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[
{
"title": "Videographer hit with tear gas canister during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-hit-with-crowd-control-weapons-while-covering-a-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-08T19:50:28.828350Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:11:52.115456Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:11:52.009983Z",
"date": "2020-08-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jmsbz\">Videographer Melissa Lewis said a tear gas canister fired by law enforcement struck her in the head while covering a demonstration in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 20, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ay42n\">Lewis was covering one of the many protests in Portland that have been held on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"of5lu\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests. The injunction was <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> later that month.</p><p data-block-key=\"321i8\">On the night of Aug. 20, protesters gathered outside the building housing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in southwest Portland. Demonstrators sprayed graffiti on the building and tampered with the gate and windows, according to local news station <a href=\"https://www.kptv.com/news/local/for-second-night-group-gathers-at-ice-building-in-sw-portland-3-arrested/article_54516270-e3a3-11ea-9be7-eb4e2cd99ea9.html\">KPTV</a>, prompting officers from the Portland Police Bureau and Federal Protective Service, who emerged around 11:20 p.m., to confront the group.</p><p data-block-key=\"83lac\">Lewis said she was hit with the tear gas canister during that same round of law enforcement fire, though the incident wasn’t captured on video. “I was standing in an area that was exposed. They shot a tear gas canister, and it hit me right in the head,” Lewis told the Tracker. “Thankfully I was wearing a helmet and my gas mask.”</p><p data-block-key=\"lf8xw\">Lewis then went to a hospital emergency room for treatment, she said. She <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Cascadianphotog/status/1296871152858443776\">tweeted</a> the next day that she likely had a “mild concussion.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xdm9s\">Lewis said that while she didn't feel personally targeted by the officers, she does believe they were targeting the press assembled there.</p><p data-block-key=\"a695p\">A spokesperson for ICE referred the Tracker to FPS, a Department of Homeland Security agency that deployed to Portland, for comment, but the agency didn’t respond. PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"oeiwh\">Police detain a woman at an August 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Portland, Oregon. Journalist Melissa “Claudio” Lewis told the Tracker she was hit with a tear gas canister fired by law enforcement at a Portland protest on Aug. 20.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_number": "3:20-cv-01882",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-11-01 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist joins civil rights suit against Portland, Oregon; later withdraws"
],
"case_statuses": [
"withdrawn"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist hit with multiple pepper balls while documenting protests in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-multiple-pepper-balls-while-documenting-protests-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-09T17:47:57.104137Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:10:26.484105Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:10:26.364240Z",
"date": "2020-08-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ma1gk\">Multimedia journalist Grace Morgan said she was hit with pepper balls shot by federal agents while covering protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 20, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"tddyg\">Morgan was documenting protests that had continued for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The 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=\"3udil\">On the evening of Aug. 20, demonstrators<a href=\"https://www.voanews.com/usa/two-portland-protests-demonstrators-march-peacefully-one-other-declared-riot\"> marched</a> from Kenton Park to the Portland Police Association headquarters, ending the protest by 10 p.m. Around that time, another group of protesters gathered at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, the site of what Portland Police declared <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/protesters-rally-in-southwest-portland/283-2b0e9903-d8df-44bc-98e3-607a8f0f7931\">a riot</a> the previous night.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3hzd\">Morgan said many of the protesters had gotten pushed back to another park two blocks away, but she decided to stay by the building to monitor what the federal agents and Portland police would do next. After about 40 minutes, protesters marched back to the facility. Morgan filmed from the sidewalk as federal agents formed a line and began firing pepper balls and flash-bang grenades into the crowd. Unidentified officers also deployed tear gas, Morgan told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"t9cv1\">“Suddenly I got hit in the hand that I was filming with,” Morgan said. “It wasn’t until I later reviewed footage by another journalist that I realized I was hit in the head as well.”</p><p data-block-key=\"r9z4q\">In a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/gravemorgan/status/1296698091278495745?s=20\"> video</a> she tweeted at 11:38 p.m. on Aug. 20, Morgan drops her phone when she is hit with a pepper ball. She quickly picks the phone back up and walks away from the scene.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here where they aimed, and hit me, directly at my camera / hand and I was able to pick it back up lol. I am clearly marked as press and on the sidewalk <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtest</a> after this I distinctly smelled CS gas <a href=\"https://t.co/9o1s6LOrvJ\">pic.twitter.com/9o1s6LOrvJ</a></p>— Peter (@gravemorgan) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gravemorgan/status/1296698091278495745?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 21, 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=\"ujii8\">Griffin Malone, another independent journalist, captured Morgan’s incident around the 19-second mark in a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/GriffinMalone6/status/1296695438880382976?s=20\"> video</a> he shared. In it, what appears to be a flash-bang grenade bounces off of Morgan’s helmet. She said she clearly displayed her press badges and had markings on her helmet as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"ifu4u\">“I actually wasn’t even that close to the protesters, so it seems like I was specifically targeted,” Morgan told the Tracker. “They were firing 20 or 30 feet to my right and then one thing comes straight at me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j4pc0\">Morgan said she didn’t know which agency fired the projectile that hit her. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"o8y3y\">At the time, a preliminary injunction a judge put in place in July barred federal agents from harming or impeding journalists. The ruling was upheld by an appeals court in October.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Grace Morgan (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist pushed by a Portland police officer while covering an arrest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-pushed-by-a-portland-police-officer-while-covering-an-arrest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-08T19:40:15.893680Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:11:31.861717Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:11:31.780629Z",
