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{
"title": "Journalist’s arm fractured by crowd-control munitions during a Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-arm-fractured-by-crowd-control-munitions-during-a-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-26T18:14:01.991868Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:18:32.542356Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:18:32.451895Z",
"date": "2020-08-09",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eohcl\">Independent journalist Seth Dunlap said his arm was fractured after being struck with what he believed to be a flash-bang grenade tossed by a police officer while he was covering a demonstration in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Aug. 9, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"qk6m4\">Dunlap, a contributor to the social media news outlet <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/frontlineaccess\">FrontLine Access</a>, was covering one of the protests that had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. 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=\"csiu4\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon alleges in a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a>. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists and other legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"egm0x\">Late on Aug. 8, Seattle-based Dunlap was covering a demonstration outside the Portland police union headquarters in North Portland. The Portland Police Bureau <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1292350506258448384?s=20\">declared a riot</a> around 11:40 p.m., <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/portland-protests-continue-for-73rd-day-throughout-city-saturday.html\">after a group of demonstrators</a> lit a fire inside the Portland Police Association building. The PPB and Oregon State Police used crowd-control munitions and physical force to disperse the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"436sv\">Just after midnight, Dunlap was standing near ACLU legal observers when what he described as a flash-bang grenade was thrown in his direction by a PPB officer, injuring his arm, he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"k67uf\">“Luckily I had my left arm up recording at the time, and the flash-bang went off and hit my arm,” Dunlap said. “Otherwise it probably would have hit my face, and who knows what would have happened then.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vlb1b\">Independent journalist Suzette Smith <a href=\"https://twitter.com/suzettesmith/status/1292357734357069824?s=20\">tweeted</a> a video of the chaotic scene, writing that Dunlap was struck with a “less-lethal munition.”</p><p data-block-key=\"woz27\">“He was on the ground and unresponsive for an agonizing number of seconds, during the chaos of the rush,” Smith wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"2hk4e\">Medics at the scene tended to Dunlap and Smith <a href=\"https://twitter.com/suzettesmith/status/1292357933552947201\">posted</a> a photo of his bruised arm.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you to everybody for their incredible help during and after. Seriously, what heroes 🙏❤️🙏❤️. I’m OK. Hurting, but OK. Direct shot from a flashbang or something in the left arm. Don’t remember being out at all, so that’s extra scary. <a href=\"https://t.co/QFxkZ4Dg8m\">https://t.co/QFxkZ4Dg8m</a></p>— Seth Dunlap (@sethdunlap) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/sethdunlap/status/1292364371423686657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 9, 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=\"lfsyx\">Dunlap said that hours after he was struck, he “one-arm drove” home to Seattle. The next day, his arm “swelled up like a balloon.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hv2jh\">He went to an emergency room and learned that the orbital bone in his left arm was fractured, he said. “So that basically put me out of work for about a month.”</p><p data-block-key=\"iorzo\">Dunlap, who was wearing a helmet and reflective clothing with markings that identified him as a journalist, said he felt targeted as a member of the press. "Considering I’m 6’7” and was wearing very visible and reflective press gear, and I was standing in a group of neon green-clad legal observers, I believe it’s pretty clear they threw that munition at us intentionally,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"cuxud\">PPB spokesperson Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident in an email to the Tracker, citing the ongoing ACLU litigation.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"protest"
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{
"title": "Independent journalist said she was hit with projectile, shoved while reporting on Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-said-she-was-hit-with-projectile-shoved-while-reporting-on-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-23T19:27:04.821723Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:18:14.468761Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:18:14.364402Z",
"date": "2020-08-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cz7b0\">Independent social media journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was hit with a projectile and pushed into a cactus by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Aug. 9, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"yg6g2\">Demonstrations had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. 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 BLM protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"vx0tk\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order in July barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"41j65\">Late in the evening of Aug. 8, police declared a riot in North Portland after a small group of protesters broke into the Portland Police Association, the union that represents city police officers, and set a small fire on the floor of the office, <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2020/08/09/portland-protesters-once-again-focus-attention-on-police-union-building/\">Oregon Public Broadcasting</a> reported. The Portland Police Bureau and Oregon State Police dispersed the demonstration from that area, though protests continued in the early hours of the morning in Kenton Park, about a half mile north.</p><p data-block-key=\"j3bq6\">Auberdine, who livestreams video of protests on her social media channels, said she was covering the protest in Kenton Park when she was hit with a metal projectile. While standing under a tree for shelter, she was struck in the arm with what she believes was a 40mm puck round fired by a PPB officer, she told the Tracker. The projectile ricocheted off of the tree and hit her from above, she said, adding that it didn’t cause her any injury.</p><p data-block-key=\"0eiwi\">Auberdine said other journalists were also standing near the tree at the time she was struck. She said she didn’t know whether the police had intended the projectile to hit anyone.</p><p data-block-key=\"aivut\">About 20 minutes later, she said, she was reporting near the front of a protest in the Kenton neighborhood, a few blocks from the park. Because of where she was standing, she said it was hard to move out of the way. Then a state trooper cross-checked her into a planter box in front of a restaurant or bar, she said. She broke her fall with her left arm by grabbing onto the side of the box. As she did, she said, the needles of a cactus stabbed through her sweater and into her arm.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Got shot in the arm by a canister tonight (clearly marked press) It ricocheted off a tree, so the impact didnt cause any significant injuries, but it ended a few day streak of me not getting shot :/<br><br>Also got pushed into a cactus by a state trooper. That sentence exists now...</p>— Teebs (@TeebsGaming) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TeebsGaming/status/1292448542624108544?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 9, 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=\"fe165\">She said she pulled most of the needles out a short time later when the confrontation calmed down, but she wasn’t able to remove all of them until she went home.</p><p data-block-key=\"4f8sd\">Auberdine wore a black bullet resistant vest with the word “press” on the front and back in large white letters, she said, and also carried recording equipment, including a microphone.</p><p data-block-key=\"niimg\">“While I bet they would have shoved anyone in arms reach into that planter box, they 100 percent knew what they were doing,” Auberdine told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"0t6cy\">In response to an email inquiry, a spokesperson for the OSP didn’t specifically address the incident, but said that concerns about excessive use of force could be reported to the state police Office of Professional Standards.</p><p data-block-key=\"4d45b\">When reached by email, PPB spokesperson Greg Pashley told the Tracker that he didn’t have any information to release about the incident.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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{
"title": "Photojournalist’s camera slapped away, blocked at rally against defunding Seattle Police Department",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-camera-slapped-away-blocked-at-rally-against-defunding-seattle-police-department/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-11T18:34:30.059635Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-21T20:35:15.220906Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-21T20:35:15.158720Z",
"date": "2020-08-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Seattle",
"longitude": -122.33207,
"latitude": 47.60621,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gp1rz\">An individual attending a rally slapped away a freelance photojournalist’s camera as he photographed an Aug. 9, 2020, rally in Seattle, Washington, according to the photojournalist and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1292534178215391232?s=21\">a video</a> of the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"xiplr\">Noah Riffe, 20, a student and freelance photographer, had been covering protests that began in Seattle in the wake of the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Riffe told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for Turkish news platform <a href=\"https://www.anadoluimages.com/\">Anadolu Images</a> on Aug. 9, photographing a rally against the defunding of the Seattle Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"51naf\">The early afternoon <a href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/its-not-the-seattle-i-want-to-live-in-passion-and-deep-feelings-at-rally-to-support-police/\">rally outside Seattle City Hall</a> attracted city officials and pro-police demonstrators, as well as anti-police counterprotesters, some of whom were dressed in black clothing with black face coverings, a tactic known as black bloc that is used to conceal a person’s identity.</p><p data-block-key=\"ud1fh\">Riffe said that the street directly in front of City Hall had been closed and barricaded, and the counterprotesters were gathered just outside of the barricaded area. Riffe said he saw a pro-police protester leave the contained area and approach some counterprotesters, dumping a bottle of water over a flag they had been burning. Riffe followed, also leaving the contained area in front of City Hall.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qd57\">Riffe said that at that point, he was directly behind the pro-police protester who had dumped the water, following her and taking pictures of the counterprotesters pushing back on the woman.</p><p data-block-key=\"nkrfc\">One of the counterprotesters then “reached their hand out and smacked my camera and tried to knock it to the ground,” said Riffe.</p><p data-block-key=\"mvhmo\">Riffe said he then took a step back and “tried to have a conversation” and explain he was a member of the media, but that the person who hit his camera said he “didn’t care.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hydcs\">The brief altercation was captured <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jasonrantz/status/1292534178215391232?s=21\">on video</a> by Seattle reporter Jason Rantz. In the video, Riffe can be seen in a yellow shirt and holding a camera, with the woman in a bright green shirt; both are surrounded by counterprotesters. One of the individuals reaches out quickly and slaps the camera out of Riffe’s hand. Riffe catches it, and briefly yells back.</p><p data-block-key=\"1btu2\">Riffe said that his equipment was not damaged and he was not physically hurt, but that after the confrontation he left the area, as the counterprotesters kept pushing him back and out of the way as he tried to photograph.</p><p data-block-key=\"6juu1\">Riffe said that Seattle police officers, while present at the scene, did not intervene. The Seattle Police Department did not respond to a request from the Tracker for comment.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Independent videographer says he was shoved, shot in finger by law enforcement while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-says-he-was-shoved-shot-finger-law-enforcement-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-22T14:54:11.067174Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:33:44.927217Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:33:44.841061Z",
"date": "2020-08-09",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"aab7a\">Independent videographer Nicholas Lee said police officers shoved him and shot him in the finger with a crowd-control munition while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of Aug. 9, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"9tfoe\">The protest was one of many 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=\"cv4rb\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"gxwgw\">Lee was covering a <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/protests-in-portland-oregon-saturday-august-8-2020/283-3b35a461-3eed-486c-aad0-eb60714329ba\">demonstration</a> that began outside the Portland police union building in North Portland on the night of Aug. 8 and continued into the next morning. The police declared a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1292350298061586433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1292350506258448384%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es2_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.kgw.com%2Farticle%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Fprotests%2Fprotests-in-portland-oregon-saturday-august-8-2020%2F283-3b35a461-3eed-486c-aad0-eb60714329ba\">riot</a> shortly before midnight, after some demonstrators lit a fire inside the Portland Police Association headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"cvku9\">Sometime around midnight, Lee was shoved to the ground by officers while he was on the sidewalk. “I'd been grabbed by the cops, shoved to the ground again because it seems they didn't want a brutal arrest filmed,” he wrote in a tweet that has since been deleted.</p><p data-block-key=\"prket\">After a while, said Lee, law enforcement officers from the Portland Police Bureau and Oregon State Police fired sting-ball grenades that drove protesters in the direction of Kenton Park. Once the protesters had gathered in the park, police officers continued to fire crowd-control munitions, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"k634c\">At around 12:25 a.m., Lee noticed a tear gas canister on the ground in the park and approached it, he said. “I remember hearing, ‘If you touch that, you’re going to get shot,’” Lee told the Tracker. Soon he felt a rubber bullet, fired by a PPB officer, hit the tip of his middle finger.</p><p data-block-key=\"xtaxj\">“It hit my finger, and there was blood everywhere,” he said. “Another photographer took me to the emergency room.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dpl9q\">The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Independent filmmaker pepper sprayed while covering Ferguson protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-filmmaker-pepper-sprayed-while-covering-ferguson-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-15T18:47:42.055308Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:33:25.326727Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:33:25.218689Z",
