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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>",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"John (Full Revolution Media)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"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>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"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": [],
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},
{
"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>",
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"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": "2020-07-03",
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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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": [],
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"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)"
],
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},
{
"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",
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"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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{
"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": [],
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"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)"
],
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"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,
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Seattle Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"state": {
"name": "Washington",
"abbreviation": "WA"
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Andrew Buncombe (The Independent)"
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},
{
"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,
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"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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"Other Incident"
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist says Portland police seized GoPro as ‘evidence’ during protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-says-portland-police-seized-gopro-as-evidence-during-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-10-22T14:50:40.713979Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-12T17:14:56.394356Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-12T17:14:56.301825Z",
"date": "2020-06-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sagna\">Portland photojournalist Alex Milan Tracy said the Portland Police Bureau seized his GoPro camera “as evidence” when he was covering a protest outside the police union office in the Oregon city’s North Portland neighborhood on June 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"0u9me\">The protest was one of the many that broke 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 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=\"s1x8u\">Tracy was documenting a protest near the Portland Police Association on North Lombard Street “when the police declared an unlawful assembly and charged at the crowd,” he said in a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/tracy_supl_dec_07012020.pdf\">declaration</a> on behalf of a class action suit the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed against the PBB in June. Tracy is a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/07-17-20_-_second_amended_complaint_0.pdf\">plaintiff</a> in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">agreement</a> by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"q71r1\">While Tracy was running, his GoPro Hero 8 fell out of a pouch on his waist, he said in the claim. “One officer told me that it would be seized ‘as evidence’ because it was behind the police line at this point,” he said, adding that the police prevented him from looking for the camera. Tracy wasn’t available to comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kfkd\">In a video Tracy <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlexMilanTracy/status/1278203136910344192\">tweeted</a> after the incident, he says to the camera: “Moments ago, during a police charge, a GoPro camera that I use for newsgathering purposes, fell out of my pocket attached to my waist and has been taken by the police as evidence. I do not condone this act, and I would appreciate if I could get my camera back without having to go through the evidence office downtown.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ox955\">He got his camera back from the PPB Property Warehouse on July 2.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2020-06-14T000000Z_1656239398_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1sc4b\">Protesters in Portland, Oregon, confront police at a June 2020 demonstration against police brutality. Photojournalist Alex Milan Tracy’s camera was seized by police while he was documenting one of the nightly protests that month.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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{
"quantity": 1,
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}
],
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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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"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alex Milan Tracy (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "New York judge strikes down orders barring publication of book by Trump’s niece",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-york-judge-strikes-down-orders-barring-publication-of-book-by-trumps-niece/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-14T12:46:48.659413Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-02-29T19:36:00.480996Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-02-29T19:36:00.394211Z",
"date": "2020-06-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tg1mu\">A New York Supreme Court judge granted temporary restraining orders on June 30, 2020, barring President Donald Trump’s niece and publisher Simon & Schuster, Inc. from moving forward with printing and distributing a tell-all book about the Trump family. Both orders were subsequently vacated.</p><p data-block-key=\"hvltf\">The book — “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man” and scheduled for release in July — details Mary L. Trump’s relationships with the president, family members and her father, Fred Trump Jr.</p><p data-block-key=\"y6p0t\">Judge Hal B. Greenwald granted the <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/f/?id=00000173-0647-d83b-a5ff-0fd7235c0000\">temporary restraining order</a> at the request of President Trump’s younger brother Robert, who alleged that the book violates a non-disclosure agreement signed by members of the family as part of the settlement of Fred Trump Sr.’s estate following his death in 1999.</p><p data-block-key=\"i1ep9\">According to court filings, the agreement included a pledge not to indirectly or directly publish any memoir. Robert Trump asserted that her book may “contain material that could harm him” or members of the family “by divulging private or disparaging information about their relationship to the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"jghi0\">Attorneys for Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster filed appeals the same day, arguing that the order constituted a prior restraint on core political speech in violation of the First Amendment, Politico <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/30/judge-blocks-release-of-book-by-trumps-niece-345577\">reported</a>. The attorneys also noted the impropriety of granting an injunction without allowing the author and publisher to provide a legal briefing to the court.</p><p data-block-key=\"vu2x4\">Mary Trump’s attorney, Ted Boutrous Jr., said in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gibsondunn/status/1278037422102597632\">statement</a>, “This book, which addresses matters of great public concern and importance about a sitting president in an election year, should not be suppressed even for one day.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aaa0x\">The Reporter’s Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Association of American Publishers and PEN America submitted an <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2020_51585_ROBERT_S_TRUMP_v_MARY_L_TRUMP_et_al_EXHIBIT_S__48.pdf\">amicus brief</a> highlighting the unprecedented nature of the order and the unenforceability of such a non-disclosure agreement.</p><p data-block-key=\"x6t7a\">“There can be no doubt that the Book’s subject matter is of immense public interest,” RCFP’s Legal Director Katie Townsend wrote. “Simply put, whatever embarrassment [Robert Trump] speculates he or the President may experience from the publication or dissemination of a Book ‘divulging private or disparaging information’ to the public cannot remotely approach the type of extraordinary harm that could justify a prior restraint against either Defendant.” RCFP is a partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"nzjv9\">Judge Alan D. Scheinkman of the New York Supreme Court’s appellate division lifted the restraining order against Simon & Schuster the following day, July 1, leaving the one against Mary Trump in place. The Washington Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/new-york-court-sides-with-publisher-of-explosive-book-by-president-trumps-niece/2020/07/01/2eec8a7e-bbf7-11ea-86d5-3b9b3863273b_story.html\">reported</a> that the decision allows the publisher to proceed with the distribution of the book ahead of the planned release.</p><p data-block-key=\"1qjey\">Scheinkman wrote, “Whatever legitimate public interest there may have been in the family disputes of a real estate developer and his relatives may be considerably heightened by that real estate developer now being President of the United States and a current candidate for reelection.”</p><p data-block-key=\"p9ejt\">Simon & Schuster said in a <a href=\"https://apnews.com/b70f425fe5c064f683d722c382f6b80b\">statement</a> to The Associated Press that the ruling was a victory.</p><p data-block-key=\"e2dbc\">The book, it said, was of “great interest and importance to the national discourse that fully deserves to be published for the benefit of the American public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mnl51\">Robert Trump’s lawyer, Charles Harder, <a href=\"https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=/S1W0fkYQXuiwjqSzqIi2w==&system=prod\">argued in a reply</a> filed on July 7 that the book consists solely of Mary Trump’s “personal observations, not political commentary,” and is therefore not entitled to the same protections and scrutiny as other materials, like the Pentagon Papers.</p><p data-block-key=\"blvrg\">Harder, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment, called for the judge to uphold restraining orders against both Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster, adding that at its core, the case is not about the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"lsxzf\">“The ‘prior restraint’ doctrine Defendants invoke applies to a completely different type of injunction against speech and has no application where a party has contracted away her right to speak in exchange for valid consideration,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"xzqvk\">Boutrous said in a statement to the Tracker that “Robert Trump’s brief defies the First Amendment, ignores basic contract law and fails completely to justify a prior restraint muzzling Mary Trump.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kwliu\">Attorneys for Simon & Schuster did not respond to emailed requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"9cx7v\">In a decision on July 13 — one day before the book was set to be published — Greenwald <a href=\"https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/DocumentDisplayServlet?documentId=t8UD2P0b0Do2G0vUlEdD5A==&system=prod\">vacated</a> the temporary restraining order against Mary Trump. In that order, he also denied Robert Trump’s requests for injunctions against both Mary Trump and Simon & Schuster.</p><p data-block-key=\"10a1g\">“In the matter before this Court, Plaintiff [Robert Trump] has failed to meet his burden of demonstrating imminent, irreparable harm, to him,” Greenwald wrote. “There is no doubt that the Book is out in the public eye in significant quantities and has reached millions of people by the tremendous attention it has gained by the media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"t0tup\">“In the vernacular of First year law students, ‘Con[stitutional] law trumps Contracts.’”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mary_Trump.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"77z1r\">A portion of the initial order granting a temporary restraining orders against Mary L. Trump and Simon & Schuster on June 30, 2020.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Simon & Schuster, Inc."
