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{
"title": "Journalist arrested and charged with breaking curfew in Minneapolis",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-and-charged-breaking-curfew-minneapolis/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-19T20:24:43.263877Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:56:54.188771Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:56:54.084904Z",
"date": "2020-08-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pye3h\">Journalist Sam Richards, a freelancer who <a href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/contributor/sam-richards\">writes</a> for Vice News and other outlets, was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor for breaking curfew while covering civil unrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Aug. 27, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"9zt7x\">On the night of the 27th, Richards said he was documenting the effects of the second night of a city-wide curfew, posting reports on Twitter. Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey had <a href=\"https://www.mprnews.org/story/2020/08/27/national-guard-activated-to-quell-unrest-in-minneapolis\">imposed</a> the curfew the day before in the wake of civil unrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"yl14i\">Richards told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after the curfew went into effect at 8 p.m., he was on Nicollet Mall, a shopping and dining district in downtown Minneapolis, when he saw a man being arrested. Richards began filming the man, and approached the group of law enforcement officers to ask them about the situation, he told the Tracker. Moments later, he said, several officers surrounded him, constrained him in zip ties, and put him under arrest for violating the curfew.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Oh hey, I know that young man <a href=\"https://t.co/ulOg9VQMrE\">https://t.co/ulOg9VQMrE</a></p>— Sam Renegade BLM (@MinneapoliSam) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MinneapoliSam/status/1299225641632628737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 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=\"0hz53\">Richards said he was not wearing any press credentials, but told the officers several times that “I am a reporter and we are exempt from the curfew.” He said he also gave them the name of the outlets he works for, as well as his Twitter handle, in hopes they would look up his work online. But they did not, according to Richards. The city’s <a href=\"https://www.minneapolismn.gov/media/minneapolismngov/content-assets/documents/Mayor-Declaration-of-Emergency-for-Civil-Disturbance-II-062620.pdf\">declaration</a> of local emergency states that members of the news media are exempt from curfew.</p><p data-block-key=\"q3oly\">Richards and the man he’d been filming were taken to the Hennepin County Jail, where they were processed and then released shortly after 9 p.m., he told the Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Was just arrested for violating curfew, already booked and released. Uploading video in a hot second. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Minneapolis?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Minneapolis</a></p>— Sam Renegade BLM (@MinneapoliSam) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MinneapoliSam/status/1299168606878654471?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 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=\"a5ouc\">After being released, Richards said he took “the long route home,” and continued to document what he saw along the way. In a video he posted to Twitter on his walk he said he was told “If I was spotted out here again then I would be arrested, which was confusing because I was under the impression that I was already arrested.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Video of my curfew arrest didn't save, here is a quick summation. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Minneapolis?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Minneapolis</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/5EQeo64vHm\">pic.twitter.com/5EQeo64vHm</a></p>— Sam Renegade BLM (@MinneapoliSam) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MinneapoliSam/status/1299178698265030661?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 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=\"jyijx\">According to a citation notice that Richards shared with the Tracker, the journalist was charged with violating an imposed curfew and was called to appear at an arraignment on Dec. 28. Violation of curfew is a misdemeanor offense in Minneapolis and “is punishable by a fine not to exceed $1,000.00 or imprisonment for not more than 90 days, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Section 12.45, and MCO Section 1.30,” <a href=\"http://news.minneapolismn.gov/2020/05/30/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-curfew-in-minneapolis/\">according to the city of Minneapolis website</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7amsf\">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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"arresting_authority": "Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-11-19 22:11:00+00:00) Charges dropped against journalist charged with breaking curfew in Minneapolis"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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"Sam Richards (Freelance)"
],
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{
"title": "Police action damages camera of journalist as he covers protests in Washington, D.C.",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-action-damages-camera-of-journalist-as-he-covers-protests-in-washington-dc/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-04T21:52:29.915114Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:27:00.003849Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:26:59.925832Z",
"date": "2020-08-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"c2k8f\">Actions by Metropolitan Police Department officers led to damage of a camera used by freelancer Andrew Jasiura while he was covering protests in Washington D.C., according to the journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"s39p0\">On the night of Aug. 27, 2020, Jasiura, who has been documenting the protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement for several months, was covering demonstrations in downtown Washington D.C. Protesters were gathered in the pedestrian area outside of the White House that was <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/06/05/870833518/black-lives-matter-plaza-across-from-white-house-is-christened-by-d-c-leaders\">renamed</a> “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” when a man arrived at the scene wearing blackface, Jasiura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ypjim\">When protesters started chasing the man, police officers moved to protect him, detaining a protester who allegedly assaulted the man, Jasiura said. Another protester sought to intervene and was pushed away by a police officer, according to the journalist. Jasiura had been photographing the encounter, and the officer shoved the protester in his direction, he said. “He threw that person into me and I hit a barricade. The screen on one of my cameras broke,” Jasiura told the Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">MPD broke the screen on my camera last night while I was recording an unjust arrest. The protestor was released less than two hours later with no charges. This was the occasion where MPD was protecting the white man in BLM Plaza wearing black face <a href=\"https://t.co/Pf1OkDUUyr\">pic.twitter.com/Pf1OkDUUyr</a></p>— DrewJazzyPhoto (@PhotoJazzy) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PhotoJazzy/status/1299413687950770181?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 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=\"re9h9\">According to Jasiura, police officers told him that if he sent in his footage they could review it and determine if any police misconduct had occurred. “But giving that footage to the police could put protesters at risk, so I didn’t do it,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"i9plp\">The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"4a446\">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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"actor": "law enforcement",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"Equipment Damage"
],
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},
{
"title": "Getty photojournalist struck in head with rubber bullet during Kenosha protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/getty-photojournalist-struck-in-head-with-rubber-bullet-during-kenosha-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-12T19:43:14.814552Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-03-10T16:19:43.411073Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-03-10T16:19:43.347599Z",
"date": "2020-08-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Kenosha",
"longitude": -87.82119,
"latitude": 42.58474,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gvdon\">Scott Olson, a Getty photojournalist, said he was struck in the head with a rubber bullet fired by law enforcement officers while covering a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"t69bf\">Olsen was documenting clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse that had continued past an 8 p.m. state of emergency curfew. In an effort to disperse protesters, officers fired pepper balls and tear gas, according to several press reports.</p><p data-block-key=\"90u88\">Olson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was hit during the same protest as he photographed demonstrators taking cover behind a dumpster. He said he was wearing a helmet and a gas mask for protection when a rubber bullet struck the side of his head, tearing cartilage in his ear and leaving him bleeding and with a temporary hearing loss. He said his hearing came back about twenty minutes later, and his physical injury did not result in long-term damage.</p><p data-block-key=\"o9lmd\">Olson said he was standing about 15 feet from protesters and roughly 30-50 feet from police officers. He added that from where he stood, the side profile of his body would have been visible to law enforcement officers, who were behind a fence surrounding the courthouse.</p><p data-block-key=\"j4m8x\">“I think they were firing in between the opening of the fence,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"6b9f1\">Because of his position, and because he was carrying two professional cameras, Olson believed it was clear that he was a member of the press. He said that there was also another photojournalist close to him.</p><p data-block-key=\"rr85q\">“I think we were pretty identifiable,” he told the Tracker, adding that, since he was far away from demonstrators, he felt that the rubber bullet that hit him had been deliberately targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qtbs\">“I was further up away from them [protesters] where I wouldn’t look like I was part of that group and there was really no one around me other than another photojournalist,” he said. “So not only I think I was targeted, I think I was targeted in my head.”</p><p data-block-key=\"60kf0\">The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and the police department have not responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"mdbuu\">Protests in Kenosha started on Aug. 23, 2020, after police officers shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in front of his three children, leaving him paralyzed. Hundreds of people in Kenosha joined public protests against police brutality and while many demonstrations were peaceful, some buildings in the city were set on fire.</p><p data-block-key=\"mm8gl\">The night Scott Olson was hit by rubber bullets, a group of armed vigilantes patrolled the streets of Kenosha. Later that night, two protesters were shot dead and another man was injured. A 17-year-old was arrested and now faces criminal charges for those killings.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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{
"title": "AFP reporter hit with a rubber bullet while covering unrest in Kenosha",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/afp-reporter-hit-rubber-bullet-while-covering-unrest-kenosha/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-11T14:33:28.709978Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-03-10T15:04:13.333852Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-03-10T15:04:13.265718Z",
"date": "2020-08-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Kenosha",
"longitude": -87.82119,