"date": "2020-08-09",
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"longitude": -90.30539,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0kdjr\">Chris Phillips, an independent filmmaker, was hit in the face with pepper spray at close range while he covered a protest in Ferguson, Missouri, on Aug. 9, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"sqlg2\">The demonstration was held on the sixth anniversary of the day Michael Brown, a Black teenager, was shot and killed by police in 2014. Mass protests against police violence and racial injustice were held across the U.S. for months in 2020, fueled by the killings of George Floyd in Minneapolis and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky, among others.</p><p data-block-key=\"obk8k\">Phillips, a resident of the same complex where Brown lived, made a documentary, <a href=\"http://www.ferguson365film.com/?fbclid=IwAR1EJXhxRuN7JVeTFAvFH8mxf9FwIDZ2rLoZMVd8aFOOhf1BKcspIm68z74\">Ferguson 365</a>, about the movement that followed Brown’s killing, and has been documenting the aftermath of Brown’s killing ever since. Phillips runs the production company <a href=\"http://www.maverickmediagroup.net/\">Maverick Media Group</a> and said his work has been published by outlets including The Associated Press and CBS.</p><p data-block-key=\"58nym\">Phillips said he arrived at the police department at night, where protesters and police had been in a standoff. However, he said, about an hour after he arrived, the atmosphere seemed relaxed. He remembered filming a scene of a woman sitting in a lawn chair in the police department parking lot, chatting with officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"8wsci\">He went to pick up a camera battery he had left charging on the opposite side of the street from the police department. As he pulled the plug from the outlet, he said he heard screaming and turned to see police rush into the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsug3\">Phillips said he grabbed his camera and started toward the confrontation to film it. His camera was still powering up, he said, and he was getting positioned to film two police officers who were throwing someone to the ground. Suddenly, he said, a different police officer fired pepper spray into his face from less than 10 feet away. Phillips said there were no protesters close to him at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"rcm42\">“For me to get sprayed like that — that was a deliberate act,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"jcbbh\">Phillips said the spray was very painful and temporarily blinded him. He said he turned around and tripped, slamming his camera into the pavement.</p><p data-block-key=\"6urlg\">Protesters came to his aid and helped him to a medical station, where they tried to neutralize the impact of the spray with milk and water, he said. His eyes and face hurt for two days after he was sprayed, he said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MissJupiter1957?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MissJupiter1957</a> for capturing this. One of my eyes is still in pain this morning from the pepper spray. The police use these harsh chemicals without warning. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/policebrutality?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#policebrutality</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/policeaccountability?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#policeaccountability</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ferguson?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ferguson</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ferguson365?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ferguson365</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/udquiBycKa\">https://t.co/udquiBycKa</a></p>— Chris Phillips (@maverickmedia1) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/maverickmedia1/status/1292865072541437955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 10, 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=\"jtcgd\">Phillips said he heard no warning before police rushed into the crowd, or before he was sprayed. He wasn’t wearing any form of press identification, he said, but he was carrying an elaborate, professional-grade cinema camera. He said he didn’t have an opportunity to identify himself to police before he was pepper sprayed, though he is well-known as a filmmaker in Ferguson, according to<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1292931474191200256?s=20\"> other journalists in the area</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Chris Phillips of Maverick Media was pepper-sprayed. He is well-known media by everyone in Ferguson and STL. This is what journalists deal with in Ferguson since 2014.<br><br>6th Anniversary of Michael Brown Jr. murder. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/MikeBrown?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MikeBrown</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/jhLknFsQLa\">pic.twitter.com/jhLknFsQLa</a></p>— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1292675536527994880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 10, 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=\"dyeu4\">Phillips said his camera rig was inoperable after the fall. The only component that still worked was the microphone. He said the RED Scarlet-W “brain” of the camera, which he purchased for $12,500, suffered significant interior and exterior damage, so he decided to replace it with a newer model, which he did with the help of an <a href=\"https://www.gofundme.com/f/filmmaker039s-chris-phillips039-equipment-destroyed?utm_source=customer&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link_more\">online fundraiser</a>. He also needed to replace a $280 Zoom H-5 audio recorder that was damaged. He said he hadn’t been in contact with police about the incident, but he was considering his legal options.</p><p data-block-key=\"wxpvb\">St. Louis County Police Department spokesperson Tracy Panus told the Tracker in an email that the agency wasn’t familiar with Phillips or aware that he was pepper sprayed. According to Panus, police directed protesters to disperse multiple times over a loudspeaker before beginning to arrest people who didn’t follow the orders.</p><p data-block-key=\"ik2hv\">“While taking several individuals into custody, St. Louis County Police Officers did deploy pepper spray in an effort to make the arrests or prevent interference by others attempting to interfere with those arrests,” Panus said.</p><p data-block-key=\"z0bvc\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">Find these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"09kt1\">While covering an on Aug. 9, 2020, protest in Ferguson, Missouri, filmmaker Chris Phillips was pepper-sprayed at close range by law enforcement. “For me to get sprayed like that — that was a deliberate act,” he said.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist arrested while covering North Carolina protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-while-covering-north-carolina-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-06T14:52:57.470838Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:33:13.493191Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:33:13.401716Z",
"date": "2020-08-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Asheville",
"longitude": -82.55402,
"latitude": 35.60095,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zt8pt\">Police arrested freelancer Veronica Coit, who was covering protests in Asheville, North Carolina, on Aug. 9, 2020, and charged the journalist with “failure to disperse on command” and impeding the flow of traffic with a vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"wn0yr\">The Aug. 9 demonstration was held to protest police brutality and the death of John Elliott Neville, who died in 2019 after a medical episode led to him being restrained in handcuffs by corrections officers in a North Carolina jail. Video of Neville in custody with the corrections officers was not released until August 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"8p394\">Coit arrived at the protest around 6 p.m., the journalist wrote in an <a href=\"https://ashevilleblade.com/?p=3904\">accoun</a>t on the local website The Asheville Blade. According to a published <a href=\"https://ashevilleblade.com/?p=3904\">note</a> from editor David Forbes, Coit had been working for the news outlet since June as a freelance journalist and videographer, helping to document local events and protests in the city.</p><p data-block-key=\"4uugh\">Around an hour after arriving, Coit wrote, the demonstrators began to march and the journalist followed them by car because of a medical condition that makes walking difficult. Coit was following the protesters along Haywood Street near the intersection with College Street, with car hazard lights flashing, when a police siren sounded. “There was a large crowd in front of me, parked cars on the street, and other cars beside me too, I couldn’t exactly go anywhere at that moment,” Coit wrote. “I was moving, but slowly. The next thing I see is a cop at my passenger door, ripping it open with no warning.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4tmrn\">In a video of the incident <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLVfyFzgXGM\">posted</a> to YouTube by a bystander, a police officer is seen pulling Coit out of the car by the arm as Coit says, “I haven’t done anything illegal…I’m press, you want my press credentials?” Coit repeatedly yells “you are arresting a member of the press” as police zip tie the journalist’s hands and lead Coit away. After being arrested and spending five hours in jail, Coit was released and charged with failing to disperse on command and impeding the steady flow of traffic, the journalist wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fhnq\">In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/ashevillepolice/posts/1477883702421573\">statement</a> by the Asheville Police Department that was<a href=\"https://www.wyff4.com/article/5-more-people-arrested-during-a-defund-the-police-protest-in-asheville-police-say/33562045\"> reported</a> by local <a href=\"https://wlos.com/news/local/five-people-arrested-after-sunday-protests-in-downtown-asheville\">media outlets</a>, the department said that it had “asked organizers to follow traffic laws, not block or obstruct streets, and remain on the sidewalks. Organizers were notified that individuals violating these laws would be arrested.” The APD said it had arrested five people, including Coit, on charges of failing to disperse on command and for traffic infractions. Police officials said Coit was “asked by law enforcement several times to not block the intersection,” <a href=\"https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/09/17/asheville-protests-restraining-orders-sought-right-wing-blogger-left-wing-journalist/3482430001/\">according to the local daily the Citizen-Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"zoyf0\">In the account for the Blade, Coit wrote of being left with bruises after the incident and of being mistreated by officers and subjected to an unnecessary body search during detention. <a href=\"https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/09/17/asheville-protests-restraining-orders-sought-right-wing-blogger-left-wing-journalist/3482430001/\">According to the Citizen-Times</a>, representatives of the APD later called to ask if Coit wanted to make a complaint. The paper said Coit declined to do so, believing it would not have any effect. The department also said Coit was welcome to review body cam footage of the incident, the Citizen-Times <a href=\"https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2020/09/19/asheville-police-say-arrested-journalist-can-view-body-cam-footage/5829784002/\">reported</a>. Coit told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that a hearing on the charges is scheduled for early 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"swv9b\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "North Carolina",
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},
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"(2021-09-09 16:54:00+00:00) Charges dropped against journalist arrested while covering North Carolina protest"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist hit with flash-bang grenade, pushed into bush at Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-with-flash-bang-grenade-pushed-into-bush-at-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-09T14:48:29.937443Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:19:13.893913Z",
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"date": "2020-08-08",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z1vvb\">Photojournalist Nathan Howard was hit in the ankle with a flash-bang grenade and shoved by a police officer into a bush while he was reporting on protests in Portland, Oregon early on the morning of Aug. 8, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"uxvss\">Protests against racial injustice had been held nightly in Portland since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"n39ow\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-temporary-restraining-order-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">temporary restraining order</a>, and later a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">preliminary injunction,</a> barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"siz9z\">Howard, who was covering the protest for The Associated Press, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing a demonstration at the East Precinct of the PPB, which also houses the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department office.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahmz9\">At around 1 or 2 a.m., police formed a riot formation and protesters started backing off, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6u8l7\">Howard said he was in a gap in the street between protesters and police as he photographed law enforcement advancing. He heard a metal clang and felt something bounce off his ankle, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"uic9m\">“I looked down and kind of had enough time to go, ‘Oh, this is gonna suck,’ and a half second later the flash-bang went off,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"a47ks\">Howard told the Tracker the device was resting against his ankle when it exploded, cutting and burning him. The blast also melted pieces of metal into his shoes. He said that he kept following the protest, limping, as police drove the protesters away from the police building and onto side streets.</p><p data-block-key=\"xpl29\">A short time later, Howard said he was standing with another journalist, photographing police arrest a protester in a yard. An officer came up behind them and told them that they had to leave. Howard said they couldn’t easily leave because they were in the space between protesters and police. He said they tried to explain that to the officer, but the officer said he did not care.</p><p data-block-key=\"znhea\">As Howard started backing up, he said, the officer shoved the other journalist into a bush. Howard told the Tracker he thinks he tried to take a photograph or said something to the officer to identify them as journalists, and the officer then shoved him into the bush.</p><p data-block-key=\"0drl4\">The Tracker could not confirm the identity of the second journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"056ix\">Howard said he was clearly marked as a journalist, wearing a vest marked “PRESS” and had credentials hanging around his neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"t6hzc\">Howard said he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"rjqsb\">Howard told the Tracker he had a gash about 1 inch wide and 4 inches long from the flash-bang grenade. He said the heat from the explosion cauterized the cut, so it didn’t bleed much. A protest medic dressed the wound that night, and Howard said he continued to monitor it over the following days. More than six months later, he said he still had a scar on his ankle.</p><p data-block-key=\"xudrg\">A spokesperson for PPB declined to comment on the incident. The police department has refused comment to the Tracker in other incidents citing ongoing litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"60prn\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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},