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
],
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"Mary L. Trump"
],
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},
{
"title": "Judge quashes subpoena for freelance journalist’s confidential communications, reporting materials",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/judge-quashes-subpoena-for-freelance-journalists-confidential-communications-reporting-materials/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-05T17:11:51.746273Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-06T15:30:49.533043Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-06T15:30:49.462303Z",
"date": "2020-06-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Arlington",
"longitude": -77.10428,
"latitude": 38.88101,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fnue1\">The plaintiff in a defamation suit subpoenaed notes, drafts and confidential source communications used by Zachary Petrizzo, a college student and freelance journalist, in <a href=\"https://www.dailydot.com/debug/jack-burkman-margaret-howell-russia-today/\">a story</a> Petrizzo reported for the Daily Dot about Republican operative Jack Burkman and his alleged relationship with the plaintiff.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ulhz\">Petrizzo was subpoenaed on June 30, 2020, as part of a defamation case brought by Margaret Howell — a former reporter for RT, a Kremlin-funded news outlet, and Right Side Broadcasting Network, a conservative broadcaster. Howell’s suit alleges that the defendants, Burkman’s stepson and estranged wife, were sources for Petrizzo’s 2019 Daily Dot article: “Jack Burkman, Who Accuses 2020 Candidates of Having Lovers, Has a Few Himself.”</p><p data-block-key=\"zuceh\">The subpoena, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, ordered Petrizzo to turn over any documents, communications, drafts and notes pertaining to the two defendants and appear in court on July 20, 2020.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A law firm is demanding my confidential source materials. This 21-year-old reporter, service worker, and full-time student has nothing more than a few hundred bucks to pay next month's rent. Please share this tweet and help me fight back.</p>— Zachary Petrizzo (@ZTPetrizzo) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ZTPetrizzo/status/1279848975240015873?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 5, 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=\"1x4nf\">Attorneys from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a Tracker partner, represented Petrizzo and filed a motion to quash the subpoena on July 28, arguing that the plaintiff had asked for “a staggeringly broad array of documents, records, and information” and that the request violates the reporter’s privilege that Virginia courts recognize based on the First Amendment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ioarf\">The motion also claimed that the subpoena was a transparent attempt to force disclosure of Petrizzo’s confidential sources for the article. Furthermore, the motion said, Howell did not attempt to obtain records of the communications from either defendant.</p><p data-block-key=\"vcslx\">Virginia Judicial Circuit Judge Judith Wheat granted the motion to quash on Nov. 2, stipulating that a renewed subpoena could be considered if Howell is able to establish that she has exhausted other means of obtaining the information and that the reason for disclosure is sufficiently compelling to overcome the reporter’s privilege.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bg45\">“The subpoena was extremely burdensome,” Petrizzo told the Tracker. “Without the legal aid of [RCFP], I most certainly would’ve struggled even more to deal with the legal process on my own.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Petrizzo_Subpoena.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"13i1n\">A portion of a subpoena issued to freelance journalist Zachary Petrizzo seeking "documents, communications, drafts and notes" for a 2019 article he wrote for the Daily Dot.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"Zachary Petrizzo (Daily Dot)"
],
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"quashed"
],
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},
{
"title": "Freelance journalist suing after being arrested and placed in isolation while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-suing-after-being-arrested-and-placed-in-isolation-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-11T19:41:53.229864Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T00:13:14.590237Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T00:13:14.458975Z",
"date": "2020-06-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1uyls\">Freelance journalist Cory Elia was arrested on June 30, 2020, while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon. Elia — together with <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-suing-city-and-state-after-being-arrested-placed-in-isolation-while-covering-portland-protest/\">Lesley McLam</a>, a colleague at Village Portland and KBOO radio station who was arrested with him — has since filed a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/07/two-independent-journalists-file-suit-against-portland-police-county-sheriffs-deputies-and-state-police.html\">lawsuit</a> against the city of Portland, the state, and law enforcement for their arrest and treatment afterwards.</p><p data-block-key=\"gk820\">Elia was covering one of the many protests that 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=\"p714v\">In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Elia is <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/07-17-20_-_second_amended_complaint_0.pdf\">part of</a> that suit, as well, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">agreement</a> by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"zf199\">The June 30 demonstration took place the day before a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/06/portland-protests-to-continue-for-34th-straight-day-tuesday.html\">planned vote</a> to extend the city’s contract with the police union. Protesters marched over a mile from Peninsula Park to the Portland Police Association headquarters in the neighborhood of North Portland. Soon after demonstrators arrived at PPA offices around 9 p.m., the police declared an “unlawful assembly” and ordered them to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"b5ter\">Elia was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1278206013460504578\">livestreaming</a> when the police declared a riot around 11 p.m. and followed as they moved protesters east on North Lombard Street, further away from the PPA offices. A little more than 17 minutes into the footage, Elia can be heard telling an officer that he recognizes him. Then the camera goes askew as the officer knocks it out of his hand.</p><p data-block-key=\"ep5ky\">Another livestream <a href=\"https://twitter.com/therealcoryelia/status/1278210455652061184\">tweeted</a> by Elia shortly after shows the police line pushing him back. “One of your officers just tried to break my phone,” he can be heard saying.</p><p data-block-key=\"6plyg\">After the police stop at an intersection, Elia walks to the other side of a car to create more distance from the police. He can be heard getting into a verbal back and forth with an officer about whether the press is exempt from police orders, and the officer responds that the protest was a riot. Elia then returns to the police line and asks an officer for his name and badge number. “Are you Bartlett? I think I recognize you from the other night,” he says. A little after six minutes into the video, Elia is placed under arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"godzt\">He was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/adamrclemons/status/1278251178548015105\">charged with</a> two counts of assaulting a police officer, two counts of interfering with a peace officer, one count of resisting arrest, and one count of disorderly conduct. Elia’s phone was seized as part of the arrest, he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1278407025882361856\">tweeted</a> after his release the next day. Elia <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1281364410871590912\">tweeted on July 9</a> that most of his gear had been returned to him.</p><p data-block-key=\"nvjpt\">On July 8, Elia and McLam filed a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/07/two-independent-journalists-file-suit-against-portland-police-county-sheriffs-deputies-and-state-police.html\">civil lawsuit</a> against the city, the state, and multiple law enforcement officers for allegedly violating their constitutional rights and for battery, assault, negligence and false arrest. They are also seeking compensation for their injuries and punitive damages.</p><p data-block-key=\"8glnc\">The suit alleges that after Elia recognized PPB Officer John Bartlett, who is named as a defendant, the officer “turned to his fellow officer and said something.” Then Bartlett, along with other PPB officers and an Oregon State Police trooper, grabbed Elia and forced him to the ground, “dog-piling” him, according to the complaint. The suit also alleges that in the course of the arrest, an officer kicked him in the groin.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mynp\">After Elia was taken to the Multnomah County Detention Center, his protective mask was taken from him, which the complaint alleges was a concern since “no officers were wearing masks,” despite the state’s COVID-19 mask mandate, according to the complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"0xj25\">Elia was placed in isolation twice, the suit alleges. The second time he “began suffering a panic attack, experiencing severe claustrophobia, heart racing, vomiting and mental anguish,” the complaint said. He was released after 10 hours in jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"4cgjx\">KBOO, where Elia and McLam voluntarily co-host a podcast, released a <a href=\"https://kboo.fm/blog/81643\">statement</a> on July 1 strongly condemning their arrest. “The nationwide trend of suppressing the freedom of speech or freedom of press by attack or arrest by police is disturbing and must be addressed,” the station said.</p><p data-block-key=\"rwpmh\">While the police referred criminal charges to the Multnomah County district attorney’s office, attorneys in that office declined to file charges, resulting in a “no-complaint,” according to Elia’s defense attorney.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fafc\">Because of Elia’s ongoing civil suit stemming from this incident, he declined to comment further to the Tracker. As of press time, McLam said there were no publicly available updates about the lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"tjwz1\">When reached by email about the incident, the Portland Police Bureau declined to comment, citing pending litigation.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Portland Police Bureau",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2020-07-01",
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": "3:20-cv-01106",
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name_of_business": null,
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "press identification"
}