"date": "2020-08-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tvpl7\">Independent journalist Scott Keeler said he was pushed by a police officer in the early hours of Aug. 20, 2020, while attempting to film an arrest during a protest in southwest Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"uijww\">Keeler, an independent videographer, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"cj9gj\">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.</p><p data-block-key=\"v0ko3\">Shortly after midnight on Aug. 20, a Portland Police Bureau sergeant approached Keeler and other members of the press, who were standing back from the arrest, to expand the perimeter. Then another officer started pushing Keeler and some other journalists back before dropping a tear gas canister at their feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfhoi\">Keeler can be seen in a video <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1296367220868567042\">posted</a> by Sergio Olmos of Oregon Public Broadcasting kneeling in front of the press scrum in a black helmet and backpack clearly marked press. About 43 seconds into the video, the officer pulls Keeler to his feet and pushes him back, knocking his helmet off.</p><p data-block-key=\"hzip7\">Keeler <a href=\"https://mobile.twitter.com/_whatriot/status/1296347908900392960?s=21\">tweeted</a>, “Cop just ripped my mask off and threw a tear gas canister under me as I was kneeled filming an arrest of another member of press. I had been in the same position filming for quite a while before this cop decided to target me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"oabgm\">The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Scott Keeler (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist hit with projectiles while covering a Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-independent-journalists-say-officers-hit-them-crowd-control-weapons-while-they-were-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-22T15:28:41.562113Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:11:12.207710Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:11:12.109445Z",
"date": "2020-08-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"81cd6\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was shot with munitions and had a stun grenade and tear gas thrown at her by law enforcement officers while covering a demonstration in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 20, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"p7g19\">Azar was covering one of the many protests in Portland that have been held on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"e1usn\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests. The injunction was <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> later that month.</p><p data-block-key=\"6udb9\">On the night of Aug. 20, protesters gathered outside the building housing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in southwest Portland. Demonstrators sprayed graffiti on the building and tampered with the gate and windows, according to local news station <a href=\"https://www.kptv.com/news/local/for-second-night-group-gathers-at-ice-building-in-sw-portland-3-arrested/article_54516270-e3a3-11ea-9be7-eb4e2cd99ea9.html\">KPTV</a>, prompting officers from the Portland Police Bureau and Federal Protective Service, who emerged around 11:20 p.m., to confront the group.</p><p data-block-key=\"ooeoq\">Federal agents then began shooting pepper balls, stun grenades and tear gas at the crowd of protesters and press. The PPB was <a href=\"https://www.kptv.com/news/local/for-second-night-group-gathers-at-ice-building-in-sw-portland-3-arrested/article_54516270-e3a3-11ea-9be7-eb4e2cd99ea9.html\">cited by KPTV</a> as saying its officers didn’t fire crowd-control munitions or tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"f89vr\">Azar posted a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/R3volutionDaddy/status/1296727726607409153\">video</a> on Twitter showing her getting hit several times, first with a stun grenade and then by some type of munitions. Soon after, she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/R3volutionDaddy/status/1296718209207287810\">tweeted</a>, “I had a stun grenade thrown at my ankle, tear gas canisters thrown at me got shot at. I’m ok just hurts.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here’s the cannister that you can see the feds rolled right at my feet before one of them shot me. I was bleeding above my foot from this and where I got shot is quite swollen. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BlackLivesMatter</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/AbolishICE?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#AbolishICE</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PDXprotests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PDXprotests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/pdx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#pdx</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/DefendPdx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DefendPdx</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ACAB?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ACAB</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/jjni5nzqAU\">pic.twitter.com/jjni5nzqAU</a></p>— Alissa Azar (@R3volutionDaddy) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/R3volutionDaddy/status/1296727726607409153?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 21, 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=\"mmpdj\">Freelance journalist Griffin Malone captured the incident from another direction in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GriffinMalone6/status/1296695438880382976\">video</a> he published on Twitter. About 30 seconds into the video, Azar, wearing a visible press badge, is seen running away and saying, “Ow!”</p><p data-block-key=\"ea2b6\">In a follow-up <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GriffinMalone6/status/1296695644900306945/photo/1\">tweet</a>, Malone published a photo of Azar with a welt on her body, writing that Azar “was hit in ankle with flash bang and then shot at.”</p><p data-block-key=\"44fd7\">Azar said she believes the officers purposefully fired towards her. “I was standing close to them when it happened. The canister and getting shot [by munitions] were both intentionally aimed at me,” Azar told the Tracker. “I was standing with a group of media who were all visibly press as well.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3w19d\">A spokesperson for ICE referred the Tracker to FPS, a Department of Homeland Security agency that deployed to Portland, for comment, but the agency didn’t respond. PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"name": "Oregon",
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},
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"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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{
"title": "Two journalists pushed by a Portland police officer while covering an arrest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-journalists-pushed-portland-police-officer-while-covering-arrest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-22T15:21:06.383727Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:10:48.465475Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:10:48.352073Z",