{
"title": "Photographer slammed to the ground, arrested by Portland police",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-slammed-ground-arrested-portland-police/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-13T11:22:23.695880Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:18:50.894176Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:18:50.686631Z",
"date": "2020-08-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"da9x4\">Joseph Rushmore, a freelance documentary photographer, was arrested by police officers and charged with two misdemeanors while covering a demonstration in the early hours of Aug. 8, 2020, in northeast Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"uqrep\">The protest was one of many 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=\"7289h\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"w9que\">Rushmore was covering a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/daily-mail-photographer-arrested-while-covering-portland-protest/\">protest</a> that began at around 9 p.m. in Laurelhurst Park. Protesters then marched about a half mile to the Penumbra Kelly building, a repeated focus of demonstrators because it houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's office and some Portland Police Bureau units.</p><p data-block-key=\"pnk1k\">Protesters blocked the road in front of the building while chanting, making speeches and yelling at officers, Rushmore told the Tracker. At one point, police officers rushed into the crowd, driving protesters into the surrounding residential neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"94gur\">At some point after midnight, about 50 protesters regrouped to head back to the Kelly building, said Rushmore, who was following them. When the group was about a block from the building, officers blocked the way and started pushing protesters and journalists west along East Burnside Street.</p><p data-block-key=\"mq0do\">Footage of Rushmore’s arrest, taken by an observer sometime after 1 a.m. and shared with the Tracker, shows officers rushing into the street and knocking down Rushmore and several protesters. Rushmore can be seen getting grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. A group of officers then restrains Rushmore and arrests him.</p><p data-block-key=\"xvquc\">“I have two very large cameras around my neck at all times so it is quite obvious I am press,” said Rushmore, though he wasn’t wearing any press credentials or clothing marked as press.</p><p data-block-key=\"ryuyj\">“During this rush, an officer with Portland Police Bureau grabbed me from behind, spun me around and threw me to the ground, slamming my head hard into the pavement,” said Rushmore, adding that his helmet protected him from injury. “At least one more officer got on top of me, and they held me down while zip-tying my hands behind my back. I yelled to the officer that I was press multiple times. He told me, `Now you're part of the riot.’ And when I told him again I was just press, he said, ‘Then you shouldn’t have been rioting.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"k4541\">The officers searched Rushmore and seized his helmet, cameras, backpack and phone before being taken to the Kelly building, he said. He was then sent to the jail at the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown, where he was detained in a general holding area. By noon, Rushmore was released, he said. He got all his equipment back two days after his arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"rudew\">Rushmore was <a href=\"https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=261079\">charged</a> with two misdemeanors, interfering with an officer and disorderly conduct, but the charges were dropped sometime in the weeks after the arrest, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6f07d\">Portland City Attorney Tracy Reeve didn’t respond to a request for comment. 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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"arresting_authority": "Portland Police Bureau",
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "equipment bag"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "protective equipment"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joseph Rushmore (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Daily Mail photographer arrested while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/daily-mail-photographer-arrested-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-11T17:41:03.768850Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:19:50.051760Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:19:49.952203Z",
"date": "2020-08-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"v58w2\">Daily Mail photographer Michael Arellano was arrested on Aug. 7, 2020, while covering a protest in northeast Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"ly9ut\">The protest was one of 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. 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=\"ngoy5\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the 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. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"01z4h\">The protesters began at Laurelhurst Park in southeast Portland and marched to the Penumbra Kelly Building on East Burnside Street and 47th Avenue, according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/portland-protests-continue-friday-after-trump-denounces-lawless-rioters.html\">The Oregonian</a>. The building, which houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's office and some Portland Police Bureau units, has been a repeated focus of demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"n0j2p\">Within a few minutes of the crowd’s arrival, police declared an “unlawful assembly.” Officers moved toward a group of journalists standing near the Kelly building, The Oregonian reported. “The journalists, including an Oregonian/OregonLive photographer, were staying behind a line of orange cones that police had set up. Police moved in and detained one photographer working on behalf of The Daily Mail,” the paper reported, identifying him as Arellano.</p><p data-block-key=\"dhe39\">In a <a href=\"https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=261079\">statement</a> about the night’s police actions, the PPB said it had announced that anyone remaining on the Kelly building property would be arrested for trespassing. “People who remained standing on the property after multiple public address announcements were arrested,” the PPB said. Arellano was booked for criminal trespassing in the second degree.</p><p data-block-key=\"o6zz5\">At 9:48 p.m., independent journalist Griffin Malone <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GriffinMalone6/status/1291959372268990464\">tweeted</a> a video of Arellano’s arrest from across the street. In the video, Arellano doesn’t appear to be behind the cones with the other members of the press, but it’s also not apparent that he was on the Kelly building property. Officers can be seen pulling him backwards toward the building during the arrest.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Arrested press and retreated. <a href=\"https://t.co/maH2Dd9NUG\">pic.twitter.com/maH2Dd9NUG</a></p>— Griffin - Live Protest News (@GriffinMalone6) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GriffinMalone6/status/1291959372268990464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 8, 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=\"sg9ea\">Photojournalist Nathan Howard <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SmileItsNathan/status/1291975992261505024\">retweeted</a> the video and added, “Here's Michael Arellano photographer with the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DailyMail\">@DailyMail</a> getting arrested for no apparent reason tonight. He has been covering this for weeks. No warnings, no dispersal order (which press are immune to anyway).”</p><p data-block-key=\"r80kh\">The Oregonian reported that police “were keeping the loudspeakers farther away from the crowd than usual,” making it difficult for protesters to hear announcements.</p><p data-block-key=\"op6ku\">The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Arellano didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Portland Police Bureau",
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"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-10-20 09:35:00+00:00) No charges remain against Daily Mail journalist arrested in 2020"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Arellano (Daily Mail)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Videographer says Portland police officer hit her in the neck with a baton",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-says-portland-police-officer-hit-her-neck-baton/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-11T14:41:22.015783Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:53:03.239474Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:53:03.122544Z",
"date": "2020-08-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"aa6kp\">Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said police officers hit her in the neck with a baton while she was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 7, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ngk5\">The protest was one of many 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=\"atk68\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"wdn5a\">On the night of Aug. 7, Lewis was livestreaming a demonstration outside the Penumbra Kelly building in northeast Portland. The building, which houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's office and some Portland Police Bureau units, has been a repeated focus of demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"y6pzc\">Shortly after protesters arrived around 10 p.m., police declared an “unlawful assembly,” <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/portland-protests-unlawful-assembly-multnomah-county-sheriffs-office-august-7/283-c384062d-33a7-4048-bfec-2b0ee0b8d200\">according to</a> KGW8. The local news outlet quoted the PPB as saying that after officers began making arrests, “members of the crowd started throwing rocks toward officers.” Oregon State Police officers were also involved in the enforcement effort, according to the story.</p><p data-block-key=\"axq1n\">Lewis said that at around 11 p.m. police officers rushed towards a group of protesters, driving them south of the Penumbra Kelly building. While advancing on protesters, police officers swung batons at them, Lewis told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"or5nz\">Lewis, who was wearing a helmet and backpack with the words “press” on them, said one officer swung a baton at her and hit her “on the base of my helmet, right where it ended, right on my [cervical] spine.”</p><p data-block-key=\"v0lwe\">The next day, Lewis went to the emergency room to get an X-ray. “Can’t rotate my head all the way back or side to side,” she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Claudio_Report/status/1292181924971126785\">tweeted</a>. She also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Claudio_Report/status/1292201459442884608/photo/1\">posted</a> a picture of her diagnosis — a contusion to the neck.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Getting an X-ray for my neck, after getting hit with a baton. Can’t rotate my head all the way back or side to side. They hit right underneath my press sticker.</p>— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Claudio_Report/status/1292181924971126785?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 8, 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=\"rs1mt\">“I was tender over the bones,” she told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"6pzch\">The PPB has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX7N5CW_-_Reuters_-_Caitlin_Ochs.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tfepy\">Federal law enforcement in Portland, Oregon, in August 2020, during one of many Black Lives Matter protests that year. Journalist Melissa “Claudio” Lewis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker an officer hit her in the neck with a baton at an Aug. 7 protest.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "3:20-cv-01882",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-11-01 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist joins civil rights suit against Portland, Oregon; later withdraws"
],
"case_statuses": [
"withdrawn"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Portland-based independent photojournalist assaulted and arrested",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-based-independent-photojournalist-assaulted-and-arrested/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-13T21:50:52.784003Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-01T15:17:08.289302Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-01T15:17:08.159421Z",
