseball cap, who began to throw punches at him. The police line was about 20 yards away, and when officers noticed what was happening, they fired pepper balls at the ground near the attacker’s feet, affording Rosenwald the opportunity to escape, according to Rosenwald and video he furnished the Tracker of the encounter. He was not hit by any of the pepper balls nor did he inhale any of the powder they give off on impact.</p><p data-block-key=\"ooujo\">Less than a minute later, an individual came up to Rosenwald and started screaming at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"2x1kt\">“You’re fucking antagonizing us right now. You’re fucking antagonizing us right now. This is a protest and we’re protesting you, motherfucker,” that individual said, according to <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CA1G0ZMAts-/\">video footage</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"asolc\">As this verbal attack continued, Rosenwald said he was pushed to the ground by a scrum of five people, who kicked him in the head, legs and torso before he was able to find his footing again.</p><p data-block-key=\"2r6h3\">Rosenwald’s iPhone, attached to a recording rig, slipped out of his hand during this attack, and someone stole the microphone that had been attached to it, he said. He recovered his phone and continued to film as he walked backward away from his attackers. The Arizona Daily Star posted <a href=\"https://tucson.com/demonstrators-attack-photojounalist-language-alert/video_b6d1b339-1aed-5d1f-8d9b-21b348e2a6c8.html\">video</a> on its website of that attack in progress, captured from another angle by a journalist standing across the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"r9rtf\">About 30 minutes later, Rosenwald was attacked and pushed over again. During the course of the evening, he estimated he was punched or kicked 10 times, including three blows to the head that left him with large bruises and two black eyes. “I never left. I kept covering it,” Rosenwald said. “I think they realized I wasn’t going to go anywhere.”</p><p data-block-key=\"60qkz\">One of his attackers later found him in the crowd and gloated about the newly forming bruises on his face. “Look at his dumbass face. Yeah, you got fucked up. Guess who hit you? Me, you punk-ass bitch,” one attacker gloated. Rosenwald <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CA-D5cXA4Wp/\">posted video</a> of that encounter to his Instagram feed.</p><p data-block-key=\"s66bz\">Rosenwald said that the attacks were unexpected, given that he was on a well-lit street next to the police station and near plenty of other journalists. He said that his attackers seemed to range in age from 18 to 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"0hpf1\">“What really scared me, in some ways worse than the physical part, was the complete ignorance as to what the First Amendment means,” Rosenwald said. “That was frightening to me as a journalist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eqcqw\">Rosenwald’s bruises lingered for more than two weeks, but he did not suffer any long-term injuries from the attacks. He filed a report with the Tucson Police Department on June 6 but said he has yet to hear back. A request for comment emailed to the department was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"csczb\">One of the individuals who attacked Rosenwald also accosted a reporter for the Arizona Daily Star, Caitlin Schmidt, and threw her cellphone. That incident is documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-crowd-accost-newspaper-reporter-covering-protests-tucson/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"pghu8\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-01-08 15:31:00+00:00) Individual charged with assault, robbery of Tucson journalist during May 2020 protest and pays restitutions"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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"Eric Rosenwald (Freelance)"
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},
{
"title": "CNN reporter hit with a projectile, tear-gassed during live coverage of Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-reporter-hit-projectile-tear-gassed-during-live-coverage-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-22T14:00:32.627732Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T17:55:52.379491Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T17:55:52.293593Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"j0vqk\">Miguel Marquez, a national correspondent for CNN, was hit with a projectile and tear-gassed on live TV while reporting from protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for Cuomo Prime Time on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"g4ajo\">The protests were part of several days of demonstrations that began in response to a video of a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"hjmhw\">Marquez was covering protests near the Fifth Precinct headquarters where demonstrators refused to comply with warnings from <a href=\"https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/05/30/protesters-defy-minneapolis-curfew-order-several-fires-set-during-4th-night-of-unrest-over-george-floyds-death/\">law enforcement and the National Guard</a> that they were breaking curfew and would be removed, Marquez reported. “That’s when things got very, very intense here,” he said in <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/30/marquez-minneapolis-tear-gas-police-bts-cpt-vpx.cnn\">a video of the incident</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8hca9\">Marquez went on to say that protesters were firing bottle rockets and fireworks at the precinct, while law enforcement was responding with tear gas and flash-bang grenades. At one point in the video, the CNN reporter lets out an exclamation after being struck with a canister or a rock, and host Chris Cuomo advises him and his crew to retreat from the action.</p><p data-block-key=\"knoeh\">While describing the action in front of him — which included protesters “using the fireworks as weapons” — Marquez wound up in the line of tear gas, telling his cameraperson to “watch yourself” as they moved away. In the video, he can be heard coughing.</p><p data-block-key=\"m2fot\">“That’s a healthy dose,” he said, before continuing to report. ““They fired a hell of a volley of tear gas into the crowd to get them out,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2pans\">A CNN spokesperson declined to make Marquez available for an interview, noting that he had not specifically been targeted by tear gas but was merely “in the area where the tear gas was being shot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"alxam\">A Minneapolis police department spokesperson did not respond immediately to a question about why tear gas was deployed or the type of projectile that struck Marquez.</p><p data-block-key=\"08iqo\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Marquez_assault_0529_floyd_MN.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zxvf5\">Demonstrators chant outside the Fifth Precinct on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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"assailant": "unknown",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Miguel Marquez (CNN)"