"date": "2020-08-20",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"88m02\">Justin Yau, an independent journalist, said he was pushed by a police officer in the early hours of Aug. 20, 2020, while attempting to film an arrest during a protest in southwest Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"n8x82\">Yau, a student at the University of Portland whose work has been featured by the Daily Mail and The New York Times, was covering one of the many protests that had broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement after the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"d4zzh\">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. Yau provided a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/declaration_of_justin_yau_iso_mtro.pdf\">declaration</a> in support of the ACLU suit, which led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"50g58\">On the night of Aug. 19, Yau had been covering a <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/protesters-rally-in-southwest-portland/283-2b0e9903-d8df-44bc-98e3-607a8f0f7931\">demonstration</a> at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, After a riot was declared, protesters returned to Elizabeth Caruthers Park, a few blocks north. Federal agents had pushed protesters out of the park before the Portland Police Bureau took over enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5n4w\">Shortly after midnight on Aug. 20, Yau was filming an arrest near the northwest corner of the park when the pushing incident occurred, he told the Tracker. A PPB sergeant approached Yau, and other members of the press, who were standing back from the arrest, to expand the perimeter. Then another officer started pushing Yau and other journalists back before dropping a tear gas canister at their feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"ba4ep\">In a video of the incident filmed and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1296396926053621762\">tweeted</a> by Yau, an officer can be heard saying, “back up, back up.” Then the camera goes askew and the video cuts out as Yau gets pushed.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">By 12:04AM, Several arrests have been made during this dispersal operation. News media personnel have gathered to document the incident. <a href=\"https://t.co/h20gcSxXiU\">https://t.co/h20gcSxXiU</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/9vCCoq5xEP\">pic.twitter.com/9vCCoq5xEP</a></p>— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1296396926053621762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 20, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8a45g\">A different angle of the incident was captured and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1296367220868567042\">posted</a> by Sergio Olmos of Oregon Public Broadcasting. Yau, wearing a black helmet marked “press,” can be seen getting shoved about 40 seconds into the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"0889v\">The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Independent journalist says she was hit by a projectile and shoved by law enforcement officers at Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-says-she-was-hit-by-a-projectile-and-shoved-by-law-enforcement-officers-at-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-16T16:40:15.301532Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-13T15:29:56.243347Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-13T15:29:56.142529Z",
"date": "2020-08-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9pagn\">Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was shot at and shoved by law enforcement officers while covering protests in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on the night of Aug. 19, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"aon95\">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=\"s4teg\">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. The injunction was <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> later that month.</p><p data-block-key=\"ibfmd\">Throughout the night of Aug. 19, federal officers and Portland police worked to push protesters away from the ICE facility and direct the crowd toward Elizabeth Caruthers Park, a few blocks north, according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/08/portland-protests-continue-for-84th-night-block-traffic-from-sw-macadam-live-updates.html\">The Oregonian</a>. Police declared a riot at around 11 p.m. after demonstrators had thrown various objects at the officers and spray-painted across the building's windows.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ggp9\">Auberdine told the Tracker that within 15 minutes of arriving that night, she was shot in the arm with a beanbag-like metal round fired by Department of Homeland Security agents. "I was standing on the northwest corner [of the facility]," she said. "It was a direct line between the DHS who shot me. There was no one in front of or behind me."</p><p data-block-key=\"ma0y3\">Soon after, law enforcement officers began a push that continued for about six blocks to the north of the facility, she said. "I was forced to move along the sidewalk, so I didn't have a chance to really account for what had just gone on," she told the Tracker. "There was a hole in my sweater and red marking as well. It hurt a lot, but I didn't know immediately that I was bleeding."</p><p data-block-key=\"sb9cv\">She found street medics to help clean and bandage her arm, she said, and now has a scar.</p><p data-block-key=\"jr9mn\">Later that night, while Portland police officers were walking in a riot line to move protesters away from the ICE building, the officers "suddenly bull rushed and grabbed their batons," Auberdine said. She was the "first one in front of them," and got "shoved onto the hood of an SUV."</p><p data-block-key=\"zxlgy\">Auberdine was <a href=\"https://www.twitch.tv/videos/719511001\">livestreaming</a> at the time, and at around the 7:25 mark, officers can be seen suddenly running towards several individuals and pushing them toward a car. For a brief moment, her camera flips sideways, as she gets pushed. A loudspeaker can be heard urging protesters and journalists to head to the north.</p><p data-block-key=\"j1us3\">She said she had a vest visibly labelled with press markings. "I think this type of violence has a much greater impact on me because this is a direct physical violation…of my body," she told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"iswsw\">The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The DHS didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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{
"title": "Independent videographer said Portland officer shoved him, causing his head to hit pavement",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-said-portland-officer-shoved-him-causing-his-head-hit-pavement/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-01T21:16:06.689812Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:12:10.916650Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:12:10.820585Z",
