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{
"title": "Student journalist says federal agents threw crowd-control munitions at her during Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-says-federal-agents-threw-crowd-control-munitions-her-during-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-14T21:17:30.859159Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:26:38.190336Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:26:38.096414Z",
"date": "2020-07-19",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8puba\">Eddy Binford-Ross, a 17-year-old student journalist, said federal agents threw a stun grenade and tear gas canister at her on July 19, 2020, while she was covering protests in Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"yzs9p\">Binford-Ross, editor in chief at her high school student newspaper in Salem, Oregon, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. 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=\"n5l1g\">July 19 marked the 53rd day of protests in Portland, Binford-Ross <a href=\"http://clypian.com/2020/07/20/wall-of-moms-faces-off-with-federal-officers/\">reported</a> in her school paper, The Clypian. The protests had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> with the arrival of federal law enforcement in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23. Binford-Ross is a plaintiff in the class action <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/aclu_or_dhs_tro_declarations_packet072020.pdf\">suit</a>, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"6jkwj\">The mood at the demonstrations had felt positive at the start of the night, Binford-Ross told the Tracker. She was covering the second night of protests by the “Wall of Moms” outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, a nightly flashpoint for confrontations between protesters and federal agents.</p><p data-block-key=\"icgix\">Just before 10 p.m., law enforcement issued a warning to protesters who had been attempting to dismantle the fence around the courthouse, which the federal government considered crucial to its presence, according to a document <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/news/article/portland-federal-courthouse-fence-taxpayer-cost/\">obtained by Oregon Public Broadcasting</a>. When the moms formed a barrier between protesters and the fence <a href=\"http://clypian.com/2020/07/20/wall-of-moms-faces-off-with-federal-officers/\">to de-escalate tensions</a>, federal officers rushed out of the courthouse and pointed guns at protesters from the other side of the fence.</p><p data-block-key=\"qh2a8\">It was just before midnight when the stun grenade was thrown towards Binford-Ross, she said. After some protesters had taken down parts of the fence, agents deployed stun grenades and tear gas to push protesters back into the street. Binford-Ross had already begun to retreat into Chapman Square and was away from most protesters when the multi-port stun grenade landed near her. When she tried to move away, an agent threw a tear gas canister in her path.</p><p data-block-key=\"h29ce\">“It was really inhumane,” Binford-Ross said. “It would be one thing if I was running towards officers, but I was running away from them, I was trying to get away from that situation.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1hraa\">Her mother, Warren Binford, accompanied her and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/childrightsprof/status/1285302066718535682?s=20\">tweeted</a> a video of the moment the stun grenade exploded. “The US #BorderPatro<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BorderPatrol?src=hashtag_click\">l</a> threw this stun grenade at me & my minor daughter, both US citizens, while she was covering this local story,” her mother wrote.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The US <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BorderPatrol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BorderPatrol</a> threw this stun grenade at me & my minor daughter, both US citizens, while she was covering this local story again last night about the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Feds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Feds</a> in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Portland</a> for her high school newspaper <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Clypian?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Clypian</a>. This was the 2nd time in 3 days the Feds have thrown.... <a href=\"https://t.co/IBh0n73tzJ\">pic.twitter.com/IBh0n73tzJ</a></p>— Warren Binford (@childrightsprof) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/childrightsprof/status/1285302066718535682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 20, 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=\"ppvl0\">Another <a href=\"https://twitter.com/childrightsprof/status/1285307856808374272\">tweet</a> shows the stun grenade marked “BORTAC,” which is an acronym for the U.S. Border Patrol Tactical Unit.</p><p data-block-key=\"0vwt9\">In addition to having press identification, Binford-Ross had added additional press markings since being targeted with crowd-control munitions <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-covering-portland-protests-says-federal-agents-threw-flash-bang-grenade-toward-her/\">the day before</a>, including a helmet marked “press” on all four sides and pants with “press” written with reflective tape spelling down the leg</p><p data-block-key=\"t2srh\">While she’d felt more prepared to cover that night’s demonstrations since beginning her protest coverage in Portland two nights before, she still has moments when the odors of tear gas come to her at random times. “It definitely takes a mental and emotional toll,” said Binford-Ross, who covered more than 30 BLM protests in Portland and Salem for the school paper over the summer. Her tweets about the protests were used by ABC, Reuters, Yahoo News and other outlets.</p><p data-block-key=\"mzv8m\">The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Portland Mercury reporter says they were assaulted by Portland police while covering protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-mercury-reporter-says-they-were-assaulted-portland-police-while-covering-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-11T17:55:52.500842Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:28:38.385281Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:28:38.280837Z",
"date": "2020-07-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6ge8k\">Blair Stenvick, a reporter for the Portland Mercury, said they were assaulted by police on July 18, 2020, while covering protests in the Oregon city against police brutality and racial inequality.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ew4n\">Stenvick suffered abrasions and an ankle injury after getting pushed by police during a bull-rush of a crowd of protesters, despite a recent <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">court order</a> that had specifically prohibited Portland police from harming or impeding journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"vq02d\">The night of July 18 marked a string of continuous demonstrations in Portland for at least the <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/07/19/892771802/protests-grow-on-52nd-night-as-portland-responds-to-federal-officers\">previous 50 days</a> following the May 25 death of George Floyd. 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=\"6kpvw\">As one group of protesters returned to the main focus of ongoing demonstrations, the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, Stenvick went to cover another protest outside the Portland Police Association office in North Portland.</p><p data-block-key=\"v33d5\">As soon as Stenvick arrived, the situation escalated. Individuals had <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1284727495669866498\">set a fire</a> inside the PPA office, prompting the Portland police to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1284728812547174400\">declare a riot</a> just before 11 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"kinns\">In an interview with the Tracker, Stenvick describes seeing police use rubber bullets and smoke canisters. “I was always having to walk the line of trying to look out for my own safety but still being able to document things as well as I could,” Stenvick said.</p><p data-block-key=\"05qbd\">At that point, Stenvick backed away and followed directions by police. While taking pictures from the outskirts of the gathering, Stenvick noticed that protesters had suddenly started running. Stenvick looked back and saw police in riot gear bull-rushing protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"y79km\">“I could tell in that moment that I was already in danger, and so I started running also, following police orders,” Stenvick told the Tracker. “Also putting my hands up in the air just to show that I wanted to comply with orders and not be a threat to them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"df8zz\">Stenvick said they yelled to the police, “I’m press! I’m press!” before being shoved to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"9n016\">“[It was] unnecessary [for them] to hit me because I was already running away, and wasn’t there as a protester,” said Stenvick, who had also been wearing a press pass. “Very clearly I wasn’t a threat to them, so [there] was a mix of ... anger, shock and disbelief.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6690h\">At around 11 p.m., Stenvick <a href=\"https://twitter.com/blairstenvick/status/1284729965087318022?s=21\">tweeted</a> a picture of their abrasions on the knee and hand.</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 cleared the crowd. I was running full speed easy and got pushed from behind by a PPB officer. Fortunately I just got scraped. <a href=\"https://t.co/zoKmIEUIvS\">pic.twitter.com/zoKmIEUIvS</a></p>— Blair Stenvick (@BlairStenvick) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BlairStenvick/status/1284729965087318022?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 19, 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=\"2n9ql\">While Stenvick didn’t report this specific incident to police, they are involved in a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon in June. The Portland Mercury is one of several plaintiffs in the case, which led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work. Stenvick provided testimony about a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-while-reporting-protests-city-journalists-tear-gassed-threatened/\">separate incident</a> as part of the preliminary injunction.</p><p data-block-key=\"hizct\">Derek Carmon, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, was unable to comment on this incident due to the ongoing litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"d48mm\">After the incident, Stenvick resolved to use the experience as a lesson about empathy. “Journalists ... use their own life experiences to relate to other people, so just seeing for myself — even just in that one instance — what it’s like to be unjustly treated by a police officer, I think that’s helpful for me to have some tiny little piece of understanding when covering these issues,” Stenvick told the Tracker.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"protest"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Freelance journalist struck in leg by projectile while covering Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-struck-leg-projectile-while-covering-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-01T19:21:05.996721Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:28:21.288007Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:28:21.169844Z",
"date": "2020-07-18",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"a0608\">Freelance journalist Laura Jedeed said she was hit in the leg by a projectile fired by federal law enforcement while she covered a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 18, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"5kzvb\">Jedeed, a contributor to Portland Monthly and Willamette Weekly, was covering one of many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. 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=\"py8sg\">The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July.</p><p data-block-key=\"tcdff\">In the early morning hours of July 18, Jedeed was covering a demonstration near the Mark O. Hetfield federal courthouse, where federal officers were stationed. Throughout the night, she told the Tracker, demonstrators “would hang out in front of the courthouse. And then without warning, the feds emerge, [tear] gas the hell out of people and then go back in.”</p><p data-block-key=\"595ns\">In one instance around 12:30 a.m., federal officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets, driving protesters north of the courthouse. “They were firing everything and the kitchen sink at protesters retreating down the street,” Jedeed said.</p><p data-block-key=\"uurc8\">While Jedeed was on Southwest Second Avenue, north of the courthouse, a projectile hit her in the leg. “This was while they were peppering the people who were fleeing with rubber bullets. [But] I don’t know what I was struck with,” she said. “I felt it hit me. And I kept running. After they were done chasing us, I looked down and saw I was bleeding quite a lot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ih6f4\">A picture of the wound Jedeed <a href=\"https://twitter.com/1misanthrophile/status/1284504424853893121\">posted on Twitter</a> later that morning, shows her bloody leg with a small hole in it.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I want to clarify that although I'm not sure what I was shot with, it wasn't live ammo. Maybe a rubber bullet?<br><br>Whatever it was, I'm definitely gonna have a cool scar to remind me of how Trump's private army conducts itself <a href=\"https://t.co/IuZgdbbD0Y\">https://t.co/IuZgdbbD0Y</a></p>— Laura Jedeed (Misanthrophile) (@1misanthrophile) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/1misanthrophile/status/1284504424853893121?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 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=\"c8fg1\">Jedeed said she was clearly marked as press, wearing a press badge and a neon yellow vest with the words “press” on it. However, she said she didn’t think she was specifically targeted, calling the law enforcement response “indiscriminate.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3t1ah\">Jedeed wasn’t sure what federal agency fired the projectile that struck her. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Student journalist covering Portland protests says federal agents threw a flash-bang grenade toward her",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-covering-portland-protests-says-federal-agents-threw-flash-bang-grenade-toward-her/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-13T18:29:06.786031Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:28:56.713392Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:28:56.627506Z",