],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-07-29 13:23:00+00:00) Independent journalist receives $50,000 to settle lawsuit stemming from arrest, assaults at protests in 2020",
"(2022-04-28 00:00:00+00:00) City of Portland pays two journalists $55,000 to settle lawsuit stemming from arrests, assaults at protests in 2020"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Cory Elia (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Freelance journalist suing city and state after being arrested, placed in isolation, while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-suing-city-and-state-after-being-arrested-placed-in-isolation-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-11T19:32:51.616882Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T00:13:01.984165Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T00:13:01.893963Z",
"date": "2020-06-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6kxtu\">Freelance journalist Lesley McLam was arrested on June 30, 2020, while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon. McLam — together with Cory Elia, a colleague at Village Portland and KBOO radio station who was arrested with her — has since filed a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/07/two-independent-journalists-file-suit-against-portland-police-county-sheriffs-deputies-and-state-police.html\">lawsuit</a> against the city of Portland, the state, and law enforcement for their arrest and treatment afterwards.</p><p data-block-key=\"7adpl\">McLam was covering one of the many protests that 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=\"m6idx\">In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. McLam is <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/07-17-20_-_second_amended_complaint_0.pdf\">part of</a> that suit, as well, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">agreement</a> by the city in July not to arrest, harm, or impede any journalists or legal observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"hwtnx\">The June 30 demonstration took place the day before a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/06/portland-protests-to-continue-for-34th-straight-day-tuesday.html\">planned vote</a> to extend the city’s contract with the police union. Protesters marched over a mile from Peninsula Park to the Portland Police Association headquarters in the neighborhood of North Portland. Soon after protesters arrived at PPA offices around 9 p.m., the police declared an “unlawful assembly” and ordered them to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"vc45b\">McLam was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Human42LM/status/1278207589151473667\">livestreaming</a> when the police declared a riot around 11 p.m. and followed as they moved protesters east on North Lombard Street, further away from the PPA offices. About 22 minutes into the footage, she captures Elia’s arrest. She can be heard demanding that they release Elia and turn over his phone and other personal items to her. The tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-journalist-suing-after-being-arrested-and-placed-in-isolation-while-covering-portland-protest/\">documented Elia's arrest here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"lubfs\">About 11 minutes later, the video shuts off at the moment McLam gets arrested. After an officer tells her to “Get off the street,” she can be heard responding, “I’m a member of the press. I’m on the crosswalk.” Then an officer can be seen approaching her, and the camera goes askew and filming ends.</p><p data-block-key=\"lqb9y\">On July 8, Elia and McLam filed a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/07/two-independent-journalists-file-suit-against-portland-police-county-sheriffs-deputies-and-state-police.html\">civil lawsuit</a> against the city, the state, and multiple law enforcement officers for allegedly violating their constitutional rights and for battery, assault, negligence and false arrest. They are also seeking compensation for their injuries and punitive damages.</p><p data-block-key=\"hu324\">According to the complaint, as McLam attempted to film the officers present at Elia’s arrest, she was rushed by approximately six officers. “McLam’s glasses flew off as she was tackled,” it said, adding that officers “hit and/or punched McLam in the legs and knees, causing contusions and muscle pain and spraining her ankle.” She also had swelling, bruising and tenderness from her handcuffs, according to the complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"778lr\">In addition, due to the stress of her arrest, McLam experienced vomiting and urinary incontinence, according to the complaint. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/yourantifagf/status/1278240587095785472\">video</a> posted on Twitter by a bystander, a handcuffed McLam can be seen vomiting as officers empty her pockets.</p><p data-block-key=\"z11am\">McLam was taken to Multnomah County Detention Center, where she was placed in an isolation cell “covered in what appeared to be dried, sticky vomit and smeared feces,” according to the complaint. When she started to feel cramping, McLam worried that the stress had started her menstrual cycle early. She called out for a menstrual pad which wasn’t brought to her until more than 30 minutes later, the complaint said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7mneu\">While the police referred criminal charges to the Multnomah County district attorney’s office, attorneys in that office declined to file charges, resulting in a “no-complaint,” according to McLam’s defense attorney. But the police continued to hold her for several more hours before releasing her around 6:30 p.m. on July 1, the complaint said.</p><p data-block-key=\"mmtc2\">KBOO, where McLam and Elia voluntarily co-host a podcast, released a <a href=\"https://kboo.fm/blog/81643\">statement</a> strongly condemning their arrest. “The nationwide trend of suppressing the freedom of speech or freedom of press by attack or arrest by police is disturbing and must be addressed,” the station said.</p><p data-block-key=\"xp3me\">Asked by the Tracker about the civil suit in March 2021, McLam said there were no publicly available updates.</p><p data-block-key=\"imq3u\">“I think it’s really important that people have a better understanding of the dynamics that are actually happening on the ground,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rprz\">When reached by email about the incident, the Portland Police Bureau declined to comment, citing pending litigation.</p></div>",
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"(2022-07-29 13:28:00+00:00) Independent journalist receives $40,000 to settle lawsuit stemming from arrest, assaults at protests in 2020",
"(2022-04-28 00:00:00+00:00) City of Portland pays two journalists $55,000 to settle lawsuit stemming from arrests, assaults at protests in 2020"
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{
"title": "Independent journalist hit with munitions fired by police while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-hit-munitions-fired-police-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-14T22:08:13.654423Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:34:22.875074Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:34:22.797456Z",
"date": "2020-06-30",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eizfr\">Independent journalist Eric Greatwood was hit in the groin by a crowd-control projectile while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"dlh6q\">The Portland-based journalist was documenting one of the many protests that 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=\"9ur2g\">In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The suit resulted in a temporary restraining order and an <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">agreement</a> by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"xfmto\">The June 30 demonstration took place the day before a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/06/portland-protests-to-continue-for-34th-straight-day-tuesday.html\">planned vote</a> to extend the city’s contract with the police union. Protesters marched over a mile from Peninsula Park to the Portland Police Association (PPA) headquarters in North Portland.</p><p data-block-key=\"4e1ah\">Soon after protesters arrived at PPA offices around 9 p.m., the police declared an “unlawful assembly” and ordered them to disperse. Police used batons and less-lethal munitions to move protesters east, according to <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/pdf/20201130_JudicialRuling_1606831236228.pdf\">testimony</a> by Greatwood and other plaintiffs in a <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2020/10/25/portland-reckons-with-police-violence-on-protesters-after-months-of-unrest/\">motion</a> filed by Don’t Shoot Portland, a police accountability group, to hold the city in contempt over a federal court ruling a few days earlier that restricted law enforcement’s use of less-lethal weapons in the Portland protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"ck3xs\">Greatwood, a U.S. Air Force veteran, had been filming protests in Portland almost daily since June 5 with a video camera mounted on a 20-foot pole. That night, a police officer called Greatwood by name, a detail he described as <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2020/10/25/portland-reckons-with-police-violence-on-protesters-after-months-of-unrest/\">hair-raising</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"sy7g3\">Around 10:15 p.m., Greatwood was hit with a munition from an <a href=\"https://fnamerica.com/products/less-lethal/fn-303-launcher/\">FN303 launcher</a> while he was bending down to examine an unexploded smoke canister, according to <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/pdf/20201130_JudicialRuling_1606831236228.pdf\">court documents</a>. The launchers are considered less-lethal, but have proven to be <a href=\"https://www.police1.com/police-products/less-lethal/projectiles-launchers/articles/emtragedy-in-bostonem-the-impact-projectile-death-of-victoria-snelgrove-pOAEJHNfvAivymNj/\">fatal</a> in the past.</p><p data-block-key=\"ar1o6\">Portland Police Bureau Officer Brent Taylor, who fired the round, <a href=\"https://www.portlandmercury.com/images/blogimages/2020/12/01/1606846734-dontshoot.pdf\">testified</a> that he was concerned Greatwood would throw the canister back at the police line, but that he didn’t mean to aim at Gretwood’s groin.</p><p data-block-key=\"b4gur\">But Greatwood, who had been wearing a helmet marked “press,” testified that he felt targeted, saying, “I believe that the police personally targeted me and intentionally aimed to shoot me in the groin.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fnj5a\">While U.S. District Judge Marco Hernandez <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/pdf/20201130_JudicialRuling_1606831236228.pdf\">ruled</a> on Nov. 27 that several of the shooting incidents by police on June 30 violated the temporary restraining order restricting the use of less-lethal munitions, the judge found that the use of force against Greatwood was appropriate because he posed a threat when he examined the grenade.