"date": "2020-08-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9tzfh\">Independent videographer Nicholas Lee said a Portland police officer shoved him, causing his head to hit the pavement, while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Aug. 19, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"3xxei\">The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"n83y5\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"aomop\">The protest Lee was covering began in the evening of Aug. 18 and stretched past midnight. After gathering in Colonel Summers Park in southeast Portland at around 9 p.m. protesters marched nearly a mile to the Multnomah Building, the county seat of government, on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. Some protesters started fires in dumpsters and inside the building, <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/08/demonstrators-gather-for-83rd-night-of-protests-march-to-multnomah-building-live-updates.html\">according to The Oregonian</a>, prompting the Portland Police Bureau to declare the gathering a riot around 10:30 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"ntx8f\">Lee, who had been <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-says-portland-officer-shoved-him-smashed-his-phone-while-he-was-covering-protest/\">shoved by a PPB officer</a> earlier in the night, was pushed again by an officer just after midnight, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"zvcq9\">“They gave me a shove, and my helmet fell off,” Lee told the Tracker. “Then the cops gave me a big shove when my head was unprotected. I fell right back and smacked my head on the pavement.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2w99w\">A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1295980419557408768\">video</a> published by independent journalist Justin Yau shortly after midnight shows the aftermath of the shove. Lee is seen on the ground, surrounded by a group of police officers. “Officers tackled a videographer @econbrkfst and knocked off his helmet, during enforcement actions earlier,” Yau wrote in the post.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Officers tackled a videographer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/econbrkfst?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@econbrkfst</a> and knocked off his helmet, during enforcement actions earlier. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PDXprotests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PDXprotests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BlackLivesMatter</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/SXc4KhRxqU\">pic.twitter.com/SXc4KhRxqU</a></p>— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1295980419557408768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 19, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1g92f\">Lee said that after being pushed, he went to the doctor and got checked for a concussion, but he didn’t have one. “But I got bad whiplash to the extent that when I laid in bed I couldn’t lift my head up. It was excruciatingly painful,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"0twty\">When reached for comment during ongoing protests in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t be commenting on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department is committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review. The PPB wasn't available for comment on this incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
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"authors": [],
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{
"title": "Photojournalist hit multiple times by Portland police, her camera damaged, during August protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-multiple-times-by-portland-police-her-camera-damaged-during-august-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-10T16:46:12.598323Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:01:52.241474Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:01:52.136480Z",
"date": "2020-08-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"433lt\">Independent photojournalist Teri Jacobs was shoved to the ground and hit several times by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 18, 2020, according to news reports and a legal filing.</p><p data-block-key=\"i39ru\">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=\"thn8s\">Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/08/judge-extends-temporary-restraining-order-against-federal-officers-in-portland-for-two-more-weeks.html\">extended</a> later that summer.</p><p data-block-key=\"yv1pj\">Demonstrators on that Tuesday the 18th marched to the Multnomah County Justice Center, where police declared the site of a riot around 10:30 p.m., according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/08/demonstrators-gather-for-83rd-night-of-protests-march-to-multnomah-building-live-updates.html\">news reports</a>. Portland police officers in riot gear pushed protesters toward the north, where Jacobs was documenting along Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, according to <a href=\"https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2020/09/23/28975539/photojournalist-sues-city-and-police-officers-for-injuries-at-portland-protest\">The Portland Mercury</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"efdqt\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Johnnthelefty/status/1295965796426891265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1295965796426891265%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.portlandmercury.com%2Fblogtown%2F2020%2F09%2F23%2F28975539%2Fphotojournalist-sues-city-and-police-officers-for-injuries-at-portland-protest\">video</a> shared by Twitter user @johnthelefty, an officer uses a baton to knock Jacobs’ head and shoves her to the ground, the newspaper reported. When she rolls over to sit up, he hits her on the forehead again with the baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"d138o\">Jacobs has filed a legal complaint with the United States District Court and is represented by attorneys from the Oregon Justice Resource Center, according to the Portland Mercury. “As Ms. Jacobs was knocked to the ground, she was terrified that the officer was going to continue to attack her and she feared that she might never get up again if he continued with his violent attack,” the complaint reads, according to the article. “An entire squad of Portland Police Officers witnessed this act, failed to intervene, and allowed this officer to walk away after committing a violent crime against Ms. Jacobs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"49zp5\">In an <a href=\"https://www.kptv.com/independent-journalist-files-lawsuit-against-city-of-portland-ppb/article_798177a2-febe-11ea-9456-d35403cf676d.html\">interview</a> with Fox 12, Jacobs’ attorney Juan Chavez said she was wearing a press credential and that prior to the documented shove, she was also hit “repeatedly on the head, neck and back with a truncheon” by the officer. Chavez added that her camera was broken “when she was knocked to the ground.” According to The Portland Mercury, Jacobs is “seeking punitive damages and attorneys fees from the city and PPB officers involved.”</p><p data-block-key=\"762lm\">Jacobs declined to comment to the Tracker. When reached by email about this incident, the PPB declined to comment citing pending litigation.</p></div>",
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{
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}
],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"(2021-03-30 00:00:00+00:00) City of Portland settles lawsuit from independent journalist assaulted by police during protests"
],
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"settled"
],
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"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Videographer says Portland officer shoved him, smashed his phone while he was covering a protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-says-portland-officer-shoved-him-smashed-his-phone-while-he-was-covering-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-01T21:12:03.225575Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:12:55.421670Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:12:55.329665Z",