"date": "2020-07-18",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dh5z9\">Eddy Binford-Ross, a 17-year-old student journalist, said federal agents threw a flash-bang grenade toward her on July 18, 2020, while she was covering protests in Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"nj6ys\">Binford-Ross, editor in chief at her high school student newspaper in Salem, Oregon, said flash-bang grenades landed near her on two separate occasions that night — one before midnight on July 17 and one after — but only the second one seemed targeted at her. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, which <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documents assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd, considers a targeted crowd-control incident an assault.</p><p data-block-key=\"upynr\">The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23. Binford-Ross is a plaintiff in the class action <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/aclu_or_dhs_tro_declarations_packet072020.pdf\">suit</a>, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"zv3uj\">July 17 was the first night Binford-Ross had covered the Portland protests since federal agents had been deployed to the city. The first flash-bang grenade incident occurred shortly after 10 p.m., she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ga8rv\">Demonstrators had gathered around 7 p.m. at the Multnomah County Justice Center for a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JoAnnPDX/status/1284247841850814464\">candlelight vigil</a>. Binford-Ross was outside the Justice Center when federal agents started ordering people to move. “Anyone who stepped into the street [got] shot with their crowd-control munitions,” she told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"rpomb\">Binford-Ross moved down a block, where she met two acquaintances from Salem who were livestreaming the events. They were half a block away from protesters when a federal agent threw the flash-bang grenade over the wall near her. “There wasn’t any warning or anything...it was like 10 feet away from us...it was a blinding shock,” Binford-Ross said, adding she was temporarily deafened.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ttz1\">The second flash-bang grenade was thrown sometime after 1:30 a.m., as federal agents were advancing on protesters in Chapman Square. Binford-Ross was standing off to the side away from the protesters, she said, wearing press identification around her neck and carrying a large camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"hvaby\">As federal agents advanced on the crowd with guns drawn, one of them threw a flash-bang grenade towards her that exploded near her feet, stunning and deafening her again. “They shot right towards me...it came within 10 feet of me again,” Binford-Ross said.</p><p data-block-key=\"3uhzq\">She was recording at the time, and her mother, Warren Binford, posted the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/childrightsprof/status/1284558309744242690?s=20\">video</a> on Twitter. “These are concussive devices & they targeted a child,” her mother wrote.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our young daughter (a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/studentjournalist?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#studentjournalist</a>) had this <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/flashbang?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#flashbang</a> shot at her by the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Feds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Feds</a> & <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#portland</a> police last night even though she was staying on the perimeter, wearing her press credentials & completely law abiding. These are concussive devices & they targeted a child. Shame! <a href=\"https://t.co/DWUk2ef86H\">pic.twitter.com/DWUk2ef86H</a></p>— Warren Binford (@childrightsprof) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/childrightsprof/status/1284558309744242690?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 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=\"7ux2w\">The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"m1lnn\">“It doesn't seem like something that would happen in the U.S.,” Binford-Ross said. “It felt like something you would experience in a war zone, especially when the people who are shooting the munitions towards you are unidentifiable federal agents, from undisclosed federal agencies and they’re in camo, like soldiers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4omsn\">Binford-Ross, who covered more than 30 BLM protests in Portland and Salem for her school paper, The Clypian, over the summer, said she never planned on a career in journalism until she saw the value of reporting during this time. “It was a real lesson in perseverance and dedication and also personal safety,” said Binford-Ross, who said her tweets about the protests were used by ABC, Reuters, Yahoo News and other outlets.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
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"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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{
"title": "CBS Chicago journalist reports assault by police during Columbus statue protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-chicago-journalist-reports-assault-by-police-during-columbus-statue-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-30T19:51:39.917699Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:30:28.935065Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:30:28.853233Z",
"date": "2020-07-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"keeo4\">Chicago-based journalist, reporter Marissa Parra of CBS Chicago said she was assaulted by police while covering demonstrations in Grant Park on July 17, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"etzo7\">Parra was documenting the scene surrounding the park’s Christopher Columbus statue, where <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-chicago-police-christopher-columbus-protest-20200718-ea62bmy6ujgh7cbeofrpwbakse-story.html\">reports estimated</a> that at least 1,000 people had gathered, eventually attempting to topple the monument to the 15th-century explorer.</p><p data-block-key=\"vnkxe\">Removal of Columbus monuments around the country has been a<a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christopher-columbus-statue-removed-cities/\"> focal point</a> for many nationwide groups given the explorer’s history of colonization and violence toward Indigenous people.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rayi\">During the demonstrations in Chicago, which included a rally in support of Black and Indigenous people, police and protesters clashed. Forty-nine officers, according to the Chicago Police Department, were injured, with 18 sent to the hospital, while demonstrators filed at least 20 complaints for excessive force and other grievances with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8s2w\">Marissa Parra told the Tracker in an interview that she showed up at the park just before 8 p.m. She said she saw individuals gathered around the statue, that it was covered and an individual was attempting to pull it down with a rope.</p><p data-block-key=\"fl2b7\">Not long afterward, clashes between police and individuals turned violent. A video <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=632150167434123&ref=watch_permalink\">she filmed</a> shows police using batons to strike demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"s908t\">She said she was filming live among the demonstrators when she was struck by a police baton. The blow knocked the phone out of her hand. Parra tweeted footage of the incident, writing: “You can see him kick it after it lands on the street. Heard a different officer say a few min later, ‘don’t touch her- she’s media.’”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here’s a clip of a Chicago Police Officer using his baton to swat my phone out of my hand while I was doing a live hit<br><br>You can see him kick it after it lands on the street. <br><br>Heard a different officer say a few min later, “don’t touch her- she’s media”<a href=\"https://twitter.com/cbschicago?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@cbschicago</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/GaYz4UeF65\">pic.twitter.com/GaYz4UeF65</a></p>— Marissa Parra (@MarParNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarParNews/status/1284306440971325440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 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=\"zdx97\">“It feels like it was … very intentional … I had my press badge around my neck ... he didn’t try to tell me to move or push me out of the way of anything. He hit my phone ... and then the fact that he kicked it across the ground ... that to me says everything. That was a show of force,” she told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"37f1i\">Parra filed a complaint with COPA as well and has yet to hear back. The office didn’t respond to a request for comment from the Tracker as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ponm\">“Honestly, the only next step is to just keep doing what I was doing before, with more passion than before,” Parra said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ejwx0\">Later that evening, Parra was assaulted by an individual who attempted to take her phone to prevent her from filming, an incident the Tracker has documented here.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmt5n\">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 protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"tags": [
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"protest"
],
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Portland journalist says federal agents shot projectiles at him during protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-journalist-says-federal-agents-shot-projectiles-him-during-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-11T16:50:00.655676Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:29:29.548387Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:29:29.464094Z",
"date": "2020-07-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uh8w0\">Independent journalist Garrison Davis said federal law enforcement officers shot crowd-control munitions at him on two different occasions on July 17, 2020, while he was covering protests outside a federal building in downtown Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"qzln8\">The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. 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=\"88zj2\">The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"ic693\">In the early hours of July 17, Davis was filming federal agents returning to the building, which houses the local offices of the Internal Revenue Service and other federal departments. “They just started shooting at the press with mainly pepper bullets because we could see them breaking on the fence,” Davis told the Tracker, referring to the fence that was in place to prevent protesters from entering the closed city parks.</p><p data-block-key=\"9j8qm\">At 1:07 a.m., Davis <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1284036971623415808\">tweeted</a> a video showing officers shooting pepper balls towards him and other journalists from across the intersection of Southwest Madison Street and Southwest Third Avenue. “DHS shooting at press. There were no protesters behind me. I have press on my helmet and am holding out my press pass,” he wrote in the post. Davis told the Tracker that none of the pepper balls made direct contact with him, but landed around him.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">DHS shooting at press. There were no protesters behind me. I have press on my helmet and am holding out my press pass. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Teargas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Teargas</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blacklivesmatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blacklivesmatter</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/protest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#protest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/pdx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#pdx</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#portland</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/oregon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#oregon</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blm</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/acab?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#acab</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/justicecenter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#justicecenter</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/riotribs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#riotribs</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/gVnp0NPsmv\">pic.twitter.com/gVnp0NPsmv</a></p>— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1284036971623415808?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 17, 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=\"cever\">Later, when Davis returned to the same area to cover that evening’s protests, federal agents staged at the federal building fired on the crowd. A pepper grenade hit his hand and the iPhone he was using as a camera, he told the Tracker. One of his fingers was bloodied, and he was coated in pepper dust, as Davis documented in a video he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1284356643744919552\">tweeted</a> at 10:17 p.m.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am alright, just covered in some type of dust and my hand is sore. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blacklivesmatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blacklivesmatter</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/protest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#protest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/pdx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#pdx</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#portland</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/oregon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#oregon</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blm</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/acab?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#acab</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PDXprotest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PDXprotest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/justicecenter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#justicecenter</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Feds?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Feds</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/dMA5NjxD2w\">pic.twitter.com/dMA5NjxD2w</a></p>— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1284356643744919552?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 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=\"a4lnn\">Davis said his phone was covered in pepper dust, which became activated when his hands got sweaty. “So that was awful and I had to get medical care because it was really bad,” he said. “It took multiple days to wash off all the pepper dust.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b3uq6\">Given the size of the crowd, Davis doesn’t believe he was targeted as press in that instance. A member of the <a href=\"https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/portland-press-corps-protests.php\">Portland Press Corps</a> that uses the group’s Twitter handle @45thabsurdist was also affected by the grenade and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist/status/1284359597680029696\">posted</a> footage of when it hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"be05k\">“It was an explosion that covered<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie\"> @hungrybowtie</a> and me with a powder that is fine until it contacted sweat or water which is when it started burning. Stay away from those,” wrote @45thabsurdist in a follow-up <a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist/status/1284373814634147840\">tweet</a>, referring to Davis’ Twitter handle.</p><p data-block-key=\"lnmlr\">The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