"date": "2020-08-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"on5n0\">Portland police assaulted and arrested Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab as she covered protests in downtown Portland on Aug. 6, 2020, according to Staab. Staab, whose photos of the 2020 protests in Portland have been published by <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/clashes-between-rival-groups-of-demonstr-idUKRTX7REOH\">Reuters</a>, <a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-can-you-do-if-trump-stages-a-coup\">The New Yorker</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AFPphoto/status/1303739949036994565?s=20\">Agence France-Presse</a>, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was held overnight at the Multnomah County Detention Center and released the next morning. Her charges of harassment and interfering with a police officer have been dropped.</p><p data-block-key=\"y4i59\">On the night of Aug. 6, Staab said she was near the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct station. Shortly before 10 p.m., police <a href=\"https://www.kptv.com/news/police-declare-unlawful-assembly-outside-east-precinct-after-people-light-fires-harass-community-members/article_9030e8c0-d876-11ea-8735-572fbef0efb5.html\">declared</a> the gathering an unlawful assembly due to vandalism and property destruction. The night before, police had <a href=\"https://katu.com/news/local/portland-police-declare-riot-at-east-precinct\">declared</a> a protest there a riot. During the Aug. 6 protest, Staab said Portland police officers had formed a line and started to run towards the protesters. According to Staab, some journalists were caught up with the protesters as officers rushed toward them. Along with other members of the press, Staab said, she was being pushed along on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"wg1tv\">Staab said that while walking backwards with a camera in each hand, she was pushed to the ground by a police officer. Staab said she had “press” written on her front and back in white text.</p><p data-block-key=\"xwafp\">“I tried to get up, he pushed me down a second time,” Staab told the Tracker. When she tried to get up again, Staab said, “He pushed me down a third time and then pulled me off of the sidewalk into the street.” Staab said that the officer then handcuffed and arrested her.</p><p data-block-key=\"xbg2n\">In a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1291925046705831936?s=20\"> video</a> shared in a tweet by freelance journalist Justin Yau, police officers can be seen physically blocking the area and using flashlights to prevent other journalists and legal observers from clearly filming Staab’s arrest. According to Yau’s tweet, the arrest took place at 10:20 p.m.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At 2220 last night, photojournalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaranieRae?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MaranieRae</a> was arrested by Portland Police while she was documenting the protest. They used flashlights & physically blocked other journalists and legal observers from filming the arrest. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PressFreedom?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PressFreedom</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BlackLivesMatter</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/yc1lGjoy8p\">pic.twitter.com/yc1lGjoy8p</a></p>— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1291925046705831936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 8, 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=\"zk72j\">Staab said police transported her in a van to the Multnomah County Detention Center where she was processed and charged with harassment and interfering with a police officer. According to the police report of the arrest, Staab resisted arrest and physically pushed the officer. Staab has denied the police account and said she had “cooperated in full.”</p><p data-block-key=\"07wc7\">At the detention center, Staab said, the officers took her phone, camera, gas mask and hat when she was arrested, but returned her belongings the next day. Although she was able to keep her phone with her, Staab said the phone screen cracked when she was slammed to the ground. Staab said she was released at 4 a.m. on Aug. 7. She said the charges against her were later dropped.</p><p data-block-key=\"s5f34\">In July, a U.S. District Court judge issued a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\"> preliminary injunction</a> barring Portland police officers from dispersing, arresting or impeding journalists covering the city’s nightly protests, which began in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"nvcsh\">The Portland Police Bureau has said it would not comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"arresting_authority": "Portland Police Bureau",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2020-08-07",
"detention_date": null,
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"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Maranie Staab (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Journalist pushed twice by police while covering a protest in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pushed-twice-by-police-while-covering-a-protest-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-09T21:25:15.774881Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:20:31.593976Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:20:31.510307Z",
"date": "2020-08-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tvzr1\">A journalist who is a member of an independent press collective known as the 45th Absurdist Brigade was shoved twice by police while reporting on protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 6, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"fp0c8\">The journalist, who asked not to be named, was covering one of the many protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. 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=\"lgwun\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"q62br\">On the night of Aug. 6, the journalist was reporting on protests outside the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct when police began trying to clear the area, they told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"rw6ac\">Officers were moving people northeast, clearing an area toward Southeast Stark Street, the main thoroughfare, the journalist said. Walking backward alongside the police line, the journalist was filming the gap between the police and the protesters. While staying on the sidewalk, they saw officers start to “shove” members of the press, when they were suddenly pushed themselves.</p><p data-block-key=\"fzvmw\">“I was walking backwards and an officer was like, “Get back! Get back on the sidewalk!,’” they said, adding that the officer then “tried to slap my camera down.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2dolw\">The journalist’s camera was tethered to their wrist, they said, so it just briefly fell out of their hands before they grabbed it again. But soon after, they were shoved again back toward the sidewalk, they said.</p><p data-block-key=\"unery\">“Since I was already walking backwards when I got shoved, I just kind of went back on my back foot,” the journalist said. “And I just kind of stumbled back and got up, and continued walking, trying to make sure I didn't get trapped.”</p><p data-block-key=\"t4nnt\">A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist/status/1291612618721910786\">video</a> the journalist posted on Twitter at 10:50 p.m. captures the shoving. The first push can be seen around 40 seconds in, and then the camera angle goes askew. Several seconds later, the journalist gets shoved again.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The push <a href=\"https://t.co/RmL4t1A2in\">pic.twitter.com/RmL4t1A2in</a></p>— 45th parallel absurdist brigade (@45thabsurdist) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist/status/1291612618721910786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 7, 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=\"cggfx\">The shoving was captured from another angle by independent videographer Garrison Davis. “An officer tried to slap<a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist\"> @45thabsurdist</a>’s phone out of their hand, then when that failed an officer just pushed them around,” Davis <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1291613303114883072\">tweeted</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"e1o6v\">The journalist wasn’t physically harmed, they said, and their equipment wasn’t damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"kti3d\">The PPB didn’t respond to a request for comment on this incident.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Anonymous 45th Absurdist (45th Absurdist Press Collective)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist pushed by police officers while covering protests in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pushed-by-police-officers-while-covering-protests-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-08T15:02:17.008867Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T15:37:06.013671Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T15:37:05.936463Z",
"date": "2020-08-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8ev87\">Freelance journalist Emily Molli was pushed by law enforcement while covering protests against racial injustice and police brutality in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 5, 2020, according to first-hand accounts and social media posts.</p><p data-block-key=\"5qhsq\">That night and into the following morning of Aug. 6, demonstrations were held in North Portland outside the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union representing the Portland Police Bureau. Shortly before midnight, law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after an unidentified individual tried to break into the building, according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/police-declare-riot-amid-protest-at-union-building-no-injuries-in-area-shootings.html\">statements by the police to local news media</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jm9mr\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1290983248823087104\">video</a> of the events that night shared on Twitter by freelance journalist Justin Yau, a police officer is seen telling a group of journalists trying to film an arrest that, “press needs to stop interfering,” and then pushing a female journalist wearing a white press helmet. Yau identified the journalist as freelance videographer and photographer Emily Molli.</p><p data-block-key=\"5dwzo\">Molli shared Yau’s tweet and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=867\">previously told the Tracker</a> about getting pushed by police and getting hit with a crowd-control round during Portland protests, but hasn’t responded to text messages seeking comment on this incident.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Members of the press filming the injured arrestee were pushed away and accused if interfering. Several journalists including members of foreign news media were shoved away. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PDXProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PDXProtest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BlackLivesMatter</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/goFiwQBfe0\">pic.twitter.com/goFiwQBfe0</a></p>— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1290983248823087104?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 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=\"d1ntt\">Since July 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"engqm\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Emily Molli (Freelance)"
],
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{
"title": "Independent journalist says was pushed by a Portland law enforcement officer",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-says-was-pushed-portland-law-enforcement-officer/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-05T22:31:56.408472Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:20:50.383428Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:20:50.295081Z",
"date": "2020-08-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ekouo\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was pushed by a law enforcement officer while she was covering protests on Aug. 5, 2020, in Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"z0v88\">The protest was one of many 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=\"hn0tl\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"b5grn\">On Aug. 5, Azar was covering a demonstration that <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PNWYLF/status/1291121782452154368/photo/1\">started</a> at Floyd Light City Park in Southeast Portland at around 8 p.m. Protesters then marched to the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct station, about a five-minute walk from the park. When protesters arrived at the precinct, some of them <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/protesters-again-gather-for-demonstrations-across-portland/283-3c041d81-ad96-4fce-afb8-6dcad3107840\">vandalized</a> surveillance cameras and set small fires outside the precinct, according to KGW8, the local NBC affiliate.</p><p data-block-key=\"updet\">At around 10 p.m., after declaring the protest a riot, law enforcement officers responded with tear gas, driving the demonstrators away from the precinct station into the surrounding residential neighborhood.</p><p data-block-key=\"o1vr4\">At 10:36 p.m., Azar <a href=\"https://twitter.com/R3volutionDaddy/status/1291246837005815808\">posted</a> a video on Twitter showing a police officer directing protesters to move north as another group of officers arrests someone on the ground in the middle of a street. Azar continues to film as officers push observers from the progressive legal organization National Lawyers Guild away as they try to film the arrest. About 40 seconds in, an officer appears to approach Azar, and then her camera goes askew as she yells out.</p><p data-block-key=\"f387h\">“They pushed me and nlg for trying to film this,” Azar, who didn’t respond to interview requests from the Tracker, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/R3volutionDaddy/status/1291246837005815808\">wrote</a> on the post accompanying the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"zpkhd\">The incident was also captured by Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos from across the street. About 45 seconds into footage he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1291244875946405891\">posted</a>, an officer can be seen pushing the NLG observer and Azar. There was a combination of Portland police and Oregon State Police involved in clearing the protesters, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1291259703419211777?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1291259703419211777%7Ctwgr%5Eshare_3%2Ccontainerclick_1&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fpdx.recompilermag.com%2F2020%2F08%2F06%2Fprotests-for-august-5%2F\">according</a> to Olmos.</p><p data-block-key=\"dgfnr\">Portland Police Bureau spokesman Derek Carmon declined to comment on the video and Azar’s allegation, citing continuing litigation.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alissa Azar (Freelance)"
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{
"title": "Freelance journalist pushed by police officers while covering protests in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-pushed-by-police-officers-while-covering-protests-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-07T16:21:34.757514Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T15:36:43.518335Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T15:36:43.432550Z",
"date": "2020-08-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n7onf\">Freelance photographer John Rudoff said he was pushed by law enforcement while covering protests against racial injustice and police brutality in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 5, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3gyh\">That night and into the following morning of Aug. 6, demonstrations were held in North Portland outside the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union representing the Portland Police Bureau. Shortly before midnight, law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after an unidentified individual tried to break into the building, according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/police-declare-riot-amid-protest-at-union-building-no-injuries-in-area-shootings.html\">statements by the police to local news media</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police bull rushed the crowd, protestors were cleare from the area <a href=\"https://t.co/qWZAzDS8Tq\">pic.twitter.com/qWZAzDS8Tq</a></p>— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1290929811720826880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 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=\"uujcs\">Police officers then moved to disperse the crowd, pushing people off the street and onto the sidewalk, Rudoff told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"4wu8x\">Rudoff, who wasn’t on assignment that night but whose photographs were used by wire services, said he was in the middle of the “scrum of… journalists, activists and everyone in-between” who were pushed by officers onto the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"3nyi6\">He told the Tracker he was clearly identifiable as a journalist as he was wearing press gear “literally head to toe,” including a fluorescent yellow press vest, a helmet that said press, a gas mask, body armor, and was carrying two large cameras. Rudoff told the Tracker he was uninjured and continued photographing.</p><p data-block-key=\"xhbqg\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1290983248823087104\">video</a> of the events that night shared on Twitter by freelance journalist Justin Yau, a police officer is seen telling a group of journalists trying to film an arrest that, “press needs to stop interfering,” and then pushing a female journalist wearing a white press helmet. Rudoff and Yau identified the journalist as freelance videographer and photographer Emily Molli.</p><p data-block-key=\"eco9v\">Since July 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"stnm3\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7xlsc\">Photojournalist John Rudoff captured this image while documenting protests in Portland on Aug. 5, 2020. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was one of several journalists shoved by police officers that night.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"protest"