"date": "2020-08-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xnj3m\">Independent videographer Nicholas Lee said a police officer pushed him and smashed his phone on the street while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 18, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"xxuh9\">The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"bz50k\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">a preliminary injunction</a> in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"klc9k\">Around 8 p.m., protesters gathered in Colonel Summers Park, in southeast Portland, and about an hour later marched nearly a mile to the Multnomah Building, the county seat of government, on Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard. Some protesters started fires in dumpsters and inside the building, <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/crime/2020/08/demonstrators-gather-for-83rd-night-of-protests-march-to-multnomah-building-live-updates.html\">according to The Oregonian</a>, prompting the Portland Police Bureau to declare the gathering a riot around 10:30 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"vbbjv\">Lee arrived at the protest around that time and witnessed police officers pushing demonstrators away from the Multnomah Building and making several arrests, he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"0d6w1\">About an hour later, while Lee was covering some protesters several blocks away from the building, he said, Portland police officers told protesters and press to remain on the sidewalk.</p><p data-block-key=\"wnu60\">“There were several cops there. I’m on the sidewalk with other members of the press. They’re like, ‘Move! Move!’ pushing us back,” said Lee.</p><p data-block-key=\"o641c\">At one point during the crush on the sidewalk, a police officer took his phone, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"vq9ft\">”I was holding it, and it had a tether attached to it and it was around my wrist. [The officer] grabbed my phone and tried to wrench it away from me,” Lee told the Tracker. “He pulled on it so hard he got it out of my hand and then smashed it on the street.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2g2q7\">The police officer damaged his phone when he threw it on the street, said Lee. “It wasn’t broken, just cracked. There wasn’t significant damage, but I had to replace the screen protector,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"0b7oe\">Later in the night, after midnight, Lee was shoved again by an officer, he said. The Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-said-portland-officer-shoved-him-causing-his-head-hit-pavement/\">documented the Aug. 19 incident here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dgmz4\">When reached for comment during ongoing protests in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t be commenting on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department is committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review. The PPB wasn't available for comment on this incident.</p></div>",
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "Reporter says she was pushed by sheriffs during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-reporters-say-sheriffs-pushed-them-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-12T19:17:16.484252Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:13:38.249077Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:13:38.169760Z",
"date": "2020-08-16",
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"city": "Portland",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wn0o7\">Journalist Melissa Lewis said she was pushed by law enforcement officers while she was covering demonstrations in downtown Portland on Aug. 16, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"c9z7p\">Lewis was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"69y9e\">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 on June 28 by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU lawsuit resulted in a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-temporary-restraining-order-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">temporary restraining order</a> against the Portland Police Bureau and other law enforcement agencies working with the Portland police, and eventually led 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> in July barring the police from harming or impeding journalists and legal observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"nq1iu\">Lewis, an independent journalist who at the time was documenting Portland protests for Cascadianphotog Media, was also covering law enforcement officers stationed outside the Central Precinct. Lewis was filming on the corner of Southwest Second Avenue and Southwest Main Street, just north of the precinct.</p><p data-block-key=\"krzta\">Lewis’ <a href=\"https://www.pscp.tv/w/1MnGndLaXXmxO\">livestream of the downtown Portland protest</a> was published on Twitter at 10:36 p.m. At about 48 minutes into the video, the livestream captures more than a dozen officers advancing on Lewis and other journalists from multiple sides. Lewis can be seen in the video wearing a helmet with “press” on it. As officers from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office walk aggressively toward Lewis, she can be heard asking “Where would you like me to go, the street or the sidewalk?” A voice is then heard saying, “Keep going, keep going, keep going.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2vrqe\">As Lewis says she’s “trying” to comply with the sheriffs’ directions, one officer appears to push her with a baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"8xtg3\">In an interview, Lewis said that Portland Police Bureau officers and Multnomah County Sheriff’s officers were giving her contradictory directions while advancing on her.</p><p data-block-key=\"2hr9g\">“The officers said get on the sidewalk and the sheriffs said get off the sidewalk. I was obeying PPB’s orders,” she said, referring to the Portland Police Bureau. “As a result I got pulled back from the backpack and batoned in the ribs by the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.”</p><p data-block-key=\"74ve3\">Lewis said she later went to a hospital. “As the adrenaline wore off, it really hurt. I wanted to go and get an X-ray on my ribs,” she said. “They were bruised, not broken, but it hurt to inhale.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ol78\">The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (Cascadianphotog Media)"
],
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{
"title": "Oregonian photojournalist pushed by law enforcement while covering protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/oregonian-photojournalist-pushed-by-law-enforcement-while-covering-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-08T19:04:05.476515Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-03-12T18:39:28.624047Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-03-12T18:39:28.540222Z",
"date": "2020-08-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ftx28\">Journalist Beth Nakamura said she was pushed by law enforcement officers while she was covering demonstrations in downtown Portland on Aug. 16, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ry16k\">Nakamura was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"uesho\">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 on June 28 by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU lawsuit resulted in a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-temporary-restraining-order-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">temporary restraining order</a> against the Portland Police Bureau and other law enforcement agencies working with the Portland police, and eventually led 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> in July barring the police from harming or impeding journalists and legal observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"cci4u\">Nakamura, a photojournalist for The Oregonian newspaper, said she spent much of the night of Aug. 16 covering demonstrations outside the Multnomah County Justice Center, an epicenter of Portland protests because it houses a jail, courtrooms and a police precinct.