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"shot / shot at"
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Freelance journalist arrested while covering Portland protests, despite injunction against police",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-arrested-while-covering-portland-protests-despite-injunction-against-police/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-08T18:26:24.631769Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:29:12.404208Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:29:12.245880Z",
"date": "2020-07-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ai2l0\">Freelance journalist Andrew Jankowski was arrested by police officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 17, 2020, a day after a judge issued a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\"> preliminary injunction</a> to block the Portland Police Bureau from arresting or targeting journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"uvkza\">Jankowski was covering the protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. For more than six weeks, nightly protests had taken hold in downtown Portland, escalating tensions and violence between protesters, Portland police and federal officers. 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=\"2xewx\">In the early morning hours of July 17, Jankowski was covering a protest at Southeast 47th Avenue and East Burnside Street, outside of the Penumbra Kelly Building, which houses the PPB’s crime-prevention and neighborhood-involvement units as well as space for the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office. Jankowski told the Tracker he recalled two dispersal orders from Portland police officers ordering protesters to move west.</p><p data-block-key=\"anfhp\">“I guess they [officers] decided that we weren’t moving fast enough and did what’s come to be known as a bull rush,” Jankowski. “Out of nowhere, they run at people and start shoving.”</p><p data-block-key=\"p7iz7\">As protesters and officers scattered in different directions, Jankowski felt someone push him. He believed it was an officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"1a0x7\">“I yelled ‘Media!’ while I ran, and even screamed the word as they twisted my wrist behind my back to take away my phone,” Jankowski wrote in an<a href=\"https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2020/07/28/28680513/a-journalist-in-jail-what-i-experienced-after-being-arrested-by-portland-police\"> article</a> for the Portland Mercury. “People from across the street saw I was wearing a press pass. I tried making it easier for the officer to zip tie me, and was told to stop resisting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gy1zx\">He said he had thought ahead to wear a protective vest, which absorbed most of the impact, but he still sustained cuts and scrapes on his hands. Officers also grabbed his backpack, which was later destroyed.</p><p data-block-key=\"2j91m\">A<a href=\"https://twitter.com/econbrkfst/status/1284083268858437632?s=20\"> video</a> documented and tweeted by Nicholas Lee, an independent photographer and videographer, shows Jankowski being held by officers at around 12:50 a.m. A few seconds into the video, officers can be seen shining a bright light into Lee’s lens, hampering him from capturing the footage.</p><p data-block-key=\"o3znt\">As Lee continues to film, he shouts, “Are you press?” Jankowski responds with a “Yes” and his name. A bystander can be heard asking, “Have they told you why they are arresting you?” to which Jankowski replies “No.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gwkqf\">Jankowski said he believed the officers answered the question about his charges only because protesters were demanding it. But at that moment, he was still in shock and couldn’t fully understand what the officers were saying. The PPB <a href=\"https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=250994\">announced</a> later that morning that Jankowski was booked for disorderly conduct and interfering with a peace officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"0241o\">“I don’t know if I was targeted, but once they knew who I was, they still weren’t letting me go,” Jankowski said, noting that he had a large press pass taped to his chest. In a<a href=\"https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2020/07/28/28680513/a-journalist-in-jail-what-i-experienced-after-being-arrested-by-portland-police\"> photograph</a> Jankowski shared with the Portland Mercury, he can be seen with a sign taped on his chest that had “freelance journalist” written across the top along with logos of the Portland Mercury and other news outlets.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kcnl\">The officers brought Jankowski to the Penumbra Kelly building, where they removed the press pass from his chest, cutting through the line that read “Freelance journalist,” he said. He was finally processed at 3:44 a.m. at the Multnomah County Justice Center and released about six hours later, with the two charges pending.</p><p data-block-key=\"88ezr\">“Through their questions, I came to realize that the officers questioning me didn’t understand, or didn’t want to understand, how freelance journalism works,” he wrote. “I felt they were trying to provoke, intimidate, and belittle me when they asked why an arts writer was reporting on protests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9y39j\">PPB spokesman Derek Carmon declined to comment on Jankowski’s arrest, citing continuing litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"d51ex\">When Jankowski went to court in September, he learned that the district attorney had declined to prosecute him, but that the case could still be reopened in the future. He also received a notice from the PPB regarding a complaint that he had allegedly filed. He said that while he hasn’t filed a dispute, he is currently working with a lawyer to potentially file a civil case.</p><p data-block-key=\"l1hbu\">Since the incident, Jankowski has gone to physical therapy for his wrist and wore a brace for several months, he said. In the Portland Mercury, he wrote about experiencing “bizarre trauma responses,” claustrophobia and paranoia.</p></div>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "equipment bag"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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"Andrew Jankowski (Freelance)"
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},
{
"title": "Suit alleges federal officers targeted photographer amid Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/suit-alleges-federal-officers-targeted-photographer-amid-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2022-05-09T18:59:07.126390Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:30:47.679246Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:30:47.599231Z",
"date": "2020-07-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7a62u\">Documentary photographer Rian Dundon was on assignment for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project on July 17, 2020, when a federal officer targeted him with crowd-control munitions while he was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, according to a lawsuit the photographer filed in 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"2vakk\">Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis in May. The Portland protests had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documented assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"j7bl\">Dundon <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/21717893-photogsuitagainstfeds\">filed a lawsuit</a> against the regional director of the Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, and more than 100 federal officers in April 2022. Dundon declined to comment on advice from counsel.</p><p data-block-key=\"40io3\">According to the suit, Dundon was standing alone on the sidewalk of SW Madison Street between 3rd and 4th avenues, while the nearest group of protesters was half a block away outside the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building.</p><p data-block-key=\"7t62r\">Dundon noticed several federal officers positioned among the shrubbery around a nearby plaza so he approached to take a picture through the chain-link fence separating the sidewalk from the park.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ksq4\">“When he raised his camera to photograph the scene, a DHS agent trained his weapon on Plaintiff and fired several rounds of pepper balls, striking the fence and sidewalk near his feet,” the lawsuit states. “The pepper balls exploded on contact and released a powder into the air. They came in direct contact with Plaintiff, causing him injury.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1j467\">The lawsuit alleges that the officers violated Dundon’s First and Fourth Amendment rights and restricted his ability to cover the protests. Neither Dundon’s attorneys nor DHS responded to requests for additional information.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8amq\">“Targeting journalists was not a quirk of the federal enforcement efforts, it was one of its objectives,” the suit alleges. “DOJ and DHS agents could have completed the objectives of their response without causing harm to Plaintiff.”</p><p data-block-key=\"47nel\">Dundon is seeking noneconomic, economic and punitive damages in the lawsuit.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"boq51\">A portion of the lawsuit documentary photographer Rian Dundon filed against a regional director of the Department of Homeland Security, others alleging he was assaulted twice while covering protests in Portland in July 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_number": "3:22-cv-00594",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [
"ongoing"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Rian Dundon (Economic Hardship Reporting Project)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "CBS Chicago reporter assaulted by individual while filming Columbus statue protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-chicago-reporter-assaulted-individual-while-filming-columbus-statue-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-13T13:03:48.106951Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:30:08.885646Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:30:08.790050Z",
"date": "2020-07-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9dajo\">CBS Chicago reporter Marissa Parra was assaulted by an individual while covering demonstrations in Grant Park on July 17, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"tvzwj\">Parra was documenting the scene surrounding the park’s Christopher Columbus statue, where <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-chicago-police-christopher-columbus-protest-20200718-ea62bmy6ujgh7cbeofrpwbakse-story.html\">reports estimated</a> that at least 1,000 people had gathered following a rally for Black and Indigenous people, eventually attempting to topple the monument to the 15th-century explorer.</p><p data-block-key=\"za5kn\">Removal of Columbus monuments around the country has been a<a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christopher-columbus-statue-removed-cities/\"> focal point</a> for many nationwide groups given the explorer’s history of colonization and violence toward Indigenous people.</p><p data-block-key=\"j1zdd\">When Parra arrived at the park a little before 8 p.m., there was a group assembled around the statue. “People were trying to knock it down and climb on top of it all together at once,” Parra told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. She tweeted a video of individuals trying to pull down the statue:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters are currently trying to pull down the Columbus statue in Grant Park <a href=\"https://twitter.com/cbschicago?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@cbschicago</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/DAGcrsYzvD\">pic.twitter.com/DAGcrsYzvD</a></p>— Marissa Parra (@MarParNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarParNews/status/1284290086411132929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 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=\"csmpj\">“It’s a big moment for many reasons … but as I’m trying to [film] that, someone comes up to me, and people are trying to block my view, and I just hear, ‘Don’t record him, stop recording, put your phone down,’” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"n49so\">She posted the moment when some of the protesters approached her, blocking her view:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">And on the other side, here were a few protesters who first blocked my camera and then proceeded to try to take it out of my hands — this was not live<br><br>Afterwards, a few other protesters came to ask if I was okay and if I would refrain from filming protesters’ faces <a href=\"https://twitter.com/cbschicago?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@cbschicago</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/wQy8rD6iwa\">pic.twitter.com/wQy8rD6iwa</a></p>— Marissa Parra (@MarParNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarParNews/status/1284307604823515137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 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=\"ah2g3\">Parra said she refused to stop recording and, moments later, was attacked.</p><p data-block-key=\"sf5r4\">“It ended up with me and another girl, a white woman dressed all in black ... rolling on the ground together,” Parra told the Tracker. “My hands were clenched around the phone. She was trying to get the phone from my hand … her fingernails dug into my skin enough to draw blood.”</p><p data-block-key=\"m5fsx\">Parra said she tried to de-escalate the situation and eventually moved from the location she was filming, but protesters followed her.</p><p data-block-key=\"7zimv\">“I’m trying to figure out how do I keep doing my job while not becoming part of the story,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5qh1i\">She said other protesters had approached her later to ask if she was OK, but to refrain from filming protester faces.</p><p data-block-key=\"so5x1\">At that same protest, a Chicago police officer also knocked her phone out of her hand with a police baton, Parra said, an incident the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-journalists-report-assaults-police-during-columbus-statue-protests/\">Tracker has documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ad6h\">While she walked away with minor injuries, the incident, she said, warranted a larger discussion about what’s at stake when covering stories in this current socio-political climate.</p><p data-block-key=\"wvd22\">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 protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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},
{
"title": "Chicago journalist assaulted by police during Columbus statue protests; files suit against officer",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/chicago-journalists-report-assaults-police-during-columbus-statue-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-13T12:53:23.864937Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:59:20.363619Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:59:20.266223Z",
