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{
"title": "Sheriff’s deputies shoot reporter with pepper balls in California protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-deputies-shoot-reporter-with-pepper-balls-in-california-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-05T04:39:04.909606Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:00:58.125770Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:00:58.037594Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "La Mesa",
"longitude": -117.02308,
"latitude": 32.76783,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wfnm9\">San Diego Union-Tribune reporter Andrew Dyer was shot with pepper balls while he was documenting protests in La Mesa, California, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"7mlgc\">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=\"npjd6\">Dyer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering a protest near City Hall at around 9:15 p.m., and was wearing a reflective orange vest with his press credentials and camera around his neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ar8i\">He was standing to the side of a group of demonstrators when a protester threw a water bottle at a line of San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies. In response, the deputies opened fire on the crowd with what Dyer believes were pepper balls.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just got a couple of bean bags to my leg and side, identified myself as press, was told by unknown officer to get out of the way. A protester threw some kind of bottle at the line of officers. I'm wearing a bright orange vest. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/sdut?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@sdut</a></p>— Andrew Dyer (@SDUTdyer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SDUTdyer/status/1266946769117577216?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=\"z3trn\">Dyer said two of the pepper balls hit him on his right side. He said he saw the deputies aim before firing, and believed that he had been targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"ou34s\">“Every time I saw deputies fire they shouldered the weapons and took aim,” Dyer said. “I’m also a large target.”</p><p data-block-key=\"o25on\">After he was hit, Dyer loudly identified himself as a member of the press, and said law enforcement then ignored him and continued to advance on the crowd. He added that he was bruised by the shots but was otherwise unharmed.</p><p data-block-key=\"21skl\">Neither the La Mesa Police Department nor San Diego County Sheriff’s Department could immediately be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"poblu\">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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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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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",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Andrew Dyer (San Diego Union-Tribune)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter pepper sprayed, arrested amid protests in Des Moines",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pepper-sprayed-arrested-amid-protests-des-moines/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-05T04:23:42.382996Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T15:58:17.446053Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T15:58:17.337633Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Des Moines",
"longitude": -93.60911,
"latitude": 41.60054,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cz90t\">Police pepper-sprayed and arrested Des Moines Register reporter Andrea Sahouri while she was covering protests in Des Moines, Iowa, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"bjejp\">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=\"7v255\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/andreamsahouri/status/1267261446402052097\">video</a> recorded while in the back of a police transport vehicle, Sahouri said she was reporting on a demonstration at Merle Hay Mall when she was arrested.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://t.co/Gm87U1d0Za\">https://t.co/Gm87U1d0Za</a></p>— Andrea May Sahouri (@andreamsahouri) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/andreamsahouri/status/1267261446402052097?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 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=\"ogtrz\">Shortly before 8 p.m., Sahouri <a href=\"https://twitter.com/andreamsahouri/status/1267256849344221188\">tweeted</a> that police deployed tear gas, forcing all the protesters to run into the street. Sahouri said in her recording that she and her boyfriend were running with protesters when he was struck by a tear gas canister.</p><p data-block-key=\"4uxtk\">“As I was seeing if his leg was O.K., police came closer and we went around the corner and I was saying, ‘I’m press. I’m press. I’m press,’” Sahouri said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ltqxd\">An officer responded, “I didn’t ask,” before spraying her twice in the face with pepper spray, the Register <a href=\"https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2020/05/31/register-reporter-arrested-while-covering-protest/5304560002/\">reported</a>. Officers then handcuffed her using zip ties, Sahouri said in the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"acanj\">In <a href=\"https://www.kcci.com/article/watch-des-moines-register-reporter-arrested-while-reporting-on-protests/32724701#\">footage captured</a> by KCCI 8 News, Sahouri can be seen sitting on a curb, hands cuffed behind her back.</p><p data-block-key=\"uvad7\">“I’m just doing my job as a journalist,” Sahouri said in her recording. “I’m just out here reporting as I see.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hluyz\">Sahouri was taken to the Polk County Jail, where she was charged with failure to disperse and interference with official acts. She was released from police custody shortly after 11 p.m., the Register reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"opf7x\">The Des Moines Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"j9xnc\">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": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_539.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4grkm\">KCCI 8 News captured footage of reporter Andrea Sahouri's arrest on May 31, 2020 in Des. Moines, Iowa.</p><p data-block-key=\"15747\"></p>",
"arresting_authority": "Des Moines Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Iowa",
"abbreviation": "IA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-03-10 13:46:00+00:00) Reporter acquitted of all charges following arrest during Des Moines protest"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
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"Andrea Sahouri (The Des Moines Register)"
],
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},
{
"title": "BuzzFeed News journalist detained while covering Santa Monica protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/buzzfeed-news-journalist-detained-while-covering-santa-monica-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-04T02:48:50.109279Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:06:51.048003Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:06:50.950032Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Santa Monica",
"longitude": -118.49138,
"latitude": 34.01949,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fzkha\">BuzzFeed News reporter Brianna Sacks was detained by Santa Monica police while documenting protests in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"gmm85\">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=\"e00vr\">Sacks told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting protests in downtown Santa Monica around 6:30 or 7 p.m. when police officers began arresting protesters for failing to disperse and for violating the city’s 4 p.m. curfew.</p><p data-block-key=\"yx7uo\">“[The officers] pulled me out of the crowd, took my phone away, put it in my backpack and placed me in zip-tie handcuffs,” Sacks said. “I explained to them that I was media several times and they told me to just give them a few minutes and hold still.”</p><p data-block-key=\"itqee\">Officers looked at her press badge several times, Sacks said. She said they did not tell her why she was being detained.</p><p data-block-key=\"iuela\">Sacks said she was detained for approximately 15-20 minutes before officers flagged down a sergeant who told them to release her and remove the zip ties. The sergeant also told her that upon her release she would have to leave the scene. She did not.</p><p data-block-key=\"1iopo\">The Santa Monica Police Department could not immediately be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"euypn\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bri_sacks/status/1267277002282680322\">photos</a> published by Sacks on Twitter, her wrists appear bruised and irritated from the tightness of the zip ties.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police also pulled me out of the crowd and put me in zip tie cuffs and I was able to convince them to let me go because I was media, which I know is pretty damn lucky <a href=\"https://t.co/EUXQ7T6bYR\">pic.twitter.com/EUXQ7T6bYR</a></p>— Brianna Sacks (@bri_sacks) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bri_sacks/status/1267277002282680322?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 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=\"kk8eu\">“[The officers] were pretty reasonable and my experience was incredibly mild based on what other reporters have been enduring,” Sacks said.</p><p data-block-key=\"zrhq2\">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>",
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"arresting_authority": "Santa Monica Police Department",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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"Brianna Sacks (BuzzFeed News)"
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},
{
"title": "Journalist arrested amid protests in Lincoln, Nebraska",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-amid-protests-lincoln-nebraska/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-03T21:20:02.882929Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T15:57:33.790975Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T15:57:33.702796Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Lincoln",
"longitude": -96.66696,