],
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},
{
"title": "WLKY correspondent attacked while covering Louisville protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wlky-correspondent-attacked-while-covering-louisville-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T19:52:30.343289Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:22:23.637077Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:22:23.490115Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ll492\">Deni Kamper, a correspondent for local broadcast station WLKY, and her news partner were assaulted by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"fx10e\">Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"8f9aw\">Kamper was attacked by a mob of people alongside photographer Paul Ahmann, but reported in a tweet that she was “ok,” <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKYDeni/status/1266586434565177346\">writing</a>, “A lot of people helped us tonight and I’m so grateful.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">All - I’m ok. Paul, the photographer who’s been with me all night, is being treated but is also ok. A lot of people helped us tonight and I’m so grateful.</p>— Deni Kamper (@denikamper) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/denikamper/status/1266586434565177346?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8vx58\">Shaky video of the attack was <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/chriscoleman.malone/videos/818598728549036/\">livestreamed</a> on Facebook. In the footage, Ahmann lays on the ground as the crowd takes photos and videos of him, while at least one man visibly tries to hold the crowd back.</p><p data-block-key=\"mcoia\">Kamper and Ahmann did not immediately respond to an emailed interview request.</p><p data-block-key=\"1g47s\">Their news vehicle was also vandalized and later set on fire, and another WLKY news vehicle was vandalized that night. At least one other WLKY news crew was also attacked. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented all May 29 WLKY incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-05-29&date_upper=2020-05-29&targeted_institutions=265\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6bh1s\">The Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Deni Kamper (WLKY)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Individuals in crowd accost newspaper reporter covering protests in Tucson",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-crowd-accost-newspaper-reporter-covering-protests-tucson/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-22T02:46:04.327534Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:18:53.327925Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:18:53.239535Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Phoenix",
"longitude": -112.07404,
"latitude": 33.44838,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fb2zi\">While covering protests in Tucson on the evening of May 29, 2020, Caitlin Schmidt, a sports reporter with the Arizona Daily Star, was accosted by individuals in the crowd who hit her arm and threw her phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"gckip\">The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"ihvis\">Schmidt arrived outside the police station in downtown Tucson at 10 p.m. to document the protest, attended by several hundred people.</p><p data-block-key=\"vf1va\">She began filming the scene on her phone to send to her editor to post on social media, when three members of the crowd wearing medical masks approached her and began yelling at her, Schmidt told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"jjmgv\">One shouted at her, “When you put our faces on TV, it gets us killed,” according to Schmidt’s recounting. She responded, “I'm not putting you on TV, I’m just doing my job,” and continued to film.</p><p data-block-key=\"18f4s\">Another one hit her arm very hard, causing her phone to slip out of her grasp. The first person, who had been yelling, scooped up Schmidt’s phone and threw it some 20 feet away, nearly hitting someone. The phone was not damaged, and a coworker was able to retrieve it for her.</p><p data-block-key=\"rnafv\">“The next day I had a pretty large bruise on my arm,” she said, as well as some “fairly significant swelling.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3i7fy\">Schmidt was wearing press credentials around her neck, which caught the eye of the individuals who accosted her. They took photos of it and threatened to find her later. “If you use our faces, we’re going to come find you,” Schmidt recounted one said.</p><p data-block-key=\"rjvmi\">She was standing within six feet of the police line at the time, as well as close to some TV cameramen from another outlet, and the incident was caught on the TV camera's live stream, she said. Schmidt said she did not “move or react” until the three left her alone.</p><p data-block-key=\"sn4a2\">An hour later, one of the same people found Schmidt in the crowd again and began yelling at her. That encounter was captured by freelance photojournalist Eric Rosenwald, who <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/eric.rosenwald/videos/1517285145109755/\">posted</a> it on Facebook. "Announce your privilege! Announce your privilege! You won't, because you're part of the problem, and that's why you got your shit tossed," the person yelled. Schmidt again remained silent until the person walked away.</p><p data-block-key=\"wjkt5\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"g6jeh\">An individual harasses Arizona Daily Star reporter Caitlin Schmidt about an hour after she was assaulted while reporting from a protest in Tuscon on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Caitlin Schmidt (Arizona Daily Star)"
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{
"title": "WPTA journalist hit with tear gas canister while covering Indiana protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wpta-journalist-hit-tear-gas-canister-while-covering-indiana-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-15T02:08:04.603037Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:18:24.901352Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:18:24.814952Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fort Wayne",
"longitude": -85.12886,