"date": "2020-07-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"w5to6\">Colin Boyle, a photojournalist for Block Club Chicago said he was assaulted by police while covering demonstrations in Grant Park on July 17, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"tbswf\">Boyle was documenting the scene surrounding the park’s Christopher Columbus statue, where <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-chicago-police-christopher-columbus-protest-20200718-ea62bmy6ujgh7cbeofrpwbakse-story.html\">reports estimated</a> that at least 1,000 people had gathered, eventually attempting to topple the monument to the 15th-century explorer.</p><p data-block-key=\"v77h7\">Removal of Columbus monuments around the country has been a<a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christopher-columbus-statue-removed-cities/\"> focal point</a> for many nationwide groups given the explorer’s history of colonization and violence toward Indigenous people.</p><p data-block-key=\"6zq7d\">During the demonstrations in Chicago, which included a rally in support of Black and Indigenous people, police and protesters clashed. Forty-nine officers, according to the Chicago Police Department, were injured, with 18 sent to the hospital, while demonstrators filed at least 20 complaints for excessive force and other grievances with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.</p><p data-block-key=\"p2png\">Boyle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he’d arrived at Grant Park around 8 p.m., making his way around the area, taking pictures and following police orders. He was wearing a helmet emblazoned with the word “press” and had his police-issued press badge around his neck. About 15 minutes later, he said, police cleared out Columbus Drive, which bisects the park, and things seemed to be winding down.</p><p data-block-key=\"oialt\">He said that as he began to exit the park he encountered Officer Kerry Pozulp. Boyle said he held up his press badge, and when the officer saw it, he swore at him, chiding him for presenting his press credentials.</p><p data-block-key=\"nught\">“I said, ‘Is there a problem? Can you repeat?’” Boyle told the Tracker. Boyle said Pozulp then grabbed him from behind and started to shove him. Boyle said he then pulled out his phone to film. When he called out for help to nearby officers, Pozulp replied, “Yeah, you’re gonna need help.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5gpeu\">Boyle tweeted video of the assault shortly afterward:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was just assaulted by an officer for crossing the road to my bicycle while holding up my press badge and he called me a "smart ass" for doing so, accused me of wanting to start a problem. I yelled help, he said "you're gonna need help" before throwing me. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Chicago_Police?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Chicago_Police</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/XYuJe19IQm\">pic.twitter.com/XYuJe19IQm</a></p>— Colin Boyle (@colinbphoto) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/colinbphoto/status/1284301680524382208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 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=\"45wvg\">He said he walked away without injury and immediately reported the incident to police nearby. “I had the worst-case scenarios running through my mind,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"lfn8u\">After Boyle tweeted the video, the CPD responded on Twitter with a statement that read, in part, “We remain committed to ensuring members of the press are able to do their jobs safely. This incident occurred when Chicago Police officers were dispersing the crowd to protect public safety and all those involved.”</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/3nZrZLuERz\">pic.twitter.com/3nZrZLuERz</a></p>— Chicago Police Communications & News Affairs (@CPD_Media) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CPD_Media/status/1284315155489337344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 18, 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=\"wq7ho\">Boyle filed a formal complaint with COPA. When asked for comment, Jennifer Rottner, the director of public affairs at COPA, said she had nothing additional to share, as the case is under investigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"wmosi\">Boyle also filed a <a href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/14HxwOiLpeapDnmAh3gp0OcQMBJQHVU-u/view?usp=sharing\">lawsuit</a> against the city of Chicago and Officer Pozulp, alleging that Pozulp committed eight offenses, including use of excessive force, assault and battery. The case has since been <a href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BBWccE5adtIxC0Sj2CSdkMQZDSlB60Mp/view?usp=sharing\">settled and dismissed</a>, according to Boyle’s lawyer, Matt Topic.</p><p data-block-key=\"hqm8y\">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 protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX7LJBJ.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xgwuw\">The Christopher Columbus statue in Chicago’s Grant Park was officially removed on July 24, 2020.</p>",
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"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:20-cv-05234",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Colin Boyle (Block Club Chicago)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Videojournalist arrested, equipment seized and damaged during Austin protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalist-arrested-equipment-seized-and-damaged-during-austin-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-08T21:42:34.422792Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-03T18:13:25.123295Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-03T18:13:24.933480Z",
"date": "2020-07-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Austin",
"longitude": -97.74306,
"latitude": 30.26715,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ib8z3\">Independent videojournalist Hiram Gilberto Garcia was arrested and his equipment seized while covering protests in Austin, Texas, on July 17, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"8iz1b\">Garcia, who posts his livestreams and interviews on Facebook and his <a href=\"https://www.imhiram.com/\">website</a>, was documenting protests against police brutality in front of the Austin Police Department Headquarters downtown when officers tackled him to the ground and punched him, KXAN News <a href=\"https://www.kxan.com/austin-george-floyd-mike-ramos-protests/streamer-who-films-racial-injustice-protests-one-of-4-arrested-at-downtown-austin-demonstration/\">reported</a>. Garcia’s livestream from that evening can be seen <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/109279534148720/videos/585602608820133\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"hh4j1\">According to an affidavit obtained by KXAN, Austin Police Department officers were arresting another man and had warned Garcia to get back when the videojournalist began reaching between the officers. An officer then pushed Garcia back, the affidavit alleges, and Garcia attempted to turn and run into the crowd. Officers then took Garcia to the ground in the APD parking garage and placed him under arrest, according to the affidavit.</p><p data-block-key=\"187uw\">In Garcia’s footage from that night, he appears to be filming the arrest of a protester when an officer repeatedly pushes him back from the individual under arrest. The officer then points at Garcia and can be heard saying, “Grab him!”</p><p data-block-key=\"v2enk\">A video of Garcia’s arrest was <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/1548330021/videos/10216672669759661\">posted on Facebook</a> that night. In the video, multiple officers can be seen wrestling Garcia to the ground while individuals can be heard shouting “Get off of him” and “Give us Hiram back!” Approximately 1 minute and 30 seconds into the video, Garcia appears to free his right arm before officers immediately restrain him again. An officer can be seen punching Garcia twice in the stomach before other officers block the view.</p><p data-block-key=\"voddr\">The affidavit said officers “kept telling Hiram he was under arrest and to place his hands behind his back, but Hiram would not comply and kept tensing his arms in an attempt to not be placed in handcuffs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ggg4n\">A <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ImHiram/posts/156858902724116\">post to Garcia’s Facebook page</a> at approximately 11:30 p.m. alerted his followers to the arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"m5hae\">“Hiram was taken into police custody tonight during his stream. We are dealing with it, and appreciate all your help and concern,” the post reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"ickwr\">Garcia was booked at the Travis County Jail at 12:16 a.m. and released at 11:45 p.m. on July 18, according to booking information shared with the Tracker. A <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ImHiram/posts/157304739346199\">post</a> to Garcia’s Facebook page announced his release on bond at 1:20 a.m. on July 19.</p><p data-block-key=\"124fo\">KXAN reported Garica was arrested on charges of interfering with public duties and resisting arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"gh060\">Garcia <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ImHiram/posts/158400569236616\">posted</a> on July 21 that his equipment — which included a “GoPro, light, monopod, microphone, battery pack, adapters and other important accessories” — was not returned to him upon his release, and that he would not be able to retrieve it until the following day.</p><p data-block-key=\"go0f6\">When the equipment was returned, Garcia <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ImHiram/posts/158786592531347\">posted</a> that his microphone was broken and a cord was missing.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbme0\">“Overall, my equipment was obviously not handled with care,” Garcia wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"ovn3a\">In a statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker emailed from Garcia’s account, a representative for Garcia said, “We have no comment on the arrest as that is not our position or job. We are there to show what is happening as it happens. In this case we were targeted and arrested as you can see on the video by the very police we had been interviewing for months.”</p><p data-block-key=\"11b9h\">The representative also stated that the charges against Garcia have since been dropped.</p><p data-block-key=\"tkccp\">APD and the Travis County Jail did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"nmdpe\"></p><p data-block-key=\"wu164\"><i>Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect booking information shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in compliance with a Texas Public Information Act request.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "camera equipment"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "external battery"
},
{
"quantity": 3,
"equipment": "miscellaneous equipment"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
"Equipment Damage"
],
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"Hiram Gilberto Garcia (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist assaulted by law enforcement while covering Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-assaulted-by-law-enforcement-while-covering-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-30T18:55:32.427623Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:31:29.237410Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:31:29.155650Z",
"date": "2020-07-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t8jpu\">Independent journalist Griffin Malone says he was assaulted by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 16, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"8uydz\">The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out across the country in response to police violence following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"whp0a\">Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\"> class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was<a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\"> expanded to apply the ban to federal agents</a> later that month.</p><p data-block-key=\"gfy7m\">Journalist Griffin Malone — whose work has appeared on PBS, ABC and The Associated Press — told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting outside the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department Office when deputies rushed out of the building to disperse the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"v75vr\">Twenty minutes after the initial rush and a handful of arrests, Malone said he was standing with independent journalist Alissa Azar and two National Lawyers Guild observers when the deputies rushed out of the sheriff’s office again. Amid the rush, officers pushed Azar and kicked her ankle, according to Malone. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalists-say-they-were-assaulted-by-police-as-they-covered-portland-protests-in-july/\">Azar’s assault is documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"i8jw3\">Malone told the Tracker he routinely wears press identification, a yellow vest and a helmet marked “PRESS” to identify himself while covering protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"lheey\">Malone said he attempted to help Azar walk as deputies continued pushing the crowd back, when an officer deliberately shoved him. Moments later, he felt a pain in his leg.</p><p data-block-key=\"vjmpl\">“I’m not sure what the pain was from,” Malone said. “Someone next to me said they saw it was [a deputy’s] baton, but in the videos that I’ve seen you can’t really see clearly what happened so I’m not sure.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6phl2\">Malone said a deputy continued shoving Malone, Azar and the lawyers guild observers until he was replaced by a second officer, who Malone said was “a bit more respectful of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3d9td\">When reached for comment in the fall of 2020, the Portland Police Bureau told the Tracker it wouldn’t comment on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review. The PPB did not respond to a request for comment about these specific incidents as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"2w288\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Griffin Malone (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist assaulted by police while covering Portland protests in July",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalists-say-they-were-assaulted-by-police-as-they-covered-portland-protests-in-july/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-23T16:13:58.680903Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:31:05.123660Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:31:05.047988Z",