"latitude": 40.8,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dkr2w\">Lincoln Journal Star reporter Chris Dunker was thrown to the ground and arrested by law enforcement officers while reporting on protests in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"7odwk\">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=\"1jfbs\">Dunker told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/LincolnJournalStar/videos/1522034407976872/\">livestreaming</a> a protest in front of the City/County Building in downtown Lincoln for the outlet’s Facebook page. At approximately 8:35 p.m., officers with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office began to enforce the 8 p.m. curfew order announced that day, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5p68m\">“As law enforcement pursued the protesters away from the area, a deputy sheriff turned toward me and ordered me to leave,” Dunker said. “I was wearing a neon vest with ‘PRESS’ on it and had on my media credential. I told the deputy I had a constitutional right to be there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kosyu\">In a <a href=\"https://journalstar.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/watch-now-journal-star-reporter-detained-some-protesters-arrested-in-downtown-lincoln-after-curfew/article_9e01944e-3867-5d2e-b7bf-19165cb266cf.html\">video of the incident</a> published by the Journal Star, the deputy can be seen charging at Dunker without a word and tackling him to the ground. Dunker told the Tracker that his knee and elbow were scraped as two deputies pinned him to the ground and handcuffed him.</p><p data-block-key=\"odyrs\">“I asked them to return my phone, which had fallen onto the concrete parking lot where I was standing, and my hat, which they did,” Dunker said.</p><p data-block-key=\"r45uo\">Dunker said that another law enforcement officer told the deputy sheriff who had charged at him that officers were not supposed to arrest members of the media. He said the deputy disregarded this and instead continued to lead Dunker to an area where other arrestees were awaiting transport to jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"xrugv\">“A higher ranking member of the department told the police to check my identity and if I had any warrants before cutting me loose,” Dunker said. “Police promptly did and I was allowed to keep filming the protests for several more hours that evening.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fe3in\">Sheriff Terry Wagner with the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"78a08\">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": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screen_Shot_2020-06-03_at_5.05.44.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yaj8r\">A screenshot from the livestream of Lincoln Journal Star reporter Chris Dunker of protests in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 31, 2020. Dunker was detained by police while reporting.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Nebraska",
"abbreviation": "NE"
},
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"tags": [
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"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
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},
{
"title": "DC police threaten Turkish VOA camera operator, team with batons",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dc-police-threaten-turkish-voa-camera-operator-team-with-batons/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-19T15:07:29.777429Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:34:47.363852Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:34:47.285823Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8y1u7\">Police brandished batons and forcibly moved three journalists for Voice of America’s Turkish service — after they identified themselves as members of the press — while they covered protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020, <a href=\"https://www.voanews.com/press-freedom/covering-us-protests-journalists-find-unexpected-threats\">according to a VOA report</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"hmn2o\">Camera operator Tezcan Taskiran and reporters Mehtap Yilmaz and Uzeyir Yanar were reporting that Sunday night on demonstrations near St. John’s Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, near the White House.</p><p data-block-key=\"jnnk8\">Yilmaz told VOA that at about 10:30 p.m., police officers at the scene raised batons and advanced on her, her colleagues and others standing in the area and ordered them to leave, despite the fact that Yilmaz’s colleagues were carrying video cameras and that the team identified themselves as journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"qm0ue\">“There was a harsh intervention of the police against journalists during the protests. Although we showed our press cards, we were drastically removed from the protests in front of the White House,” Yilmaz told VOA.</p><p data-block-key=\"59161\">A spokesperson for VOA declined to comment to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker on the incident. The agency also declined to make Taskiran, Yanar or Yilmaz available for interviews.</p><p data-block-key=\"omsag\">Yilmaz was one of several VOA journalists, some of whom have covered conflicts around the globe, who told the news service they were surprised by the violence they encountered at the hands of both police and demonstrators taking part in this year’s protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"wlgit\">It isn’t clear from Yilmaz’s published account of the May 31 incident which law enforcement agency approached the news crew.</p><p data-block-key=\"goy4v\">The same day that VOA journalists were forced from the area around St. John’s Church, fire was set to a nursery room in the basement of the church’s parish house. Firefighters extinguished the blaze, which didn’t spread to other parts of the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"u45ld\">On June 1, St. John’s became the backdrop for a controversial photo op for President Donald Trump. National Guard troops used tear gas and pepper balls to clear protesters from the area before Trump posed for cameras while holding up a Bible.</p><p data-block-key=\"gzkkn\">Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed 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.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6ww7\">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>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Tezcan Taskiran (Voice of America)"
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{
"title": "Denver police train a less-lethal rifle at Colorado Public Radio reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/denver-police-train-a-less-lethal-rifle-at-colorado-public-radio-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-18T18:29:09.297906Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:27:02.432258Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:27:02.336036Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ecmtz\">Esteban Hernandez, a reporter for Denverite and Colorado Public Radio, and another journalist were aimed at with a crowd-control weapon by law enforcement while covering protests in Denver, Colorado, on the evening of May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"tujad\">The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for eight minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"kv59w\">Hernandez ran into Denver Post reporter Alex Burness near the state capitol building, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/denver-post-reporter-aimed-at-with-weapon-amid-protests/\">Burness told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker</a>. The lights around the capitol were off, creating an “uneasy” atmosphere, Burness said. A large crowd of protesters had amassed on the north side of the building. Police moved toward protesters, firing tear gas. Burness and Hernandez decided to leave the area, heading away from the tear gas toward the capitol’s south side.</p><p data-block-key=\"3e6lv\">There, they encountered a line of officers standing across a two-lane street. Burness saw an opening that would have allowed them to leave the area without crossing the police line. Burness said both journalists loudly identified themselves as members of the press and were wearing press credentials, and Hernandez wore a neon yellow vest with ‘PRESS’ written on it in large letters.</p><p data-block-key=\"ncrvt\">Burness said one of the officers told them to turn back the other way, where the tear gas was coming from. Burness and Hernandez continued to shout “Press! Press! Press!” to get the officers to allow them to pass through the open area, but police refused. In a show of force, one lifted what Burness described as a rifle used to shoot less-lethal projectiles, and pointed it directly at the journalists. Burness said he has no doubt the officers knew they were members of the press, calling the incident “a flagrant disregard for our press rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"76qho\">The two retreated back towards the capitol lawn, where they were engulfed in a cloud of tear gas. Burness, wearing ski goggles and an N95 mask, said he couldn’t see at more than five percent for several minutes. “It was very intense, extremely unpleasant, and crucially, totally unnecessary,” he said. Both <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EstebanHRZ/status/1267318923243986945\">Hernandez</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alex_burness/status/1267319325846917120\">Burness</a> tweeted about the incident. Reached via direct message on Twitter, Hernandez declined to comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">While <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alex_burness?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@alex_burness</a> and I were trying to walk around the Capitol, we identified ourselves as press <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DenverPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DenverPolice</a> still pointed rifles at us.</p>— Esteban L. Hernandez (@EstebanHRZ) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EstebanHRZ/status/1267318923243986945?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 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=\"n9szk\">Multiple law enforcement agencies were operating in the area at the time, Burness said, including the Colorado Army National Guard, Denver Police, the Colorado State Patrol and sheriffs’ departments from various counties across the state. Burness said he believes the officer who trained his gun at them was with the Colorado State Patrol.</p><p data-block-key=\"jv5h4\">The Tracker reached out to the Colorado State Patrol, which refused to comment on the incidents, saying they involved the Denver Police Department. A request for comment to the Denver Police Department was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"i4vfi\">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>",
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"name": "Colorado",
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"protest"
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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{