</p><p data-block-key=\"n9auz\">In an interview with the Tracker, Nakamura said that around 10 p.m. she went to the back of the Justice Center, which is also the entrance to the Portland Police Bureau’s Central Precinct, where some protesters had gathered. The entrance is on Southwest Second Avenue, between Southwest Main Street and Southwest Madison Street</p><p data-block-key=\"3z2se\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/catalinagaitan_/status/1295228979272589312\">Video published</a> on Twitter at 10:20 p.m. by Portland-based independent journalist Catalina Gaitan shows Nakamura, wearing a vest with the word “press” on it, filming police near a garage door where a police vehicle from Gresham, Oregon, was trying to enter. Gresham is a suburb of Portland. The video shows an officer, who appears to be from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office, pushing Nakamura away from the garage entrance. The same officer can be seen pushing away another person who is wearing a vest marked “press” and riding a bicycle. The Tracker was unable to verify the identity of that person.</p><p data-block-key=\"hso8u\">Nakamura said she was not interfering with the garage entrance or the police car driving up to it. “That was a very aggressive officer and it was completely uncalled for. You end up feeling targeted,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"wvpos\">The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.</p></div>",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Beth Nakamura (The Oregonian)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Public radio reporter hit with baton during August protest in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/public-radio-reporter-hit-with-baton-during-august-protest-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-12T17:08:13.641826Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:30:53.865055Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:30:53.787937Z",
"date": "2020-08-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"44mrl\">Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos said on social media that a Portland police officer hit him with a baton while he covered protests in the city on Aug. 16, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"c6888\">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=\"65xwn\">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=\"hd2ar\">Protesters gathered outside the Penumbra Kelly building, where Portland police declared a riot at 11:57 p.m. on Aug. 15 and deployed crowd-control munitions, according to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2020/08/reports-of-gunshots-at-counter-protest-as-80th-consecutive-day-of-portland-protests-begins.html\">news reports</a>. Shortly after midnight, Olmos was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1294852424880934912?s=20\">documenting</a> hundreds of demonstrators marching toward the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1294856352737550338?s=20\">Multnomah County’s Sheriff’s Office</a> in southeast Portland. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1294900330488926208\">video</a> posted to Twitter at 12:34 a.m., Olmos is hit with a baton and repeated calls to move can be heard. “Police bull rush, two officers run on the sidewalk and use butons [sic] to push press, including this reporter,” his tweet reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"v0pby\">Olmos didn’t respond to requests for comment. When reached by email about this incident the PPB declined to comment, citing pending litigation.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sergio Olmos (Oregon Public Broadcasting)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist hit with tear gas and crowd-control rounds during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-tear-gas-and-crowd-control-rounds-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-10T16:06:20.048455Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:30:34.654536Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:30:34.570499Z",
"date": "2020-08-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yrqon\">Law enforcement officers hit Juniper Simonis with pepper spray and impact rounds as the independent journalist and scientist reported on protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 16, 2020, they told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"kwh6b\">On the night of Aug. 15 and early into the morning of Aug. 16, Simonis was covering demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Simonis has been publishing information for several months about law enforcement’s use of chemical irritants at protests on Twitter and on the website <a href=\"https://www.chemicalweaponsresearch.com/\">chemicalweaponsresearch.com</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"642tp\">Law enforcement officers in Portland 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=\"4zcic\">Shortly after midnight on the 16th, Simonis was outside the Penumbra Kelly Building on East Burnside Street when a confrontation flared up between a line of police officers and protesters. Simonis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker they saw a police officer pull a woman into a bush and arrest her. Another protester ran across the street toward them to intervene, but was met by a group of several officers who fired tear gas at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"gn46w\">Simonis was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JuniperLSimonis/status/1294941506181017602\">filming the incident</a> from the sidewalk when a group of officers approached and noticed the equipment Simonis said was for scientific documentation. In footage of the incident that Simonis filmed with a body cam and later <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JuniperLSimonis/status/1295129601836908544\">posted on Twitter</a>, the journalist can be heard yelling “I am press and that is scientific equipment!” as a police officer tells him, “well it’s a weapon right now.” Simonis said the equipment consisted of a metal bucket filled with sand and fireplace tongs used to extinguish and examine hot objects, such as gas canisters.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">good morning!<br>here's what happened last night while i was scientifically documenting the use of chemical weapons in Portland, as a member of the press<br>stuff really escalated (i got sprayed and shot) when an officer grabbed my clearly marked and stated equipment aka "my own shit" <a href=\"https://t.co/uvgCTOsvJj\">pic.twitter.com/uvgCTOsvJj</a></p>— Dr. Juniper L Simonis; The Professor (@JuniperLSimonis) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JuniperLSimonis/status/1295012942543454214?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jpbj5\">The journalist said they were wearing a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JuniperLSimonis/status/1294876081715949568\">helmet</a> and hazard vest that had “press” written on them in black permanent marker.</p><p data-block-key=\"1cgm8\">As the officer grabbed the bucket and tongs from Simonis, the two struggled until an officer sprayed the journalist with pepper spray, Simonis told the Tracker. At that point, Simonis said, the equipment and cellphone went flying. With tear gas on their face and back, Simonis approached the officers and began yelling angrily. Simonis was then hit in the thigh and rear with two <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JuniperLSimonis/status/1294967205646409728\">crowd-control rounds</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8kkrp\">Simonis then walked to where their car was parked nearby and washed off the tear gas. The journalist was missing their phone and car keys, which had been attached to the bucket with a carabiner. Several hours later, Simonis said a friend returned to the scene and convinced the officers to return his bucket and fireplace tongs. Simonis also said an unidentified individual found and returned the cellphone but didn’t provide more information.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1pne\">Simonis posted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JuniperLSimonis/status/1294931539143213057\">photos to Twitter</a> showing bruises on their thigh and hip area from the impact rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"okc75\">Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident, citing continuing litigation involving the City of Portland.</p><p data-block-key=\"z0ccu\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