</p><p data-block-key=\"gight\">The ruling came as a surprise to Greatwood, “I just want justice to be served,” he told the Tracker. “It’s hard for me to feel like any of it is fair, I feel like I was the most neutral, most labeled person there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d8tnv\">Greatwood, who was livestreaming when he was hit, tried to hide his groaning from people who were tuned into his feed. “It was easily the most excruciating injury I’ve had happen to me,” he told the Tracker. Greatwood ended up going to the emergency room, where he was given basic first aid. The injury took more than a month to heal, he said.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Independent journalist pushed, hit with munitions by police while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-pushed-hit-munitions-police-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-14T22:04:00.516056Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-12T16:51:59.841392Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wxxxs\">Independent journalist Tuck Woodstock said they were pushed several times and hit by crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Portland, Oregon on June 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"70de7\">The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests that 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=\"co6ma\">In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Woodstock is a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/07-17-20_-_second_amended_complaint_0.pdf\">plaintiff</a> in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">agreement</a> by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"7zvl0\">The June 30 demonstration took place the day before a <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/06/portland-protests-to-continue-for-34th-straight-day-tuesday.html\">planned vote</a> to extend the city’s contract with the police union. Protesters marched over a mile from Peninsula Park to the Portland Police Association headquarters in North Portland.</p><p data-block-key=\"mpjy1\">Soon after protesters arrived at PPA offices around 9 p.m., the police declared an “unlawful assembly” and ordered them to disperse. When Woodstock arrived just after 9:30 p.m., the scene involved police pushing protesters and the press and shooting impact munitions at the crowd, they said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9i661\">“I got to the PPA just in time to watch PPB shoving protesters, NLG, and press while insisting that they walk faster,” Woodstock <a href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1m0FBYyA34bKgeDK0gLhP4YcwF4D5QpDvz-8TcayXP58/edit\">tweeted</a> at 9:26 p.m. In the accompanying video, the camera goes askew as police push people around Woodstock.</p><p data-block-key=\"hlwuw\">About a half hour later, Woodstock was pushed several times when police bull-rushed a crowd of protesters. While trying to film the arrest of some protesters, Woodstock “felt a baton pressed into their back as an officer yelled ‘move, move, move, move,’ directly in their ear,” according to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/07-17-20_-_second_amended_complaint_0.pdf\">court documents</a> in the ACLU case. Despite informing an officer that they were press, Woodstock was pushed at least four times, the filing said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffeql\">Then, a little after 10 p.m., Woodstock was hit by shrapnel from a canister police threw that appeared to explode on the curb in front of them. Woodstock <a href=\"https://twitter.com/tuckwoodstock/status/1278195093871054854\">tweeted</a> a video of the incident, writing, “Yup just got hit in the leg with shrapnel. Seems very superficial.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Yup just got hit in the leg with shrapnel. Seems very superficial. <a href=\"https://t.co/2KqSIgwRDI\">pic.twitter.com/2KqSIgwRDI</a></p>— Tuck Woodstock (@tuckwoodstock) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/tuckwoodstock/status/1278195093871054854?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=\"bu5gi\">Woodstock declined to comment further about the incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"10v6k\">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": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rzpo2\">A June 2020 demonstration in Portland, Oregon, after the murder of George Floyd. Journalist Tuck Woodstock was pushed by police and hit with crowd-control munitions while documenting one of the nightly protests that month.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"(2025-03-05 00:00:00+00:00) Journalists settle with Portland, Oregon, over 2020 protest violations"
],
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"protest"
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{
"title": "Reporter repeatedly shoved by police officers while covering protests in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-repeatedly-shoved-by-police-officers-while-covering-protests-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-12-13T18:32:42.091832Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T22:56:32.455958Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7f97b\">Robert Evans, a journalist and iHeartRadio podcast host, was repeatedly shoved by police officers in Portland, Oregon, while reporting on protests on June 30, 2020, according to a<a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17350167/evans-v-city-of-portland/\"> lawsuit filed against the city.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"62sd2\">Protests broke out in Portland and across the United States in response to police violence and the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white officer in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"s8crs\">On Aug. 27, Evans, with colleague Bea Lake, who was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-in-portland-after-asking-a-police-officer-for-his-name/\">arrested while documenting protests on June 7</a>, and another plaintiff filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Portland. The complaint said that on June 30, Evans was covering a group of protesters as they marched to the Portland Police Association building where officers in riot gear were already stationed. About a half hour later, the demonstration was declared an unlawful assembly. Police officers ordered the crowd to disperse and started removing individuals from the street and sidewalk before firing riot control agents.</p><p data-block-key=\"59uzo\">Evans, who did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment, was wearing a helmet labeled “PRESS” and press credentials and was repeatedly shoved by police officers as he tried to follow their orders. He stated in the complaint that he was “unable to fully document clashes and police conduct because he was forced off to the side and unable to find a reliably safe place for him to film.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5n3f3\">On June 28, the Americans Civil Liberties Union of Oregon filed a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> against the city of Portland and its law enforcement. The city later agreed to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">preliminary injunction</a> to not arrest, harm, or impede working journalists or legal observers at protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"uccv5\">The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protest, citing ongoing litigation.</p></div>",
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],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Robert Evans (Bellingcat & iHeart Radio)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Video journalist shoved, pepper-sprayed during 2020 Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-shoved-pepper-sprayed-during-2020-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-02-26T20:37:53.899847Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-31T17:48:53.532245Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-31T17:48:53.340359Z",
"date": "2020-06-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rht70\">Independent video journalist Mason Lake is pressing charges after he said he was shoved, then pepper-sprayed, by a Portland, Oregon, police officer on June 27, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"4nomt\">According to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.177047/gov.uscourts.ord.177047.1.1.pdf\">court documents,</a> Lake alleges that while filming a protest, he stopped to help an unnamed individual who had fallen. A police officer directing crowds “physically grabbed and pushed” Lake and pepper-sprayed him in the face, the documents claim.</p><p data-block-key=\"65qlb\">The incident caused “physical injuries including pain, burning sensations, as well as fear and embarrassment,” claimed Lake’s complaint. Lake <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1277384819278659584\">posted video</a> from the protest on social media.</p><p data-block-key=\"e5f7n\">Lake filed a lawsuit in June 2022 against the City of Portland and two police officers, identified as John Doe 1 and 2. In the complaint, Lake alleges that while covering protests in 2020 and 2021, Portland police in seven separate incidents shoved, pepper-sprayed, threatened, pinned, grabbed and punched him, and damaged his equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3t7p2\">He is seeking $200,000 in compensatory damages. For jurisdictional reasons, an amended complaint was moved from state to federal court on Dec. 12, 2023. Neither Lake nor his attorney responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fk7m\">The alleged assault took place against a backdrop of social justice protests around the country in the summer of 2020 following the police murder of George Floyd that May. In Portland, protests brought <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2023/12/20/new-lawsuit-against-federal-government-over-2020-response-to-portland-protests/\">thousands to the streets continuously</a> throughout that period.</p><p data-block-key=\"ed1pg\">When reached for comment, the Portland Police Bureau said they could not comment on ongoing litigation but referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to the city attorney, Robert L. Taylor. Taylor did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2024-02-26_at_3.36.48P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"yxful\">A portion of the complaint filed by journalist Mason Lake in June 2022 in which he alleges the Portland, Oregon, police infringed on his press freedom rights seven separate times. The case was moved to federal court in December 2023.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-01-29 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist settles suit against Portland, Oregon"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mason Lake (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Philadelphia Inquirer reporter arrested during ‘defund the police’ protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/philadelphia-inquirer-reporter-arrested-during-defund-police-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-08T18:38:09.132569Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:07:29.666566Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:07:29.580138Z",
"date": "2020-06-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Philadelphia",
"longitude": -75.16362,