"title": "Public radio reporters shot with pepper balls while covering Louisville protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/public-radio-reporters-shot-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-louisville-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-18T20:37:12.299898Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:29:52.522503Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:29:52.415635Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4t244\">Ryland Barton, the statehouse bureau chief for WFPL, was struck with pepper balls while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"s3osu\">The protests were sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the March 13 death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2nju\">Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear had deployed the National Guard to the city a day earlier, and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer instituted a citywide curfew, to begin at <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/metro-government/2020/05/30/mayor-fischer-sets-breonna-taylor-protest-curfew-calls-national-guard/5290690002/\">9 p.m.</a>, ahead of the May 31 protests, <a href=\"https://wfpl.org/at-least-33-arrested-in-third-night-of-louisville-protests/\">according to NPR affiliate WFPL</a>. It was the first time the National Guard had patrolled the streets in Louisville <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2020/06/02/breonna-taylor-protests-city-doesnt-often-call-national-guard/5307355002/\">since 1975</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jaimq\">Just after 7:30 p.m. Barton tweeted that police had surrounded three-fourths of Jefferson Square Park, setting up a perimeter from which officers shot tear gas at protesters. Barton tweeted that there were also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267250457967239178\">flash-bang grenades and pepper balls</a> deployed at the park. The crowd-control devices were deployed from the southwest corner of Liberty and Sixth streets as police moved forward, forcing protesters through the fog, <a href=\"https://wfpl.org/at-least-33-arrested-in-third-night-of-louisville-protests/\">according to WFPL</a><i>.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"c6qj9\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267269439902416896\">one tweet</a>, Barton said he had been struck with pepper balls and gassed, and he described how police mocked him when he and his public radio colleague Jess Clark put their hands up.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police just told <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jess_m_clark?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jess_m_clark</a> and me not to put our hands up when we walked by, saying it looked "ridiculous" and that we wouldn't be targeted if we weren't doing anything violent. I got hit with pepper balls and tear gassed earlier, definitely wasnt doing anything violent.</p>— Ryland Barton (@RylandKY) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267269439902416896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 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=\"82gjv\">Barton “was struck in the leg with at least one pepper ball. We were crossing a street blockaded by a line of police in riot gear and they fired pepper balls at us,” his colleague Clark, education reporter for WFPL, told the U.S. Press Freedom tracker in an email. Barton couldn’t be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"kqjvl\">“We were alone, not in a group... and I was carrying a boom mic — so it seems unlikely they didn't realize we were press,” Clark said.</p><p data-block-key=\"pxxei\">Just after 10 p.m., an hour past curfew, Barton <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267276963737001985\">tweeted a picture</a> that he said showed officers shooting crowd-control munitions. He also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267279215956803591\">tweeted a video</a> showing officers shooting pepper balls in the direction of the journalists, noting that both times the firing seemed to be without cause:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This group of police at 4th and Broadway. They just shot proper balls at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jess_m_clark?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jess_m_clark</a> and I for crossing the street. Super unclear why. She's carrying a giant boom microphone. <a href=\"https://t.co/3lzdYaF0S6\">pic.twitter.com/3lzdYaF0S6</a></p>— Ryland Barton (@RylandKY) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267276963737001985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 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=\"stic6\">Over the course of the night, dozens were arrested <a href=\"https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kentucky/articles/2020-05-31/dozens-arrested-in-third-night-of-protests-in-louisville\">according to a police spokesperson</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"kgxfl\">The Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"p3pju\">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>",
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"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Reporter covering protests for Las Vegas Review-Journal struck by projectiles",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-covering-protests-for-las-vegas-review-journal-struck-by-projectiles/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-18T19:46:54.468433Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:28:39.125005Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:28:39.037060Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Las Vegas",
"longitude": -115.13722,
"latitude": 36.17497,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h7lp1\">Two journalists with the Las Vegas Review-Journal were hit with crowd-control munitions while covering a protest in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"di4sd\">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 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=\"td5lx\">The journalists, Shea Johnson and Blake Apgar, had recorded a roughly hour-long video following the demonstrations. Aside from some protesters yelling at the police, it was a very peaceful demonstration, Johnson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The mood of the protest then became more agitated as dusk to dark.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7wgm\">The journalists were walking with a group of protesters away from members of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department at about 8:45 p.m. when they were hit with pepper balls.</p><p data-block-key=\"ewlqk\">Officers moved the crowd aggressively, Johnson said. They warned demonstrators that failure to disperse would result in a misdemeanor charge. Officers moved the crowd south on Las Vegas Boulevard near Mandalay Bay. They moved the crowd at walking speed and then shot off the projectiles to move people faster, Johnson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"a43ip\">Johnson described the incident as “jarring” but told the Tracker that he and Apgar were not targeted as journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"6fivq\">“We did not have the time to identify ourselves, and instead I think what we experienced was illustrative of what it was like to be an ordinary protester,” said Johnson, Las Vegas City Hall and Clark County reporter for the Review Journal.</p><p data-block-key=\"s67yf\">Both Johnson and Apgar ended up in an apartment complex parking lot cornered by the police, unable to walk toward their vehicle. They continued to live tweet and eventually they were able to leave the scene, they said.</p><p data-block-key=\"khvly\">The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to the Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"no819\">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>",
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{
"title": "Minnesota State Patrol officers shoot at CBS field director in Minneapolis",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-state-patrol-officers-shoot-at-cbs-field-director-in-minneapolis/",
"first_published_at": "2021-11-18T19:31:42.126380Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:14:09.900117Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:14:09.816202Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xb0ht\">CBS News field director Michael Hopkins and his news crew were shot at with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while documenting protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"pe5px\">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=\"61ugx\">Protesters were marching that day on the Interstate 35W Bridge in downtown Minneapolis, <a href=\"https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/05/31/breaking-semi-truck-appears-to-drive-through-protest-marchers-on-i-35w-bridge/\">according to local CBS affiliate WCCO</a>. Sound engineer John Marschitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he noticed the protesters from the window of the Courtyard hotel where they were staying, and he and his team quickly gathered their equipment to film from the hotel’s parking garage. The team consisted of Hopkins, Marschitz, camera technician Tim Horstman and logistics manager Kevin Ward. See the Tracker’s documentation of these incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-05-31&date_upper=2020-05-31&targeted_institutions=174\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cy8sx\">“That’s where we started watching everything happen and there were press down below us yelling, ‘Press! Press!’ and [law enforcement] still kept firing at them,” Marschitz said, referring to members of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-state-patrol-officers-threaten-reporter-for-german-outlet/\">a Deutsche Welle news crew</a> who were shot at as they identified themselves as press, cut their live shot short and drove away. “We were up in the garage and when we went over to the little brick wall they would shoot up at us, even though we had the camera propped up over, if we looked over they would shoot at us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sg3e8\">When asked if the CBS News crew was specifically targeted, Marschitz said they were the only ones on that level of the garage when officers opened fire with rubber bullets and marker rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"g1743\">Both Marschitz and Horstman said none of the CBS journalists were struck by the munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"mqxye\">Neither Hopkins nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"0d7by\">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>",
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"name": "Minnesota",
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{