"latitude": 41.1306,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x09lt\">Karli VanCleave, a journalist with WPTA ABC 21, was struck by a tear gas canister fired by police while she was covering protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"awt46\">Protests in Fort Wayne began as demonstrations erupted across the country, sparked by a video of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest in Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"46iuw\">VanCleave covered the protests in downtown Fort Wayne for several hours. In the evening, as protesters gathered in the street, she said police formed a barricade to keep them from the courthouse lawn. The tension between protesters and police went on for several hours, VanCleave said, and police used tear gas several times.</p><p data-block-key=\"8knwp\">VanCleave was part of a group of five journalists with WPTA covering the protests. They had been standing near the police, who were aware the journalists were there, she said. VanCleave and her colleagues were wearing bright red shirts and jackets with the station’s logo. She was carrying equipment, including a camera marked with ABC 21’s letters.</p><p data-block-key=\"on68m\">As protesters and police faced off, without a warning, police began shooting canisters off in every direction, VanCleave said. She began to run and lost the rest of her team.</p><p data-block-key=\"s9cbj\">She saw one of the canisters, billowing smoke and looking “like a firework,” coming straight toward her face. VanCleave said she turned to duck, and the canister hit her in the back. She couldn’t breathe and had to hunch over. She was also carrying a large camera and a microphone, which made it “impossible” to run, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"tzj8r\">VanCleave’s coworker, Kayla Crandall, posted on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Karli_VanCleave/status/1266618555484823554\">Twitter</a> that VanCleave had been struck with a canister while covering the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"z0f5j\">The blow from the canister left VanCleave feeling sore the next day. Being close to the tear gas was worse, she said, because she couldn’t breathe or see and her skin felt as though it was burning everywhere.</p><p data-block-key=\"z5fm0\">VanCleave did not report the incident to police. Though the news organization has been in touch with police about other issues from the protests, she did not believe her experience had been reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"256w2\">Sergeant Brian Walker, the regional public information officer for the Indiana State Police, said in an email that he had looked into the claim, but there was nothing to comment on and confirmed there was no documentation of it.</p><p data-block-key=\"0qq9d\">VanCleave said police did not give warnings before using tear gas. For both protesters and the press, it was not clear what people were supposed to do to avoid exposure. “We would inch closer and closer so we could get the best shots, and still thinking that we were OK for a little bit to not get tear-gassed,” VanCleave said. “But then it would just happen out of nowhere, it seemed like almost every time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"33ja0\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"z2pmf\">Journalist Karli VanCleave covering protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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{
"title": "As CBS Channel 11 prepared to go live in Dallas, an officer tossed a tear gas canister toward the news crew",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-channel-11-prepared-go-live-dallas-officer-tosses-tear-gas-canister-toward-news-crew/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-11T22:13:28.656057Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:17:52.877210Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:17:52.772884Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
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"city": "Dallas",
"longitude": -96.80667,
"latitude": 32.78306,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sqknv\">A news crew with CBS Channel 11 covering protests in Dallas was forced to scatter when a police officer tossed an activated canister of tear gas at two journalists as they were about to go live on air on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"vztl0\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"5j234\">Reporter Steve Pickett and photojournalist Bret Kelly were stationed in downtown Dallas covering protests. At around 10:15 p.m., they were getting ready to begin their live shot. Typically, the station would have alerted them both, but they had only one working earpiece so Pickett told Kelly aloud, Kelly told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"som3n\">Kelly believes that a Dallas police officer standing 10 feet away overheard him, because as soon as they went live, the officer threw a tear gas canister right at their feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"l7h1c\">"We got gassed pretty hard and took flight a little bit," Kelly said. The Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-tear-gas-while-covering-dallas-protest/\">documented Kelly’s assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ujfd8\">Pickett can be seen on CBS 11 <a href=\"https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/05/29/cbs-11-reporter-steve-pickett-overcome-tear-gas-covering-george-floyd-protest/\">video</a> struggling to breathe and find a way out of the area where the gas was deployed. "I’m trying to get out of the tear gas, this is killing us," Pickett says to the studio journalist as his eyes visibly water and he stumbles his way out of the cloud. He tells his colleague that earlier that night he was also threatened with arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfwui\">An interview request sent to Pickett was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"c7qeu\">Kelly <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BKSpxshooter11/status/1266901579728379908\">wrote</a> about the experience on Twitter the next day, saying “ ... I was nowhere near any protesters. Definitely a conscious decision by that officer.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rp4t9\">An emailed request for comment sent to the Dallas Police Department about the incident was not returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"uxwol\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Pickett_assault_Dallas_0529_Floyd.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sn77m\">CBS 11 reporter Steve Pickett wipes tears from his eyes after an officer targeted his Dallas news crew just prior to starting a live broadcast on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Steve Pickett (KTVT)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist assaulted, camera lost while documenting New York City protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-camera-lost-while-documenting-new-york-city-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-10T03:23:40.969331Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:47:44.225342Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:47:44.136296Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"prgy4\">NYPD officers injured freelance journalist Sue Brisk and allegedly seized her camera while she was covering protests in New York City on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"qxssp\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"0pz7j\">Brisk told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was photographing demonstrations at 42nd Street in Times Square in the evening of May 29 with her NYPD-issued press pass clearly displayed.