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{
"title": "Independent journalist shoved and maced by police officers during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-shoved-and-maced-police-officers-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-09-23T17:59:02.371200Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:21:11.317629Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:21:11.237412Z",
"date": "2020-08-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"plsvd\">Independent journalist Jake Johnson was shoved into a bush by a police officer clearing protesters from a street in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 1, 2020, despite being clearly marked as press. A second Portland Police Bureau officer then slammed him onto a car hood and maced him at close range.</p><p data-block-key=\"etfyq\">The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests 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. 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=\"8j0dw\">After more than two months of nightly protests in Portland, tensions had <a href=\"https://www.koin.com/news/protests/night-63-feds-withdraw-replaced-by-state-troopers-in-portland/\">begun to ease</a> in the wake of the federal government’s agreement in late July to end its crackdown on protests, leaving enforcement to local police. The PPB, meanwhile, had <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">recently agreed</a> not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers in response to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Johnson, a recent graduate of Portland State University who had worked for the school’s magazine and newspaper, is <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/aclu_or_dhs_tro_declarations_packet072020.pdf\">involved</a> in the ACLU suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"syo6j\">Around 11 p.m. on Aug. 1, Johnson was using his phone to film police clearing a residential street after a protest that began at the Penumbra Kelly Building on East Burnside Street dispersed southward. Johnson told the Tracker that there were about 100 protesters left at this point. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FancyJenkins/status/1289808596243374082\">video</a> Johnson later tweeted, the officers can be heard warning protesters that it was an unlawful assembly and they should disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"srp5p\">About 40 seconds into the video, a line of officers can be seen advancing down the residential street, yelling, “Move!” and “Get out of the street!” An officer can be heard saying, “On the sidewalk, get on the sidewalk,” as the camera angle swings upward. That’s when an officer pushed Johnson into a bush, he told the Tracker. Johnson said he had moved between parked cars when the officer used a baton to shove him, and that he injured his pinky toe when he tried to catch his fall.</p><p data-block-key=\"vozze\">Johnson was still filming as he attempted to follow the officer, asking for his badge number. Reading the number on the back of the officer’s helmet, he can be heard yelling that it was “officer No. 6” that shoved him.</p><p data-block-key=\"wa635\">Then the camera goes askew again, as another officer shoves him into a car, Johnson told the Tracker. His knees hyperextended when he hit the bumper, he said. Johnson said that when he looked up, he was immediately maced. In the video, a police officer driving by in a riot van can be heard saying, “Smart move.”</p><p data-block-key=\"i2695\">Johnson said that his phone flew out of his hand when he got hit, but that it continued to record. In the audio, someone can be heard giving Johnson back his helmet, which is labelled “press” on five sides (front, left, right, back and top).</p><p data-block-key=\"v467n\">“Did they mace you too?” a person can be heard asking. “Yeah,” Johnson replied. People continue to assist him, including helping him rinse his eyes.</p><p data-block-key=\"0seqa\">The recording then gets cut off, but at 11:22 p.m. Johnson <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FancyJenkins/status/1289808749511602177\">tweeted</a> the rest of the audio. About 35 seconds into the recording, a person says, “That was pretty distinctly them shoving and macing press. I mean, you’ve got the fucking helmet and everything.” Johnson and the bystander can then be heard finding his phone, which was still recording, on the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ub2f\">Johnson told the Tracker the pain in his right leg from hitting the bumper made it difficult to cover subsequent protests. “It’s very uncomfortable to go to sleep at night,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dkomp\">Garrison Davis, who was with fellow Portland-based journalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1289800286236635136\">Robert Evans</a> at the time, captured Johnson getting shoved on camera from another angle. At 11:16 p.m., Davis <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1289807143961427970\">tweeted</a> about the incident, referencing Johnson’s Twitter handle: “It’s pretty dark, but if you look closely you can see the police assault and thrown journalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FancyJenkins\">@FancyJenkins</a> (white helmet) onto the hood of the car. He got badly maced.” In the video, Johnson can be seen following the officer that pushed him while another officer runs up from behind and slams him into the car.</p><p data-block-key=\"83923\">Members of the <a href=\"https://www.cjr.org/the_profile/portland-press-corps-protests.php\">Portland Press Corps</a> who go by @45thabsurdist on Twitter were also present at the incident. “Lost the march helping someone who was maced and shoved between two cars,” they <a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist/status/1289796592506003457\">tweeted</a> at 10:34 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"ohlef\">At 11 p.m., @45thabsurdist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist/status/1289803193606500352\">tweeted</a> at Multnomah County district attorney Mike Schmidt: “For the record,<a href=\"https://twitter.com/FancyJenkins\"> @FancyJenkins</a> is the reporter who just got maced while clearly marked, standing aside, filming.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fmi93\">A PPB <a href=\"https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=251060\">statement</a> about the Aug. 1 protests said that “people with ‘press’ written on their outer garments repeatedly threw objects at officers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7benp\">Sergeant Kevin Allen of the PPB told the Tracker that he didn’t have information about the incident involving Johnson, but said the PPB “requires that members use only the objectively reasonable force necessary to perform their duties and overcome the threat or resistance of the subject under the totality of the circumstances.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fk2lc\">Allen didn’t respond to a request to share records on people identifying as members of the press throwing objects.</p><p data-block-key=\"jrkmn\">Davis and Evans said they didn’t see any evidence of people marked “press” throwing things. “I saw no press throwing bottles,” Evans, a reporter for investigative news site Bellingcat and host of a podcast for iHeartMedia, told the Tracker.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "August: While reporting from protests across the country, journalists pepper sprayed, threatened",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/august-while-reporting-protests-across-country-journalists-pepper-sprayed-threatened/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-23T16:16:21.265337Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:34:21.859987Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:34:21.764078Z",
"date": "2020-08-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Multiple",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"euaom\"><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 August 2020. Protests in Portland, Oregon, were particularly acute in the summer of 2020. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented incidents that occurred there in a separate</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-while-reporting-protests-city-journalists-tear-gassed-threatened/\"><i>roundup</i></a><i>.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"ess5w\"><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 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></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7zgxb\"><b>Aug. 1, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"7s0hd\">In Los Angeles, California</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"nseia\"><b>Josie Huang</b>, a reporter with KPCC and LAist, was covering a protest organized by the People’s City Council outside the Getty House, the official residence of Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. At around 2:45 p.m., she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/josie_huang/status/1289678532109406213\">tweeted</a>: “About a dozen LAPD officers watching from across the street as mariachi music is interspersed with protesters testifying on need to cancel rent during pandemic.” After two and a half hours of peaceful protesting, though, Huang <a href=\"https://twitter.com/josie_huang/status/1289714357220159488?s=20\">wrote</a> that the “situation has quickly deteriorated.” In a subsequent <a href=\"https://twitter.com/josie_huang/status/1289723225337761792\">video</a>, in which Huang noted that she was trying to document the detainment and citation of “an 18-year-old named Elliott ‘for being a pedestrian in the roadway,’” the journalist can be heard identifying herself as a member of the press to a group of encroaching officers. Moments later, a sergeant (identified by his badge in the video) can be seen responding to one of his subordinate’s irritation at Huang’s camera being near his face by saying, “Grab her and cite her!” When she restates her media affiliation, the sergeant’s subordinate responds, “OK, let’s get on the sidewalk, everyone get on the sidewalk” — neither acknowledging her as separate from the protesters nor citing her. When reached for comment about the case, the LAPD declined to comment and directed the Tracker to file a FOIA request for further information.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kuqrt\"><b>Aug. 14, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"p7fon\">In Washington, D.C.</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"1ks7m\">Deadspin reporter <b>Chuck Modiano</b> was filming a police maneuver called <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/journalists-covering-protests-us-risk-getting-caught-police-kettling-tactic/\">kettling</a> at the intersection of Willard and 18th streets when several field medical workers moved through the crowd in front of him. A video <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1294145592155922432\">posted on</a> Modiano’s Twitter feed at 1:35 a.m. shows a senior police officer addressing Modiano, asking, “You gonna go with them?” Modiano responds, “I’m press,” and the officer retorts, “I don’t care who you are. Back up. It means nothing to me.” Modiano then says, “Doesn’t knowing that I’m free press mean anything to the Constitution?” to which the police officer says, “Sure it does. It’s the First Amendment.” When Modiano asks the officer, “Shouldn’t police respect the First Amendment?” the officer affirms his respect for the amendment. He then asks Modiano to respect his work as well before instructing him to leave with the crowd of protesters as the Metropolitan Police Department clears the block. Another officer begins to direct Modiano out of the street. The journalist tries to stay again, stating, “I’m press,” to which officers reply, “Keep moving.” Echoing the prior encounter, Modiano asks, “It doesn’t mean anything?” and the two officers agree, telling him, “It doesn’t matter.” As Modiano repeatedly asks, “Can you acknowledge that there’s no freedom of press?” the officers speak over him, saying, “Keep moving, keep moving.” Modiano <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1294173856236806145\">continued to</a> cover the protest until 3:30 a.m.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ME: “I’m press”<br><br>COP: “I don’t care who you are. <br>It means nothing to me”<br><br>Wasn’t able to film protesters right after they were kettled/arrested cuz MPD walked me off cuz the 1st Ammendment is not respected in the nation’s Capitol. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/DCProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DCProtests</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/uTc4kSN2vr\">pic.twitter.com/uTc4kSN2vr</a></p>— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1294145592155922432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 14, 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=\"d22gx\"><b>Aug. 19, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"at2nm\">In Seattle, Washington</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"sopah\">Jon Jussero, a photojournalist for KIRO 7, was stopped in his car and threatened by a group of people while he was trying to film a protest at King County Jail in Seattle, Washington, on Aug. 19, 2020, according to his social media feed. Protesters had demonstrated on a highway and at a medical center that morning before trying to enter the jail, according to <a href=\"https://komonews.com/news/local/protesters-stop-traffic-close-public-entrance-at-king-county-jail\">KOMO News</a>. In a video Jussero posted on Twitter, a man can be heard saying through the closed windows of the vehicle that he would come to Jussero’s house and threatened to break his window. People draped fabric over Jussero’s windshield and driver’s side window, and shouted obscenities at him. In a different part of the clip, Jussero was outside the vehicle when people surrounded him and shouted at him. “We are just trying to do our jobs,” he wrote in his post. Jussero did not respond to multiple requests for comment. A spokesperson for the Seattle Police Department said police were not aware of the incident.