"latitude": 42.58474,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"v06wg\">Robert Chiarito, a journalist on assignment for the news agency Agence France-Presse, said he was hit in the leg by a rubber bullet while covering a confrontation between demonstrators and law enforcement in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-hit-rubber-bullets-while-covering-protest-kenosha/\">two other reporters</a> were hit by rubber bullets during the same protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"r66hz\">About an hour after an 8 p.m. curfew, Chiarito said he was reporting on a clash between protesters and law enforcement in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse when he was hit in the leg. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he thought he’d been hit with a rock, until a protester picked up a rubber bullet and gave it to him. “I think you got hit by that, you earned it,” the protester told him.</p><p data-block-key=\"j0wp2\">Chiarito later <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10158431554231438&set=a.430355046437\">posted a photo</a> of the plastic bullet, a 40-millimeter rubber baton, a type of non-lethal munition used by law enforcement. “It hit the ground first and then it hit my leg,” Chiarito told the Tracker. “I got lucky that I came out of there with a souvenir,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"95gff\">Chiarito told the Tracker that when he was hit, he was surrounded by protesters and the closest officers were about 50 feet away.</p><p data-block-key=\"ml003\">“It was dark out, I was wearing my press credential, but unless you were close to me, there was no way of knowing who I was,” he told the Tracker. “I don’t believe I was targeted, but it shows just how indiscriminate it was just firing in the crowd, because they weren’t targeting any specific person,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"cnxpn\">Hundreds of people protested in the streets of Kenosha against police brutality following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by police officers on Aug. 23. Many demonstrations were peaceful but some turned violent and some buildings in the city were set on fire.</p><p data-block-key=\"cevd7\">The same night Chiarito was hit, a group of civilian men carrying assault rifles and handguns began patrolling the streets. Later that night two demonstrators were shot dead and a third was wounded. Officers arrested a 17-year-old from Antioch who had arrived in Kenosha with an assault rifle.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1e2sa\">Law enforcement officers stand guard on Aug. 25, 2020, after protests erupted in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man two days before.</p>",
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"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
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"shot / shot at"
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
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{
"title": "Rubber bullet breaks finger of photojournalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-hit-rubber-bullets-while-covering-protest-kenosha/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-11T14:30:16.711684Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-17T16:26:55.572716Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-17T16:26:55.478742Z",
"date": "2020-08-25",
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"city": "Kenosha",
"longitude": -87.82119,
"latitude": 42.58474,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m1rhe\">Rubber bullets fired by law enforcement officers injured a photojournalist from a national media outlet covering a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahzgd\">Alyssa Schukar, who was on assignment for The New York Times, said she was hit in her left hand while documenting clashes between law enforcement and demonstrators in front of the Kenosha County Courthouse that had continued past an 8 p.m. state of emergency curfew. In an effort to disperse protesters, officers fired pepper balls and tear gas, according to several press reports.</p><p data-block-key=\"66rr7\">Schukar told U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was struck as she stood to the side of the demonstration, about 30 yards from the protesters and an equal distance from the line of police. The bullet struck the base of her index finger, shattering the bone and causing fractures.</p><p data-block-key=\"lomby\">“I went straight to the medic area and then I had to go straight to the hospital, it was very obviously broken,” she said. Since then, Schukar has had two surgeries, and she is now in physical therapy.</p><p data-block-key=\"x8yoj\">Schukar said that law enforcement officers were firing from a narrow gap behind a barricade and that when she was hit, she was standing far away from protesters. Although she said she could not be certain whether she was deliberately targeted, “it feels a bit suspect to me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"zgxr1\">Schukar said she was wearing a helmet and goggles, but no body armor. She added that when she was struck, her hand was on top of her stomach, where she was carrying one of her cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"lvdzf\">“These are highly trained law enforcement folks,” she said. “To me, it doesn’t make sense that they could [accidentally] hit me so squarely in the middle of my body.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ijapl\">Schukar said she did not file a complaint with police, but legal counsel for The New York Times submitted a letter to police and to the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department asking for an investigation into the shooting.</p><p data-block-key=\"aw67x\">“It’s important this is on the record, because this is happening increasingly,” she said. As of late October the Times had not received a response, according to Schukar.</p><p data-block-key=\"l9x8d\">The Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department and the police department have not responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"slqro\">Protests in Kenosha started on Aug. 23, 2020, after police officers shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in front of his three children, leaving him paralyzed. Hundreds of people in Kenosha joined public protests against police brutality and while many demonstrations were peaceful, some buildings in the city were set on fire.</p><p data-block-key=\"ygsvt\">The night Schukar was hit by a rubber bullet, a group of armed vigilantes patrolled the streets of Kenosha. Later that night, two protesters were shot dead and another man was injured. A 17-year-old was arrested and now faces criminal charges for those killings.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1ij78\">Law enforcement officers stand guard on Aug. 25, 2020, after protests erupted in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man two days before.</p>",
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{
"title": "Independent journalist said she was threatened by an individual while covering a Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-said-she-was-threatened-by-an-individual-while-covering-a-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-19T14:55:30.458738Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:25:38.128358Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:25:38.052798Z",
"date": "2020-08-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tl5ta\">Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was threatened by an individual while covering a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 25, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"rl52o\">The protest was one of 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=\"zbye9\">Several hundred people marched to City Hall the evening of Aug. 25, and the police quickly declared an “unlawful assembly” after the property was damaged, according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/portland-protests-continue-on-3-month-anniversary-of-george-floyds-death.html\">The Oregonian</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"31hhm\">While Auberdine was livestreaming, she likely recorded some minor property crime, she said. She was approached by someone dressed in mostly black bloc, a tactic used by some protesters to conceal their identities by wearing black and baggy clothing and face coverings, wearing a helmet and respirator, she told the Tracker. They threatened her, she said, saying, "What did you see? Didn't see shit.”</p><p data-block-key=\"02x1o\">"I was in the process of moving backward and then they came after me,” she said. “They threatened me and slapped my camera, which destabilized the gimbal, but it didn’t fall out of the clip."</p><p data-block-key=\"df4s1\">"It was very physically threatening in a non-specific way, but it was very unsettling," she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ieh9q\">The individual told her that if she filmed in a way that they weren’t comfortable with, she would be "run out" or have her camera smashed, Auberdine told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"3r2fb\">She asked someone she knew to watch after her, but that person "ended up getting arrested by the Portland Police Bureau that night for standing beside me,” she said. “Initially I felt very responsible."</p><p data-block-key=\"nc0l2\">Auberdine was wearing a vest with large press markings on the front and back, she said, and also had a gimbal, microphone and reporting equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"xv4b7\">“Whoever did it needs to direct their anger somewhere other than inflicting trauma on their allies. I've spent hundreds of hours, plenty of my own $, and sacrificed my health to stream,” she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TeebsGaming/status/1298560528873213952?s=20\">tweeted</a> afterward.</p><p data-block-key=\"99rwu\">In a follow-up <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TeebsGaming/status/1298560530865508352?s=20\">tweet</a>, she added, “Tonight was a mess. I’m a mess.”</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"
],
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"Teebs Auberdine (Freelance)"
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{
"title": "Reporter pushed by police while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pushed-by-police-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-10T14:40:53.150546Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:25:20.048968Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:25:19.927378Z",
"date": "2020-08-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m775i\">A reporter for the Davis Vanguard, a California-based nonprofit news organization, was pushed several times by Portland Police Bureau officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 25, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"frzd4\">Roman Mendoza was documenting one of the many nightly protests held in downtown Portland 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=\"mw1ql\">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=\"c62yx\">Mendoza told the Tracker protesters had gathered that night at a different park than usual, with plans to march to the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which had emerged as a nightly flashpoint between protesters and federal agents in July. The protesters instead marched toward City Hall.</p><p data-block-key=\"0etgs\">“I ended up behind the protest march, and I noticed that there were some police officers on a riot van that were making their way down the street behind the protesters,” Mendoza said. “I was just recording them, so I positioned myself on the sidewalk facing the street and I was just recording the officers as they were going by.”</p><p data-block-key=\"jjg5t\">One of the officers noticed Mendoza, came up to him and told him to move. Mendoza said he repeatedly identified himself as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"98m9n\">“I tell him I’m press and I’m just reporting. And he starts pushing me,” Mendoza said. “I keep telling him, ‘I’m press, I’m reporting, do you need to see my credentials? I’ll pull them out for you, whatever you need to see.’”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Full video of me being accosted by an officer. I was marked pressed and offered my badge, under my sweater. He would not identify himself. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtest</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/iX9EGwLfk6\">pic.twitter.com/iX9EGwLfk6</a></p>— Rome_VanWA (@oh_rome) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/oh_rome/status/1298690822452387840?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=\"jt2lk\">Mendoza said the officer pushed him half a block toward the end of the street before a group of protesters noticed what the officer was doing and started heckling him. When the officer turned his attention to the protesters, Mendoza said he made his way back to his original position, where the rest of the officers were staging.</p><p data-block-key=\"miqoq\">Mendoza asked the other officers to identify the one who had pushed him, but the officers ignored him.</p><p data-block-key=\"oopww\">“As I was asking them to identify themselves, a sheriff who was with them pointed his pepper spray at me,” Mendoza said. “He didn’t deploy it, but it was clear that he was threatening me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"w0b5d\">Mendoza said he backed up a bit from the officers, and soon after they got back on the riot van and drove away.</p><p data-block-key=\"xgnjh\">Later that night, Mendoza said he was filming as officers arrested an individual. Police directed the members of the press who were present at the scene to move across the street and film from there. Mendoza said he didn’t comply with the officer’s direction, believing he was far enough away to not interfere with the officers’ actions.</p><p data-block-key=\"r6254\">“After a couple of minutes, they approached me and specifically moved me off the street, saying I couldn’t record there,” Mendoza said. “They grabbed me by my arm and just moved me across the street.”</p><p data-block-key=\"al4tx\">Mendoza said he also asked that officer for his badge number but received no response.</p><p data-block-key=\"p6ppc\">The PPB declined to comment when emailed about this incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