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ee3t\">“I watched the police beat people with billy clubs and then they threw a woman up against a pole right in front of me,” Brisk said. “After that it’s a blur, kind of.”</p><p data-block-key=\"60qkl\">Brisk said that, before she knew what was happening, her head was slammed to the ground and she found herself pinned under at least three NYPD officers, and said her camera strap had wrapped around a bicycle handle and was choking her.</p><p data-block-key=\"tp666\">“Protesters were pleading with the police to please let go of me because they said I was an old lady and that I guess it looked very violent, what had happened,” Brisk said. She noted that she is short, lightweight and has silver-gray hair. Protesters pleaded with the NYPD riot officers to let her up and out of the way, Brisk told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"xt6gh\">She said a protester intervened and pulled her to the opposite sidewalk. Brisk then realized that one of her cameras was missing.</p><p data-block-key=\"p002o\">Brisk said she believes police took possession of the camera, and said everyone who had been in the vicinity was soon arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"m2503\">“I’ve lost camera equipment which is essential to the job that I do,” she added. “I did nothing wrong.”</p><p data-block-key=\"juhx1\">Brisk told the Tracker that she did not go to a hospital out of concern over potential exposure to the coronavirus. Instead, she said she worked through the night documenting the protests in order to stay awake in case she had a concussion.</p><p data-block-key=\"zi4gh\">When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30 minute mark” of <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6eUFc_kltc\">a press briefing</a> held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.</p><p data-block-key=\"boiuy\">Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second — maybe too long — to sort out.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a5dn0\">Brisk told the Tracker that she is still trying to figure out how to retrieve her camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"9oe7c\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "unknown",
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sue Brisk (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "‘I’m covered with bruises.’ Photojournalist says Denver police targeted her with pepper balls and rubber bullets",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/im-covered-with-bruises-photojournalist-says-denver-police-targeted-her-with-pepper-balls-and-rubber-bullets/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-07T03:32:21.791115Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T17:55:14.788155Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T17:55:14.703601Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"b70ol\">Denver police shot projectiles at Madeleine Kelly, a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/Madeleineindependent/\">freelance photojournalist</a>, while she was covering protests in the city on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"o9nhl\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"i7xqo\">Just before midnight, police shot a rubber bullet and pepper balls that hit Kelly, a freelancer and member of the International Association of Press Photographers, while she was on the lawn of the Colorado State Capitol, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"ecr80\">Kelly said she was photographing police officers in riot gear as they knocked down, pepper-sprayed, and shot pepper balls at a protester. When officers saw her taking photographs, she said they yelled at her to move.</p><p data-block-key=\"n8pjx\">She complied and started walking away with her hands up, when an officer standing about ten feet away fired a rubber bullet that hit the back of her left thigh, she said. Kelly then began to run away, and officers shot her three times with pepper balls, one landing on her buttocks, one on her shoulder, and one on her backpack.</p><p data-block-key=\"ut0ke\">She was wearing press credentials from IAPP as well as a vest emblazoned with the word PRESS, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"g29sw\">Kelly reported the incident to the Denver Police but did not receive any response, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"mhp27\">"I'm covered with bruises," she said. The rubber bullet left behind a "big meaty bruise. And the pepper balls left a mark."</p><p data-block-key=\"p6qri\">Kelly said she believed police targeted her as a member of the media, and felt "a little trepidation" when donning her press vest to cover subsequent days of protests. "I didn't think that the U.S. police would be doing the same thing that the Hong Kong police did," she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fn2qv\">Requests for comment sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"lca9x\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/CO_assault_Kelly_0529.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"la8k2\">Protesters gather at the state capitol in Denver, Colorado on May 28, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Madeleine Kelly (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "CBS4 Denver journalists and another news crew pepper sprayed by individual",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/protestor-pepper-sprays-cbs4-denver-another-news-crew/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-02T15:15:51.835151Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:17:06.186284Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:17:06.103096Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"adioa\">An unknown man sprayed pepper spray at a CBS4 Denver news crew that was covering the protests on the streets of Colorado’s capital on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"nmvfb\">This incident occurred during the second night of protests in Denver over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes on May 25. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.</p><p data-block-key=\"60174\">Reporter Jamie Leary and photojournalist Rob McClure were both “OK” after the attack, according to a tweet from CBS producer Dago Cordova, who <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dago_deportes/status/1266586649024176128\">shared</a> video footage of the incident.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">During our special <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/CBSNDenver?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CBSNDenver</a> coverage of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForGeorge?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#JusticeForGeorge</a> protests, a man went up to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JamieALeary?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JamieALeary</a> & <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RobCBS4?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RobCBS4</a> and sprayed them with pepper spray. He did this after he did it to fellow local journalists. Jamie & Rob are okay <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBSDenver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBSDenver</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/k76tZsoHXq\">pic.twitter.com/k76tZsoHXq</a></p>— Dago Cordova (@dago_deportes) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dago_deportes/status/1266586649024176128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t8iiw\">The crew was set up directly across from the Colorado Capitol along Lincoln Avenue. In the video, an unidentified young man in a colorful striped shirt, black baseball cap and black balaclava holding a canister of pepper spray walks by the journalists, who are filming live, then doubles back and sprays the crew with pepper spray. “Hey hey hey, Are you kidding me?” Leary says as the attack is underway.</p><p data-block-key=\"genat\">Leary told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that both she and McClure were able to avoid a direct hit from the pepper spray because they had just watched the man pepper spray another camera crew nearby. They were watching him carefully, she explained. “He walked by us and then did an about-face,” Leary said.</p><p data-block-key=\"nogbi\">McClure’s camera was lightly sprayed, but was not damaged. The Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unknown-individual-pepper-sprays-cbs4-denver-news-crew/\">documented his assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"qcqug\">The identity of the other camera crew attacked was not immediately available.</p><p data-block-key=\"k5j5o\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2020-06-02_at_10.02.0.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"59k49\">A CBS News producer shared video of a man directly pepper-spraying the CBS4 Denver news crew while they were filming on May 29, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jamie Leary (KCNC-TV)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist arrested covering Las Vegas protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-covering-las-vegas-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-02T04:31:23.693341Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-05-12T22:21:40.250784Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-05-12T22:21:40.135286Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Las Vegas",
"longitude": -115.13722,
"latitude": 36.17497,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vosfj\">Ellen Schmidt, a photojournalist on staff at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and Bridget Bennett, a freelance photographer working for Agence France-Presse, were arrested on May 29, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The journalists were covering protests that broke out in response to the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"fe41v\">A video posted on Twitter shows a group of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers shoving and grabbing Schmidt, and throwing Bennett to the ground, before arresting the women.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you for the update! Is this you being arrested last night? <a href=\"https://t.co/7IJhg8AZ6M\">pic.twitter.com/7IJhg8AZ6M</a></p>— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LasVegasLocally/status/1266809512175890432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wr7bd\">Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later <a href=\"https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/two-photojournalists-arrested-during-protests-in-las-vegas\">told the Nevada Independent</a> that Schmidt and Bennett had ignored LVMPD officers’ orders to disperse and did not identify themselves as members of the media. But <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/2-photojournalists-including-review-journal-staffer-arrested-covering-george-floyd-protest-2039655/\">in an interview with the Review-Journal</a>, Schmidt said that she and Bennett had in fact repeatedly identified themselves as a member of the press and were wearing their press badges at the time that they were arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"wbxm4\">“It is appalling that Las Vegas police officers, who have nothing to do with what happened in Minnesota, would so forcefully take into custody two people who were obviously working photojournalists and posed no threat to law enforcement or public safety,” Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook said in a statement. “They never should have been touched, let alone arrested and then booked into jail.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f2wwu\">Schmidt and Bennett were each charged with “failure to disperse,” a misdemeanor. Although people charged with “failure to disperse” are supposed to be released immediately, rather than being held in jail on bail, both Schmidt and Bennett were held in jail overnight and only released on the morning of May 30.</p><p data-block-key=\"13f8l\">Las Vegas Chief Justice of the Peace Suzan Bacum told the Review-Journal that the two journalists should not have been held overnight in jail and blamed the situation on a miscommunication between the police and the court system.</p><p data-block-key=\"yxnhu\">“These people should have never been held on these misdemeanors,” she said. “It’s a travesty.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8alwj\">Richard Karpel, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/nevadapress/status/1266824720634109952\">condemned the arrests</a> in a statement:</p><p data-block-key=\"48etf\">“The press serve a vital, constitutionally protected role during moments of national strife and civil disobedience,” he said. “Journalists put themselves at risk to inform citizens about protestors’ grievances and their actions, and to observe whether law enforcement personnel are operating within the bounds of the law. The arrest of journalists working in a public forum at a highly newsworthy event is absolutely unacceptable."</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Nevada",
"abbreviation": "NV"
},
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"(2020-10-28 15:39:00+00:00) Charges dropped against AFP photojournalist arrested while covering Las Vegas protest"
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
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{
"title": "Photojournalists for Review-Journal arrested while covering Las Vegas protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-review-journal-arrested-while-covering-las-vegas-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-02T04:26:12.383816Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-05-12T22:21:12.919817Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-05-12T22:21:12.846165Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Las Vegas",