"title": "Journalist hit with crowd-control munitions fired by police during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-crowd-control-munitions-fired-by-police-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-14T12:54:18.532684Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:15:40.561231Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:15:40.479869Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f34r8\">A journalist with Full Revolution Media said he was hit with rubber bullets and pepper balls by Portland police officers while he was covering a protest on May 31, 2020, in downtown Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"7opqt\">The demonstration was among the many that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. 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><p data-block-key=\"rj4xv\">In Portland, protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a daily 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days.</p><p data-block-key=\"gnn7r\">On the night of May 31, protesters gathered near the Multnomah County Justice Center and marched toward Pioneer Courthouse despite the curfew, according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/05/police-declare-civil-disturbance-amid-clash-with-protesters-in-downtown-portland-live-updates.html\">the Oregonian</a>. Shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew took effect, the Portland police declared the protest an unlawful assembly and used tear gas and other crowd-control munitions to disperse the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"047wt\">John, the Full Revolution Media journalist, told the Tracker that around midnight he was near Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Alder Street, when a "few young males came sprinting around the corner." They were being chased by a police riot van, said John, who asked that his last name not be used out of safety concerns.</p><p data-block-key=\"wchp8\">"Police dismounted and shot many rounds at [them]," he told the Tracker. "I took one step to the right to make sure the police knew I was there because I was behind a tree, and they shot me multiple times with pepper balls and rubber bullets."</p><p data-block-key=\"cqw9x\">John yelled at the officers, he said, asking why they shot him and asking for a supervisor, but they ignored him and drove away. He told the Tracker that pepper balls were shot right next to his camera. He didn’t have press markings and doesn’t remember if he mentioned being a member of the press, but believes he was targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"7km05\">The rubber bullets split his elbow open and created swelling for several weeks, he said, adding that the pepper balls left small abrasions.</p><p data-block-key=\"rlgbf\">The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation. After the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\"> class-action lawsuit</a>, the city agreed to a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\"> preliminary injunction</a> in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved by NYPD officers while covering protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-by-nypd-officers-while-covering-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-13T17:12:39.093704Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:38:33.584337Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:38:33.510664Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
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"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vz1gr\">Photojournalist Edward Leavy Jr. said he was shoved to the ground by police officers multiple times and hit with a baton while reporting on protests in New York City on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"hegry\">Racial justice protests in New York and across the country began in response to a video of the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions</a> to journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"9lyi1\">Leavy, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker he was covering the protests for the Australian socialist news publication Green Left Weekly. He reported his experience to the Tracker but didn’t respond to further requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3skp2\">Leavy said he was following a protest on Broadway between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. when New York Police Department officers began rushing at protesters. He said that an officer told him to back up, so he began walking away. As he was going, he said he was shoved from behind, face-down into the street by an officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"ronv2\">Leavy said another officer started to place him under arrest, until a superior officer released him. However, he said, he was again shoved into the ground as he was being released.</p><p data-block-key=\"ozjxz\">Leavy said police subsequently pushed him two more times. One time he was shoved into a curb, which wounded both of his legs. He was also pushed over a newspaper box that had been tipped over, which he said bruised his ribs.</p><p data-block-key=\"9fhmn\">Later in the evening, he said he was hit with a baton while he was photographing the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"792d2\">Leavy told the Tracker he was wearing a tactical vest marked with the word “PRESS” and was also displaying press identification cards hanging from his neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"wega9\">“When I inquired why are journalists being attacked they only denied that anyone would do that to me,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2m92r\">NPYD didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Minnesota State Patrol officers shoot at CBS sound engineer in Minneapolis",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-state-patrol-officers-shoot-at-cbs-sound-engineer-in-minneapolis/",
"first_published_at": "2021-11-18T19:24:27.211129Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:35:33.130840Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:35:33.048598Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"821vz\">CBS News sound engineer John Marschitz and his news crew were shot at with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while documenting protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"kzhte\">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=\"h9r26\">Protesters were marching that day on the Interstate 35W Bridge in downtown Minneapolis, <a href=\"https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/05/31/breaking-semi-truck-appears-to-drive-through-protest-marchers-on-i-35w-bridge/\">according to local CBS affiliate WCCO</a>. Marschitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he noticed the protesters from the window of the Courtyard hotel where they were staying, and he and his team quickly gathered their equipment to film from the hotel’s parking garage. The team consisted of Marschitz, camera technician Tim Horstman, field director Michael Hopkins and logistics manager Kevin Ward. See the Tracker’s documentation of these incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-05-31&date_upper=2020-05-31&targeted_institutions=174\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"07hgu\">“That’s where we started watching everything happen and there were press down below us yelling, ‘Press! Press!’ and [law enforcement] still kept firing at them,” Marschitz said, referring to members of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-state-patrol-officers-threaten-reporter-for-german-outlet/\">a Deutsche Welle news crew</a> who were shot at as they identified themselves as press, cut their live shot short and drove away. “We were up in the garage and when we went over to the little brick wall they would shoot up at us, even though we had the camera propped up over, if we looked over they would shoot at us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kiint\">When asked if the CBS News crew was specifically targeted, Marschitz said they were the only ones on that level of the garage when officers opened fire with rubber bullets and marker rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"3boyw\">Both Marschitz and Horstman said none of the CBS journalists were struck by the munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"anfj6\">The Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"54beo\">Marschitz was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-news-sound-engineer-struck-in-arm-by-rubber-bullet-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/\">struck in the arm</a> with a rubber bullet while documenting protests the night before.</p><p data-block-key=\"q6mtc\">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>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4wbhn\">Journalists with CBS News take shelter in a parking garage in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 31, 2020, while covering demonstrations following the death of George Floyd.</p>",
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"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Oregon reporter hit with tear gas canister while documenting protests; city settles lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oregon-reporter-hit-tear-gas-canister-while-documenting-protests-city-settles-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-25T19:31:31.862706Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:44:21.467545Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:44:21.394455Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Eugene",
"longitude": -123.08675,
"latitude": 44.05207,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6qi2j\">Henry Houston, a reporter for the Eugene Weekly, an alternative paper in Eugene, Oregon, was targeted with a tear gas canister fired from a Eugene police vehicle on the night of May 31, 2020, according to Houston and a video taken by Adam Duvernay of The Register Guard, a local newspaper.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ppav\">Houston told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was monitoring a group of Black Lives Matter protesters who were demonstrating that evening beyond a 9 p.m. curfew. The citywide curfew exempted credentialed journalists, according to the The Register Guard.</p><p data-block-key=\"qt0ba\">In the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9VaCnnUeHI&feature=emb_logo\">video</a> recorded by Duvernay and uploaded to YouTube, police can be heard warning protesters to go home because of the curfew, which was ordered by the Eugene city manager. The police announcement warns that those who don’t obey are subject to “arrest, chemical munitions, or impact munitions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0jzph\">At one point, the video shows protesters running away from an armored police vehicle as it enters a parking lot. One round of what appears to be tear gas is fired in their direction.</p><p data-block-key=\"qowwk\">While the protesters continue running, Houston stands in the lot recording video of the police vehicle, known as a BearCat, when another canister is fired. In an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Houston said that the canister hit him in his chest.</p><p data-block-key=\"l4uaz\">“Eugene police officer from the turret position of the BearCat threw a tear gas canister toward me, which struck my chest, and sparked on the ground,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"wpmjz\">In the video Houston can then be seen holding up his press badge in the direction of the BearCat's light. He says he also shouted to police that he was media, before police fired several pepper balls at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"gvkro\">On July 2, 2020, in conjunction with the Civil Liberties Defense Center, Houston filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Federal District Court in Eugene. The Eugene-based center provides legal and educational resources on civil rights issues, and in its lawsuit against Eugene Police officers and the city of Eugene the center charged that a series of city and police actions were unconstitutional.</p><p data-block-key=\"nm755\">According to the CLDC’s <a href=\"https://cldc.org/CLDC+Files+Suit+to+Protect+the+Free+Press+from+Police+Violence\">press release</a>, police allegedly used “indiscriminate, brutal, and excessive force against local protesters, journalists, and even people sitting on their own porches, firing impact (rubber bullet/”foam”) and chemical (tear gas and pepper gas) munitions from the turrets of militarized vehicles (called BearCats) and implementing unconstitutional curfews.”