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"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Roman Mendoza (The People’s Vanguard of Davis)"
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},
{
"title": "CBS 58 reporter struck in neck by projectile during Kenosha, Wisconsin protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-58-reporter-struck-neck-projectile-during-kenosha-wisconsin-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-23T14:24:08.598714Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:27:23.395491Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:27:23.304760Z",
"date": "2020-08-25",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Kenosha",
"longitude": -87.82119,
"latitude": 42.58474,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p56lw\">Mark Stevens, a reporter for CBS 58 News in Milwaukee, said he was struck and injured by a projectile — possibly a crowd-control weapon — while covering a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"0nn9n\">Protests began in Kenosha after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, on a residential street on Aug. 23. Demonstrations against police violence and racism had been held across the country, including in Wisconsin, since late May.</p><p data-block-key=\"mnzc1\">Stevens told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering a protest outside the Kenosha County Courthouse with a CBS 58 photojournalist and a security guard on the evening of the second day of demonstrations. The protest was largely peaceful at the beginning, but Stevens said some protesters became more aggressive as the evening wore on.</p><p data-block-key=\"dpt8u\">In preparation for a live broadcast at 9 p.m, Stevens said he initially set up with a view of the burned wreckage of dump trucks parked near the courthouse. However, he said the CBS 58 team moved into a nearby park, farther away from protesters, when some people started pulling debris from the trucks to throw at police and the National Guard.</p><p data-block-key=\"rqi7h\">Stevens said the team kept the camera light off to avoid attracting attention, then turned it on just before the broadcast was set to begin.</p><p data-block-key=\"gdry7\">About two minutes before he was supposed to go live, Stevens said, a projectile struck him in the back of his neck, knocking him to the ground and leaving him with a bruise and broken skin.</p><p data-block-key=\"eixub\">Protest medics who came to help him told him they believed he was hit by a rubber bullet. Based on footage his colleague recorded of the incident, Stevens said he thought it might have been a bean bag, a cloth sack of lead shot that police use for crowd control.</p><p data-block-key=\"cib8h\">But Stevens said he wasn’t certain what the projectile was, or who fired it, though it may have come from police. Law enforcement parked an armored vehicle near where the journalists were filming, he said, and there were reports that police had used projectiles for crowd control during protests the previous night.</p><p data-block-key=\"mhdl2\">A spokesperson for the Kenosha Police Department said police had no report about the incident and declined to comment on it.</p><p data-block-key=\"1a57c\">Stevens said he was wearing press credentials on a lanyard around his neck when he was hit. He said his group was clearly identifiable as a television news crew because of the camera gear they carried. He said he didn’t seek further medical attention or report the incident to police.</p><p data-block-key=\"7d11t\">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>",
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"state": {
"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
},
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"tags": [
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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},
{
"title": "Journalist covering Kenosha protest hit with tear gas canister",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-covering-kenosha-protest-hit-tear-gas-canister/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-22T16:20:45.214553Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-17T16:27:26.845786Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-17T16:27:26.735659Z",
"date": "2020-08-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Kenosha",
"longitude": -87.82119,
"latitude": 42.58474,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"noymx\">During an Aug. 24 clash between law enforcement and protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, officers fired a tear gas canister at two journalists who say they were standing several feet away from any protesters. One of the journalists, Jesus J. Montero, said the canister hit him on his right arm, and that he experienced itching and difficulty breathing but did not require medical care.</p><p data-block-key=\"gfchg\">Montero, an independent reporter who was covering the protest on his social media, and Maria Guerrero, from the Chicago-based DePaul University newspaper The DePaulia, were outside the Kenosha County Courthouse as protesters defied an 8 p.m. curfew. According to the journalists, police and sheriff’s deputies warned demonstrators that they would use tear gas if the crowd didn’t leave. When demonstrators and press remained, police moved to break up the crowd, according to Guerrero, who tweeted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/themariague/status/1298102173490917378\">a video</a> of the scene. The journalists said they were about six feet away from the demonstrators and opposite the line of police, when police fired a tear gas canister that hit Montero in his right arm, causing him itching and difficulty breathing for some hours. Guerrero said she was able to run away from the gas without suffering any difficulties.</p><p data-block-key=\"pp5jt\">Both journalists say they were wearing press credentials at the time. Montero told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he does not believe he was targeted as a member of the press. He said that as he was in the area not far from demonstrators, officers may have had trouble clearly distinguishing journalists from protesters. Aug. 24 was the second day of protests in Kenosha.</p><p data-block-key=\"dtfws\">“As the weeks went on police had a better understanding that this is the press,” Montero told the Tracker. But when protests first began, he said, “there was no regard to who you were affiliated with.”</p><p data-block-key=\"w13oa\">However, Guerrero, who is also managing editor of La DePaulia, the Spanish-speaking sister newspaper of The DePaulia, said she believes that she and Montero were deliberately targeted as journalists. “I try my best to stand out from demonstrators,” she said, explaining that on that night she felt she was clearly identifiable as press because she wore goggles and press credentials and carried a professional camera. “As press we’re just there to tell a story and to tell what’s going on,” she told the Tracker.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ku7af\">Protests in Kenosha were ignited on Aug. 23 by the killing of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times by a white police officer in front of his children. While many demonstrations were peaceful, some escalated into violence with some buildings being vandalized and set on fire. The evening after Montero was struck by the tear gas canister, two protesters were killed and a third was injured when civilians armed with assault rifles and guns also took to the streets claiming their intention was to protect private property. A 17-year-old was accused of the killings.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jesus J. Montero (Freelance)"
],
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"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Crowd harrasses, assaults photojournalist working for conservative news site at Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/crowd-harrasses-assaults-photojournalist-working-conservative-news-site-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-19T22:08:41.019675Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:37:57.964910Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:37:57.890712Z",
"date": "2020-08-24",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rtxj5\">Rebecca Brannon, an independent photojournalist who was on assignment for the conservative website Alpha News, was followed, harassed and assaulted by a group of individuals during a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Aug. 24, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"mfd1u\">Protests had roiled Minneapolis regularly since the police killing of George Floyd in the city on May 25. On Aug. 24, protesters were brought to the streets by the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times in the back by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin the day before, an event that reinvigorated racial justice protests nationwide.</p><p data-block-key=\"0ep44\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions</a> to journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"pun9m\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlphaNewsMN/status/1298352487603286016\">In a video shared by Alpha News</a>, which describes itself as a “media outlet focusing on politics and social issues you may not see in traditional media,” a crowd can be seen following and shouting at Brannon at the Government Plaza light rail station in downtown Minneapolis. Members of the crowd yell that Brannon isn’t welcome and she needs to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"49es1\">“We know who you are, get out of here Rebecca. Get out!” yells one woman.</p><p data-block-key=\"3srbw\">“Why can’t I be here?” Brannon responds.</p><p data-block-key=\"b1di6\">“You know the fuck why bitch, get the fuck out!” the woman yells back before apparently trying to grab or hit Brannon’s phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"f1nm4\">The crowd continues following and shouting at Brannon, with individuals criticizing the website Brannon works for and calling her a “Trump lover” at points.</p><p data-block-key=\"fn79r\">Nearly two minutes into the video, a water bottle can be seen flying in the air towards Brannon, who is saying “I want to stick to myself” as the crowd continues yelling at her. After four minutes, the woman who initially appeared to reach for Brannon’s phone can be seen grabbing a plastic traffic-control post as she moves towards Brannon. Somebody can be heard yelling “I’m going to kick your ass” as Brannon tries to tell them she is trying to get to her car. The woman with the traffic post appears to strike Brannon with it as Brannon shouts “get away from me!”</p><p data-block-key=\"dwkkr\">On Twitter, Alpha News wrote that her phone “was stolen & destroyed but this footage was recovered. The video abruptly ends when the phone was ripped from her hands.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qoukr\">Just after midnight on July 25, Brannon tweeted about the assault earlier that evening and said she had tried to defend herself using pepper spray.