"longitude": -115.13722,
"latitude": 36.17497,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"86pw6\">Ellen Schmidt, a photojournalist on staff at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-covering-las-vegas-protest/\">Bridget Bennett</a>, a freelance photographer working for Agence France-Presse, were arrested on May 29, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The journalists were covering protests that broke out in response to the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"t0ql8\">A video posted on Twitter shows a group of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers shoving and grabbing Schmidt, and throwing Bennett to the ground, before arresting the women.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you for the update! Is this you being arrested last night? <a href=\"https://t.co/7IJhg8AZ6M\">pic.twitter.com/7IJhg8AZ6M</a></p>— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LasVegasLocally/status/1266809512175890432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wwqvz\">While Schmidt was being arrested, an LVMPD officer took possession of her camera. She <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ellenschmidttt/status/1266804632170319872\">later clarified on Twitter</a> that the LVMPD officer only turned her camera off and did not look through or delete any of the pictures that she had taken or the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"36oog\">Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later <a href=\"https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/two-photojournalists-arrested-during-protests-in-las-vegas\">told the Nevada Independent</a> that Schmidt and Bennett had ignored LVMPD officers’ orders to disperse and did not identify themselves as members of the media. But <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/2-photojournalists-including-review-journal-staffer-arrested-covering-george-floyd-protest-2039655/\">in an interview with the Review-Journal</a>, Schmidt said that she and Bennett had in fact repeatedly identified themselves as a member of the press and were wearing their press badges at the time that they were arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekjkh\">“It is appalling that Las Vegas police officers, who have nothing to do with what happened in Minnesota, would so forcefully take into custody two people who were obviously working photojournalists and posed no threat to law enforcement or public safety,” Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook said in a statement. “They never should have been touched, let alone arrested and then booked into jail.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hob4e\">Schmidt and Bennett were each charged with “failure to disperse,” a misdemeanor. Although people charged with “failure to disperse” are supposed to be released immediately, rather than being held in jail on bail, both Schmidt and Bennett were held in jail overnight and only released on the morning of May 30.</p><p data-block-key=\"5q4vk\">Las Vegas Chief Justice of the Peace Suzan Bacum told the Review-Journal that the two journalists should not have been held overnight in jail and blamed the situation on a miscommunication between the police and the court system.</p><p data-block-key=\"k7zsp\">“These people should have never been held on these misdemeanors,” she said. “It’s a travesty.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wybcg\">Richard Karpel, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/nevadapress/status/1266824720634109952\">condemned the arrests</a> in a statement:</p><p data-block-key=\"xbnhi\">“The press serve a vital, constitutionally protected role during moments of national strife and civil disobedience,” he said. “Journalists put themselves at risk to inform citizens about protestors’ grievances and their actions, and to observe whether law enforcement personnel are operating within the bounds of the law. The arrest of journalists working in a public forum at a highly newsworthy event is absolutely unacceptable."</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Nevada",
"abbreviation": "NV"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-11-04 15:51:00+00:00) District Attorney drops charges against Las Vegas Review-Journal photojournalist"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
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{
"title": "Rock thrown through window of WSB-TV news vehicle during Atlanta protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rock-thrown-through-window-wsb-tv-news-vehicle-during-atlanta-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-01T00:30:08.827506Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:05:32.587917Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:05:32.507595Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"acole\">A WSB-TV news vehicle was vandalized on May 29, 2020, during protests in Atlanta, Georgia.</p><p data-block-key=\"pivx4\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"vr6qz\">WSB reporter Matt Johnson <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MattWSB/status/1266580746703179781\">tweeted</a> around midnight on May 29 that someone had just thrown a rock through the back window of the news vehicle.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Someone just threw a rock through a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wsbtv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wsbtv</a> vehicle. <a href=\"https://t.co/U64XQxiL4T\">pic.twitter.com/U64XQxiL4T</a></p>— Matt Johnson (@MattWSB) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MattWSB/status/1266580746703179781?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"c31bs\">Johnson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the vehicle was unmarked, but had a satellite dish on top that may have made it a target.</p><p data-block-key=\"8t6sa\">“A photographer and I were next to the car when someone threw a rock at it from behind,” Johnson said. “We heard some people saying, ‘No, don’t do that, they’re just trying to make a living’ after the first rock was thrown.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0f8s5\">Shortly after, another rock was thrown at the front window of the vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"kt6pw\">Johnson told the Tracker that soon after, a separate group of people made a semi-circle around the news crew and began cursing and threatening them for reporting fake news. He <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MattWSB/status/1266582013957615617\">tweeted</a> a video of the group of at least a dozen individuals.</p><p data-block-key=\"in43u\">In the video, multiple individuals can be heard harassing the journalists, calling them “fake-ass news,” flipping them off and telling them to “keep it real” and tell the people what is really going on.</p><p data-block-key=\"0dtxx\">“Eventually they cleared out when we just stood there and took it,” Johnson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4q3t6\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1cjz\"><i>Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect comment from Matt Johnson.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"actor": "private individual",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"WSB-TV"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