"latitude": 39.95238,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pda3w\">Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Samantha Melamed was briefly detained by police while covering a protest inside the Philadelphia Municipal Services Building on June 23, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"to4f7\">Protesters had gathered inside the building to demand a meeting with Philadelphia’s mayor and managing director to lobby for defunding and demilitarizing the local police department. The protest was part of a national movement against police brutality that began at the end of May following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"r97s5\">Melamed captured the moments leading up to her detention in a video she later <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samanthamelamed/status/1275524750316535810\">posted to Twitter</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"wpfrb\">In the footage, a group of officers places a demonstrator under arrest while a crowd can be heard chanting “Defund the PPD,” referring to the Philadelphia Police Department. A different officer then approaches Melamed to ask who she is, and Melamed can be heard responding repeatedly that she is a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"giiwe\">Seconds later, an officer finishes zip-tying the demonstrator’s hands, turns to Melamed, grabs her notebook out of her hands and appears to pull her arms behind her back while informing her that she is under arrest.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">So I just told a police officer wielding a baton that im a reporter. He told me to “put this on Twitter”. Then he tightly handcuffed me with zip ties and he and another one mocked me while dragging me backward down two flights of stairs along with few dozen others arrested in MSB</p>— Samantha Melamed (@samanthamelamed) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samanthamelamed/status/1275522909604372481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 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=\"k1fyf\">Max Marin, a reporter for local NPR affiliate WHYY, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/maxmmarin/status/1275518996624834572?lang=en\">tweeted</a> at 4 p.m. that Melamed had just been arrested. He <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaxMMarin/status/1275520152919040003\">added</a> that he asked PPD Deputy Commissioner Dennis Wilson, who was with police at the protest, why Melamed had been detained. Wilson responded that he didn’t know but that he would “correct that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vlbbo\">Marin <a href=\"https://billypenn.com/2020/06/23/activists-stage-sit-in-at-municipal-services-building-with-defund-the-police-demands/\">reported</a> that after further questions about Melamed’s arrest, Wilson left to check on her status.</p><p data-block-key=\"yq59m\">Melamed <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samanthamelamed/status/1275523337716973570\">tweeted</a> at 4:15 p.m. that she had been released. She said she believed it was because of Marin’s post. “I can only assume that, because [Marin] tweeted it, a captain came by and said ‘are you Samantha?’ and cut my ties off,” Melamed wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2z35\">Melamed was one of several journalists detained by police during Philadelphia protests in May and June. WHYY reporter Avi Wolfman-Arent was arrested while covering a protest in downtown Philadelphia on May 31. The following day three more journalists were arrested covering other Philadelphia demonstrations: Delaware Online reporters Jeff Neiburg and Jenna Margaretta Miller and Inquirer reporter Kristen Graham. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented those cases <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-05-01&date_upper=2020-06-30&city=Philadelphia&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"kvm5l\">A few hours after Melamed was released, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted that he was disturbed by the video of Melamed’s arrest and concerned that the police officers’ actions were against the law and police policy.</p><p data-block-key=\"qbuqy\">“It will be fully investigated and addressed,” Kenney added.</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 extremely disturbed by the video of a reporter being detained while doing her job and covering one of today’s protests—and also very concerned that it may violate the law and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PhillyPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PhillyPolice</a> policy. It will be fully investigated and addressed.</p>— Jim #PhillyVotes Kenney (@PhillyMayor) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PhillyMayor/status/1275556072665812993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 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=\"sa5zq\">The Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to emailed requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2f0on\">The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": "Philadelphia Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Samantha Melamed (The Philadelphia Inquirer)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist briefly detained while covering DC protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-briefly-detained-while-covering-dc-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-10-06T14:30:45.602266Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:36:28.481169Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:36:28.401524Z",
"date": "2020-06-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pj4wd\">Shelby Talcott, a staff reporter for the Daily Caller, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was briefly detained by police while covering protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ief5\">Talcott said she had been filming protests in the nation’s capital for much of the evening. At one point, she said, individuals in the crowd accused her of being an undercover cop, shoving her and trying to take her phone, an incident <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-while-covering-dc-protests/\">the Tracker has documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2otln\">Talcott said she was eventually shoved into a police line, and officers pulled her through to the other side. Once there, an officer from the Metropolitan Police Department placed her in handcuffs, walked her to an area about two blocks away where there were no protesters, and released her within five minutes, Talcott said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rwyz\">While reporting on protests in D.C. the next day, Talcott said, she asked an officer to explain why she had been detained. She said the officer, who wasn’t present for the altercation the day before, told her that it was standard practice to handcuff anyone who breaches a police line “because they’re not sure who you are.”</p><p data-block-key=\"193xv\">A spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Department for the District of Columbia said in a statement to the Tracker that officers consider “several factors and the information available to determine if an individual should be placed in handcuffs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e0bsk\">“This applies to any situation involving MPD, including crossing a police line,” the spokesperson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"grda9\">Talcott told the Tracker that she had taken to dressing “low key” while covering protests and without clear identification as a journalist to avoid being targeted by individuals who “don’t want certain things getting out.” She said she told protesters at the scene multiple times that she was a member of the press and she was sure officers heard it.</p><p data-block-key=\"luo0k\">“I’m not sure the officers handled it in the best way, but the protesters didn’t either,” Talcott told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"zsq90\">Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"hs8ud\">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": null,
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Shelby Talcott (Daily Caller)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist assaulted while covering DC protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-while-covering-dc-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-10-06T14:24:56.941222Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:36:10.927298Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:36:10.838529Z",
"date": "2020-06-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jo9xh\">A reporter for the Daily Caller was attacked by several people who accused her of being an undercover police officer as she covered protests against police violence in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"lubzl\">Shelby Talcott told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she had been using her smartphone to film protests that night. At around midnight, she said, she was standing behind a line of protesters near Lafayette Square who were facing off with a line of police officers holding riot shields. Several individuals taking part in the demonstrations then approached her and accused her of working undercover for the police.</p><p data-block-key=\"ocwhi\">Talcott said that while covering protests she had taken to dressing “low key” and without clear identification as a journalist to avoid being targeted by people who “don’t want certain things getting out.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ktj3\">Talcott said she showed the individuals her Twitter bio and feed, and displayed a business card, to prove that she was a working member of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"4x2st\">At that point, she said, one or two of the people appeared convinced that she was telling the truth about being a reporter and told others to back away. Some, though, began to shove her around, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"zl3zw\">Then, she told the Tracker, a woman unsuccessfully tried to punch her, and a nearby police officer intervened and grabbed the assailant.</p><p data-block-key=\"ius03\">“That’s when they really doubled down and called me a cop,” Talcott said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gq92\">After the missed punch, Talcott said, a different woman tried to grab her smartphone from her hands. She said a colleague from the Daily Caller who was also at the scene pried the woman’s fingers off Talcott’s phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"w7zug\">Talcott said she was eventually shoved into the police line, and officers pulled her through to the other side. The altercation lasted five or 10 minutes, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"76qc0\">Once across the police line, an officer placed her in handcuffs, walked her to an area about two blocks away where there were no protesters, and released her within five minutes, Talcott said. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-briefly-detained-while-covering-dc-protests/\">The Tracker documented the details of that detainment here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4mp9q\">Talcott said she and her colleagues have covered protests in several U.S. cities. People threatened them while they attempted to cover acts of violence and property damage, and demanded they stop filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"mnzt9\">Talcott also said that individuals have Tweeted warnings to protesters to not speak with her, citing her employer, the Daily Caller, which is a right-leaning outlet co-founded by Fox News host Tucker Carlson.</p><p data-block-key=\"55nop\">“When they find out where you work is deemed a conservative publication, that amplifies that,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"zizai\">Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Movement have been held across the country after a viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"ixycd\">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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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"actor": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Shelby Talcott (Daily Caller)"