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Several protesters from the group currently at the Hennepin County Government Center assaulted me tonight. I tried to defend myself w/ pepper spray.<br><br>I asked for them to leave me alone so I could go back to my car. <br><br>I was recording the encounter but my phone was taken.</p>— Rebecca Brannon (@RebsBrannon) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RebsBrannon/status/1298110427713482752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 25, 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=\"zl08l\">According to court documents posted online by Alpha News, Brannon told police the incident occurred between 10 p.m. and 10:30 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"pmbad\">Earlier that same evening, protesters had yelled at Brannon and told her she needed to leave as she filmed a confrontation with police in front of the Minneapolis Police Department’s 1st Precinct on North Fourth Street. In that incident, protesters appeared upset by her affiliation with Alpha News, calling her “right wing news” and saying she was working for “a fascist news organization.” Alpha News shared footage<a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/AlphaNewsMN/videos/1568232333363401\"> of the encounter on Facebook.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"lfqc4\">“My job is to provide video footage and let viewers interpret the footage and make their own assessment. They destroyed some very valuable equipment and have inflicted physical and emotional damage on me that at this time may prevent me from providing future coverage,” she said the day after the assault,<a href=\"https://alphanewsmn.com/video-alpha-news-journalist-assaulted-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/\"> according to Alpha News</a>. “No journalist should be subjected to harassment or violence by police, protestors or anyone.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qnlh1\">In September, a woman<a href=\"https://m.startribune.com/woman-wrongly-charged-with-assaulting-journalist/572539731/\"> was charged in Brannon’s assault</a>, but those charges were later dismissed, with prosecutors saying the woman had been wrongly identified. According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, the woman who was falsely charged<a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/woman-says-minneapolis-police-falsely-identified-her-as-assault-suspect-without-contacting-her/572652252/\"> was camping 140 miles from Minneapolis</a> when the incident occurred. According to<a href=\"http://www.apple.com/\"> court documents posted online by Alpha News</a>, the Complainant — a woman believed to be Brannon but only identified in court documents by the initials “R.M.B.” — told police she had received a tip naming the wrongly accused woman as a perpetrator of her assault.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbtfl\">Alpha News is controversial in Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"oj8xi\">In 2015, the<a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/the-mysterious-launch-of-alpha-news/295815641/\"> Minneapolis Star Tribune reported</a> that Alpha News’ launch was first promoted by the Minnesota Tea Party Alliance.<a href=\"https://www.mprnews.org/story/2015/07/27/new-sites-where-partisans-pay\"> According to Minnesota Public Radio,</a> the organization has ties to a prominent Republican donor. In 2019, the alternative Minneapolis newspaper City Pages<a href=\"http://www.citypages.com/news/alpha-news-minnesota-crime-coverage-is-just-as-racist-as-youd-expect/559256751\"> charged that Alpha News’s crime coverage was racially biased</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"h9v1s\">A website that appears to be Brannon’s own media production company takes credit for several conservative political ads from the 2020 election cycle; Two of those ads feature footage from protests and riots, with one having a voiceover about how "everything used to be okay before bad people wanted to destroy our country.” According to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Brannon was a volunteer coordinator with Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign. In the past, one of her Facebook pages described her as a “political consultant.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2cfsm\">Neither Brannon nor Alpha News responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"odos8\">The Minneapolis Police Department didn’t provide additional comment when contacted by the Tracker. When the Tracker requested the police report related to the assault, police told the Tracker to file an open records request. As of publication, there has been no response to the open records request.</p></div>",
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"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Rebecca Brannon (Alpha News)"
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},
{
"title": "Multimedia journalist says she was tackled by Portland police officers, her phone lost",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multimedia-journalist-says-she-was-tackled-portland-police-officers-her-phone-lost/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-11T17:09:26.819295Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:25:53.602200Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:25:53.508769Z",
"date": "2020-08-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tq8p1\">Independent multimedia journalist Grace Morgan said she was tackled to the ground by several police officers while walking away from them during protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 23, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"nqnjg\">Morgan was documenting one of the nightly protests held in downtown Portland 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=\"82314\">In the early morning hours of Aug. 23, Morgan was covering a protest outside of the North Precinct. She told the Tracker that the police had given protesters orders to disperse, which don’t apply to members of the press, according to a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\"> preliminary injunction</a> the city agreed to in July that bars police from harming or impeding journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"ndhza\">After forming a riot line, officers began pushing protesters to the west, Morgan said. She stood on the sidewalk filming, but the riot line extended to cover the sidewalk as well, which she described as unusual. Four officers approached Morgan, who was clearly labelled as press and filming while walking backwards, and told her to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"osrd0\">“I turned around to walk quicker and disperse essentially, and then I got pushed from behind, face forward,” Morgan explained. “I fell and caught myself on my knees and hands, and that’s when four officers held me down on the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5cg43\">Her phone fell out of her pocket onto the sidewalk, according to Morgan. The next thing she remembered was someone, who she later learned was a medic, lifting her up by her backpack and pulling her away from the officers. Morgan said the officers made no effort to chase or detain them.</p><p data-block-key=\"ttip1\">“I realized pretty quickly that my phone was gone,” Morgan said. “Immediately I turned on the iPhone tracker and it was tracked to the North Precinct for the duration of the night, but turned off the next morning.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mlmgw\">The next day, Morgan said she went to the Portland Police Property Room on Northwest Industrial Street to try to claim her lost phone. She told the clerk about the incident and that the phone had been tracked to the North Precinct, but the clerk didn’t find anything relevant in the evidence log. The clerk then asked for Morgan’s contact information and said she could call again for updates.</p><p data-block-key=\"0fr28\">“I kept calling the next couple of days and on the third day, the clerk said maybe an officer accidentally put it in their car or pocket and took it home,” Morgan reccounted. “I was like what? How is that a thing an officer can do?”</p><p data-block-key=\"mvz6f\">Morgan never got back her phone, which had cost $1,200. She said the clerk later suggested that a protester might have taken the phone, even though Morgan had tracked it to the police precinct.</p><p data-block-key=\"yjjrs\">The morning after the incident, Morgan went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a hairline fracture on her knee cap, she said. This was the first time she had visited a hospital for protest-related injuries despite <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=676\">previous incidents</a>. Additionally, she was bruised in several areas and had to wear a soft knee brace for a month.</p><p data-block-key=\"pzrqi\">The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.</p></div>",
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{
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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",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Grace Morgan (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter falls while covering protest after officer removes her walker, camera",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-falls-while-covering-protest-after-officer-removes-her-walker-camera/",
"first_published_at": "2022-07-12T14:55:00.095022Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:26:41.336580Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:26:41.239891Z",
"date": "2020-08-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pziz6\">Independent journalist Heather Van Wilde was documenting protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 23, 2020, when a police officer briefly seized her walker and the camera attached to it, resulting in a fall that caused injuries and exposure to tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"7b18u\">Van Wilde, who publishes her journalism on <a href=\"https://raindrop.works/\">Raindrop Works</a>, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was documenting one of the many nightly protests held in the city following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"bs613\">The Tracker <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> documented assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"d339m\">Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\"> class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led the city to agree 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=\"e2ser\">Van Wilde has fibromyalgia, vertigo and a form of traumatic arthritis, and as a result must use a walker to ensure her safety and mobility, according to a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ord.156442/gov.uscourts.ord.156442.38.0.pdf\">declaration</a> in support of a separate lawsuit against the city and law enforcement officials.</p><p data-block-key=\"33ger\">She told the Tracker that she was covering demonstrations outside of the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct, and positioned herself at the steps of the Boys & Girls Club nearby in order to position herself and her walker off the sidewalk and out of the way of other press, protesters and police.</p><p data-block-key=\"esioi\">According to her declaration, Van Wilde continued to document from that position, with a DSLR camera around her neck and an action camera mounted on her walker using an eight-foot selfie stick until approximately 11:36 p.m., when a crowd of protesters and police ran past.</p><p data-block-key=\"8chfm\">“I heard the tenor of the crowd change, and when I looked up everyone was running past and three cops were coming in my direction,” Van Wilde told the Tracker. “One of them yelled at me to move. I was wearing my distinctive press gear and I said I was press, which they should have known exempted me from the dispersal order.”</p><p data-block-key=\"96hqt\">She confirmed to the Tracker that she was wearing a press pass around her neck as well as a bright pink hard hat with ‘PRESS’ printed on the left and right sides, and that she had no doubt the officer was aware that she was a member of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"7sqs2\">“[The officer] was gesturing sort of a ‘go away’ gesture, which I took to mean that he didn’t care that I was press and still wanted me to go,” Van WIlde said. “Then he grabbed my walker, which was behind a handrail and wasn’t blocking his path or anything.”</p><p data-block-key=\"nhgc\">As Van Wilde attempted to retrieve her walker so she could continue reporting, she told the Tracker she fell to the ground, breaking the seal on her gas mask and exposing her to the chemical irritants in the air. She found out later that the officer had moved the walker 10 to 15 feet away from her, also causing her camera to fall.</p><p data-block-key=\"aio5i\">“Upon review of footage from other journalists on the ground that night, it appears that I was the only press member targeted for dispersal,” her declaration states. “Several press members were within arms-reach of police officers, and rarely were they asked to step back, much less told to leave or physically engaged with.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bbp7k\">Van Wilde told the Tracker she received basic aid from street medics at the scene after another journalist helped her stand and helped her retrieve her walker and camera. She went to a hospital three or four days after the incident for ongoing pain in her left shoulder and leg, as well as respiratory issues.</p><p data-block-key=\"2p4ti\">“I’ve definitely been a lot more anxious and fearful being around cops, to the point where, I think, since then I’ve only filmed one protest where there was any kind of law enforcement anticipated. And that one, I stayed so far back from the event that basically my footage was useless,” Van Wilde said. “So I ended up having to pivot everything I do to avoid protest coverage, which is still ongoing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a798q\">The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing ongoing litigation.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"35r0o\">Footage from livestreamer Eric Greatwood shows reporter Heather Van Wilde, bottom left in pink helmet, having fallen after an officer pulled her walker away from her during a protest in Portland, Oregon, in August 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