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},
{
"title": "News vehicle reported vandalized in Los Angeles amid protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-vehicle-reported-vandalized-los-angeles-amid-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-01T00:18:34.848353Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:16:09.434176Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:16:09.347094Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"akyre\">An ABC7 News vehicle was reported vandalized by protesters on May 29, 2020, during protests in Los Angeles, California.</p><p data-block-key=\"0r5ht\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"hjnb2\">An ABC7 news vehicle was found vandalized at around 6:30 p.m. on May 29, according to a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BillFOXLA/status/1266543592492789761\">tweet</a> posted by FOX 11 Los Angeles reporter Bill Melugin.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our colleague’s vehicle at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ABC7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ABC7</a> just got tagged by protesters. <a href=\"https://t.co/89VfOrcrp0\">pic.twitter.com/89VfOrcrp0</a></p>— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BillFOXLA/status/1266543592492789761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o0li6\">ABC7 could not immediately be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ul79\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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{
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"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"KABC-TV"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
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},
{
"title": "Chief photographer at WLKY news crews attacked by individuals in Louisville",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/separate-wlky-news-crews-attacked-protesters-louisville/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T23:55:11.576255Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:15:21.975588Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:15:21.888290Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wqbgf\">Paul Ahmann, chief photographer for local broadcast station WLKY, was assaulted by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020. At least four other WLKY journalists were also attacked and two WLKY news vehicles vandalized that night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented those incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-05-29&date_upper=2020-05-29&targeted_institutions=265\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"qvuw0\">Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"jc8wc\">Ahmann was knocked over and beaten by a mob of people, suffering a concussion that sent him to the emergency room, according to a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKYJulie/status/1266627704868265984?s=20\">pair</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKYJulie/status/1266629893841920000?s=20\">of tweets</a> from WLKY anchor Julie Dolan.</p><p data-block-key=\"hw6p6\">Shaky video of the attack was <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/chriscoleman.malone/videos/818598728549036/\">livestreamed</a> on Facebook. In the footage, Ahmann lays on the ground as the crowd takes photos and videos of him, while at least one man visibly tries to hold the crowd back.</p><p data-block-key=\"kmwuf\">WLKY correspondent Deni Kamper was also attacked, but reported in a tweet that she was “ok,” <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKYDeni/status/1266586434565177346\">writing</a>, “A lot of people helped us tonight and I’m so grateful.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j8ld6\">Kamper and Ahmann did not immediately respond to an emailed interview request.</p><p data-block-key=\"sqi8f\">Their news vehicle was also vandalized and later set on fire, and another WLKY news vehicle was vandalized that night. At least one other WLKY news crew was also attacked. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented all May 29 WLKY incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-05-29&date_upper=2020-05-29&targeted_institutions=265\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbj5t\">The Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ebzwx\">Tear gas is deployed into a Louisville, Kentucky, crowd on May 29, 2020. At least two WLKY news crews reported being assaulted by individuals during protests that evening and two station vehicles were damaged.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Paul Ahmann (WLKY)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist permanently blinded during Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-permanently-blinded-others-assaulted-during-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T19:50:26.203685Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T21:12:51.183352Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T21:12:51.056575Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zk58o\">Freelance writer and photographer Linda Tirado was struck with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"501py\">Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"w6vgl\">Tirado told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was reporting near the Third Precinct around midnight on the 29th when she was struck by a tracker round, judging from the green residue on her backpack.</p><p data-block-key=\"z1adb\">A second round that she believes was a rubber bullet then struck the side of her head and her left eye.</p><p data-block-key=\"xur9t\">“I got hit. My goggles broke, and I felt the blood and there was gas so I just closed my eyes, held up my hands and started yelling, ‘I’m press, I’m press!’” Tirado said.</p><p data-block-key=\"q6y3h\">Tirado said that a group of protesters took her to a nearby van and transported her to the hospital.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hey folks, took a tracer found to the face (I think, given my backpack) and am headed into surgery to see if we can save my left eye<br><br>Am wisely not gonna be on Twitter while I’m on morphine<br><br>Stay safe folks <a href=\"https://t.co/apZOyGrcBO\">pic.twitter.com/apZOyGrcBO</a></p>— Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KillerMartinis/status/1266618525600399361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xx77d\">Tirado later <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KillerMartinis/status/1266786161143537669\">tweeted</a> that she is permanently blind in her left eye.</p><p data-block-key=\"foimh\">The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"m9w5g\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39MDZ.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"c8ll0\">A Minneapolis Police Department officer fires a less-lethal round during continued demonstrations on May 29, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "0:20-cv-01338",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"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": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-06-10 12:33:00+00:00) Photojournalist Linda Tirado sues city of Minneapolis, police for excessive force",