"date": "2020-07-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ef2rd\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was assaulted by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 16, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"y62fw\">The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out across the country in response to police violence following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"y9x4x\">Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\"> class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was<a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\"> expanded to apply the ban to federal agents</a> later that month.</p><p data-block-key=\"carkk\">Journalist Griffin Malone — whose work has appeared on PBS, ABC and The Associated Press — told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was reporting outside the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department Office with Azar and two National Lawyers Guild observers when the deputies rushed out of the sheriff’s office. Amid the rush, officers pushed Azar and kicked her ankle, according to Malone</p><p data-block-key=\"yp5kw\">Azar told the Tracker that she was also hit on the ankle by a flash-bang grenade, which drew blood. She also said she had bruises across her legs from being hit with crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"9xiim\">Azar told the Tracker she was wearing a vest and helmet, both labeled with press markings, as well as a credential from Pacific Northwest Press Corps, which describes itself as an association of independent journalists covering ongoing protests in Portland and other parts of the Pacific Northwest.</p><p data-block-key=\"7zo3v\">When reached for comment in the fall of 2020, the Portland Police Bureau told the Tracker it wouldn’t comment on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review. The PPB did not respond to a request for comment about these specific incidents as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"aubdx\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alissa Azar (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photographer arrested by NYPD while covering pro-police march",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-arrested-by-nypd-while-covering-pro-police-march/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-24T18:41:17.910399Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-14T14:21:02.325004Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-14T14:21:02.124288Z",
"date": "2020-07-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"w07he\">Photographer Mel D. Cole was documenting police-protester clashes from the Brooklyn Bridge footpath in New York City when officers arrested him, confiscated his equipment and detained him for seven hours on July 15, 2020, according to a federal lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"mmjh5\">Cole is one of five news photographers who filed a <a href=\"https://nppa.org/news/news-photographers-file-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-new-york-city-police-department\">federal lawsuit</a> on Aug. 5, 2021, “seeking to hold the New York Police Department [NYPD] accountable for its violation of their First Amendment rights.” The suit is being led by the National Press Photographers Association, of which four of the journalists are members, in partnership with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.</p><p data-block-key=\"p4olh\">Cole was covering the protests that broke out in New York in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ejh4h\">According to the <a href=\"https://nppa.org/sites/default/files/Gray%20v%20City%20of%20New%20York%20et%20al%20-%20Complaint%20-%20Filed%208-5-2021.pdf\">complaint</a>, Cole was on the Brooklyn Bridge footpath, preparing to photograph a pro-police march that was scheduled to cross the bridge into Manhattan. At approximately 10:30 a.m., counterprotesters arrived and clashes erupted between demonstrators and police.</p><p data-block-key=\"ycyeo\">“Cole had not participated in the counter-protests, had been peacefully photographing from a position outside the conflict, and was wearing multiple professional cameras around his neck and shoulder, making his status as a photojournalist visibly apparent,” according to the complaint. However, NYPD Lieutenant Richard Mack approached Cole and directed another officer to arrest him despite his status as a journalist and documentarian, the complaint noted, because he did not have a press pass.</p><p data-block-key=\"63h6d\">The complaint said officers seized his cameras, brought him to One Police Plaza in Manhattan where he was processed, transported him to the 5th Police Precinct and placed him in a holding cell. “Sergeant Quigley told Mr. Cole that the NYPD knew that Mr. Cole had not been involved in any criminal act and should not have been arrested,” according to the complaint. “Sergeant Quigley also told Cole that he was ‘lucky’ that he was ‘not going to be locked up all weekend’ and indicated Mr. Cole should ‘thank’ Sergeant Quigley and the NYPD for ‘putting their necks on the line’ for him.” While maskless, Sergeant Quigley also pulled down Cole's mask at one point during the interaction, the complaint stated.</p><p data-block-key=\"26838\">After several more hours, Cole was released without charge and his equipment returned to him with no documentation provided upon his release, according to the complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"xdcy6\">“The reason why he was being arrested and the other journalists weren’t is because they had press passes and he didn't. When you're out in a traditional public forum, you don't need press passes if it's a matter of public concern,” Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the NPPA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “Very often, having a press pass is a detriment and many will have them around their neck rather than displaying for that very reason.”</p><p data-block-key=\"91ewz\">Cole and the New York Police Department did not respond to requests for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"q5jem\">Police officers in New York City, on July 15, 2020. Photographer Mel D. Cole was arrested while documenting clashes between police and counterprotesters at a pro-police protest that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:21-cv-06610",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-02-07 00:00:00+00:00) Judge accepts journalists’ settlement with NYPD",
"(2023-09-05 15:07:00+00:00) Journalists reach 'historic' settlement with NYPD in First Amendment suit",
"(2023-09-08 09:24:00+00:00) Judge voids First Amendment settlement with NYPD",
"(2025-04-09 00:00:00+00:00) Appeals court affirms photographers’ settlement with NYPD"
],
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"settled"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"Blue Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mel D. Cole (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
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},
{
"title": "Freelance journalist struck by tear gas canister fragments while covering protest in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-struck-tear-gas-canister-fragments-while-covering-protest-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-30T14:15:11.323146Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:31:45.399386Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:31:45.289302Z",
"date": "2020-07-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uc7p5\">A federal law enforcement officer fired a tear gas canister toward freelance journalist Justin Yau on July 15, 2020 in Portland, Oregon, striking him with two burning fragments.</p><p data-block-key=\"l35af\">Yau, a student at the University of Portland whose work has been featured by the Daily Mail and The New York Times, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. 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=\"95ebj\">The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23. Yau provided a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/declaration_of_justin_yau_iso_mtro.pdf\">declaration</a> in support of the suit and deferred additional comment to that declaration.</p><p data-block-key=\"vlm8a\">In the early hours of July 15, Yau was covering a protest outside the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, according to his declaration. He was taking photographs with a Nikon camera and filming on his cellphone and gimbal. He was also clearly marked as press, with a neon reflective vest and helmet reading “press” in block letters as well as a press pass around his neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"fw4vo\">A few minutes before 4 a.m., Yau was filming and photographing protesters at the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Main Street as they were pushed north by federal agents, according to the court filing. He was standing about 40 feet from the protesters as federal agents fired on the crowd with flash-bang grenades, pepper balls and tear gas. Although Yau was covering the protest from a distance, a federal agent fired a tear gas canister directly at him, he said, striking him with burning fragments.</p><p data-block-key=\"wk5qw\">Independent journalist Garrison Davis captured part of the shooting in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1283370607359307776\">video</a> he posted on Twitter around 5 a.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"52kry\">Shortly after, Yau replied to Davis’ tweet with his own <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1283377002351693824\">post</a>, saying, “It was 2 pieces of burning fragments from the Teargas grenades that landed briefly on my arm and jeans. The burning pieces can be seen briefly on the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"20p8t\">“I have covered protests in Hong Kong, where a totalitarian regime is suppressing protesters with brutal violence,” Yau said in the court filing. “Even Hong Kong police, however, were generally conscientious about differentiating between press and protesters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"96ewn\">The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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"Justin Yau (Freelance)"
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{
"title": "NYPD subpoenas journalist’s phone records in leak investigation",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nypd-subpoenas-journalists-phone-records-in-leak-investigation/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-29T14:47:50.920070Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-15T14:51:31.711228Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-15T14:51:31.613672Z",
"date": "2020-07-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"conl2\">The New York City Police Department subpoenaed a journalist’s cellphone records as part of a leak investigation, according to the reporter, who asked that their name not be disclosed, citing fear of harming relationships with sources, and a <a href=\"https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-nypd-subpoenas-phone-records-of-reporter-to-find-leaks-20200717-mg6hhuqv55flbc4ihgg24w3sye-story.html\">report</a> by the New York Daily News.</p><p data-block-key=\"7cm6w\">On July 14, 2020, the New York-based freelancer who works for the Daily Mail received a letter stating that their phone records had been subpoenaed and used to question a police officer about his alleged contact with the reporter, according to the letter, which was seen by the Committee to Protect Journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"x6xyq\">The letter, which was sent to the reporter by the police officer’s lawyer, stated that the investigation related to leaked information about the arrest of actor Cuba Gooding Jr. in June 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"jy32q\">When the journalist’s lawyer, Ron Kuby, sought to obtain a copy of the subpoena from the journalist’s telecom provider, AT&T, the company refused, saying that they do not disclose subpoenas relating to criminal matters.</p><p data-block-key=\"hk1z4\">An NYPD official told the Daily News that the subpoena was issued before the department changed its regulations about acquiring journalists’ phone and social media records earlier this year.</p><p data-block-key=\"s5mhe\">When CPJ called the NYPD to ask about the department’s current policy on issuing subpoenas on journalists, the operator told CPJ to send an email requesting information. CPJ sent an email requesting additional information, but the NYPD did not respond.</p><p data-block-key=\"i0yqs\">In February, the NYPD withdrew a subpoena for data from the Twitter account of New York Post police bureau chief Tina Moore, that was issued under the Patriot Act as part of a leak investigation, as the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/using-obscure-legal-justification-nypd-subpoenas-reporter/\">documented</a> at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"4yieo\">NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea later issued an apology for subpoenaing that information, according to an <a href=\"https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-nypd-apologizes-subpoena-reporter-twitter-leaks-20200226-fw5fb5glfvhztpzatb6vdp46ce-story.html\">article</a> from the Daily News.</p><p data-block-key=\"gdjpy\">When CPJ called the NYPD for comment, a representative told CPJ to send questions via email. CPJ emailed the police department but did not receive any response.</p><p data-block-key=\"qkm5v\">Jim Greer, AT&T’s assistant vice president for corporate communications, told CPJ in an email that, “Like all companies, we are required by law [to] comply with subpoenas from government and law enforcement agencies.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cka3g\"><i>Editor’s Note: The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents subpoenas of journalistic work product or testimony by date the subpoena is issued. Until this subpoena is made available, however, we are logging it by date that the reporter became aware of its existence. That date, and how it affects our category count, may change in the future.</i></p></div>",
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"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": "AT&T",
"third_party_business": "telecom company",
"legal_order_venue": "State",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anonymous reporter 3 (Daily Mail)"
],
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{
"title": "Independent journalist struck with tear gas canister during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-struck-with-tear-gas-canister-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-29T18:38:07.422848Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:33:16.264616Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:33:16.178926Z",