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"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"equipment_seized": [
{
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Juniper Simonis (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Portland photojournalist says she was thrown to the ground by police while covering protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-photojournalist-says-she-was-thrown-ground-police-while-covering-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-28T20:24:44.171495Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-12T19:14:08.776750Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-12T19:14:08.696716Z",
"date": "2020-08-16",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kigh0\">Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab said she was thrown to the ground by police in Portland, Oregon, while covering protests in the city’s downtown on Aug. 16, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"vnoc6\">Staab, whose photos of the 2020 protests in Portland were published by <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/clashes-between-rival-groups-of-demonstr-idUKRTX7REOH\">Reuters</a>, <a href=\"https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/what-can-you-do-if-trump-stages-a-coup\">The New Yorker</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AFPphoto/status/1303739949036994565?s=20\">Agence France-Presse</a>, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting a protest in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"sd8e7\">At approximately 1:30 a.m. that Sunday the 16th, Staab was documenting protests outside the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office when Portland police deployed tear gas. According to <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/night-80-of-portland-protests-begin-with-march-from-laurelhurst-park/283-5b90dbf7-81d4-4112-9c09-34be1cde30f1\">news reports</a>, police declared the gathering a riot at midnight and eventually came in tactical gear to disperse the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mqxs\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaranieRae/status/1295168110958280705?s=20\">video</a> Staab posted on Twitter, a police officer can be seen pushing a protester into a wooden pole, ripping off their gas mask and throwing Staab to the ground. She said she was wearing a large vest marked “press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6zklr\">“When he saw that I was filming, he very casually threw me to the ground,” Staab told the Tracker. She continued filming even though she hit her head and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaranieRae/status/1295168112933736449?s=20\">scraped her elbows</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"xwxcb\">In an email, Portland police spokesman Derek Carmon said he reviewed the video and that, among other questions, it wasn’t clear whether the journalist was thrown down or tripped. He said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all individuals. He detailed the PBB’s crowd-control policies and noted any use of force prompts a lengthy review.</p><p data-block-key=\"ari9y\">“We have made a very intentional effort to share additional information with the public about the entire context of each nightly event,” Carmon wrote. “If you look at our press releases, you’ll find nightly summaries that discuss why the Incident Commanders gave the direction that they did, including the use of crowd control munitions.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mws7a\">At the time, a<a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-preliminary-injunction-aclu-case-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\"> preliminary injunction</a> issued by a U.S. District Court judge barred Portland police officers from harming, arresting or impeding journalists. Carmon declined to comment on pending litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"w3a1u\">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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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
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"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Maranie Staab (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photographer says was assaulted twice by Chicago police during protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-says-was-assaulted-twice-chicago-police-during-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-11T17:27:20.798426Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-07-17T16:33:28.021711Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-07-17T16:33:27.902193Z",
"date": "2020-08-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"z8obk\">Freelance photographer Dominic Gwinn said he was physically assaulted by two police officers in separate incidents while covering a protest against police violence in Chicago on Aug. 15, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"4w813\">A stringer for <a href=\"https://www.zumapress.com/\">Zuma Press</a>, Gwinn had been following protesters as they marched down Michigan Avenue. He said he stood atop the <a href=\"https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8880614,-87.6246239,3a,75y,165.6h,84.13t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sxQIKq9Bcfzs-buWlrWmCAg!2e0!7i16384!8i8192\">median in the center of the street</a> taking pictures around 6 p.m. when a police officer shoved him off the median. In a picture Gwinn tweeted, the police officer can be seen pulling his shirt as the photographer’s hands are raised.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">08/15/2020<br><br>Credit: <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dudgedudy?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@dudgedudy</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/sile3OX2lN\">pic.twitter.com/sile3OX2lN</a></p>— Dominic Gwinn (@DominicGwinn) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DominicGwinn/status/1295437148116725760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 17, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vzlp5\">In the photo, Gwinn is wearing press credentials from The Smoke Eater, a Substack newsletter, around his neck. Gwinn was also wearing a backpack that he said had a “press” patch affixed to it.</p><p data-block-key=\"hb16y\">Gwinn said he threw up his hands immediately. “I’m just like, you know, ‘Dude, that’s fine, but you can’t throw me down,’ because he starts grabbing and tugging at me and trying to shove me down off the flower bed,” Gwinn told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview. Gwinn said he was cautious because the surface where he stood was concrete. ”It’s wet, it’s raining, I could very easily slip and fall and crack my skull open,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"xscew\">Gwinn told the Tracker that the officer let him go, but shortly thereafter, he was assaulted by another officer as he sought to photograph a woman, who was being dragged and arrested by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"sjpmt\">“A young officer and his colleague, they move forward towards me...and they’re like you can’t be here, you gotta move,” Gwinn said. The photographer said he again threw up his hands and told police he was moving. “Then the guy starts shoving me [...] and pushing me hard on the back and is whaling on my back with what feels like a baton,” Gwinn said.