</p><p data-block-key=\"x74v3\">The lawsuit, per the press release, also alleged that “unidentified police officers in an armored vehicle shot Mr. Houston with impact and chemical munitions, despite him clearly and repeatedly identifying himself as media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"djnvc\">The case was settled without a trial on Oct. 21, 2020, according to a report from <a href=\"https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/oregon/articles/2020-10-30/reporter-tear-gassed-at-protest-settles-with-eugene-for-45k\">The Associated Press</a>. The AP story said Houston received $45,000 in the settlement and planned to use it to pay medical bills and make a donation to a local mental health program.</p><p data-block-key=\"b57jk\">In an emailed statement to the Tracker, Houston said he had sought a settlement with the city “with the hopes that I could force some policy changes without forcing both of us to high costs of a trial.” He said he had made several requests, including asking the city for greater transparency when declaring curfews, changing policies with police-journalist interactions and stopping the use of BearCats during protests. In his email, Houston said the city did not respond to those requests “and instead went with only cash. I took it because although it's not concrete change, it could influence change just as a speeding ticket could change driver behavior.”</p><p data-block-key=\"73x08\">In an October email to <a href=\"https://www.eugeneweekly.com/2020/10/23/epd-settles-excessive-force-lawsuit-with-eugene-weekly-journalist/\">Eugene Weekly,</a> Laura Hammond, the city’s community relations director wrote, “We are pleased to have quickly reached a mutually agreeable resolution to this matter,” the email said.</p><p data-block-key=\"d64xu\">The Eugene Police Department’s public information officer referred Tracker requests for comment on the suit and the settlement to the city’s attorney, Benjamin Miller. In a call with the Tracker, Miller said he cannot speak on behalf of the police department.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "Minnesota State Patrol officers push Canadian journalist amid protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-state-patrol-officers-push-canadian-journalist-amid-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-18T20:43:35.648642Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:30:50.221359Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:30:50.121323Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yv202\">Radio reporter Philippe Leblanc was pushed with a baton by law enforcement officers while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, shortly after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"34e58\">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=\"8vll5\">Leblanc, a radio correspondent for Radio-Canada and television correspondent for French CBC, was standing behind the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct in a group of other Canadian journalists and their security details. Several of the reporters had flak jackets labeled “PRESS” and most were holding cameras and or other equipment, Leblanc told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei8s6\">Several Metro Transit buses with “not in service” lights on pulled up alongside the group and Minnesota State Patrol troopers disembarked, weapons drawn, and immediately began shouting at the assembled journalists to “Get back!” and “Move!” according to a video<a href=\"https://twitter.com/phil_leblancSRC/status/1266907398003924992\"> posted</a> by Leblanc on Twitter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">Les policiers débarquent et bousculent les journalistes sur place... <a href=\"https://t.co/8hxmyWjGEP\">pic.twitter.com/8hxmyWjGEP</a></p>— Philippe Leblanc (@phil_leblancSRC) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/phil_leblancSRC/status/1266907398003924992?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=\"ftch6\">The journalists complied, moving back, but the officers wielding batons kept coming toward them, Leblanc told the Tracker. “They started shoving us out of the way even though we had clearly retreated,” Leblanc said. “I was pushed three or four times on the chest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5w81x\">Leblanc, who was holding a microphone and his press pass in one hand and his iPhone in the other, said it was clear they were members of the media, but the situation unfolded so quickly he said he did not even have the chance to yell that he was press, though others in the group did.</p><p data-block-key=\"xlxq8\">Leblanc said he was not injured and that he did not file a complaint with state police. “Had there been an injury it would have been dealt with differently,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2nv1q\">A request for comment emailed to the Minnesota State Patrol was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"c09vy\">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>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
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},
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"tags": [
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"protest"
],
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"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "MSNBC reporter struck with projectile during live broadcast from Washington protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/msnbc-reporter-struck-projectile-during-live-broadcast-washington-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-24T20:29:02.799913Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:15:21.512354Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:15:21.436518Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ff58q\">MSNBC reporter Garrett Haake was struck with a crowd-control projectile on May 31, 2020 in Washington, D.C. while giving an on-air report on protests that broke out over the deaths of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police.</p><p data-block-key=\"dd3sz\">Haake was reporting live after 11 p.m. from I Street Northwest and 16th Street Northwest in downtown Washington on clashes between protesters and law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"m6uu1\">During the report, Haake’s film crew captured images of flipped and burning vehicles in the area and a line of Metropolitan Police Department officers forming on the east side of the intersection, according to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gettishow/status/1267293389860384768\">clips of the broadcast</a> posted on Twitter and <a href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbcs-garrett-haake-struck-by-rubber-bullet-live-on-air/\">by Mediaite</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"wqbhb\">Numerous explosions are heard in the distance, which Haake describes as protesters letting off fireworks.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bmes\">Haake then begins to move toward the north side of the intersection, telling anchor Katy Tur that “we’re going to make some moves here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"io6p9\">“We’re going to end up in a place we don’t want to be in if we’re not careful, Katy. So...ah dammit!” Haake said on air.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tg5l\">The broadcast then turns back to Tur in the studio, who tells Haake to move to a safer location. But Haake is back on the air in less than a minute and tells Tur that he believed he was hit with a rubber bullet.</p><p data-block-key=\"imdj0\">“I have some souvenir welts on my side to show for it,” <a href=\"https://twitter.com/garretthaake/status/1267315757987385346?lang=en\">Haake tweeted after the incident</a>. “And sorry for cursing on tv. Those rubber bullets/pellets/bean-bags hurt!”</p><p data-block-key=\"cnlou\">It isn’t clear from MSNBC’s footage of the incident whether officers from the Metropolitan Police Department fired the rounds that struck Haake. A department spokeswoman said she couldn’t confirm whether officers used crowd-control munitions at this particular time.</p><p data-block-key=\"p6kfr\">Neither Haake nor MSNBC responded to requests for comment. The Office of Police Complaints said it didn’t receive a complaint related to the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"wbnl1\">The protest was one of many that erupted nationwide in response to the police killings of Black people including George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13, and others.</p><p data-block-key=\"k9o9f\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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{
"title": "Public Radio reporters shot at with pepper balls while covering Louisville protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-reporters-shot-pepper-balls-while-covering-louisville-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-23T18:34:20.197968Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:00:49.854698Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:00:49.748819Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fbcbq\">Kentucky Public Radio reporter Jess Clark was shot at with pepper balls while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"tuhiw\">The protests were sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the March 13 death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville.</p><p data-block-key=\"g9qww\">Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear had deployed the National Guard to the city a day earlier, and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer instituted a citywide curfew, to begin at <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/metro-government/2020/05/30/mayor-fischer-sets-breonna-taylor-protest-curfew-calls-national-guard/5290690002/\">9 p.m.</a>, ahead of the May 31 protests, <a href=\"https://wfpl.org/at-least-33-arrested-in-third-night-of-louisville-protests/\">according to NPR affiliate WFPL</a>. It was the first time the National Guard had patrolled the streets in Louisville <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2020/06/02/breonna-taylor-protests-city-doesnt-often-call-national-guard/5307355002/\">since 1975</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ikrr8\">Just after 7:30 p.m. Ryland Barton, the statehouse bureau chief for WFPL, tweeted that police had surrounded three-fourths of Jefferson Square Park, setting up a perimeter from which officers shot tear gas at protesters. Barton tweeted that there were also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267250457967239178\">flash-bang grenades and pepper balls</a> deployed at the park. The crowd-control devices were deployed from the southwest corner of Liberty and Sixth streets as police moved forward, forcing protesters through the fog, <a href=\"https://wfpl.org/at-least-33-arrested-in-third-night-of-louisville-protests/\">according to WFPL</a><i>.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"ej31n\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267269439902416896\">one tweet</a>, Barton said he had been struck with pepper balls and gassed, and he described how police mocked him when he and Clark put their hands up.