],
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},
{
"title": "VOA journalist shot in hand with pepper ball while filming DC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/voa-journalist-shot-in-hand-with-pepper-ball-while-filming-dc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-14T16:14:28.930749Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:23:50.935036Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:23:50.853237Z",
"date": "2020-06-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wzadv\">Voice of America journalist Ayen Bior was shot in the finger with a pepper ball while filming a protest in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"blw1z\">The protest was one of many against racial injustice in the capital and around the country in response to the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"v3jnz\">At the June 22 demonstration in Lafayette Square, a park adjacent to the White House, a group of protesters attempted to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson, prompting the U.S. Park Police to use pepper spray and batons to push protesters back, the<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/dc-police-and-protesters-square-off-near-white-house/2020/06/22/cec8c88c-b4c7-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html\"> Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"3pj7n\">Bior told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police were pushing the protesters away from the statue and toward St. John’s Episcopal Church. She said she decided to stand on the base of a lamp post in order to try to film the clash between police and protesters from a heightened angle.</p><p data-block-key=\"12cyn\">“By doing that I obviously made myself a target because I stood out,” Bior said. “But I remember thinking, ‘I think that they will know that I am a member of the press.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"sssst\">Bior said she positioned herself so that most of her body and her face were protected behind the lamp post while she held out her phone to film. The phone was held out in one hand, and her left pinky finger was exposed, when she suddenly felt a burning sensation on that finger, Bior said.</p><p data-block-key=\"tvzwb\">Bior said she had been hit by a pepper ball, a police crowd-control device, and the pain was so intense she fell to the ground and was nearly in tears. Bior said she initially thought her finger was broken because it was difficult to move, but she treated it by wrapping and icing it and eventually concluded it was not broken.</p><p data-block-key=\"lrxdx\">Bior told the Tracker that she did not know whether she was targeted because she was a journalist, but she said she believed she was shot because she was filming. At other protests she has covered, she said, police typically fire pepper balls toward the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"s57uq\">“I knew that they were sending a message to me to stop recording,” she said. “I knew that that was the intent of shooting me and I felt like they risked my vision and risked me losing my eyesight for them to get that message across.”</p><p data-block-key=\"krw6z\">Bior said she was not sure which law enforcement agency fired the pepper ball that hit her. The Post reported that D.C. Metro Police were at the protest in addition to U.S. Park Police.</p><p data-block-key=\"bprp3\">Bior was wearing a ballistic helmet and a bulletproof vest at the time she was hit, which she thought would make her stand out from protesters. She said she was also displaying an ID card issued by VOA that clearly says “PRESS.”</p><p data-block-key=\"r7bf1\">The U.S. Park Police did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the D.C. Metro Police Department said the department does not use pepper balls.</p><p data-block-key=\"f41md\">The Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions</a> to journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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"Ayen Bior (Voice of America)"
],
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},
{
"title": "VOA journalist hit with a baton by unidentified man at DC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/voa-journalist-hit-with-a-baton-by-unidentified-man-at-dc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-14T13:57:02.718428Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:23:09.992872Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:23:09.905986Z",
"date": "2020-06-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ounk0\">Voice of America journalist Jason Patinkin said he was hit with a baton while reporting on a protest in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square on June 22, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ygkbp\">Patinkin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the man who hit him appeared to be working with law enforcement but was not wearing a uniform and would not answer questions about his identity.</p><p data-block-key=\"1erc9\">The protest was one of many against racial injustice in the capital and around the country in response to the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"6amuw\">At the June 22 demonstration in Lafayette Square, a park adjacent to the White House, a group of protesters attempted to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson, prompting the U.S. Park Police to use pepper spray and batons to push them back, the<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/dc-police-and-protesters-square-off-near-white-house/2020/06/22/cec8c88c-b4c7-11ea-a510-55bf26485c93_story.html\"> Washington Post</a> reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"h3in3\">Late in the afternoon, Patinkin said he was filming a line of police attempting to move protesters when a man used a baton to hit the journalist and a nearby protester. Patinkin said the man was not wearing a uniform but appeared to be working with the police to control the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"zikkn\">Images in a VOA <a href=\"https://www.voanews.com/usa/race-america/police-halt-attempt-topple-andrew-jackson-statue-near-white-house\">video news story</a> about the protest show a man wearing a dark green shirt, green protective vest and a helmet with a face shield who is holding a baton on both ends in front of his chest. He lunges toward the camera, which shakes, then can be seen lunging toward the right of the screen, apparently hitting a protester.</p><p data-block-key=\"r1lwz\">Patinkin said the man hit him horizontally across the chest.</p><p data-block-key=\"msgqo\">“It's an unmarked guy hitting, hitting a journalist and hitting a protester,” Patinkin said. “If that's not assault, I don't know what is.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gt8ob\">Patinkin said the blow was not enough to knock him over. He told the Tracker that he repeatedly asked the man who he was, and the man backed away from the police line. He did not identify himself or answer questions about his affiliation, Patinkin said.</p><p data-block-key=\"v1fgc\">Patinkin said he asked a uniformed police officer who the unidentified man was, but the officer said he didn’t know.</p><p data-block-key=\"p6gge\">“That means that he was operating in a line of police violently, and they didn't know who he was, and they didn't do anything about it,” Patinkin said.</p><p data-block-key=\"g97ix\">Later in the day, Patinkin filmed the same man working alongside police officers, including helping with an arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"ua8bk\">Patinkin said he was wearing a press badge issued to him at VOA by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA. He said he had repeatedly identified himself as a journalist to other police officers who were in the line at the time he was hit. He also was carrying a camera with a large microphone attached.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vk6z\">“I don't know if I was specifically targeted because I was a journalist, but I was definitely hit despite clearly being a journalist,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9fz7u\">The U.S. Park Police did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"fftxj\">The Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions</a> to journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "unknown",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jason Patinkin (Voice of America)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Student journalist pepper-sprayed, thrown to ground by law enforcement in Richmond",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-pepper-sprayed-thrown-ground-law-enforcement-richmond/",
"first_published_at": "2020-10-05T20:45:02.205239Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-03-10T21:59:48.910842Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-03-10T21:59:48.857748Z",
"date": "2020-06-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Richmond",
"longitude": -77.46026,
"latitude": 37.55376,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kvfuc\">Journalist Andrew Ringle was pepper sprayed by a Richmond, Virginia, police officer and then thrown to the ground by another law enforcement official while he was covering protests on June 21, 2020, in favor of removing Confederate monuments, Ringle told the Committee to Protect Journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"djn5s\">Ringle serves as the executive editor of the student newspaper, The Commonwealth Times. In a phone interview with CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, he said that a Richmond police officer sprayed him in the face twice around 9 p.m. As he fumbled around, vision obfuscated from the pepper spray, Ringle bumped into an officer who picked him up and threw him to the ground, the journalist told CPJ. A protester helped Ringle, who left the demonstration and went to his friend’s apartment, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"vm8co\">Ringle’s left knee and left elbow were bruised during the incident. Ringle posted to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/aeringle/status/1274898298923606017\">his Twitter account</a> pictures of his injuries the evening they occured. Two days later, his hands were still tender from the pepper spray, he told CPJ on June 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"xuqlc\">The journalist told CPJ that he was wearing a state-issued press badge granted as part of a college class when he encountered police.</p><p data-block-key=\"yg3oo\">Richmond Police did not respond to CPJ’s email or voicemail requests for comment. Virginia State Police referred CPJ to its Public Relations Director, Corinne Geller, who did not respond to CPJ’s email requesting comment.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