"(2022-05-26 15:57:00+00:00) City of Minneapolis settles lawsuit with journalist blinded in one eye amid 2020 protests",
"(2022-03-18 10:57:00+00:00) Journalists subpoenaed in connection with ongoing excessive use of force lawsuit"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Linda Tirado (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter assaulted live on air at Phoenix protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-live-air-phoenix-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T19:45:48.002016Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-04T18:09:47.939618Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-04T18:09:47.865409Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Phoenix",
"longitude": -112.07404,
"latitude": 33.44838,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wtsef\">Briana Whitney, a correspondent for CBS 5 & 3 TV in Phoenix, Arizona, was assaulted live on air by a man who grabbed her and shouted obscenities while she was covering protests outside of the Phoenix Police Department headquarters on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"15hzj\">Whitney was in the middle of a live broadcast when a man runs into her shot, tackling her while grabbing her microphone and screaming “Fuck her right in the pussy!” He then runs off.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t052\">Whitney stays on her feet and quickly says, “I'm so sorry you guys, I did not see that coming. I’m so sorry. We're doing the best we can to keep everything appropriate here,” she says, before returning to her description of the scene in front of headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"t5emi\">Early the next morning, she tweeted out a video of the attack, writing, “I feel violated, and this was terrifying. Let us do our jobs. We are trying our very best.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">THIS IS NOT OKAY.<br><br>This is the moment I was intentionally tackled by this man while I was on air trying to report what was happening during the protest at Phoenix PD headquarters. I feel violated, and this was terrifying.<br><br>Let us do our jobs. We are trying our very best <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/azfamily?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#azfamily</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/bHXwbnDVPB\">pic.twitter.com/bHXwbnDVPB</a></p>— Briana Whitney (@BrianaWhitney) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrianaWhitney/status/1266614725284003845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nqlf9\">Tommy Thompson, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department, said in an email that the incident had been reported to the department and remains under investigation, and that no arrest had yet been made.</p><p data-block-key=\"jg5py\">An interview request sent to Whitney was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"xwil9\">This incident occurred as Whitney covered Phoenix protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.</p><p data-block-key=\"tq2ol\">A similar <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-arrested-following-assault-reporter-during-live-broadcast/\">assault</a>, where the assailant shouted identical obscenities to a female broadcaster, occurred in Illinois on May 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"o2tbe\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases <a href=\"https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpressfreedomtracker.us%2Fall-incidents%2F%3Ftags%3D111\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Whitney_assault_AZ.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rd25r\">Arizona reporter Briana Whitney was assaulted during a live news shot by a man shouting obscenities.</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,
"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": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"sexual assault"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Briana Whitney (KTVK/KPHO-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck on chin with tear gas canister during Denver protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-photojournalist-struck-chin-tear-gas-canister/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T12:10:27.764212Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:13:58.854089Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:13:58.773214Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gy29i\">Hart Van Denburg, visuals editor for Colorado Public Radio, was struck on the face with a tear gas canister fired by Denver police while covering protests in the city on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"8y1io\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"6po7q\">During the protests, police fired a tear gas canister that hit Van Denburg on the chin. He <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hartoutwest/status/1266564171178610691\">posted a selfie</a> to Twitter that night documenting his bruised chin, and expressing gratitude to those who shared milk with him to dampen the effect of the tear gas.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tear gas canister on the chin. Ok. Thanks to volunteers with the milk. <a href=\"https://t.co/K0mgHXQC6o\">pic.twitter.com/K0mgHXQC6o</a></p>— Hart W. Van Denburg (@hartoutwest) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hartoutwest/status/1266564171178610691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fpick\">Details regarding precisely where in Denver the incident occurred were not immediately available, and Van Denburg — who covered the protests again the following day — did not immediately reply to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"higig\">Requests for comment on this incident sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"92d5z\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/CO_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ndkos\">Protesters gather in Denver, Colorado, on May 28, 2020.</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": "unknown",
"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": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Hart Van Denburg (Colorado Public Radio)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
}
]