</p><p data-block-key=\"gwbrb\">“We were crossing a street blockaded by a line of police in riot gear and they fired pepper balls at us,” Clark told the U.S. Press Freedom tracker in an email. Barton couldn’t be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"psj27\">“We were alone, not in a group... and I was carrying a boom mic — so it seems unlikely they didn't realize we were press,” Clark said.</p><p data-block-key=\"u4k5i\">Just after 10 p.m., an hour past curfew, Barton <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267276963737001985\">tweeted a picture</a> that he said showed officers shooting crowd-control munitions. He also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267279215956803591\">tweeted a video</a> showing officers shooting pepper balls in the direction of the journalists, noting that both times the firing seemed to be without cause:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This group of police at 4th and Broadway. They just shot proper balls at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jess_m_clark?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jess_m_clark</a> and I for crossing the street. Super unclear why. She's carrying a giant boom microphone. <a href=\"https://t.co/3lzdYaF0S6\">pic.twitter.com/3lzdYaF0S6</a></p>— Ryland Barton (@RylandKY) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267276963737001985?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 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=\"cyhsp\">Over the course of the night, dozens were arrested <a href=\"https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kentucky/articles/2020-05-31/dozens-arrested-in-third-night-of-protests-in-louisville\">according to a police spokesperson</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"zps22\">The Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"41ro6\">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/RTS39U39.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pv0sn\">Army National Guard soldiers stand with Louisville Metro Police during a protest in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 31, 2020. Two journalists were shot at with crowd-control munitions while covering protests that night.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
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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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"Jess Clark (Kentucky Public Radio)"
],
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},
{
"title": "KMBC 9 News vehicle vandalized during Kansas City protests on May 31",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kmbc-9-news-vehicle-vandalized-during-kansas-city-protests-on-may-31/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-18T18:41:53.566892Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:27:25.916814Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:27:25.824802Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Kansas City",
"longitude": -94.57857,
"latitude": 39.09973,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q2enr\">At least two news vehicles were vandalized amid protests against police violence in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"dlipl\">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 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=\"hbnov\">A news vehicle belonging to KMBC News 9 was vandalized during demonstrations downtown that night, according to social media posts by a reporter with KSHB 41 News. The car’s windows were broken, internal mechanisms reportedly tampered with and the exterior spray-painted with graffiti. KMBC didn’t respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/kmbc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kmbc</a> car vandalized. <a href=\"https://t.co/jvFY4xbV2g\">pic.twitter.com/jvFY4xbV2g</a></p>— Megan Strickland (@StricklyMeg) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StricklyMeg/status/1267294551238160391?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 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=\"0rbhc\">A KSHB 41 News vehicle was also vandalized that night, and was set on fire. The Tracker has documented that case <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kshb-news-vehicle-vandalized-set-on-fire-during-kansas-city-protests/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkvo0\">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": "",
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"actor": "private individual",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"KMBC-TV"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter"
],
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},
{
"title": "Video journalist struck by crowd-control munition, briefly detained amid DC protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-struck-crowd-control-munition-briefly-detained-amid-dc-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-04T20:21:35.270869Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T17:51:35.343071Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T17:51:35.247816Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jjdaw\">Ford Fischer, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, was struck by a crowd-control munition and detained by Metropolitan Police Department officers while on assignment for digital wire service <a href=\"https://www.zenger.news/\">Zenger</a> covering protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"uptqx\">The protest was one of a surge of demonstrations across the country, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"8nytv\">Fischer, whose video news service focuses on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/N2Sreports\">"the latest on politics and activism,</a>” told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering demonstrations in Farragut Square, just north of the White House in downtown D.C.</p><p data-block-key=\"9t9uo\">Some of the protesters, he said, moved from the square eastward toward the intersection of 16th and I streets. A group of riot police were gathered about half a block up I Street, Fischer said, and a small group of officers was on the north side of 16th Street.</p><p data-block-key=\"9yw5a\">Demonstrators were throwing fireworks and police tossed flash-bang grenades, Fischer said, as he filmed from a bit behind the protesters. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1267337751671779337\">footage</a> he posted of the incident, Fischer appears to be standing in the street filming as fireworks are launched by individuals nearby.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekxi9\">“At some point during that charging, there was an instant strike to my head,” Fischer said, noting that he could even hear in his video footage the sound of the crowd-control munition flying through the air.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I'll have a full footage thread on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Zenger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Zenger</a> soon, but I found the HD footage from when I got hit with what I believe was a rubber bullet.<br><br>For about a minute, protesters were shooting fireworks at the cops.<br><br>Police charged in and open fired, hitting me at 1:17 in this clip. <a href=\"https://t.co/m8iNrUAmSU\">pic.twitter.com/m8iNrUAmSU</a></p>— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1267337751671779337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 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=\"ux67v\">Fischer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1267313639733723136\">noted in a separate tweet</a> that the “solid goggles” he was wearing helped minimize the harm, saying that he was “fine.” He told the Tracker that he believes the goggles deflected the round.</p><p data-block-key=\"0i7vn\">“That’s how I ended up with this weird, two part injury from this one shot,” Fischer said. “There was this half-golf ball-sized sore coming out of my forehead and then also an impact on the upper part of my nose.”</p><p data-block-key=\"keiw0\">Fischer said that after he was struck, he attempted to leave the protest by heading west on I Street, where some looting was taking place.</p><p data-block-key=\"rmki4\">“At some point police charged them, and it was while everyone was running away westward towards the Foggy Bottom/George Washington region of D.C. that the particular group I was running with ended up being kettled.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ftg2n\">“Kettling” is a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/journalists-covering-protests-us-risk-getting-caught-police-kettling-tactic/\">police maneuver</a> used to hem in protesters and is often followed with indiscriminate arrests or citations.</p><p data-block-key=\"jx9f6\">Fischer said that he and about 20 protesters were detained in the kettle for approximately eight minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"xtgn4\">“When I realized what was happening I identified myself as press to one of those officers,” Fischer said, “and I remember that he responded, ‘We’ll talk about that later.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"hlos5\">While detained, Fischer said he interviewed one of the protesters who had his front teeth knocked out by police earlier that evening. Eventually an officer came up to the group and announced that everyone would be allowed to leave as long as they returned home upon their release, according to Fischer.</p><p data-block-key=\"15b77\">“So they let us out one by one, and one of the officers took their body cam off of their vest and held it close to our faces as we exited, effectively taking mugshots or documenting the people they had kettled before letting us go,” Fischer said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s157m\">The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"57uqh\">The previous night, May 30, Fischer was struck twice with pepper balls, which are functionally paintballs filled with a powdery pepper spray: once in the stomach and once on his right shoulder. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-hit-head-projectile-during-dc-protests/\">documented that incident here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"kettle",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ford Fischer (Zenger)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Colorado magazine editor hit in groin by rubber bullet while covering protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/editor-at-colorados-yellow-scene-magazine-hit-in-groin-by-rubber-bullet-while-covering-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-29T16:00:46.196125Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T22:42:43.805730Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T22:42:43.715195Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sl2ae\">Johnathen Duran, the content editor at Colorado-based Yellow Scene Magazine, said he was hit in the groin by a rubber bullet while he livestreamed from a Black Lives Matter protest in Denver on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"er87u\">Duran, who writes under the name De La Vaca, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and North Pearl Street at around 9:30 p.m. when a police officer shot at him with a rubber bullet.