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{
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"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "miscellaneous equipment"
}
],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Heather Van Wilde (Raindrop Works)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Pennsylvania reporter assaulted while covering picket line",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-reporter-assaulted-while-covering-picket-line/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-08T20:57:45.808931Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-11-09T17:08:10.138254Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-11-09T17:08:10.059552Z",
"date": "2020-08-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Farrell",
"longitude": -80.49674,
"latitude": 41.21228,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f1p91\">Michael Roknick, a reporter for The Sharon Herald, was assaulted while covering a steel union picket in Farrell, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 23, 2020, according to his.</p><p data-block-key=\"4zawb\">The Herald <a href=\"https://www.sharonherald.com/news/local_news/nlmk-picketers-rough-up-herald-reporter/article_0aa5378e-204d-5327-8015-4ef1bce31d19.html\">reported</a> that approximately a dozen union members were protesting outside NLMK Pennsylvania’s steel plant and told the outlet that they had been instructed not to speak to the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"sdztm\">When Roknick attempted to photograph the picket line using his cellphone, members blocked their faces with signs, the outlet reported. Two of the picketers then rushed Roknick, and one threw him to the ground. Roknick’s elbow was scraped during the fall, but the reporter was otherwise uninjured.</p><p data-block-key=\"r1jly\">The Herald reported that the outlet had filed an incident report with the Farrell Police Department, but did not plan to press charges.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Pennsylvania",
"abbreviation": "PA"
},
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"tags": [
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Roknick (The [Sharon] Herald)"
],
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},
{
"title": "CBS 58 photojournalist hit in leg while covering Kenosha protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-58-photojournalist-hit-leg-while-covering-kenosha-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-06T18:35:08.356015Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:29:37.614636Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:29:37.534733Z",
"date": "2020-08-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Kenosha",
"longitude": -87.82119,
"latitude": 42.58474,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"a8a6z\">Eric Kriesel, a photojournalist for CBS 58 television, said he was struck in the leg with a brick or rock while covering protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"djhfo\">Protesters began to gather hours after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in the back seven times on a residential street in Kenosha. Demonstrations against police violence and racism had been held across the country, including in Wisconsin, since late May.</p><p data-block-key=\"19tpl\">Kriesel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and a reporter with CBS 58 arrived to cover the police shooting and the community’s reaction in the evening shortly after Blake was shot. He said a couple of hundred people had gathered to protest. Police had put up police tape around the perimeter of the scene, and a few other police cars were parked outside of the perimeter, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei3m2\">Kriesel said protesters began jumping on the police cars, damaging them and breaking their windshields. Someone threw some sort of projectile that hit a police officer and knocked the officer to the ground, he said. Other officers retrieved the one who had been hit, who Kriesel said appeared to be unconscious, and police began to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"jawaz\">Kriesel and the CBS 58 reporter started to walk away from the scene, ahead of a live broadcast at 9 p.m., he said. They were walking alongside the police vehicles that were driving away, and protesters were throwing objects at the cars.</p><p data-block-key=\"579ap\">As he walked, Kriesel said, an object struck him in the lower left shin. He said he believes a brick or a rock ricocheted off of the back windshield of a police car into his leg, and that he didn’t think it was directed at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"758hf\">Kriesel said he had a bruise and swelling on his leg for about a month. He had the injury checked at a hospital, but said he didn’t require any treatment.</p><p data-block-key=\"atkbx\">Kriesel said he was carrying a large and noticeable professional television camera at the time he was hit. He couldn’t recall whether he had his ID card issued by CBS 58 on him at the time, but said he typically carries the credentials when reporting on situations like the demonstration in Kenosha. The Kenosha Police Department didn’t return a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"z8we7\">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=\"5jibd\">Protesters confront Kenosha County Sheriffs Deputies outside the Kenosha Police Department in Wisconsin following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, on Aug. 23, 2020.</p>",
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"name": "Wisconsin",
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{
"title": "Journalist pushed by Portland police officers while covering protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-pushed-by-portland-police-officers-while-covering-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-12T19:22:34.570090Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T19:50:05.316655Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T19:50:05.085620Z",
"date": "2020-08-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"snqad\">An officer shoved independent photojournalist Maranie Staab while she was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early mornings of Aug. 22, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"wfw0m\">Staab was documenting one of the many protests that have been held on almost a nightly basis since late May 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=\"4adfi\">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=\"y0ibr\">In the early hours of Aug. 22, Staab and a group of other journalists were covering a demonstration at the PPB’s North Precinct station. After the gathering was declared a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1297083478484246528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1297083478484246528%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koin.com%2Fnews%2Fprotests%2Fnight-85-black-lives-matter-march-at-irving-park%2F\">riot</a> around 1 a.m., police used smoke and physical force to disperse protesters, according to <a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/22/us-smoke-fills-air-as-portland-police-clear-riot-at-precinct\">Al Jazeera</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"07znl\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297080595193851905?s=20\">video</a> shared by Oregon Public Broadcasting journalist Sergio Olmos on Twitter at 12:58 a.m., a police LRAD can be heard warning that “all persons, including press and legal observers,” must move onto Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.</p><p data-block-key=\"oc1oh\">About a half hour later, as police were using force to disperse protesters, Staab was among several journalists, clearly marked as “press,” who were pushed while trying to film an arrest. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297090542845583360?s=20\">video</a> posted by Olmos at 1:37 a.m., Staab can be seen wearing a black baseball cap backwards, with a camera in her right hand and a phone on a gimbal in her left. An officer approaches and pushes Staab.</p><p data-block-key=\"ojms3\">A few seconds later, the officer rushes at Staab again, pushing her hard into another photojournalist, and yelling, “Stay back!”</p><p data-block-key=\"4g5l2\">“I didn’t do anything to draw attention to myself,” Staab told the Tracker. “Some officers might respect the first amendment and the TRO that’s been in place, but the majority don’t.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c84d0\">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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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Maranie Staab (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Videographer pushed by Portland police officers while covering protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-pushed-by-portland-police-officers-while-covering-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-12T19:22:11.544082Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T19:49:17.412733Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T19:49:17.311351Z",
"date": "2020-08-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eywp5\">Police officers shoved videographer Dustin Tolman who was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020, according to social media posts.</p><p data-block-key=\"ldigi\">Tolman was documenting one of the many protests that have been held on almost a nightly basis since late May 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=\"8elt9\">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=\"rqdm6\">In the early hours of Aug. 22, Tolman and a group of other journalists were covering a demonstration at the PPB’s North Precinct station. After the gathering was declared a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1297083478484246528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1297083478484246528%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koin.com%2Fnews%2Fprotests%2Fnight-85-black-lives-matter-march-at-irving-park%2F\">riot</a> around 1 a.m., police used smoke and physical force to disperse protesters, according to <a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/22/us-smoke-fills-air-as-portland-police-clear-riot-at-precinct\">Al Jazeera</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"gcqdl\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297080595193851905?s=20\">video</a> shared by Oregon Public Broadcasting journalist Sergio Olmos on Twitter at 12:58 a.m., a police LRAD can be heard warning that “all persons, including press and legal observers,” must move onto Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.</p><p data-block-key=\"l4dyt\">About a half hour later, as police were using force to disperse protesters, Tolman was among several journalists, clearly marked as “press,” who were pushed while trying to film an arrest. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297090542845583360?s=20\">video</a> posted by Olmos at 1:37 a.m., an officer is seen pushing Tolman.</p><p data-block-key=\"mx8nd\">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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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