"date": "2020-07-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sr356\">Independent journalist Garrison Davis was struck by a tear gas canister fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"uoy2l\">Protests have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. 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=\"ddek0\">The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"xahw9\">Around 12:40 a.m., Davis was filming in Lownsdale Square across from the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse when he was shot in the back with a teargas canister, he told the Tracker. The canister fell into his messenger bag, soaking Davis and his bag with gas and nearly catching the bag on fire.</p><p data-block-key=\"jnpk0\">Davis, who described both of these incidents in a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-14_-_davis_decl.pdf\">declaration</a> for the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon in support of expanding the TRO to cover federal agents, said he believes that he was targeted by federal troops: “There wasn’t really anyone by me,” said Davis, whose helmet is marked “press.” In a video <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1282218575093096448\">tweeted</a> by Davis that captures the moment he was hit, he can be heard cursing and fumbling as bystanders help to remove the canister from his bag.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters using Hong Kong tactics to put out a canister, then officers deploy a canister, hitting me with it and it falling into my bag. I have PRESS marked on my helmet. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/teargas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#teargas</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blacklivesmatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blacklivesmatter</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/pdx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#pdx</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/portlandoregon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#portlandoregon</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/oregon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#oregon</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blm</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/acab?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#acab</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#portland</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/justicecenter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#justicecenter</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/teargas?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#teargas</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/bMSrtQyNGr\">pic.twitter.com/bMSrtQyNGr</a></p>— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1282218575093096448?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 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=\"6juxa\">About 15 minutes later, Davis tweeted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1282219942352351243\">another video</a> showing a line of federal agents deploying munitions towards the park from across the street. “More teargas being deployed in the street and park. Officers trying to shoot me as I record. There were no protesters behind me as they shot in my direction,” Davis <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1282219942352351243\">wrote</a> in the post.</p><p data-block-key=\"ep0w8\">He felt targeted once again. “I had my camera up and I’m walking around with my camera up, both hands are on my camera the whole time,” Davis told the Tracker. “It’s very clear what I’m doing, but I was continuing to get shot at when no one was around me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9ylnj\">While a <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2020/7/20/21328387/portland-protests-unmarked-arrest-trump-wold\">number of federal agencies</a> had officers in Portland in July, it wasn’t clear which agency the officers were from. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter hit with wooden board at New York’s Occupy City Hall protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-hit-with-wooden-board-at-new-yorks-occupy-city-hall-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-10-23T15:52:24.824914Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:27:55.443905Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:27:55.353096Z",
"date": "2020-07-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"by99y\">A man <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2020/07/12/city-hall-protesters-attack-ny-post-reporter-as-cops-do-nothing/?utm_source=twitter_sitebuttons&utm_medium=site%20buttons&utm_campaign=site%20buttons\">hit a New York Post reporter</a> with a piece of lumber during a demonstration to cut police funding at New York’s City Hall on July 12, 2020, the Post reported. The man was later arrested and charged with assault, police said.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmv6a\">The weeks-long “Occupy City Hall” protests in June drew hundreds of people who pressed elected leaders to slash $1 billion from the New York City Police Department’s annual operating budget of around $6 billion. Dozens of people camped outside City Hall during the lengthy demonstration, one of many nationwide sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"72frz\">Post reporter Kevin Sheehan was using his smartphone to film the demonstration at about 11 a.m. on July 12 from a public street, standing on the opposite side of a metal barrier, when a man with a piece of wood in his hand approached the journalist, demanding he stop recording.</p><p data-block-key=\"kovfw\">“Put the fucking camera down!” the man yelled while swinging the board, which Sheehan caught on video. The assailant knocked Sheehan’s phone out of his hand and struck him in the face, the Post reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"jsizi\">The attack left Sheehan with a headache and a swollen lip. The reporter walked away from the barricade but his assailant began to follow him, according to the Post.</p><p data-block-key=\"ojrzb\">Sheehan, who was wearing NYPD-issued press credentials around his neck, walked over to a group of police officers assembled nearby to report the incident. An officer told him that the attack didn’t qualify as an assault because no physical marks were visible, the Post reported on July 12.</p><p data-block-key=\"xv6sb\">“It’s not assault, it’s harassment,” the officer reportedly told Sheehan. Police didn’t initially make any arrests related to the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"dxjph\">But a spokesperson for the NYPD told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Daniel Mayo, 32, of Queens, was arrested on July 14 in connection with the incident and charged with second-degree assault.</p><p data-block-key=\"sx626\">The spokesperson confirmed that the man portrayed in Sheehan’s video attacking the reporter with a piece of lumber matches Mayo’s mugshot. Attempts to reach Mayo and his attorney weren’t successful.</p><p data-block-key=\"2z4bx\">Sheehan declined to comment and the Post didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"al5mk\">The New York City Council approved a budget deal on June 30 to cut about <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/nyregion/nypd-budget.html\">$1 billion from the NYPD</a>, but some protesters continued camping at City Hall for weeks after the vote. By mid-July, the number of protesters there had dwindled to about 50, the Post reported, and the camp was cleared on July 22, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/nyregion/occupy-city-hall-nyc.html\">according to The New York Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"tta25\">Activists in New York, Minneapolis and many other cities have called on lawmakers to “defund” law enforcement agencies following the deaths of Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police, such as Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, in March.</p><p data-block-key=\"m51ys\">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 protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"(2022-03-22 00:00:00+00:00) Man sentenced in assault on New York reporter"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Kevin Sheehan (New York Post)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck multiple times by crowd-control munitions fired by federal agents",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-portland-journalists-hit-crowd-control-munitions-fired-federal-agents-leaving-one-multiple-injuries/",
"first_published_at": "2020-10-23T13:35:48.483680Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-12T16:33:44.650305Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-12T16:33:44.536792Z",
"date": "2020-07-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"osmts\">Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland was hit with multiple rounds of non-lethal projectiles fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"por41\">Protests have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. 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=\"sfqtg\">The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"mglkc\">At 1:58 a.m. on July 12, Lewis-Rolland began <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MathieuLewisRolland/videos/10218671503762415/\">filming live on Facebook</a>, documenting as federal agents emerged from the U.S. Courthouse and started moving the crowd toward the west. About one minute into the video, a federal officer can be seen raising his gun at Lewis-Rolland, but not firing. When Lewis-Rolland reached the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Main Street, about a block from the Courthouse, he turned to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MathieuLRolland/status/1283311222868389888\">take a photograph</a> of a teargas canister rolling into the intersection when he was shot multiple times. The impact of the non-lethal plastic munitions ripped his T-shirt in at least two places.</p><p data-block-key=\"m1p7p\">In a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/doc._44_-_07-14-20_-_declaration_of_mathieu_lewis-rolland.pdf\">declaration</a> in support of the ACLU lawsuit that led to the TRO, Lewis-Rolland said that one or more federal agents shot him 10 times with impact munitions. He shared photographs of his injuries with the ACLU, including one large laceration and two smaller contusions on his right side, a laceration on his right elbow, two large lacerations on his back and four smaller contusions on his left side. Munitions recovered from the intersection are also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MathieuLRolland/status/1283553584458502144\">pictured</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">These are some of the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/munitions?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#munitions</a> I recovered from the intersection at sw 4th and Main in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandOregon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandOregon</a> where I was targeted and shot 10 times. <a href=\"https://t.co/OUkOAEXR35\">pic.twitter.com/OUkOAEXR35</a></p>— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MathieuLRolland/status/1283553584458502144?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 16, 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=\"v71rg\">“I was not posing any type of threat to Agent Doe or anyone else. I was not even facing him,” Lewis-Rolland said in the declaration.</p><p data-block-key=\"29w8w\">While a <a href=\"https://www.vox.com/2020/7/20/21328387/portland-protests-unmarked-arrest-trump-wold\">number of federal agencies</a> had officers in Portland in July, it wasn’t clear which agency the officers were from. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ovcj2\">Federal law enforcement officers at a July 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Portland, Oregon. Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland was hit with crowd-control munitions while documenting one of the nightly demonstrations earlier that summer.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-03-05 00:00:00+00:00) Journalists settle with Portland, Oregon, over 2020 protest violations"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist hit with projectile fired by federal officers during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-projectile-fired-by-federal-officers-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-07T16:11:34.655171Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:32:59.985000Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:32:59.898994Z",
"date": "2020-07-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z8hcr\">A journalist with Full Revolution Media said he was hit with a crowd-control munition by federal officers while covering a protest in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020, in downtown Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"sg2uy\">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=\"ej674\">The protest, which began on the night of July 11 and stretched past midnight, took place near the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, a frequent focus of demonstrators, according to<a href=\"https://katu.com/news/local/federal-officers-release-tear-gas-arrest-protesters-portland-police-say\"> local news outlet KATU</a>. Protesters faced off with federal officers, who deployed crowd control munitions and CS gas, an aerosol and type of tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"skfw3\">John, the Full Revolution Media journalist, told the Tracker that at approximately 1:49 a.m., he was hit in the shoulder and armpit with an impact munition fired by federal officers. He was about a half block away from the corner of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street, near the district courthouse.</p><p data-block-key=\"sd8yo\">"When coming out of [the] courthouse they would deploy gas and shoot pepper balls...often shooting through clouds of tear gas," said John, who asked that his last name not be used out of safety concerns.</p><p data-block-key=\"zizdq\">John, whose helmet has large “press” markings on the front and back, said he felt targeted, since he was standing alone. “Nothing was really happening in my area by park bathrooms, and I was uphill from [the] federal courthouse," he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"jk0hz\">John sustained bruising and minor abrasions on his shoulder, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2hdl1\">The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"John (Full Revolution Media)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist assaulted, camera destroyed while covering pro-law enforcement rally in New York",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-camera-destroyed-while-covering-pro-law-enforcement-rally-new-york/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-14T18:21:32.094414Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-05-08T20:13:24.038826Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-05-08T20:13:23.905545Z",
"date": "2020-07-11",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"836hn\">A multimedia journalist for FreedomNews.TV was assaulted by individuals and had her camera smashed while covering a pro-law enforcement “Back the Blue” rally in the Brooklyn borough of New York on July 11, 2020. The rally was a response to continuing Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests sparked by the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"kqn92\">The journalist, who publishes under the name Oliya Scootercaster, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that she had been walking in the neighborhood of Dyker Heights with two other photographers when a man from the rally approached and asked, “Why does the media show fake information?” Moments later, she said, another person shoved her into a tree causing abrasions to her left elbow. She tweeted a photo of the wound.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This was the worst of it physically. Now need a new camera though. <a href=\"https://t.co/f9oSfcrRPq\">pic.twitter.com/f9oSfcrRPq</a></p>— @SCOOTERCASTER (FNTV) (@ScooterCasterNY) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/1282076749300469762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 11, 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=\"inlqh\">Scootercaster also tweeted a video from someone she identified as “the neighbor Zena P.,” writing, “The video filmed by the neighbor starts after they shoved me. She saw that happen and started recording.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I am very grateful to the neighbor Zena P. who filmed it. <a href=\"https://t.co/szfE9z3tvk\">pic.twitter.com/szfE9z3tvk</a></p>— @SCOOTERCASTER (FNTV) (@ScooterCasterNY) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ScooterCasterNY/status/1282070380031684609?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 11, 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=\"h26ux\">In the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkvfH0Z85LA&feature=youtu.be\">footage</a>, a man can be seen grabbing the journalist's camera and swinging it at her, before it drops to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"z33vi\">Scootercaster said on Twitter that the camera had “shattered,” and she told the Tracker that it had to be replaced.</p><p data-block-key=\"t7n4w\">Scootercaster said that police officers on bicycles, who’d arrived on the scene during the attack, initially refused to file a report, saying, “We didn’t see anything.” Once the bystander’s video was brought up though, they agreed, according to the journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"wl9lv\">Following the rally, Scootercaster said her case was assigned to a detective with the New York Police Department. According to Scootercaster, he had not returned her emails or calls since July. The Tracker’s request to the department for comment was not returned as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"3nqox\">The New York Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information also did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"miv1k\">Scootercaster said an assistant attorney general reached out to interview her about the incident. They have not responded to the Tracker’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"fr60d\">In the aftermath of the assault, Scootercaster said she hopes for some sense of justice. “I just want to see that there’s accountability for people no matter which side they’re on,” she said. “I mean, it was very disheartening. I’m not on either side, I’m a journalist. I’m literally just documenting ... it was just unpleasant from all sides.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"Blue Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Oliya Scootercaster (FreedomNews.TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Independent journalist assaulted and detained by federal agents while covering a Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-assaulted-and-detained-by-federal-agents-while-covering-a-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-09T20:56:24.102243Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-03T17:15:56.914446Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-03T17:15:56.767036Z",