</p><p data-block-key=\"ujxf8\">“I was shot in the left testicle with a rubber bullet while wearing a press pass, carrying a camera bag and backpack, holding a cellphone to livestream,” he said, adding he was wearing a white helmet with MEDIA written on it in four places while he shot video with his phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"m0zdl\">In video supplied by Duran and reviewed by the Tracker, gunfire can be heard amid the scene of an apparent protest. In the video he shows a large rubber bullet to the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"fgjsx\">“It feels like I was kicked in the balls, but I am walking,” he said in the video, adding later: “There’s no blood on my pants, so I should be OK.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cey3t\">A Denver Police Department spokesperson said the incident was investigated and closed because the officer couldn’t be identified. However, the spokesperson said the department had <a href=\"https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/d25ae76545014a8f9cf3392b4946f682\">undertaken a review of its response</a> to the large-scale demonstrations in the city following the killing of George Floyd, some of which escalated into violence.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fb8t\">The department reviewed the use and tracking of “less-than-lethal” munitions, the processes for documenting use of force during protests, the use of body cameras and improving dispersal orders, among other issues.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ozhrw\">A line of police officers at a protest in Denver, Colorado, on May 31, 2020, following the murder of George Floyd. Journalist Johnathen Duran was shot in the groin by a rubber bullet while documenting a Denver protest that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-03-07 15:06:00+00:00) Trial date set for Denver journalist’s claims against city of Aurora, police department",
"(2020-07-23 00:00:00+00:00) Editor at Colorado’s Yellow Scene Magazine files lawsuit against cities of Denver, Aurora",
"(2024-08-16 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist settles police assault claims against Aurora, Colorado"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Johnathen Duran (Yellow Scene Magazine)"
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},
{
"title": "Swiss correspondent shot at with crowd-control munitions amid Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/swiss-correspondent-shot-at-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T15:26:31.473058Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:08:08.880325Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:08:08.741860Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rkko0\">While covering the fifth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, three Swiss journalists were shot at with crowd-control munitions shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"2zmi0\">Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Gov. Tim Walz’s order. The curfew followed protests in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest 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=\"le7x8\">Shortly after 8:30 p.m. in Minneapolis, officers fired foam rounds at the journalists after they held up their press passes and yelled that they were members of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"54tbl\">Massimiliano Herber, the Washington-based television correspondent for RSI (Radiotelevisione svizzera), an Italian-language channel of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, told the Tracker in an interview that he and videographer Jean-Pascal Azaïs had been reporting on protests downtown with Gaspard Kühn, a Washington-based correspondent for RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse), the public broadcaster’s French-language channel. Neither Azaïs nor Kühn could be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"hjvym\">Police had begun to throw tear gas and shoot foam rounds at protesters, according to Herber. Some of the tear gas wafted toward the Swiss journalists, stinging their eyes.</p><p data-block-key=\"jtjpz\">As the journalists attempted to reach their car, he said, they found police lines on either end of the block, preventing them from moving.</p><p data-block-key=\"czdzf\">Standing in the middle of the road, the journalists held up their press passes issued by the U.S. Congress and shouted, “Media! Media! Press!” toward the police and asked if they could pass by to reach their car. Azaïs was holding a small video camera. They had taken a couple steps forward, Herber said, when the officers told them to “back up”. The officers then began to shoot at the journalists, firing off four or five foam rounds, all of which missed the journalists, Herber said.</p><p data-block-key=\"59v3c\">They were able to flee to the safety of a nearby parking lot, but when they tried to move, the officers again opened fire, firing two to three foam rounds, Herber said. Eventually, with the help of a local resident, they found a safe route back to their car.</p><p data-block-key=\"s7541\">The officers in the area were from the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol, Herber said, but he was not sure who fired the rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"v5c5g\">The broadcaster filed a complaint about the matter with the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland on June 1, Herber said.</p><p data-block-key=\"n7um2\">Requests for comment on these incidents sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"zqths\">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>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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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"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Gaspard Kühn (Radio Télévision Suisse)"
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},
{
"title": "Free Press journalists targeted with chemical irritants while covering Detroit protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/free-press-journalists-targeted-with-chemical-irritants-while-covering-detroit-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T20:10:58.171536Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:44:55.496356Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:44:55.381656Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Detroit",
"longitude": -83.04575,
"latitude": 42.33143,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sas4r\">Free Press reporter J.C. Reindl said he was pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while covering protests in downtown Detroit, Michigan, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"nf1nx\">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=\"9hx6q\">Reindl told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that on May 30, the protests had shifted in tone from when he’d begun reporting earlier in the afternoon. At around 10:30 p.m., Reindl said he was “trying to get closer to the action” for a tweet to document the escalating scene before he was sprayed.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up “media” badge <a href=\"https://t.co/XGNN32dl1v\">pic.twitter.com/XGNN32dl1v</a></p>— JC Reindl (@jcreindl) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jcreindl/status/1266925170192715782?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=\"u6ynq\">“[An officer] began to pepper-spray some of the demonstrators and I began trying to photograph this because I was surprised. The protesters ran away and I kind of thought, I’m so far away there’s no way he’s going to come after me,” Reindl told CPJ. “Then [the officer] started coming at me and I held up my press badge and still had the phone going. I naively thought that I’m so far away he’s definitely not going to pepper-spray me, but he did.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sia1k\">Reindl, who was wearing contact lenses and a cloth mask at the time of the incident, left the protests after being sprayed, but decided not to seek medical attention. Reindl also told CPJ that he did not file a police complaint because “[he] did not want to be a little whiner.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9s96w\">After the incident, Reindl <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jcreindl/status/1266925170192715782\">tweeted</a>, “Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up ‘media’ badge." The accompanying image shows a law enforcement official in a gas mask. In the shadow he casts on the pavement below, a canister and line of spray can also be seen aimed in the direction of another shadow, presumably that cast by Reindl.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up “media” badge <a href=\"https://t.co/XGNN32dl1v\">pic.twitter.com/XGNN32dl1v</a></p>— JC Reindl (@jcreindl) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jcreindl/status/1266925170192715782?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=\"s0l3p\">When contacted by CPJ, the Detroit Police Department’s voicemail box was full. The department did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"5dm4e\">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": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Michigan",
"abbreviation": "MI"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"J.C. Reindl (Detroit Free Press)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Cameraman, news crew chased from Baltimore protest, later assaulted and robbed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-news-crew-chased-from-baltimore-protest-later-assaulted-and-robbed/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-24T20:43:20.286721Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:44:31.781611Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:44:31.665075Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Baltimore",
"longitude": -76.61219,