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"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "VICE freelancer hit with mace and projectiles during clash of rival rallies in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vice-freelancer-hit-mace-and-projectiles-during-clash-rival-rallies-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-05T21:51:38.036981Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-21T20:25:27.744798Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-21T20:25:27.686151Z",
"date": "2020-08-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xk26g\">While covering rival protests in Portland for VICE News on Aug. 22, 2020, freelance journalist Donovan Farley posted a series of tweets reporting that he was maced and hit with projectiles. In his tweets, Farley identified his attackers as right-wing protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"4t4od\">According to <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2020/08/22/conservative-protesters-plan-rallies-in-downtown-portland/\">Oregon Public Broadcasting</a>, the protest began around noon as two groups faced off in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1297244331632234496\">tweet</a>, Farley characterized one group’s action as a “pro-police” rally. Countering that gathering was a group identified as anti-fascists, according to OPB.</p><p data-block-key=\"1zv5s\">At 1:07 p.m.Farley <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1297264271877791745\">tweeted</a> that he had been shot with paintballs “like five times” by a protester. About 10 minutes later he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1297266911034503169\">tweeted</a> that he was hit by a water bottle in the “dome,” apparently referring to his head, as “right folks opened fire on protester and press alike” with various projectiles. Farley did not specify which group threw the water bottle and he did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"0lmee\">“Within an hour of meeting, protesters began to push each other and throw objects,” OPB said in its report. “Some demonstrators on the pro-police side fired paintball guns and deployed pepper spray on counterdemonstrators. Other protesters used baseball bats. Many people wore helmets and body armor as they punched, kicked and tore at each other.”</p><p data-block-key=\"k2lq4\">At 1:23 p.m. Farley posted what he identified as <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1297268074517680128\">photos</a> of paintball stains on his clothes. His tweet showed a bright yellow helmet labeled “MEDIA” as well as a photo of his chest area, above his press pass. “I took quite a lot of hits. Got my arms too,” Farley wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"rw6py\">A few minutes later, Farley <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1297269738490351616\">tweeted</a> that he was “shot directly in the phone” (he did not specify with what). “It’s a bunch of things being thrown by both sides at the moment but it sure seems<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlueLivesMatter?src=hashtag_click\"> #BlueLivesMatter</a> is targeting press. Not everyone mind you—it’s mostly Proud Boys. A few of the other folks have been fine,” he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1297269738490351616\">tweeted</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ejtpd\">He also tweeted that a group he said was mostly members of the far-right Proud Boys tried to push over a van with an unidentified member of the press on it. In a video <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1297272805302497281\">tweeted</a> by Farley at 1:41 p.m., the person standing on the van is clearly marked “PRESS” on their neon vest and appears to be holding a camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"s3bua\">A few minutes later Farley tweeted, “I’m now realizing I got maced at some point as all my skin is on fire.” He speculated that it might have been “bear mace” in a later <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1297290134736388096\">tweet</a>. Bear spray is a defense against wildlife that contains capsaicin and related capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the active ingredient that makes chili peppers hot.</p><p data-block-key=\"yvc9e\">According to OPB, most of the right-wing demonstrators left the downtown area by 2:30 that day, before the Portland Police Bureau declared an unlawful assembly at 2:50 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"dxeoy\">At 3:28 p.m. Farley <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DonovanFarley/status/1297299680670302209\">tweeted</a> that he was feeling the effects of the mace and was leaving the downtown area. “I am on absolute fire,” he said.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Blue Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
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{
"title": "Journalist targeted with paintballs while covering clashing protests in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-targeted-with-paintballs-while-covering-clashing-protests-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-08T20:21:50.180752Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:40:23.198097Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:40:23.120727Z",
"date": "2020-08-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bsbaw\">Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos wrote that he was hit with paintballs fired by a right-wing activist while they were covering confrontations between protesters in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ntxwg\">Clashes erupted after more than 100 far-right protesters, including members of the extremist group the Proud Boys and supporters of then-President Donald Trump, gathered outside the Justice Center for a “Back the Blue” rally on Aug. 22, <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/22/portland-police-far-right-protest/\">The Washington Post reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pgds\">Hundreds of counterprotesters amassed in opposition. Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been held in Portland daily for months, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"npgum\">Olmos <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297346028669001729\">posted on Twitter at 6:32 p.m.</a> that while he was being shot with a paintball by a right-wing protester he pointed to his press pass, but the man continued to shoot paintballs.</p><p data-block-key=\"upgod\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297346028669001729\">video</a> Olmos posted with his tweet, a man wearing a black helmet can be seen firing a paintball gun into the crowd amid clashes between far-right groups and opposing protesters. At one point in the video, several paintballs can be seen flying past Olmos’s camera as he films.</p><p data-block-key=\"i3f73\">Olmos did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"wkl0i\">In September, the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office filed multiple assault <a href=\"https://www.mcda.us/index.php/news/alan-swinney-arrested-charged-for-recent-criminal-conduct-in-downtown/\">charges</a> against a man, who was arrested for allegedly attacking people with paintballs and mace at two protests, including the one on Aug. 22. The indictment against Alan Swinney alleges that on Aug. 22 he used a paintball gun to cause physical injury, pointed a revolver at a person and unlawfully discharged “mace or a similar substance” toward another person. The charges do not name any of the alleged targets.</p><p data-block-key=\"qcpyu\">In October, a judge denied a motion for Swinney’s release, and as of March 2021, he was still being held in prison, <a href=\"http://www.mcso.us/PAID/Home/Booking/1508794\">according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department</a>. Swinney's lawyer, Eric Wolfe, did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"vp145\">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>",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"Blue Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
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},
{
"title": "Journalist’s hand broken by assailant at ‘Back the Blue’ rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-hand-broken-by-assailant-at-back-the-blue-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-23T17:36:01.559522Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:39:57.875483Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:39:57.779953Z",
"date": "2020-08-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yvp2y\">An unidentified man attacked Bellingcat journalist Robert Evans with a baton, breaking bones in his hand, Evans said, as the journalist was covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"01rlh\">Clashes erupted after more than 100 far-right protesters, including members of the extremist group the Proud Boys and supporters of then-President Donald Trump, gathered outside the Justice Center for a “Back the Blue” rally on Aug. 22, <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/22/portland-police-far-right-protest/\">The Washington Post reported</a>. Hundreds of counterprotesters, including Black Lives Matter activists, amassed in opposition.</p><p data-block-key=\"fskzc\">Evans, a reporter for investigative news site Bellingcat and host of a podcast for iHeartMedia, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after 1 p.m. he saw a fight break out as he was reporting on the protests outside the Justice Center.</p><p data-block-key=\"58nw3\">Video he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1297270144947765248\">posted on Twitter</a> shows that as Evans nears the skirmish, a man in a gray baseball hat and orange-tinted sunglasses turns around and hits his baton downward at Evans’s hand, knocking his phone to the ground.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">While I am filming a right wing activist charges out and assaults me, breaking my finger with an asp baton. Sergio has more footage of the confrontation that follows <a href=\"https://t.co/gPdPsQ70b5\">pic.twitter.com/gPdPsQ70b5</a></p>— Robert Evans (The Only Robert Evans) (@IwriteOK) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1297270144947765248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 22, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uen90\">Evans told the Tracker that he had an open fracture, meaning the blow broke the skin on his hand.</p><p data-block-key=\"6a2yd\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1297271223219400704\">second video</a> Evans posted, he approaches the man, who is now holding a blue sign that says “God Bless America.” Evans tells him, “you just assaulted a press guy.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ofxn\">Journalist Garrison Davis posted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1297270911981088768\">another video</a> of Evans, blood dripping from his finger, speaking to the man. Evans’s words are indistinct, but his assailant repeats “move back.” When Evans continues to speak, the man uses his sign to slam the journalist in the chest and head.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The person with the “God Bless America” shield assaulted journalist Robert Evans <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IwriteOK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@IwriteOK</a> and cut his hand. As Robert talks about the incident he continues to be assaulted. <a href=\"https://t.co/3cOSQxrrXR\">pic.twitter.com/3cOSQxrrXR</a></p>— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1297270911981088768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 22, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"22u8u\">Evans, who was wearing a helmet and a protective vest that were both marked with the word PRESS, said he believes he was targeted because he was filming the clashes.</p><p data-block-key=\"ssztp\">“I made very certain that he knew what he had done and that he knew who he had assaulted,” Evans said.</p><p data-block-key=\"cq4bx\">Evans said a medic who was helping protesters dressed his wound with a bandage and splint on site, and he continued to cover the protest for several hours. He later went to a hospital emergency room for treatment. He told the Tracker his hand was broken in two places.</p><p data-block-key=\"h09lk\">Evans said his Samsung Galaxy phone screen was cracked and the charging port broken when he was attacked. He was able to continue using it to report for the rest of the day, but later needed to replace it.</p><p data-block-key=\"zrnw0\">Portland Police Bureau did not respond to emailed questions about the attack on Evans. A spokesperson for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s Office said they had no record of a case related to the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"yz4jv\">Evans told the Tracker in February 2021 that he planned to take legal action against his attacker but had not yet done so. He noted that police had not made any arrests related to the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"39gp3\">Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been held in Portland daily for months, sparked by the May 25 killing 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></div>",