"date": "2020-07-02",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8vtp8\">Independent journalist Ari Taylor told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was assaulted and detained by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 2, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"7f5do\">Taylor, who was livestreaming for Halospace Community Media and filming for the Grassroots Activist International Association, was documenting one of the many protests that have been ongoing for months in Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The 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=\"ntelo\">The Portland protests had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t<a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\"> expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23. Taylor said she is participating in a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/08/injured-portland-protesters-file-class-action-lawsuit-against-federal-government.html\">separate class-action suit</a> against federal officers and Chad Wolf, former acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, for using excessive force against protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"daxxz\">On the night of July 2, several hundred protesters gathered outside of the Multnomah County Justice Center, according to<a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/portland-police-declare-protest-outside-justice-center-a-riot-make-multiple-arrests/283-1a85d823-2633-490d-ab3b-89f922f49d1f\"> local news station KGW</a>. After several demonstrators broke into the building, federal agents emerged to clear the area around 11:42, according to a Portland Police Bureau<a href=\"https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=250945\"> report</a>. The Portland police declared a riot about 10 minutes later.</p><p data-block-key=\"hp2pj\">Taylor told the Tracker that right before the riot was declared, she was filming a glass door that had been shattered during an altercation between federal officers and a shirtless individual. According to Taylor, the officers were pushing down on the door and broke it, but the individual was arrested for the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"kvvey\">“They [officers] had shoved another member of the press with their shield, and I had gone to help him up,” Taylor said. “Then they went after the shirtless individual, and I turned around to get his arrest. I had my back to the officers and was filming the crowd, and that’s when they attacked me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pn3xg\">In a<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-fR0M1dEgs&feature=youtu.be\"> video</a> taken by independent journalist Eric Greatwood and posted on YouTube, at about the one-minute mark, several officers can be seen pulling Taylor across the courthouse entrance and into the building amidst clouds of purple smoke and yelling from the crowd. At the 1:45 mark in another <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xYIR_ZIh45Q&feature=youtu.be\">video</a>, it is clear that Taylor is being dragged by her arm and leg. Another<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlwPivBqKeQ&feature=youtu.be\"> video</a> shows Taylor’s camera footage intercut with another individual’s footage, and she can be seen being dragged up the stairs around the 0:50 mark.</p><p data-block-key=\"1umff\">Taylor said the officers pulled her across a pile of broken glass, damaging her DSLR camera and lens in the process.</p><p data-block-key=\"np704\">Once inside the building, Taylor identified a mix of officers from the Portland police, DHS, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, based on their uniforms and badges, she told the Tracker. They brought her to a holding facility on the third floor, she said, but wouldn’t tell her what she was being charged with.</p><p data-block-key=\"9dvs3\">“A male officer patted me down and searched me,” said Taylor. “Every hour, they’d come in and I’d ask to talk to a lawyer and they wouldn’t let me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"87sco\">Around 5:30 a.m., the officers released her without any paperwork or rationale as to why she was detained, said Taylor, adding that they only stated, “We may be talking later.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ku1p9\">“They still have my gimbal,” she said, referring to a mechanical stabilizer for her camera. She said the officers had confiscated all her belongings, including her backpack, gas mask and camera equipment when they searched her. “There’s nothing to be held accountable. I have no paperwork to prove that I was ever in their facilities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0fkhu\">At the time, Taylor had press credentials stating the organizations she was affiliated with, she said. She tweeted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PdxPeoples/status/1284225028330909696?s=20\">photos</a> of numerous bruises, cuts and scrapes sustained from the incident, and said she ended up going to the hospital for treatment of injuries to her hip, back and foot.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This just my view and one other persons view there are many other views of my federal kidnapping that you can watch. I was given no paper work and still don’t have all my stuff. I had many injuries but I will post pictures of a few. <a href=\"https://t.co/9hWBP4LCEe\">https://t.co/9hWBP4LCEe</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/oiAfVAkyec\">pic.twitter.com/oiAfVAkyec</a></p>— Pdx Peoples News (@PdxPeoples) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PdxPeoples/status/1284225028330909696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 17, 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=\"t21lx\">The DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": "Federal Agents",
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"release_date": "2020-07-03",
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera equipment"
}
],
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera lens"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ari Taylor (Halospace Community Media)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Portland journalist arrested, his equipment damaged and seized",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-journalist-arrested-his-equipment-damaged-and-seized/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-17T21:20:45.292614Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-12T16:39:56.285465Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-12T16:39:56.153217Z",
"date": "2020-07-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"abm81\">Freelance journalist Justin Yau was arrested on July 1, 2020, while filming the arrest of a protester in northeast Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"jtgzl\">Yau, a student at the University of Portland whose work has been featured by the Daily Mail and The New York Times, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. 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=\"u5d9w\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the start of nightly demonstrations in late May, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Yau is a plaintiff in the suit, which led to a U.S. District Court judge issuing a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/7.2.2020_tro_-_woodstock_v_portland.pdf\">temporary restraining order</a> the day after his arrest that barred police from arresting or harming journalists. The city later agreed to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"ya0pn\">In the early hours of July 1, Yau was following a group of protesters moving toward the North Precinct of the Portland Police Bureau. The police had earlier <a href=\"https://katu.com/news/local/police-declare-riot-use-tear-gas-on-north-lombard\">declared a riot</a> and dispersed the protesters shortly after 10 p.m., and the group had reassembled.</p><p data-block-key=\"z54nr\">Yau told the Tracker that the crowd he was following made visual contact with a police riot line at around 12:45 a.m. at the intersection of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Northeast Killingsworth Street. Police pushed the crowd westward. “I was about like 30 feet away from the police line and I was walking away following instructions and I was on the sidewalk matching their pace,” said Yau.</p><p data-block-key=\"nk8v3\">As they moved down Killingsworth toward Northeast Mallory Avenue, Yau observed a protester walking slowly with their hands up. Then he heard police warn the protester to get out of the street faster, followed by an order to arrest them. He began to film the arrest on his cellphone. But when the police charged forward, Yau didn’t initially realize they were taking him into custody as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"w4aai\">Yau was tackled from his right side and fell on his left side on top of his camera and the gimbal he used to stabilize it. His phone flew out of his hands and was permanently damaged, though still working. “I just went limp and didn’t say anything,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"1f2va\">Freelance photojournalist Alex Milan Tracy captured <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexMilanTracy/status/1278239345065877504\">video</a> of Yau’s arrest. The video shows Yau being cuffed on the ground. “The person that you are arresting clearly is identified as press from his helmet,” Tracy could be heard telling the officers, who didn’t respond. “Why are you arresting a member of the press?”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I question officers actions as police arrest an identifiable member of the press <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PDocumentarians</a> near NE Killingsworth and Mallory. <a href=\"https://t.co/AqMQ5kvm3q\">pic.twitter.com/AqMQ5kvm3q</a></p>— Alex Milan Tracy (@AlexMilanTracy) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexMilanTracy/status/1278239345065877504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 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=\"nbjdx\">In addition to wearing a helmet marked as “press,” Yau said he had a glow vest attached to a backpack labeled “press.” He was also wearing neutral colors to distinguish him from protesters, who are often in all black.</p><p data-block-key=\"apwp2\">Tracy also captured <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexMilanTracy/status/1278256810516819968\">footage</a> of one of the arresting officers putting his backpack in a bag and escorting him into a police van. The restraining order required the police “to return any seized equipment or press passes immediately upon release of a person from custody,” but Yau’s equipment was not returned until July 6, according to the ACLU <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/07-17-20_-_second_amended_complaint_0.pdf\">claim</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"xuerw\">Yau appears to be limping in the second video from the impact of landing on his knee during the arrest. “My left knee was kind of in a lot of pain throughout booking, I couldn’t sleep,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"oqmxf\">The reason given for Yau’s arrest was felony riot and interfering with a peace officer — this resulted in a no-complaint charge after the district attorney decided not to press charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2y5f\">Yau believes he was targeted for being press, a view shared by Tracy, who referenced Yau’s arrest in a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/tracy_supl_dec_07012020.pdf\">declaration</a> for the ACLU suit. “It seemed to me that the police were specifically targeting and retaliating against reporters for seeking to enforce out First Amendment protections,” said Tracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"le472\">The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2020-07-19T132614Z_2049799302_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cvgwv\">Clouds of tear gas deployed by law enforcement at a July 2020 protest against racial inequality in Portland, Oregon. Journalist Justin Yau was tackled and arrested by Portland police while documenting one of the nightly protests.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Portland Police Bureau",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "3:20-cv-01035",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-03-05 00:00:00+00:00) Journalists settle with Portland, Oregon, over 2020 protest violations"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Justin Yau (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "British reporter arrested, held for six hours amid Seattle protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/british-reporter-arrested-held-six-hours-amid-seattle-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-01T19:15:10.313636Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:00:28.907251Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:00:28.795793Z",
"date": "2020-07-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Seattle",
"longitude": -122.33207,