"latitude": 39.29038,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"a8yyo\">A group of individuals chased a Baltimore, Maryland, news crew away from a protest outside City Hall on the evening of May 30, 2020. Later that evening, the journalists were assaulted and robbed.</p><p data-block-key=\"su9ib\">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=\"tgeve\">J. Thomas Fisher, a cameraman for Fox45 WBFF, and reporter Dan Lampariello were standing in front of the police line outside Baltimore City Hall around 10 p.m. when a group of individuals on the other side of the line demanded they move back. “Some in the crowd began getting angry with us,” Lampariello says in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=296012141795121\">voice-over</a> of tape filmed at the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"0o5hd\">A few minutes later, the situation devolved further, and Lampariello and Fisher were forced to retreat a few blocks from City Hall. “Do not touch the camera,” Lampariello said on the video as individuals push him and Fisher.</p><p data-block-key=\"bsjvv\">Ray Strickland, a reporter for WMAR 2 News, Baltimore’s ABC affiliate, captured the incident on video and posted it to Twitter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Baltimore?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Baltimore</a> just chased a camera crew away from city hall <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BaltimoreProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BaltimoreProtest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeorgeFloydProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GeorgeFloydProtest</a>. It’s tense out here for sure. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WMAR2News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WMAR2News</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/Rei7hL8nLP\">pic.twitter.com/Rei7hL8nLP</a></p>— Ray Strickland (@realraystrick) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realraystrick/status/1266924174058160129?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=\"qi67c\">About an hour later, the crew was chased again, and someone punched Fisher in the face, according to the WBFF <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=296012141795121\">report</a>. A live unit was stolen out of his backpack, along with a microphone. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-crew-baltimore-chased-away-protest-later-assaulted-and-robbed/\">Lampariello’s assault is documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"lg7ix\">Early the next morning, Lampariello tweeted about the experience:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">TWICE tonight myself and photojournalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jthomasfisher?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jthomasfisher</a> were chased and assaulted by a group of people while covering the protest outside of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Baltimore?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Baltimore</a> City Hall. We had equipment stolen & destroyed. Scary and tense moments. I’m just thankful we’re both OK. <a href=\"https://t.co/fp7JbQu8ke\">https://t.co/fp7JbQu8ke</a></p>— Dan Lampariello (@DanFox45) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanFox45/status/1266965780672937984?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=\"79x5d\">Lampariello, Fisher and the WBFF newsroom did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hmaa\">“Last night, a FOX45 news crew reporting from the Baltimore demonstrations outside of City Hall was attacked and chased away by a group of protesters who resorted to violence,” Scott Livingston, senior vice president of news for the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station’s parent company, wrote the Baltimore Sun in an <a href=\"https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/columnists/zurawik/bs-ed-zontv-reporters-attacked-20200531-oeip7xfdufh4lo7cc2dpzd4dqy-story.html\">email</a>. “Despite this incident, we remain undeterred, and our incredible journalists will continue to fulfill their duties and report live from the protests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eg9ec\">On June 8, a Baltimore pastor was arrested in connection with the incident and charged with five counts, including second-degree assault, robbery and theft under $25,000, <a href=\"https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-west-charges-20200609-toawtkyopngbjmffxpdwkandoa-story.html\">according</a> to the Baltimore Sun.</p><p data-block-key=\"o05zm\">According to a police report the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker obtained from the Baltimore Police Department, the station was able to recover the live unit using its GPS tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"zvdyg\">“Our station will always support the Constitutional right to protest, a fundamental pillar of our democracy. At the same time, we also recognize the necessity of a free press, something that is more important now than ever before,” Bill Fanshawe, senior vice president of WBFF, told the Sun in a <a href=\"https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-west-charges-20200609-toawtkyopngbjmffxpdwkandoa-story.html\">statement</a>. “We ask that protesters recognize the important service that journalists everywhere provide, and should not be targets of anger and frustration.”</p><p data-block-key=\"m8oik\">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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"actor": "private individual",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "live unit"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Maryland",
"abbreviation": "MD"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"J. Thomas Fisher (WBFF)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck in knee by projectile during Raleigh protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-knee-by-projectile-during-raleigh-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T15:33:39.676233Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:08:58.204317Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:08:58.123329Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Raleigh",
"longitude": -78.63861,
"latitude": 35.7721,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vp4ox\">Brad Simmons, a photojournalist for North Carolina station WRAL-TV, was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"j961y\">The protest was among several demonstrations held across the country sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"v3wnu\">Simmons told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he was shooting video at the protest in Raleigh, which he said was “peaceful” until around 7:30 p.m., when it began to escalate.</p><p data-block-key=\"u4s7v\">“There was tear gas, people running. People started being a little bit more combative when law enforcement showed up,” Simmons says.</p><p data-block-key=\"i557c\">Simmons witnessed protesters throwing bottles and garbage can lids, as well as breaking windows and storefronts. At around 10:20 p.m., he was struck in the left knee by a rubber bullet. He assumes it was fired by police. Simmons estimates he was about 75 feet from police when he was struck. At the time he was struck, he saw many officers in riot gear.</p><p data-block-key=\"vqfnx\">Simmons doesn’t believe he was targeted for being a member of the media and thinks he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.</p><p data-block-key=\"1e2c3\">The Raleigh Police Department did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"r81oe\">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>",
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"protest",
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{
"title": "Star-Tribune reporter struck in groin with rubber bullet while covering Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/star-tribune-reporter-struck-in-groin-with-rubber-bullet-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-07T16:31:27.273212Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:57:27.187437Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:57:27.095616Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zhf9d\">Minneapolis Star-Tribune reporter Chris Serres was struck by a rubber bullet and caught in tear gas while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"y3j2v\">Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, 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=\"qbkf3\">Serres <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChrisSerres/status/1267098060938776581\">wrote</a> on Twitter that Minneapolis police tear gassed him and shot him in the groin with a rubber bullet while he was covering the protests, despite waving his press badge.</p><p data-block-key=\"85hfg\">“I was twice ordered at gunpoint by Minneapolis police to hit the ground, warned that if I moved ‘an inch’ I’d be shot,” Serres wrote.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Regarding police behavior last night, I was twice ordered at gunpoint by Minneapolis police to hit the ground, warned that if I moved "an inch" I'd be shot. This after being teargassed and hit in groin area by rubber bullet. Waiving a Star Tribune press badge made no difference. <a href=\"https://t.co/pfBm7ubzOg\">pic.twitter.com/pfBm7ubzOg</a></p>— Chris Serres (@ChrisSerres) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChrisSerres/status/1267098060938776581?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=\"l9keo\">More than three dozen journalists were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-05-30&date_upper=2020-05-30\">assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged</a> while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"rwiml\">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>",
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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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{
"title": "TRT World cameraman hit with projectiles while covering Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trt-world-cameraman-hit-with-projectiles-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T15:18:51.686368Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:07:18.793942Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:07:18.670703Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gs7vr\">Just after Minneapolis’ curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020, a correspondent and cameraman for Turkey’s state-run English-language news channel were hit by projectiles fired by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"rv9wk\">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 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=\"99067\">Lionel Donovan, a Washington-based correspondent for TRT World, said he had set up for a live shot outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct just after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, near some peaceful protesters staging a sit-in at an intersection. Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Governor Tim Walz’s order.</p><p data-block-key=\"1a96x\">“The curfew came and it was like a button got hit,” Donovan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"tvpyk\">According to Donovan, the police advanced down the street and began to fire off tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowd. One of the tear gas canisters hit cameraman Barbaros Sayilgan’s foot during Donovan’s live shot.</p><p data-block-key=\"s8kgg\">Sayilgan could not be reached for comment, but Donovan said he helped the cameraman and a producer off to safety, then went back into the street to film more footage himself. Donovan was filming on his phone, he said, when a blue foam round struck him in the inside of his left thigh, breaking the skin.</p><p data-block-key=\"64jtd\">Requests for comment sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"eg8al\">Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, brought up the attack on the crew in a June 3 phone call with David Satterfield, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, according to an <a href=\"https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/diplomacy/communications-director-expresses-concern-for-turkish-journalists-in-us-amid-civil-unrest\">article</a> published in the Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gann\">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>",
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"Assault"
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}
]