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mob would not allow me to do my job today when trying to videotape KC Jail in Seattle. I tried to leave but they surrounded my car put items on windows & continued to terrorize me. One man threaten to break my vehicle windows & come to my home. We are just trying to do our jobs <a href=\"https://t.co/Ek3JRkG12c\">pic.twitter.com/Ek3JRkG12c</a></p>— KIRO 7 Jussero (@JJusseroKIRO7) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JJusseroKIRO7/status/1296271397690384384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 20, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5iazu\"><b>Aug. 26, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"hxnpx\">In Seattle, Washington</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"jul38\"><b>Omari Salisbury</b>, founder and reporter for <a href=\"https://www.whereweconverge.com/about\">Converge Media</a>, a Seattle-based media company “curated specifically for an urban audience,” was maced several times while documenting a vigil outside a Washington State Patrol building. Salisbury went live on <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/WWConverge/videos/355310738820842/\">Facebook</a> around 10:15 p.m., just as law enforcement was beginning to fall into formation in an effort to back demonstrators out of the area. In his narrated stream, Salisbury tells viewers that the WSP was reinforced that night with officers from the Seattle Police Department and its SWAT team. He also explains a June <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6951791-Stipulated-Extension-of-TRO.html\">court order</a> that “enjoined the City of Seattle, including the Seattle Police Department and any other officers, departments, agencies, or organizations under the Seattle Police Department’s control” from “employing chemical irritants or projectiles of any kind against persons peacefully engaging in protests or demonstrations.” About six minutes into the video, as the line of officers advanced on demonstrators, Salisbury was maced. While backing up, Salisbury announces himself as press, as he continues to narrate the scene. Just past 10:30 p.m., Salisbury was maced again, as officers once again moved to push back the crowd. Shortly thereafter, sprays of mace can be heard and seen in the footage, with Salisbury saying at one point, “Man, you’re macing everybody. Stop macing,” and then shouting, “Press! Press! Press!” as protesters around him were tackled and arrested. “I haven’t eaten this much mace in a long time,” he then says. (In a Dec. 7 <a href=\"https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20421000-2020-12-07-order-granting-contempt-clean\">court filing</a>, a federal judge held the Seattle Police Department and the City of Seattle in contempt for violating the aforementioned court order on four occasions, including on Aug. 26.)</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gt13r\">In Kenosha, Wisconsin</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"hfijq\">Freelance journalist <b>Suzette Smith</b> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/suzettesmith/status/1298493980833849344\">tweeted</a> shortly before midnight that officers were arresting protesters on 54th Street near City Hall in east Kenosha. “Officer holding can of mace on a group of press, that may include a protester,” Smith wrote. In footage of the incident, an officer can be seen holding his arm outstretched and pointing a can of pepper spray toward at least two individuals who are identifiable as journalists, either by “PRESS” markings or visible press passes. In the last seconds of the clip, a second officer approaches, at which point the first officer lowers the can of chemical irritant.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">More video of the arrests on SW 4th. Officer holding a can of mace on a group of press, that may include a protester. <a href=\"https://t.co/59KpW5C08y\">pic.twitter.com/59KpW5C08y</a></p>— Suzette Smith (@suzettesmith) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/suzettesmith/status/1298493980833849344?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 26, 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=\"pd1g7\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Kenosha&date_lower=2020-08-25&date_upper=2020-08-26\">four journalists struck</a> with crowd-control munitions or projectiles while covering protests in Kenosha on the night of Aug. 25 that stretched into the early hours of the next day.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9mceb\"><b>Aug. 29, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"7fqir\">In Washington, D.C.</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"4e7t6\">Independent journalist Wyatt Reed was hit with a chemical irritant deployed by police during a protest in Washington, D.C. Protests were intensified by anger over the Aug. 23 police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as well as by the gathering of thousands in the nation’s capital the day before for the 57th anniversary of the civil rights era March on Washington.<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2020/08/29/protesters-start-fires-in-adams-morgan/\"> According to the Washington Post</a>, a group of about 175 protesters had marched through several neighborhoods of Northwest D.C. that evening, at times setting off fireworks and lighting small fires before converging on Black Lives Matter Plaza, just north of the White House. Reed, who also produces the radio show By Any Means Necessary on Russian-state owned Radio Sputnik, was covering protesters near the plaza. In a video he uploaded to Twitter at 11:40 p.m., police can be seen deploying tear gas canisters on H Street in front of the St. James Episcopal Church, just a block north of the White House. As officers advanced east on H Street, one can be seen spraying with a sweeping motion a chemical irritant that appears to hit Reed. “DC Cops are going CRAZY at BLM plaza,”<a href=\"https://twitter.com/wyattreed13/status/1299914900228235265\"> Reed wrote on Twitter</a> alongside the video. “They arrested someone and then started unleashed tear gas on the crowd, then unloaded pepper spray DIRECTLY at me for recording.” In the video, Reed’s camera shook as he got hit, but he continued filming as police cleared the area and deployed more tear gas. “They didn’t get me that bad that night,” Reed told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He added he was wearing goggles, which reduced the effect of the irritant. Reed was wearing press identification, but told the Tracker he believed the officer was firing indiscriminately at everybody near him. The Metropolitan Police Department told the Tracker it couldn’t comment on the incident because “it is currently under active investigation by our Internal Affairs Division.Early the next morning — at the same protest — Reed was again sprayed with a chemical irritant and shot in the arm with a projectile. The Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-hit-crowd-control-round-during-dc-protest/\">documented that assault here</a>.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">BREAKING: DC Cops are going CRAZY at BLM plaza. They arrested someone and then started unleashed tear gas on the crowd, then unloaded pepper spray DIRECTLY at me for recording <a href=\"https://t.co/Im60AVlI9z\">pic.twitter.com/Im60AVlI9z</a></p>— Wyatt Reed (@wyattreed13) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wyattreed13/status/1299914900228235265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"vkldh\">Independent photojournalist <b>Oyoma Asinor</b> was covering protests around BLM Plaza that evening as well, according to an Aug. 12, 2021, <a href=\"https://www.acludc.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/asinor_v._district_of_columbia_-_complaint.pdf\">lawsuit</a> the ACLU of DC filed on Asinor’s behalf. At around 11 p.m., Asinor photographed as riot officers advanced down H Street toward 16th Street. “Several riot officers, apparently frustrated that [a] demonstrator was now closer to them, grabbed the demonstrator and pushed him to the ground, wielding batons against him,” the lawsuit states. When the demonstrator attempted to get away from the officers, and officer “unleashed liquid containing chemical irritant toward the demonstrator and the people near him, hitting Mr. Asinor.” The spray caused Asinor to have trouble breathing, cough, and experience disorientation, according to the suit. Just over 24 hours later, Asinor was assaulted, arrested and his equipment seized in the early hours of Aug. 31. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/aclu-files-for-false-imprisonment-against-washington-dc-police-after-photojournalist-arrested-equipment-seized/\">The Tracker documented that incident here</a>.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jdpe1\"><b>Aug. 30, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"f83z1\">In Washington, D.C.</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"p0c00\">Independent photojournalist and documentary filmmaker <b>Kian Kelley-Chung</b> had been filming the D.C. Black Lives Matter movement since the middle of June. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview that on the evening of Aug. 29, he was planning to take the night off. But at 8 p.m., one of the movement’s organizers called him and his friend and colleague Andrew Jasiura to tell them that protests near Black Lives Matter Plaza downtown were escalating. The two filmmakers got to the scene by 9 p.m. and saw the Metropolitan Police Department “just spraying people willy-nilly,” according to Kelley-Chung. In the early hours of Aug. 30, he said that he watched as a crowd of protesters gathered to face off against a police line at 16th and K streets, less than a block away from the plaza. At 1:42 a.m., according to the time stamp on his camera, Kelley-Chung, who said he’d been walking through the crowd to get a panning shot of the scene, was hit in the side of the face “with just tons of pepper spray.” While he’d brought goggles with him that night, the filmmaker told the Tracker that he hadn’t put them on before the incident because he was not expecting the sudden use of crowd-control munitions at that moment. “It came out of nowhere,” he said. He said that he ran to the other side of the street, trying to continue to film, but his eyes burned badly enough that he had to stop. He attempted to flush them out with a water bottle he had but soon yelled for a medic until a few came over and flushed his eyes with saline. Shortly thereafter, in an <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1299957816048988161\">interview</a> with Deadspin reporter Chuck Modiano, Kelley-Chung suggested that the police were aiming at someone near him, but he “was caught in the crossfire.” He later told the Tacker: “Independent press were largely not considered legitimate press by the police, so they were often victims of pepper spray, arrests and other things of that nature. Just getting brutalized by police.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gj13r\"><b>Aug. 31, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"tr70s\">In Kenosha, Wisconsin</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"vs1ei\">Los Angeles Times reporter <b>Molly Hennessy-Fiske</b>, arrived in Kenosha after the city had seen days of unrest following the Aug. 23 police shooting of Jacob Blake and was anticipating a visit from President Donald Trump on Sept. 1. Hennessy-Fiske <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mollyhf/status/1300604735431618561\">tweeted</a> a little before 8:30 p.m. that she’d momentarily stepped out of her hotel to put a parking pass on her car when she saw police restraining an individual. When she and photojournalist Amy Katz approached, wearing credentials and clothing that said “press,” an officer shouted, “Last warning! Get in the hotel or you’re going to get arrested. I don’t care what the mayor says.” When Hennessy-Fiske then identified herself and Katz as press, the officer did not reply. When the two journalists then reentered the hotel, an officer inside the building <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mollyhf/status/1300604735431618561\">told</a> her that media were not explicitly listed as exempt from a citywide <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/jacob-blake-kenosha-police-shooting-08-31-2020/h_b77c0f6a5c263fb4927f0ea1f2626e90\">curfew</a> that had gone into effect at 7 p.m. In a later Tweet, Hennessy-Fiske <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mollyhf/status/1300605727606800391\">noted</a> that she explained to this officer “respectfully, that media are not mentioned as subject to curfew, and since there’s a #FirstAmendment and #FEMA deemed us essential workers, if they don’t mention it, we’re exempt. If they do mention, it would trigger litigation. #1A.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Emerged from <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Kenosha?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Kenosha</a> hotel to put parking pass in car, saw police restraining guy, went over with colleague and officers shouted get back in hotel or we’d be arrested. Reporters are not exempt from curfew, he said, no matter what the mayor says. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Journalismisnotacrime?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Journalismisnotacrime</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/ol0KHatn1y\">pic.twitter.com/ol0KHatn1y</a></p>— Molly Hennessy-Fiske (@mollyhf) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mollyhf/status/1300604735431618561?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 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=\"tzmnm\"><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>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"c8050\">Journalist films as demonstrators face police officers during a protest at Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 27, 2020.</p>",
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"Media"
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"chemical irritant",
"protest"
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"Other Incident"
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{
"title": "DHS compiles intelligence reports on two journalists covering Black Lives Matter protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dhs-compiles-intelligence-reports-two-journalists-covering-black-lives-matter-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-08-14T14:38:22.823267Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-10-06T16:23:35.814999Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-10-06T16:23:35.750631Z",