"abbreviation": "VA"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Andrew Ringle (The Commonwealth Times)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist struck with pepper balls during Compton protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-pepper-balls-during-compton-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-27T19:28:40.463460Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:37:09.524468Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:37:09.437256Z",
"date": "2020-06-21",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
"latitude": 33.89585,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"htywe\">Kandist Mallett, a freelance journalist and columnist for Teen Vogue, was struck with pepper bullets fired by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies while covering a protest in Compton, California, on June 21, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"mhr4t\">The protest was organized in response to the shooting death of 18-year-old Andrés Guardado by a deputy three days earlier. The Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-21/protesters-demand-answers-for-why-18-year-old-latino-man-was-shot-by-deputy\">reported</a> that approximately 600 demonstrators marched from nearby Gardena down West Redondo Beach Boulevard, where Guardado was shot, to the Sheriff’s Department’s station in Compton.</p><p data-block-key=\"ipu6l\">Mallett told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that while most of the demonstrators had left by around 6 p.m., a small group faced off against a line of sheriff’s deputies in riot gear. In Mallett’s footage of the scene <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kandistmallett/status/1274871596042182656\">posted to Twitter</a>, at least seven deputies appear to be standing behind metal barricades blocking an alley on the north side of Compton City Hall, across the street from the Sheriff’s Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"o0z0p\">In the video, some of the deputies can be seen pointing their crowd-control weapons at the crowd as protesters shout at them. Mallett wrote that moments after she took the footage, the deputies began to use tear gas and the pepper ball guns on those present, including reporters.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">They just started shooting at us I got hit with something <a href=\"https://t.co/ECvpCDWnEL\">pic.twitter.com/ECvpCDWnEL</a></p>— Kandist (@kandistmallett) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kandistmallett/status/1274857020751900674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 22, 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=\"br9a8\">“They shot tear gas, pepper bullets, pepper spray and rubber bullets at us,” Mallett said. “I was struck with the pepper bullets on my arm and my leg and caught in the tear gas.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gbrhf\">Mallett said that the deputies did not declare the gathering an unlawful assembly before opening fire on the demonstrators and members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"afyjg\">“I showed the line of deputies my press pass just to be like, ‘Don’t shoot me,’” Mallett said. “[The deputies] just started doing everything, and I tried to get out of the way, but because we were in that long hallway, there was no way to escape without being in their aim.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ur6t0\">Mallett said that while she was coughing a lot and her eyes were irritated, she did not seek medical attention at the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"ayy67\">When asked whether she felt she had been targeted, Mallett said that many of those in the area were clearly identified as members of the press when the deputies opened fire.</p><p data-block-key=\"rufeq\">“I did feel like the deputies just didn’t care that there were members of the press, and that their response was unnecessary and unprovoked,” Mallett said.</p><p data-block-key=\"msyuv\">Freelance photojournalist Ringo Chiu was also struck with crowd-control munitions while covering the protests that day. The Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-crowd-control-munitions-during-compton-demonstration/\">documented his case here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jevvc\">KTLA <a href=\"https://ktla.com/news/local-news/protesters-demanding-justice-for-andres-guardado-clash-with-deputies-in-compton/\">reported</a> that the Sheriff’s Department confirmed that its deputies had used flash-bang grenades, pepper balls and smoke grenades on demonstrators that day, but did not provide details about what triggered their use.</p><p data-block-key=\"0n9eu\">The Sheriff’s Department did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"xthtp\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of 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 in 2020. Find these incidents <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with crowd-control munitions during Compton demonstration",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-crowd-control-munitions-during-compton-demonstration/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-26T20:26:44.516671Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-13T17:36:48.655718Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-13T17:36:48.568125Z",
"date": "2020-06-21",
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"city": "Compton",
"longitude": -118.22007,
"latitude": 33.89585,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0zt4f\">Photojournalist Ringo Chiu, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, said he was struck with multiple crowd control-munitions while covering a protest in Compton, California, on June 21, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"q19rn\">In an account first posted to Facebook and then shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Chiu said that he was documenting arrests during a protest in response to the shooting death of 18-year-old Andrés Guardado by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies three days earlier.</p><p data-block-key=\"g2wef\">The Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-21/protesters-demand-answers-for-why-18-year-old-latino-man-was-shot-by-deputy\">reported</a> that approximately 600 demonstrators had marched that day from nearby Gardena down West Redondo Beach Boulevard, where Guardado was shot, to the Sheriff’s Department’s station in Compton.</p><p data-block-key=\"ijw9j\">After a peaceful protest, Chiu told the Tracker, a small group of demonstrators faced off against a line of sheriff’s deputies in riot gear in an alley on the north side of Compton City Hall.</p><p data-block-key=\"z26rq\">“I was standing on one of the sides alongside other photographers taking photos when the officers began firing rubber bullets and pepper balls at the demonstrators,” Chiu said, adding that as his eyes became irritated by the chemical powder in the pepper balls, he then looked for a way to leave the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"sqcmn\">“In my attempt to leave the scene, I was hit by a rubber bullet near my elbow,” Chiu said.</p><p data-block-key=\"vn9np\">Chiu didn’t leave the protest entirely, and shortly after being struck, he said that he’d tried to get closer to document as deputies arrested demonstrators standing between the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and Compton City Hall.</p><p data-block-key=\"jh102\">“An officer used his gun to point at me and told me to leave the area. I raised my media pass and shouted that I was with the media, but they didn’t seem to care and began to fire rubber bullets at me,” Chiu said. “I was shot once again on my right inner thigh, and afterwards I left the scene to file my photos.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vx0u1\">In images <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ringochiu/posts/10159148286054063\">posted to Fackebook</a>, impact wounds can be seen on his right inner thigh and his right elbow. Chiu noted in his post that no protesters were standing near him when the officer opened fire and that he was wearing his press credentials and carrying multiple cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"mxtvk\">The Tracker has also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/june-1-while-reporting-protests-across-nation-journalists-tear-gassed-threatened/\">documented</a> the cases of multiple other journalists affected by chemical irritants while covering the protests that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"w6jy1\">KTLA <a href=\"https://ktla.com/news/local-news/protesters-demanding-justice-for-andres-guardado-clash-with-deputies-in-compton/\">reported</a> that the Sheriff’s Department confirmed that its deputies had used flash-bang grenades, pepper balls and smoke grenades on demonstrators that day, but did not provide details about what triggered their use.</p><p data-block-key=\"4awnp\">The Sheriff’s Department did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"jvgyx\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of 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 in 2020. Find these incidents <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Atlanta journalist threatened with pistol, beaten during Rayshard Brooks protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/atlanta-journalist-threatened-pistol-beaten-during-rayshard-brooks-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-04T19:45:48.776373Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-17T16:56:50.378871Z",