"introduction": "",
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{
"quantity": 1,
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"tags": [
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"protest"
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"categories": [
"Assault",
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist targeted with paintballs, mace while covering clashing protests in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-targeted-with-paintballs-chemical-irritant-while-covering-clashing-protests-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-17T17:35:21.379686Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:39:37.876823Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:39:37.793007Z",
"date": "2020-08-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0sbta\">Independent photojournalist Cole Howard said he was hit with paintballs fired by a right-wing activist while he was covering confrontations between protesters in Portland, Oregon on Aug. 22, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"uuuox\">Howard said he was also sprayed with mace by a second individual.</p><p data-block-key=\"rr0p2\">Clashes erupted after more than 100 far-right protesters, including members of the extremist group the Proud Boys and supporters of then-President Donald Trump, gathered outside the Justice Center for a “Back the Blue” rally on Aug. 22, <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/22/portland-police-far-right-protest/\">The Washington Post reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"z1i6s\">Hundreds of counterprotesters amassed in opposition. Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been held in Portland daily for months, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"h3qqx\">Howard, whose work has been published by <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-election-portland/one-person-shot-in-portland-as-anti-trump-protesters-cross-bridge-police-idINKBN13706Q\">Reuters</a>, <a href=\"https://www.newsweek.com/anti-trump-protests-continue-us-cities-520433\">Newsweek</a> and other outlets, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was documenting the confrontation between protesters and counterprotesters when a man on the right-wing side of the clash began firing paintballs at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vg24\">Howard said the man made eye contact with him before firing three paintballs, which hit him across his torso and shoulder. “To have one paintball hit you is one thing,” Howard told the Tracker, adding that because he was hit multiple times, he believes he was deliberately targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"gxrqp\">Howard said he was “very obviously marked as press” wearing both a flak jacket and helmet with press markings.</p><p data-block-key=\"y7jhx\">Less than an hour after he was struck by paintballs, Howard said another person from the Proud Boys side of the confrontation ran at him and sprayed a chemical irritant, which Howard said he believed was bear mace, in his face.</p><p data-block-key=\"p82e5\">“From what I could see there wasn’t anybody right next to me — it was pretty obvious that he was targeting me,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"w7ucb\">In a photo Howard provided the Tracker, an assailant’s hand can be seen spraying a chemical irritant in the direction of the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"1s1lf\">Howard said he was wearing goggles, which delayed the effects of the irritant, giving him a few seconds to move away. The irritant caused his eyes to swell shut for about 20 minutes, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"jeuh3\">He said the irritant left him in pain that day and through the next day.</p><p data-block-key=\"r6qft\">In September the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office filed multiple assault <a href=\"https://www.mcda.us/index.php/news/alan-swinney-arrested-charged-for-recent-criminal-conduct-in-downtown/\">charges</a> against a man, who was arrested for allegedly attacking people with paintballs and mace at two protests, including the one on Aug. 22. The indictment against Alan Swinney alleges that on Aug. 22 he used a paintball gun to cause physical injury, pointed a revolver at a person and unlawfully discharged “mace or a similar substance” toward another person. The charges do not name any of the alleged targets.</p><p data-block-key=\"sd3k6\">In October, a judge denied a motion for Swinney’s release, and as of March 2021, he was still being held in prison, <a href=\"http://www.mcso.us/PAID/Home/Booking/1508794\">according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Department</a>. Swinney's lawyer, Eric Wolfe, did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"d66yk\">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/Howard_assault_082220.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"r4n3l\">Photojournalist Cole Howard was documenting dueling protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020, when he says he was targeted with paintballs and later a chemical irritant, which he captured in this image.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-12-10 17:02:00+00:00) Proud Boy who fired paintballs at Portland protests sentenced to prison"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"Blue Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Cole Howard (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist doused with chemical irritant multiple times while covering countering Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-doused-with-chemical-irritant-multiple-times-while-covering-countering-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-17T15:31:41.090893Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:27:23.515136Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:27:23.422452Z",
"date": "2020-08-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ucv8q\">Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said she was doused with bear mace by individuals at a far-right protest while covering clashing demonstrations in Portland, Oregon on Aug. 22, 2020. Lewis, whose work has been published by <a href=\"https://money.yahoo.com/anti-trump-protester-pepper-sprayed-071723129.html\">Yahoo News</a>, said she required medical treatment for injury from the chemical irritant.</p><p data-block-key=\"paphw\">Clashes erupted between members of far-right groups and counterprotesters on Aug. 22 outside the Justice Center in downtown Portland, the<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/08/22/portland-police-far-right-protest/\"> Washington Post</a> reported. Members of the extremist group the Proud Boys and supporters of then-President Donald Trump gathered for a “Back the Blue” rally, and hundreds of counterprotesters, including Black Lives Matter activists, organized in opposition.</p><p data-block-key=\"5853i\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/Cascadianphotog/status/1297345694345306112\">In video footage captured by Lewis</a>, she appears to be filming clashes from behind a van parked on the edge of Chapman Square, a small park opposite the Multnomah County Justice Center. A man wearing a T-shirt that reads “TRUMP” approaches her and tells her to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"r1s2v\">Seconds later, another man wearing a helmet and a gas mask appears and begins spraying an irritant, hitting Lewis. As that assailant retreats, a man in khaki shorts, taking cover from counterprotesters behind newspaper vending boxes, appears to spray an irritant toward Lewis. She takes a few steps backwards and a third individual appears from behind the van and sprays an irritant directly at Lewis.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As the Proud Boys and other “Patriots” pushed forward with shields, mace was used. One man asked @PhrenologyPhun to get behind him, where other men would have done her harm. Another man told her to LEAVE NOW. Finally Swinney and another man sprayed her multiple times. <a href=\"https://t.co/JPjkcCe1k7\">pic.twitter.com/JPjkcCe1k7</a></p>— Cascadianphotog Media (@Cascadianphotog) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Cascadianphotog/status/1297345694345306112?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 23, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3iyz0\">Lewis tweeted that when one individual sprayed her “head to toe,” she turned her head away and the chemical irritant went down her ear canal.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">While filming for <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Cascadianphotog?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Cascadianphotog</a>, I was trapped against snack van and Alan Swinney took advantage of my vulnerable position. He sprayed me head to toe with bear mace. I instinctively turned my face away and the mace went down my ear canal.</p>— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Claudio_Report/status/1297290681107402752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 22, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7qrr9\">After retreating, Lewis said she began “furiously” removing her gear, but once she took off her gas mask, the irritant flowed into her face and all over her body.</p><p data-block-key=\"43qjq\">“Because my hair was so soaked, it just ran down as soon as I took off my gas mask — that’s what was holding it back,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"tcfga\">Lewis said the irritant caused her intense pain.</p><p data-block-key=\"utm2j\">“It was like I had showered in it. I was absolutely bathed in bear mace,” she told the Tracker. “It was the most pain that I’ve ever been in.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f3o5d\">With ambulances unable to reach the area due to the unrest, Lewis said some other protesters carried her away from the area until she could get an ambulance to a hospital emergency room, where she said she was treated with pain medication.</p><p data-block-key=\"ulyc4\">Lewis and several counterprotesters filed <a href=\"https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-wordpress-client-uploads/wweek/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/25161825/FINAL-Swinney-Complaint.pdf\">a lawsuit on Sept. 25 against</a> several far-right group members and supporters who were involved in the unrest on Aug. 22. As of March 2021, she said the suit was still pending.</p><p data-block-key=\"rzjlc\">Lewis was wearing a press badge while she was covering the protests, according to the lawsuit. She told the Tracker she does not know if her attackers identified her as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"eju07\">“I was sprayed because I was recording and not right wing,” she told the Tracker in an email.</p><p data-block-key=\"xts2f\">Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been held in Portland daily for months, sparked by the May 25 killing 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></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"Blue Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Portland Tribune reporter pushed by police officer while covering far-right rally",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-tribune-reporter-pushed-police-officer-while-covering-far-right-rally/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-15T18:04:15.763405Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:25:14.859003Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:25:14.792361Z",