"date": "2020-07-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>The Department of Homeland Security has compiled intelligence reports about the reporting and tweets of two journalists covering protests in Portland, Oregon, according to a Washington Post article published on July 30, 2020.</p><p>The protests began at the end of May in response to footage of a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. The incident sparked protests across the country against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.</p><p>The Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-who-published-leaked-documents/2020/07/30/5be5ec9e-d25b-11ea-9038-af089b63ac21_story.html#click=https://t.co/UEJyzCoJS7\">reported</a> that over the last week of July, the department’s Office of Intelligence and Analysis disseminated three reports that included information on New York Times reporter Mike Baker and Editor-in-Chief of the blog Lawfare, Benjamin Wittes, alleging that the journalists had published leaked, unclassified documents about DHS operations in Portland.</p><p>The reports included summaries of tweets written by Baker and Wittes, screenshots of the posts and information about the amount of engagement the posts received on the social media platform.</p><p>Neither Baker nor Wittes responded to the Tracker’s emailed requests for comment.</p><p>Following the Post’s article about the reports, Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf ordered the office to cease all collection of information on journalists and announced an investigation into the reports. The acting undersecretary for intelligence and analysis, Brian Murphy, has also <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/dhs-official-whose-office-compiled-intelligence-reports-on-journalists-and-protesters-has-been-removed-from-his-job/2020/08/01/f01247be-d3ff-11ea-8d32-1ebf4e9d8e0d_story.html\">since been reassigned</a>, the Post reported.</p><p>A department spokesperson told the Post, “In no way does the Acting Secretary condone this practice and he has immediately ordered an inquiry into the matter. The Acting Secretary is committed to ensuring that all DHS personnel uphold the principles of professionalism, impartiality and respect for civil rights and civil liberties, particularly as it relates to the exercise of First Amendment rights.”</p><p>The production of these reports is consistent with the department’s <a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/dhs-agents-are-suspected-attacking-or-injuring-least-30-journalists-portland/\">aggressive tactics</a> in Portland, sources told The Post, but such investigations are not intended to detail information about American citizens who have no connection to terrorist activity. Steve Bunnell, a former general counsel for the department, described the reports as “bizarre.”</p><p>Wittes posted a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/benjaminwittes/status/1288979796559568900\">series of tweets</a> detailing that it was not the sharing of his tweets and the department’s concern about leaks that troubled him.</p><p>“What is troubling about this story is that I&A shared my tweets *as intelligence reporting,* that is, an intelligence arm of the government filed a report on a citizen for activity at the heart of journalism: revealing newsworthy information about government to the public,” he wrote.</p><p>“I am not sure how my reporting of unclassified material constitutes any kind of homeland security threat that justifies the dissemination of intelligence reporting on a US person, particularly not one exercising core First Amendment rights and nothing more. I intend to find out.”</p><p>The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p>Tear gas engulfs demonstrators in Portland, Oregon, on July 28, 2020. That same week, the activities of two journalists covering the protests and the federal response to them were the subject of reports by the Department of Homeland Security.</p>",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mike Baker (The New York Times)",
"Benjamin Wittes (Lawfare)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist hit in knee with rubber bullet while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-in-knee-with-rubber-bullet-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-08T14:41:51.115029Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:22:24.832355Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:22:24.660469Z",
"date": "2020-07-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xkkde\">Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab was hit in the knee with a rubber bullet fired by a federal officer while she was reporting on a protest in Portland, Oregon, early in the morning of July 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"5fs61\">Racial justice protests in Portland had been held on a nightly basis since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The 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 was <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> on July 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"c8rul\">Thousands of people rallied around the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse and the nearby Multnomah County Justice Center earlier in the evening of July 29, according to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2020/07/protests-continue-for-63rd-day-in-portland-live-updates.html\"> the Oregonian</a>. Confrontations between federal law enforcement officers and protesters continued late into the night, and federal officers declared an unlawful assembly at around 11:30 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"58bvv\">Staab, whose work has been published by outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times and VICE, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the protests continued past midnight. Toward the end of the night, she said federal officers were going into a garage at the back of the justice building when some protesters followed them. Staab said she was near the garage door, standing to the side of it.</p><p data-block-key=\"0un3t\">As the garage door was going down, Staab said, officers started shooting rubber bullets out at the protesters and press who remained.</p><p data-block-key=\"91gxt\">One rubber bullet struck her on the inside of her right knee, she said, causing her to collapse.</p><p data-block-key=\"jnx5z\">“I was just basically taken out,” she said. “My knee completely gave out and I just hit the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f38lb\">Staab said several journalists who were near her pulled her away from the area and helped her up. Within 30 minutes, her knee had swollen so much that the welt was visible through her jeans, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhapq\">A photograph Staab posted on Twitter later that day showed her knee very swollen and bruised.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My knee is fcked. <br><br>How did this happen?<br><br>I was shot by Federal officers while working as a journalist in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Portland</a>, Oregon. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACLU?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ACLU</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/pressfreedom?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@pressfreedom</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtests</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/ozkN85jAyI\">pic.twitter.com/ozkN85jAyI</a></p>— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaranieRae/status/1288980520202678277?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=\"v2ag5\">Staab told the Tracker that she cared for the injury by elevating it, icing it and taking ibuprofen.</p><p data-block-key=\"zhyd7\">The next day, photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland posted on Twitter a photograph of Staab’s swollen knee, with white tape marked “PRESS” above and below it.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaranieRae?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MaranieRae</a> was out last night and was hit while operating her camera. Her knee... 💔 <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AthulKAcharya?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AthulKAcharya</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACLU_OR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ACLU_OR</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/b30vQPolTO\">pic.twitter.com/b30vQPolTO</a></p>— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MathieuLRolland/status/1289109167219777536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vcde8\">Staab said she continued to cover protests in the following days, wearing shorts because her knee was so swollen. The injury hobbled her for weeks, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"w5xki\">On the night she was hit, Staab said, she had used white masking tape with the word “PRESS” written in black marker to label herself on the front and back of her t-shirt and on her helmet. She said she was also carrying professional cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"7nscw\">Staab said that she does not have any way to know whether she was targeted. She noted that she was not standing near demonstrators, and said that federal officers did not “attempt to delineate between protesters and press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ccxos\">The Department of Homeland Security, whose officers were on duty that night, did not respond to a request for comment about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"mdgly\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/staab_assault_073020.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sdigj\">On July 30, 2020, photojournalist Maranie Staab was hit with a rubber bullet fired by law enforcement in Portland, Oregon. The next day, another photojournalist documented her taped-up knee while she was reporting again.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"name": "Oregon",
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},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Maranie Staab (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter struck with flash-bang grenade shrapnel during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-flash-bang-grenade-shrapnel-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-10T14:32:59.359388Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:05:41.257421Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:05:41.170204Z",
"date": "2020-07-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wpohq\">Roman Mendoza, a reporter for the Davis Vanguard, a California nonprofit news organization, was struck with shrapnel from a flash-bang grenade and pushed by a police officer while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"5lyu5\">The protest was held in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. 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=\"ap9vf\">The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had<a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\"> grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to<a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\"> include federal agents</a> on July 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"rm7i0\">On the night of July 30, protesters gathered downtown at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which had emerged as a nightly flashpoint between protesters and federal agents. The protest continued past midnight and into the next day.</p><p data-block-key=\"5tn63\">Mendoza told the Tracker he was standing near the line of fences that federal officers had erected around the courthouse when officers began to disperse the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"0trs6\">“The officers threw a flash-bang near me and it kind of nicked my leg,” Mendoza said. “That one I probably should have gotten stitches for.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ceofp\">Mendoza received some basic first aid from a volunteer medic at the protest, who cleaned out the wound and wrapped it in gauze. He said the shrapnel cut a relatively deep, 2-to-2.5 inch gash in his leg.</p><p data-block-key=\"qrotm\">“It took two or three weeks for my leg to fully heal and get back to where it was before,” Mendoza said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fe34r\">Mendoza said he continued reporting that night after receiving medical attention. As he walked, he came upon a group of Portland Police Bureau officers who were sitting in a vacant parking lot alongside several police vehicles and riot vans on the edge of the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"o9p5q\">“As I approached them, once I got to a certain point they told me that was far enough and to not continue moving forward,” Mendoza said. “They had just issued the TRO, so I told them, ‘I’m not here to do anything. I’m press so I’m not going to disperse right now.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"yr8l8\">One officer quickly approached him and told him that he didn’t have to disperse, Mendoza said, but that he did have to comply with officers’ orders to move back the two paces he had taken into the parking lot and return to the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"et6zs\">“The officer then pushed me so I was back on the sidewalk,” Mendoza said. “That was unnecessary, but yeah. I just stayed there to document what these police officers were doing, and they just started heckling me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1cyba\">Mendoza said they said things along the lines of, “You’re a loser,” “Why don’t you get a real job?” and “You must not have a life if you’re out here.” Mendoza said the officers also told him that he “wasn’t a real man” alongside other sexist comments. After about 20 minutes, the officers left the parking lot to what Mendoza believes was the protest area.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rclo\">In February 2021, Mendoza told the Tracker that he had filed a complaint with PPB about the officers’ behavior and had received notice the bureau was investigating it, but no other updates.</p><p data-block-key=\"gkqes\">The PPB declined to comment when emailed about this incident. 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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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Roman Mendoza (Davis Vanguard)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Federal agents in Portland spray independent journalist with a chemical irritant",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/federal-agents-portland-spray-independent-journalist-chemical-irritant/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-04T17:46:12.566882Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:21:34.980870Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:21:34.885142Z",
"date": "2020-07-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"btj1u\">Independent journalist Brian Conley was sprayed in the face with a chemical irritant by federal agents during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the morning of July 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"m9o6m\">Conley was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"52dzu\">The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had<a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\"> grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to<a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\"> include federal agents</a> on July 23. Conley is a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/07282020_declarations_motion_sanctions.pdf\"> plaintiff</a> in a class-action lawsuit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"cr3lt\">On the night of July 29, protesters gathered downtown at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which had emerged as a nightly flashpoint between protesters and federal agents. The protest continued past midnight and into the next day.</p><p data-block-key=\"o36he\">Early on the morning of July 30, Conley was filming a confrontation between federal agents and protesters behind the courthouse on Southwest Second Avenue when officers began using crowd-control munitions and chemical irritants.</p><p data-block-key=\"ykgcv\">In a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/BaghdadBrian/status/1288940868028600320\"> video</a> of the incident Conley posted on Twitter, the scene appeared relatively calm despite a standoff with federal agents, as one protester can be heard playing ditties on a trumpet. After a loud bang, agents can be seen firing crowd-control munitions, with one officer spraying an irritant directly at Conley despite his shouts of “press!”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here's another angle on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/FPS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FPS</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/DHS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DHS</a> using <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/lesslethal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#lesslethal</a> weapons on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/pdxprotest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#pdxprotest</a> and myself, despite clear PRESS markings. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blacklivesmatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blacklivesmatter</a><br><br>if you appreciate my work, help me with the cost of gear: venmo baghdadbrian, cashapp $baghdadbrian <a href=\"https://t.co/85het21LWH\">pic.twitter.com/85het21LWH</a></p>— Brian Conley (@BaghdadBrian) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BaghdadBrian/status/1288940868028600320?