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"date": "2020-06-20",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"851ot\">Freelance writer George Chidi was beaten by several unknown assailants and threatened by an armed man while covering protests that erupted in Atlanta’s Peoplestown neighborhood over the fatal June 12 police shooting of Rayshard Brooks.</p><p data-block-key=\"nr3cy\">Chidi is a former reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution whose work has appeared more recently in The Intercept and the Atlanta hyperlocal news site Decaturish. While reporting at the scene of a June 20, 2020 protest at the Wendy’s restaurant where Brooks was shot dead, Chidi said he was confronted by an armed man who threatened to shoot him after Chidi refused to turn over his phone. When Chidi tried to walk away from the man, he said, he was surrounded by other assailants who punched him repeatedly on his face and head.</p><p data-block-key=\"81xp4\">Brooks was killed three weeks after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody had touched off unrest in cities across the United States. The day after his death, protesters gathered at the Wendy’s restaurant, which was closed. <a href=\"https://www.ajc.com/news/local/protestors-light-wendy-fire-enter-interstate-after-atlanta-death/oaZtPSD0yipmtBdbSLsp3K/\">The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported</a> that the restaurant caught fire when protesters broke windows and threw fireworks into the building. Over the next week, protesters, <a href=\"https://www.ajc.com/news/breaking-news/police-child-shot-killed-atlanta/gePIuT0NSJFUITL5Q3eiKK/\">some of them armed,</a> continued to gather in the Wendy’s parking lot and on nearby University Avenue.</p><p data-block-key=\"alziq\">Chidi was reporting at the protest site on the night of June 20 when he heard multiple gunshots off in the distance at about 10 p.m, he said. Chidi told the Tracker he could not see the source of the initial shots, but he saw armed individuals in the parking lot assuming defensive firing positions. He said he heard someone else in the parking lot closer to him fire additional shots. At that point, the crowd of about 500 began to clear out, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"t76pf\">The crowd dwindled to about 50, Chidi said, and most of those who remained were carrying firearms -- including AR-15 semiautomatic rifles.</p><p data-block-key=\"rn6bv\">Chidi stayed at the scene and approached a group of armed men near the Wendy’s who were “gingerly disarming someone they didn’t know.” What had begun a week earlier, as a vigil for 27-year-old Rayshard Brooks, “had transformed into something more militant,” he wrote in <a href=\"https://theintercept.com/2020/06/24/rayshard-brooks-armed-atlanta-protesters/\">an article for The Intercept.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"8seq9\">As he came close to them, a woman with the group accused Chidi of working with the unknown shooter who had fired into the protesters, according to Chidi. Chidi said he had spoken with the woman earlier in the evening and identified himself as a journalist. When she later confronted him, he said, she and others in the group accused him of using his smartphone to take pictures of them.</p><p data-block-key=\"19xd2\">“I hadn’t captured their images and I wasn’t going to hand over my cellphone,” Chidi told the Tracker. “[Even] if they were the cops I would have said no.”</p><p data-block-key=\"zadpm\">Chidi said that after he refused to hand over his phone, one of the men in the group put his hand on a shoulder holster holding a pistol. The armed man said he would kill Chidi and began counting down from 10, according to the journalist. When the countdown reached five, Chidi started to walk away, telling the group, “I’m out, good luck, guys,” the journalist told the Tracker. Before he could get away, he said, some of the men formed a semi-circle around him and began punching him in the head. Eventually, Chidi said, he was able to escape, and he later sought medical attention for lacerations and bruising on his face. A cut above his right eye was deep enough that it needed to be glued shut, Chidi said.</p><p data-block-key=\"bxodd\">Chidi told the Tracker that he has continued covering protests in Atlanta since the June 20 attack, but that he was considering seeking mental health treatment. “I’m a fairly cool guy under duress,” he said. “But I’ve had trouble sleeping.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kxg9s\">Chidi said he did not report the attack to the Atlanta Police Department, out of concern that it might compromise relationships with his reporting sources. “It conveys the appearance that I am working with police against street protesters,” he said. He did, however, send his Intercept article to the police department public relations staff “to make sure they would see the story.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f7on0\">The Atlanta Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on Chidi’s report.</p><p data-block-key=\"pgz5q\">Chidi said he felt that the assailants targeted him because he is a journalist. He identified himself as an opinion writer who has regularly spoken out on criminal justice issues and other civic affairs <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=248995612942019\">in on-air segments</a> for Fox 5 Atlanta and in his <a href=\"https://decaturish.com/author/georgechidi/\">George on Georgia column</a> for Decaturish. Although he writes opinion pieces, Chidi said he has worked to keep his objective, and he has not joined in with protesters at demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"bk57u\">“I was not a direct participant, at least not in anything I was writing about,” Chidi said. “But I make no secret about my biases.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"e0ago\">Journalist George Chidi was threatened by an armed man and beaten by individuals in Atlanta on June 20, 2020.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist arrested, equipment seized outside Trump’s Tulsa rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-equipment-seized-outside-trumps-tulsa-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-01T15:18:21.179965Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:42:21.307351Z",
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"date": "2020-06-20",
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"city": "Tulsa",
"longitude": -95.99277,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tmtbc\">Texas photojournalist Alan Pogue was arrested while documenting police arresting others outside of President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"dw2g2\">The Texas Observer confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Pogue was covering the rally for the outlet. Pogue is also the owner of the Texas Center for Documentary Photography and was a combat medic in the Vietnam War.</p><p data-block-key=\"u9kn6\">Pogue told the Tracker that had already passed through security into the BOK Center when he heard somebody yell that something was happening with the police outside.</p><p data-block-key=\"cdy4u\">“So I grabbed my camera bag and ran out front, but by the time I got there the three people had already been arrested and were being led across some grass to a police van,” Pogue said. “I followed the police and the three people and took some photographs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"v2e2k\">After the individuals were in the van, however, Pogue said the officers from the Tulsa Police turned to him “almost in unison” and asked who he was.</p><p data-block-key=\"t5q2d\">Pogue’s arrest report, which was released to the Tracker, states that Pogue followed police into a restricted area of the Trump rally and refused to leave, stating that he was media. The report also states that Pogue was allegedly “unable to provide proof of being with the media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"oscqs\">Pogue told the Tracker that the police narrative is completely inaccurate.</p><p data-block-key=\"dxljc\">“One police officer told me to stand back just a little bit more,” Pogue said. “So, I took a couple of giant steps backward and he was satisfied, so I just kept taking pictures. No one else said anything to me. There was nothing to indicate that I shouldn’t be there and nobody told me I couldn’t be.”</p><p data-block-key=\"la94f\">Pogue said that when the officers turned to him and asked who he was, he identified himself as a photojournalist, showed them the wristband he received after passing through the rally’s security screening and handed them his business card.</p><p data-block-key=\"e7v67\">“It was really generational: One of the younger police officers said, ‘Well, you’ve got your wristband, you’re obviously a photojournalist. I guess you can go now,’” Pogue said. “Then an older officer said, ‘No, no, no, you can’t go now.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"w8rgw\">Officers searched through his camera bag, which contained not only his equipment but a medical kit and a bulletproof vest that he had worn through security. Pogue told the Tracker that, during the search, one of the officers said, “It looks like he’s some kind of social justice advocate.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9j895\">When Pogue located his digital copy of a letter from the Observer verifying that he was on assignment for the news organization, he showed it to the older officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ob47\">“[The officer] then grabs my iPhone and is flipping through my emails, and I said, ‘Officer, you do not have my permission to look through my iPhone,” Pogue said. “But, he saw that I’m also a member of the Veterans for Peace, and that pretty much nailed me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"yctqm\">Pogue said that he was placed under arrest, but that the officers were not rough with him and didn’t zip-tie his hands too tightly.</p><p data-block-key=\"jmudo\">A spokesperson from the Tulsa County jail told the Tracker that Pogue was arrested at approximately 5:40 p.m., and booked in the jail at 7:17 p.m. He was released on a $500 bond paid by the Tulsa Bail Project at around 11:20 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"wb8uz\">The Tulsa Police Department, the arresting agency, did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2cr7r\">Pogue was charged with obstructing or interfering with an officer, the spokesperson said, which is a misdemeanor <a href=\"https://law.justia.com/codes/oklahoma/2006/os21.html\">punishable</a> by up to one year in jail, a $500 fine or both.</p><p data-block-key=\"36rld\">Pogue’s belongings — including his wallet, ID, phone and equipment — were not returned to him upon his release. He was told he would have to come back to the county jail at 8 a.m. on June 22; when he arrived that Monday officers informed him that his two cameras, three lenses, cellphone, memory cards, camera bag and bulletproof vest were all being held as evidence.</p><p data-block-key=\"yh13w\">“Obviously all they would really need is my compact flash card, nothing else really matters,” Pogue said. “It’s just harassment. There’s no intel to be gathered from my lenses.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wvd57\">“I am deprived of the tools of my trade for no good reason,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"woc5q\">Tristan Ahtone, editor-in-chief for the Observer, told the Tracker, “We condemn the arrest of reporters by security forces and demand that Tulsa police release [Pogue’s] equipment immediately.”</p><p data-block-key=\"91joa\">Pogue said that his arraignment is set for July 10, but that he is hopeful the charges will be dismissed and his equipment returned before that date.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"psnqx\">The exterior of Tulsa’s BOK Center, where President Donald Trump held his first re-election campaign rally in many months on June 20, 2020.</p>",
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{
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},
{
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"equipment": "camera"
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{
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"equipment": "camera lens"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "equipment bag"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "protective equipment"
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{
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],
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"state": {
"name": "Oklahoma",
"abbreviation": "OK"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-08-07 14:59:00+00:00) Charges dropped against photojournalist arrested outside Trump’s Tulsa rally",
"(2021-01-08 08:56:00+00:00) Cellphone returned six months later to photojournalist arrested outside Trump’s Tulsa rally"
],
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