"date": "2020-08-22",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yi9jb\">Portland Tribune journalist Zane Sparling said a police officer shoved him as he covered a rally in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 22, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"xd8au\">Protests in the city had been held on almost a nightly basis since late May in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. Sparling was covering a pro-Trump rally that attracted counterprotesters. 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=\"uvgxc\">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=\"vulrw\">At around 11 a.m. Sparling began covering the far-right rally at the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown. The rally attracted left-wing counterprotesters, and the two sides <a href=\"https://www.opb.org/article/2020/08/22/conservative-protesters-plan-rallies-in-downtown-portland/\">clashed</a> throughout the day.</p><p data-block-key=\"z3ssy\">After several hours of coverage, Sparling was pushed by a police officer while he was filming Tusitala “Tiny” Toese, a well-known member of the Proud Boys, a far-right group. Sparling focused on Toese because there had been an active warrant out for his arrest over his <a href=\"https://www.wweek.com/news/2020/08/22/although-infamous-street-brawler-tusitala-tiny-toese-is-a-wanted-man-he-was-front-and-center-today/\">alleged involvement</a> in a beating in Seattle, he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"2clpf\">Footage taken and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDXzane/status/1297285564261994496\">published</a> by Sparling on Twitter shows Toese walking past PPB officers. About 10 seconds into the video, the camera goes askew as Sparling gets pushed. “Tiny Toese just walked past Portland police, they did not arrest him. Officer grabbed me by shirt and shoved,” Sparling tweeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"i1mqy\">Sparling said he was clearly identifiable as press because he was actively filming, though he doesn’t remember if his press identification was showing at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"zi9x0\">“He grabbed on to my shirt and swung me in an orbit to move me to a different spot,” Sparling told the Tracker. “Lots of people were walking past these police officers, including someone with an active warrant. I don’t know why it was more interesting that I was walking past. I don’t know why I was the one that seemed to be the threat there. ”</p><p data-block-key=\"wc1d4\">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": "Videographer shoved by Portland police officers",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/several-journalists-pushed-portland-police-officers-while-covering-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-15T17:57:53.586681Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-31T17:48:58.108875Z",
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"date": "2020-08-22",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oxgsn\">Mason Lake, an independent videographer, said he was shoved by police officers while covering a protest in the early morning of Aug. 22, 2020 in Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"ia2t9\">Lake was documenting one of the many protests that have been held on almost a nightly basis since late May 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=\"nmi2r\">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=\"cmfyo\">In the early hours of Aug. 22, Lake and a group of other journalists were covering a demonstration at the PPB’s North Precinct station. After the gathering was declared a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1297083478484246528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1297083478484246528%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.koin.com%2Fnews%2Fprotests%2Fnight-85-black-lives-matter-march-at-irving-park%2F\">riot</a> around 1 a.m., police used smoke and physical force to disperse protesters, according to <a href=\"https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/8/22/us-smoke-fills-air-as-portland-police-clear-riot-at-precinct\">Al Jazeera</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"b9iu8\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297080595193851905?s=20\">video</a> shared by Oregon Public Broadcasting journalist Sergio Olmos on Twitter at 12:58 a.m., a police LRAD can be heard warning that “all persons, including press and legal observers,” must move onto Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.</p><p data-block-key=\"ap173\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1297090542845583360?s=20\">video</a> posted by Olmos at 1:37 a.m., an officer approaches and pushes Lake.</p><p data-block-key=\"8x92c\">The PPB has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.</p><p data-block-key=\"7v02n\"><i>This article was updated to identify a previously “unidentified journalist” as videographer Mason Lake, who confirmed the incident to the Tracker.</i></p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"am124\">Police officers detain a protester following a Black Lives Matter protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 24, 2020. Journalist Mason Lake was shoved by police while documenting protests there two days earlier.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
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},
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"(2025-01-29 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist settles suit against Portland, Oregon",
"(2022-06-27 00:00:00+00:00) Oregon video journalist files suit over Portland police assaults"
],
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"protest"
],
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{
"title": "Independent journalist shoved by Portland police during August protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-shoved-by-portland-police-during-august-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-25T18:46:36.249857Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:10:03.842604Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:10:03.749798Z",
"date": "2020-08-21",
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"city": "Portland",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pn1g8\">Independent visual journalist Rodrigo Melgarejo was shoved by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland during the early morning hours of Aug. 21, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"6zzgt\">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=\"x54h8\">Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">preliminary injunction</a> in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.</p><p data-block-key=\"mgave\">The demonstration on Aug. 20 began peacefully in North Portland with little interaction between police and protesters, according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/portland-protests-continue-for-85th-night-heres-what-you-should-know.html\">The Oregonian</a>. However, several protesters were arrested in a later demonstration outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, where Portland police declared an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"7jgev\">“Tonight, PPB declared an unlawful assembly, saying anyone not press was going to be arrested if they don’t leave,” Melgarejo wrote in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Mestizo43/status/1296754203658878976?s=20\">tweet</a> at 3:21 a.m. on Aug. 21. “Yet I was shoved, down the sidewalk and into the street.” He told the Tracker he was wearing a ballistic vest and black helmet, both marked with press labels.</p><p data-block-key=\"020f3\">In a video accompanying the tweet, Melgarejo is facing a row of officers in riot gear. At 0:11, one officer states, “If you are not press, you need to leave.” Another repeats the same statement a few seconds later, adding that protesters who refuse to leave will be arrested. The same officer then begins to physically pressure people to move and says at 0:20, “Get out of my way. If you’re in my way, I’m going to push you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"i6r4p\">At 0:34, the camera suddenly jostles and an officer’s face can briefly be seen very close to the lens. Melgarejo continues to film one particular officer who repeatedly demands, “Move!” and pushes people forward. This continues for another minute until demonstrators, press, and officers are all on the street. At 1:29, an officer can be seen pointing right at the camera, yelling, “Get out of the street!” and then shoving him.</p><p data-block-key=\"oesbr\">When reached by email about this incident, the PPB declined to comment citing pending litigation.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
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"tags": [
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"protest"
],
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with rubber bullet during protest clashes in LA",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-rubber-bullet-during-protest-clashes-l/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-04T18:17:02.684710Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T17:10:31.090695Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T17:10:31.003233Z",
"date": "2020-08-21",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ks19s\">Freelance photojournalist Ringo Chiu, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, was struck by a rubber bullet while covering clashing demonstrations in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"zxe4p\">According to a complaint Chiu filed with the Los Angeles Police Department, which he shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Chiu had arrived near the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Saluda Avenue at approximately 5:30 p.m. to cover a demonstration by supporters of President Donald Trump. Officers were lined up to separate the Trump supporters from a nearby group of Black Lives Matter counterprotesters, Chiu said in the complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"dmszz\">“I began photographing the event when I [was] stopped by the police,” Chiu wrote in the complaint. Chiu added that he was allowed to continue working after showing police his media passes. According to NPPA General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher, Chiu was wearing both his LAPD and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department media credentials that day, and was carrying three cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"8tegs\">As tensions between the two crowds began to escalate, first verbally and then into physical fighting, Chiu wrote, LAPD officers attempted to separate them by pushing them back onto sidewalks and out of the street. Chiu wrote that he was standing with other photographers documenting the scene and had just shifted to a new location when he was struck in the abdomen with a rubber bullet that he estimated was fired from officers approximately 15 feet away.</p><p data-block-key=\"btfho\">“In that moment, I felt a surge of hot pain in my body and immediately ran away from the police, and sat below a tree on the sidewalk,” Chiu wrote. According to Chiu, as police continued shooting at the protesters, a group of protesters surrounded him and helped him make his way to a nearby parking lot.</p><p data-block-key=\"jt05k\">Chiu wrote that some of the protesters provided him with first aid, and when an ambulance was unable to reach him because of the clashes, a protester drove him to Kaiser Permanente Hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"7b44p\">Chiu told the Tracker that he didn’t have any broken bones from the incident, but that the munition’s impact broke the skin and left a visible scar on his abdomen. Chiu filed his complaint to police on Aug. 24 and told the Tracker in mid-December that he hadn’t received a response from the LAPD.</p><p data-block-key=\"zn7uw\">Osterreicher, the photographer’s association counsel, told the Tracker that an LAPD spokesperson told him on Dec. 16 that the investigation into Chiu’s complaint was “recently completed and is in the review process.” The spokesperson added that, following an internal review, the complaint would be adjudicated and it would be another one to two months before the department would notify Chiu by letter about the outcome.</p><p data-block-key=\"cygcn\">In a Facebook post shared with the Tracker, Chiu wrote, “Never would I have thought that I would also need to protect myself from the police, those that I believed would always protect us during times of chaos.”</p><p data-block-key=\"u4o6j\">“Although you may have your credentials displayed and carry cameras that show your intent, the risk is far greater than before, as many other photojournalists on the field have also sustained equal or even harsher wounds than I have,” Chiu continued. “Sometimes it feels like, as media covering our community, we can be in danger from every direction when exercising our First Amendment right.”</p></div>",
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"name": "California",
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"shot / shot at"
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