"latitude": 47.60621,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wi9vu\">Andrew Buncombe, the chief U.S. correspondent for British newspaper The Independent, was arrested while covering demonstrations in Seattle, Washington, on July 1, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"h7mma\">In <a href=\"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/journalist-arrest-seattle-chaz-protest-police-prison-black-lives-matter-a9606846.html\">an account for The Independent</a>, published July 9, Buncombe wrote that he was on assignment in Seattle to document the Capitol Hill Occupied Protest in Cal Anderson Park and the surrounding streets. For more than a month, the area had been a focal point for sustained protests following the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"xfhhr\">On the day of Buncombe’s arrest, Seattle police were attempting to clear the park, following an executive order from Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. Police Chief Carmen Best said in a <a href=\"https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/news-wrap-seattle-police-clear-occupied-zone-after-violence\">press briefing</a> later that day that the action was prompted by ongoing violence and public safety issues.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Due to ongoing violence and public safety issues in the East Precinct/Cal Anderson Park area. Mayor Jenny Durkan has issued an executive order to vacate the area. Seattle police will be in the area this morning enforcing the Mayor’s order. <a href=\"https://t.co/SpVRYIB8eg\">https://t.co/SpVRYIB8eg</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/JAt2AvUTCr\">pic.twitter.com/JAt2AvUTCr</a></p>— Seattle Police Dept. (@SeattlePD) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SeattlePD/status/1278297433634508800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 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=\"y8cok\">Buncombe wrote that less than five minutes after he arrived he was arrested at the northern edge of the park. An officer on the other side of a police tape line told Buncombe — who said he had not crossed the tape — to leave the area or face arrest. Buncombe said he showed the officer his State Department-issued press badge and told him he wanted to photograph what was happening inside the park.</p><p data-block-key=\"utmvy\">“The officer again told me to retreat and said he was going to arrest me if I did not. I again told him I was a member of the media and intended to stay and do my work,” Buncombe wrote. “He then grabbed me and marched me towards several of his colleagues, who pinned my hands behind my back.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qoto2\">Officers seized Buncombe’s phone and told him he was under arrest, but would not tell him on what charge, according to the journalist. He was then handcuffed, shackled and loaded in a van to transport him to the Seattle Police Department’s West Precinct. Once there, Buncombe again informed officers that he was a journalist and asked to contact his lawyer, his editor and the British embassy.</p><p data-block-key=\"w3ihy\">Buncombe wrote that officers informed him he was being charged with failure to disperse, a charge that has a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail and a fine of $5,000. The Seattle <a href=\"https://library.municode.com/wa/seattle/codes/municipal_code?nodeId=TIT12ACRCO_SUBTITLE_ICRCO_CH12A.12OFAGPUOR_12A.12.020FADI\">municipal code</a> explicitly states that “failure to disperse” does not apply to members of the press “unless he is physically obstructing lawful efforts by such officer to disperse the group.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4lz5x\">After an hour in a holding cell, Buncombe was loaded into a van alongside other detainees and transported to the King County Correctional Facility on Fifth Avenue, according to his account.</p><p data-block-key=\"k2zd6\">Once there, Buncombe said he was informed that an officer needed to re-enter his information before he would be permitted to use a phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"4q35w\">“The officer could not hear me [spell my name], so I explained it may have been my accent (I am British),” Buncombe wrote. “For reasons that were unclear, the woman took offense. ‘Get back in the cell. You’ve lost your chance. You’re being condescending.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"pjqvp\">“I tried again to spell my name but they were having none of it. Out of nowhere, a male prison guard leapt at me from behind, yanked hard on the collar of my jacket, pulling it with sufficient force into my throat to make me gasp,” Buncombe wrote. “He then manhandled me into the cell.”</p><p data-block-key=\"falwl\">Buncombe wrote that while he had been detained twice before — once in Cuba in 2006 and then in Pakistan in 2011 — this was his first time being arrested. He was released at 6 p.m., approximately six hours after his arrest, once he signed a paper agreeing to appear in court.</p><p data-block-key=\"47wm2\">“If I am charged, I will be pleading not guilty. Journalism is not a crime,” Buncombe wrote in his account for The Independent. “At the same time I will be trying to explain why, supported by the right afforded by the First Amendment of the Constitution, I stood my ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ld2kc\">The Independent <a href=\"https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/andrew-buncombe-us-arrest-charge-seattle-protests-latest-a9619641.html\">reported</a> on July 15 that the Seattle City Attorney’s Office declined to press charges against Buncombe. It also noted that British Ambassador to the U.S. Karen Pierce had filed an official complaint about Buncombe’s arrest, and that the White House had been informed.</p><p data-block-key=\"o7s25\">Christian Broughton, the editor of The Independent, said in a statement to the outlet: “We are delighted and relieved that Andrew Buncombe no longer faces charges — of course, he should never have been arrested in the first place.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q0ew7\">A spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Buncombe had been arrested for refusing to leave the area, not because he was a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"8tj34\">“Had he worked with the department to get in contact with a [public information officer] we could have gotten him into the park to do the investigative journalism that he wanted to do,” the spokesperson said. “Without that, he had to play by the same rules as everybody else at that time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gabc6\">The spokesperson also said that while steps have been taken to remind officers of the rights of journalists covering demonstrations, it is challenging for officers in the field to verify claims that someone is a member of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"fvowl\">The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists who were assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Seattle Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Washington",
"abbreviation": "WA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Andrew Buncombe (The Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "July: Journalists threatened with arrest while reporting from protests across the nation",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/july-journalists-threatened-arrest-while-reporting-protests-across-nation/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-13T12:15:48.622075Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:22:20.038641Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:22:19.949054Z",
"date": "2020-07-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k45gd\"><i>George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. during July 2020.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"u2w9w\"><i>A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found</i> <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"><i>here</i></a><i>. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\"><i>pressfreedomtracker.us</i></a><i>.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"uqpqz\"><b>July 26, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"udf4s\">In Richmond, Virginia</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"jz8cf\">After a night of notably <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/fires-set-windows-shattered-during-raucous-virginia-protest/2020/07/26/d21537de-cf05-11ea-99b0-8426e26d203b_story.html\">violent</a> protests, the Richmond Police Department was gearing up for much the same in Monroe Park on the evening of July 26. Reporters <b>Zach Joachim</b> of the Richmond Times-Dispatch and <b>Olivia Ugino</b> of NBC12 covered the events in the park that evening, where protesters had gathered despite the fact that the park had <a href=\"http://www.richmondgov.com/parks/parkMonroe.aspx\">closed</a> at sunset. A little before 10:30 p.m., Joachim <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ZachJoachim/status/1287575085096800256\">noted on Twitter</a>, “Police just ambushed protesters at Monroe Park. Some protesters were tackled. It happened fast, just as I arrived on scene, I got as much as I could. I heard police saying ‘if they’re in the park, grab them.’” In Joachim’s accompanying video, which captured officers arriving at the scene, the journalist can be heard greeting an officer before turning his camera to an individual being arrested along the park’s perimeter. Another officer can then be seen approaching the reporter, telling him to, “Move it down, move it down, keep it going.” Joachim responds, “Yes, sir,” and moves a few steps back. As the video continues, an officer can be heard twice telling Joachim to “keep moving or go to jail,” at which point Joachim verbally identifies himself as press. Another officer then says, “You’re still in the park after [its closing]. It’s trespassing.” Joachim responds that he’s on the sidewalk, which was not part of the park. The officer dismisses that categorization, insisting that he “keep moving. Now.” As the video closes, Joachim moves across the street, covered by a protester holding a makeshift shield. At around the same time that night, Ugino had <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OliviaNBC12/status/1287575810396872704\">tweeted</a>: “I was walking through the park to grab this video. You can hear officers say ‘park is closed.’ I showed them my press badge, was told if I didn’t leave I would be arrested. Didn’t matter if I was press.” Also that evening, student journalist Andrew Ringle was detained by police, an incident the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-reporter-detained-while-covering-richmond-protest/\">here</a>. In a press conference the following day, the police chief <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=593701714851514&ref=watch_permalink\">addressed</a> the detainment as well as other incidents involving members of the media, stating, “In tense situations like this ... we have to look at individuals who claim to be members of the press, and we have to look at them very carefully … For those who claim to be the media, you must abide by the laws just as well. If you are in a location that you are not supposed to be in, you can be held accountable for that as well.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police just ambushed protesters at Monroe Park. Some protesters were tackled. It happened fast, just as I arrived on scene, I got as much as I could. I heard police saying “if they’re in the park, grab them. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RTDNEWS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RTDNEWS</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/ZM4DFODIWe\">pic.twitter.com/ZM4DFODIWe</a></p>— Zach Joachim (@ZachJoachim) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ZachJoachim/status/1287575085096800256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 27, 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-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was walking through the park to grab this video. You can hear officers say “park is closed.” I showed them my press badge, was told if I didn’t leave I would be arrested. Didn’t matter if I was press. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NBC12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NBC12</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/M10IED5Sf1\">pic.twitter.com/M10IED5Sf1</a></p>— Olivia Ugino (@OliviaNBC12) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OliviaNBC12/status/1287575810396872704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 27, 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=\"sqo10\"><b>July 30, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"hyby5\">In Jefferson City, Missouri</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"kmsri\"><b>Kaitlyn Schallhorn</b>, the editor of the Missouri Times, had been following around 40 protesters <a href=\"https://www.missourinet.com/2020/07/30/protesters-arrested-in-jefferson-city-march-about-missouri-crime-bill/\">organized by</a> Expect US, a group seeking criminal justice reform, in coordination with state Representative Rasheen Aldridge Jr., as they marched toward the State Capitol and the Governor’s Mansion that afternoon. After arriving at the mansion, the protesters <a href=\"https://twitter.com/K_Schallhorn/status/1288927802482479106\">lay on the street</a> out front. After letting them lay there “for a bit,” according to Schallhorn’s Twitter feed, police ordered the protesters to return to the sidewalk, at which point they began making arrests. At 3 p.m., Schallhorn noted on Twitter the presence of a chemical irritant in the air. She later deleted the tweet, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/K_Schallhorn/status/1288912832583606278\">stating</a>, “I’m not sure if it was tear gas but it was something and it was hard to breathe. At least 4 protestors were tackled and arrested." In a followup tweet a few hours later, she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/K_Schallhorn/status/1288955784047583235\">posted</a> a statement from the Jefferson City Police Department about the afternoon's events, adding that “Lt. [David] Williams, a Jefferson City public information officer, has confirmed to me that pepper balls were used today during the arrests.” Schallhorn <a href=\"https://twitter.com/K_Schallhorn/status/1288927384050315265\">shared a video</a> as the arrests began in which she and people around her can be heard coughing. At one point, an officer can be seen passing by Schallhorn, saying, “Stay out of the road or you will go to jail,” before yelling to the protesters, “This is unlawful now. You need to disperse.” Another officer then says directly to Schallhorn, “Ma’am, you have to move, too.” She informs him that she is press before moving behind him. He tells her that she needs to stay in front of him, saying, “I don’t know what you are or who you are,” to which she said, “I’m a reporter.” He says, “OK, that’s fine. Stay up here away from this gate [in front of the mansion].” Schallhorn moved closer to those being arrested without objection from the officers. Ten minutes later, Schallhorn <a href=\"https://twitter.com/K_Schallhorn/status/1288930228505640972\">posted another video</a> of more arrests; it ended with an officer telling her, “Ma’am, I’m only going to tell you one time. You can’t interfere with the cops,” to which she responded, “I’m staying back. I’m not trying to.” He replies, “I don’t know who you are and I don’t want you to get caught up in the middle of it.” The ACLU of Missouri <a href=\"https://twitter.com/aclu_mo/status/1288981551863271431\">released a statement</a> later in the day stating, “The brutality inflicted on peaceful protesters and journalists by the rouge police force in front of the governor’s mansion today was reprehensible.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here’s a look at when the arrests began. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/moleg?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#moleg</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/g7sGrkgBlr\">pic.twitter.com/g7sGrkgBlr</a></p>— Kaitlyn Schallhorn (@K_Schallhorn) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/K_Schallhorn/status/1288927384050315265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ysa9p\"><i>Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read similar incidents from other days of national protests also in this category,</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/other-incident/?categories=63&date_lower=2020-05-25&tags=111\"><i>go here</i></a><i>.</i></p></div>",
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