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=\"i5t4c\">Conley said he believed he was targeted. “He knew I was press, he knew the person next to me was press, there were no protesters nearby. So yeah, he had no reason to do that,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"g5ytb\">About 20 seconds after he was sprayed, Conley’s video shows multiple agents spraying a protester who is on their knees in the street with their hands up.</p><p data-block-key=\"0s1cr\">Another <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1288739420745560064\">video</a>, uploaded by journalist Cory Elia at 12:33 a.m., also captured Conley getting sprayed. He is visible on the other side of the street, holding a camera with a bright light mounted on it.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">They decided to clear the street and made an arrest. I found myself surrounded for a minute. <a href=\"https://t.co/s1aIcxj8IW\">pic.twitter.com/s1aIcxj8IW</a></p>— Cory Elia (@TheRealCoryElia) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1288739420745560064?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=\"ql40n\">Conley, in a <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.153126/gov.uscourts.ord.153126.115.0.pdf\">statement</a> for the ACLU suit, said there were “maybe four or five protesters a few feet behind me” when he was hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ww50\">“At point blank range, the federal agent nearest to me unleashed a deluge of pepper spray directly at me, dousing me in pepper spray,” he said in the statement. “The pepper spray covered my face, hands, clothing, camera, and gear.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7wugy\">Conley’s body armor and helmet were both marked “press” at the time he was hit. He was also wearing a gas mask, which delayed the effects of the irritant. But once he started feeling the irritant, he was “severely uncomfortable, like burning on fire, for easily 12 hours after that, probably longer,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"yryu8\">“I’ve been pepper sprayed before and I’ve never had such a bad experience,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"o7325\">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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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
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"Assault"
],
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{
"title": "Federal officers hit journalist multiple times with crowd-control rounds during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/federal-officers-hit-journalist-multiple-times-with-crowd-control-rounds-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-08T14:49:31.080154Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:23:09.226785Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:23:09.139664Z",
"date": "2020-07-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"v5czn\">Village Portland managing editor and multimedia journalist Cory Elia said he was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering protests in downtown Portland on July 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccwon\">The protests were among many demonstrations 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=\"qea5p\">The Portland protests, which had been held nightly since late May, had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"4tkl1\">According to <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/protests-gather-in-portland-amid-mixed-messages-about-departure-of-federal-officers/283-549a0473-c674-481a-92bf-beaf394f9c4c\">news reports</a>, demonstrators initially gathered for a vigil outside Portland City Hall. A KGW article said they moved toward Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse, where they met federal officers firing crowd-control munitions, including tear gas and flash bang grenades.</p><p data-block-key=\"w9bwd\">That night, Elia tweeted photographs of his jacket marked with <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1288728473029062656?s=20\">CS powder</a> and a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1288728124457250816?s=20\">paint-like substance</a>, writing: “For those wondering those were marking rounds that hit me in the crotch and collarbone during my livestream. These guys actually aimed for the open spaces on my armor.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">For those wondering those were marking rounds that hit me in the crotch and collarbone during my livestream. These guys actually aimed for the open spaces on my armor. That's some impressive aim. <a href=\"https://t.co/wakhCNlgIw\">pic.twitter.com/wakhCNlgIw</a></p>— Cory Elia (@TheRealCoryElia) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1288728124457250816?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=\"apfpt\">In a different <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1288931658301751297?s=20\">tweet</a> at 1:17 a.m. on July 30, he specified that his “only significant injury” from the night before was to his right collarbone, which appears to be bruised. “The ‘rubber bullet’ still hit with enough force to bruise through my leather where it struck,” he wrote. “I was also shot in the press badge which was lower on my chest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fmoov\">His press badge casing <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1288931658301751297?s=20\">appears</a> to have scratches and a part chipped off, but it is unclear if those marks were directly caused by the munitions. Elia has declined to comment and his lawyer didn’t respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"oguhi\">“After assessing everything it appears I was hit four times total,” he wrote in another <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1288931668959494144?s=20\">tweet</a> accompanied by a photograph of an impact round.</p><p data-block-key=\"mwy7f\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, hasn’t responded to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"case_number": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Cory Elia (Village Portland)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist hit in face with pepper ball fired by federal officers at Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-hit-with-with-crowd-control-rounds-during-protest-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-19T14:47:09.903666Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:22:50.682035Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:22:50.585327Z",
"date": "2020-07-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dl9cu\">Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering protests in downtown Portland on July 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"g1aeb\">The protests were among many demonstrations 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=\"840uw\">The Portland protests, which had been held nightly since late May, had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> until July 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8kcn\">According to <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/protests-gather-in-portland-amid-mixed-messages-about-departure-of-federal-officers/283-549a0473-c674-481a-92bf-beaf394f9c4c\">news reports</a>, demonstrators initially gathered for a vigil outside Portland City Hall. A KGW article said they moved toward Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse, where they met federal officers firing crowd-control munitions, including tear gas and flash bang grenades.</p><p data-block-key=\"gtyws\">Auberdine told the Tracker she was live streaming at the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street and clearly wore a vest labelled with press markings. "[Officers] would follow me with these lights as I moved," she said. "By the end of that night, it had gone from flashlights and strobes to also being shot with pepper balls while illuminated."</p><p data-block-key=\"fkycp\">She said federal officers targeted members of the press "extensively" and that she was hit in the face by a pepper ball as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"5hm9m\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, hasn’t responded to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Teebs Auberdine (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Oregon journalist kicked by an individual while covering a Black Lives Matter demonstration",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oregon-journalist-kicked-by-an-individual-while-covering-a-black-lives-matter-demonstration/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-25T20:09:22.028860Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-02-25T20:13:23.204055Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-02-25T20:13:23.165427Z",
"date": "2020-07-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Thurston",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>Independent journalist Janusz Malo was kicked and verbally attacked by an individual attending a counterprotest to a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Thurston, a suburb of Springfield, Oregon, on July 29, 2020.</p><p>Black Lives Matter protesters took to the streets in Thurston after a noose was hung in a front yard close to the house of a Black resident. <a href=\"https://www.registerguard.com/story/news/2020/07/30/protesters-clash-with-police-others-at-march-in-springfield/112683126/\">According to local media</a>, the protest began peacefully, but as the marchers progressed, they were confronted by counterprotesters, bystanders and eventually police, who ended the demonstration by forcing the demonstrators off the streets and arresting five.</p><p>Malo, who was in Thurston reporting for Double Sided Media, an Oregon-based media collective, reported being attacked while walking down a residential street behind a group of protesters.</p><p>Malo told the US Press Freedom Tracker that a few counterprotesters were on the sidewalk, but “At that point I didn’t have any negative interaction.” One of the individuals kicked the journalist from behind and yelled “Get the fuck out of here,” Malo said. “I turned around, held out my press pass and I yelled ‘I’m press,’” Malo said. However, according to Malo, the assailant was not looking at the journalist, “so he couldn’t have seen that I had my press pass” and may have mistaken Malo for a protester.</p><p>Malo did not suffer from long-term injuries and did not report the incident to the authorities. After the attack Malo went back to work, reporting on the protest.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": null,
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Janusz Malo (Double Sided Media)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Independent journalist hit with multiple projectiles fired by federal agents while covering Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-hit-projectiles-fired-federal-agents-while-covering-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-22T16:49:31.624489Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:23:26.353178Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:23:26.253204Z",
"date": "2020-07-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q118u\">Independent journalist Brian Conley said he was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of July 28, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"w6olc\">Conley was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ihss\">The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had <a href=\"https://apnews.com/a2c8f23381dcc7e6902452b55c3048ce\">grown more intense</a> as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> on July 23. Conley is a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/07282020_declarations_motion_sanctions.pdf\">plaintiff</a> in the class-action lawsuit, which was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"51fd0\">On the evening of July 27, protesters gathered at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse downtown, a nightly flashpoint for confrontations between protesters and federal agents, and demonstrated into the early hours of the morning of the next day.</p><p data-block-key=\"41xmb\">Just before 1 a.m. on July 28, Conley was filming federal agents at the intersection of Southwest Third Avenue and Southwest Salmon Street as they attempted to clear protesters from the area around the courthouse.</p><p data-block-key=\"okqs9\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BaghdadBrian/status/1288067667841056768\">video</a> he later posted on Twitter, Conley can be heard yelling that he is press before an officer fires a tear gas canister in his direction. Another officer soon rolls a smoking canister toward Conley before puffs of pepper ball impacts can be seen in the street directly in front of him.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It was just before 1am, not even an hour into my 40s, the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/FPS?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FPS</a> and possibly others decided to fire concussion grenades, tear gas, possibly stingers, and definitely rubber bullets and many pepperballs directly at me. AFTER I identifed as Press. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/portlandprotest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#portlandprotest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PDXprotest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PDXprotest</a> protest <a href=\"https://t.co/oVqejB9TJ8\">pic.twitter.com/oVqejB9TJ8</a></p>— Brian Conley (@BaghdadBrian) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BaghdadBrian/status/1288067667841056768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 28, 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=\"o6pmt\">“Do it again — I’m press!” Conley shouts after the pepperballs are fired at him and a flash-bang grenade appears to fly toward him.</p><p data-block-key=\"wjd4m\">A number of projectiles hit him, Conley told the Tracker. When he was shot, he was standing in the street but in front of and away from protesters. Conley said he believes the federal agents could tell he was press, given his shouts, his camera gear, and the fact that his body armor and helmet identified him as press.</p><p data-block-key=\"dtpxo\">“I don’t think you can say that’s not egregious or targeted,” he said, adding that he was doing his best to stay away from protesters. “Either they didn’t care or it was intentional.”</p><p data-block-key=\"m4h50\">One of the projectiles hit Conley in the foot, he said, causing what he described as a “pretty serious contusion” and the worst injury he has sustained while covering protests. He believes his foot was hit by a baton round, a crowd-control munition frequently used by law enforcement agencies across the country. Other projectiles hit him in the chest as well, but he said his body armor prevented injury.</p><p data-block-key=\"2y4ha\">In a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/07282020_declarations_motion_sanctions.pdf\">declaration</a> for the ACLU suit, Conley said that while he wanted to continue covering protests, he could “barely walk” after the incident. He was increasingly concerned about the risks of reporting when federal agents were present, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"gupun\">Soon after, as federal agents retreated back towards the courthouse, one of them threw a flash-bang grenade at Conley, he said in the declaration. “There was nobody behind me or anybody else they could have been aiming at,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"96751\">Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor the U.S. Marshals Service, which both have had federal agents in Portland, responded to requests for comment.</p></div>",
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