</p><p data-block-key=\"qy8xc\">According to Gwinn, the officer continued pushing him towards the protesters and through a cloud of <a href=\"http://directives.chicagopolice.org/directives/data/a7a57b9b-15f2592c-33815-f25c-5c8e6a6716bbf194.html\">pepper spray</a>. “Everything just starts burning,” Gwinn said .</p><p data-block-key=\"dw0yc\">Gwinn tweeted a video he took as he ran, pursued by police, with other individuals down LaSalle Street, near the cross street of Adams Street.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kettled.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChicagoProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ChicagoProtests</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/tXkrksEkQp\">pic.twitter.com/tXkrksEkQp</a></p>— Dominic Gwinn (@DominicGwinn) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DominicGwinn/status/1294791318317740032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k653z\">Police eventually surrounded the crowd in a kettle, a police tactic used in protests to exert crowd-control by trapping protesters within a circle of officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"qlfjj\">Gwinn tweeted a video showing protesters trapped at the southwest corner of Marble Place and LaSalle Street, where police demanded to inspect the bags of people inside the kettle.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Attack ppl. pinning in. Can't move.send help making us open bags. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChicagoProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ChicagoProtests</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/oFgZLhwSVf\">pic.twitter.com/oFgZLhwSVf</a></p>— Dominic Gwinn (@DominicGwinn) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DominicGwinn/status/1294792483772268550?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3gcaw\">The photographer said police let another member of the press out of the kettle but that he opted to stay in and continue documenting the situation. Gwinn said he was not searched, and that when the police action ended, he was given a police escort outside the confines of the protest area.</p><p data-block-key=\"wefm3\">Gwinn said he opted not to file a complaint with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability due to fears of retaliation from the Chicago Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"0i62c\">A request for comment from the CPD was not answered.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt8rg\">The Aug. 15 protest drew hundreds of people and was organized by a number of local groups, including GoodKids MadCity, Blck Rising, March For Our Lives Chicago, Increase the Peace and others according to the <a href=\"https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/breaking/ct-downtown-protests-violent-20200816-v7yrehiibnbkvfpqxsijgz4cme-story.html\">Chicago Tribune</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dominic Gwinn (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Reporter arrested while covering a Proud Boys rally and counterprotest in Kalamazoo",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-arrested-while-covering-proud-boys-rally-and-counter-protest-kalamazoo/",
"first_published_at": "2020-09-08T21:35:55.145212Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-07-18T21:41:54.563724Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-07-18T21:41:54.490652Z",
"date": "2020-08-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Kalamazoo",
"longitude": -85.58723,
"latitude": 42.29171,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"urrj4\">MLive reporter Samuel Robinson was arrested while covering a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Aug. 15, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"cpjqj\">Robinson, who did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment, was livestreaming from a downtown rally organized by members of the far-right group the Proud Boys and which drew counterprotesters, <a href=\"https://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/2020/08/mlive-reporter-arrested-while-covering-violent-proud-boys-rally-released-from-police-custody.html\">MLive reported</a>. Violence between the two groups began to escalate around 1:30 p.m., according to a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samueljrob/status/1294688930827247617\">tweet</a> posted by Robinson.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hell has broken loose <a href=\"https://t.co/SBj5GqdhFq\">pic.twitter.com/SBj5GqdhFq</a></p>— Samuel J. Robinson (@samueljrob) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samueljrob/status/1294688930827247617?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 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=\"3opsb\">In a subsequent <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samueljrob/status/1294690720184438789\">tweet</a>, Robinson noted that as violence broke out, he was caught in pepper spray deployed by members of the Proud Boys amid the melee.</p><p data-block-key=\"2pzss\">After about half an hour, dozens of police officers arrived at the rally, MLive reported. In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=580088119333349\">Facebook Live broadcast</a> captured by Robinson, who is Black, he can be heard identifying himself as a reporter as officers took him to the ground. As he repeatedly states that he is being arrested, the video feed abruptly cuts out.</p><p data-block-key=\"qv8mj\">Robinson was charged with impeding traffic and released from police custody on a $100 bond shortly after 5 p.m., according to a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samueljrob/status/1294741751425568771\">tweet</a> he posted.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Apologize for the delay. Police arrived as Proud Boys retreated to a parking garage nearby the Raddison HotelI. I was arrested and charged with impeding traffic while reporting live on Facebook for <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MLive?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MLive</a>. <a href=\"https://t.co/KcGL7v2crg\">pic.twitter.com/KcGL7v2crg</a></p>— Samuel J. Robinson (@samueljrob) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/samueljrob/status/1294741751425568771?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 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=\"j3xis\">John Hiner, vice president of content for MLive Media Group, condemned Robinson’s arrest in a statement to the outlet.</p><p data-block-key=\"t6j1r\">“The working press must be assured the right to cover public events that clearly are in the public interest, without reprisals,” Hiner said.</p><p data-block-key=\"aw7zg\">At a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Shm9eTL4kk&feature=youtu.be\">press conference</a> on Aug. 16, Kalamazoo Mayor David Anderson announced that the charge against Robinson had been dropped and the city’s police chief issued a public apology.</p><p data-block-key=\"bxgfv\">“I want to make an apology here and I want to address the arrest of the MLive reporter who they believed to be interfering and obstructing with their operations to restore the order,” Public Safety Chief Karianne Thomas said.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3cs8\">“I personally want to apologize for that event. The reporter was wearing a visible credential and should not have been arrested. I apologize for the trauma that it caused this young man.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Robinson.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"l1zza\">MLive reporter Samuel Robinson was arrested while covering a rally in downtown Kalamazoo organized by members of the far-right group Proud Boys and which drew counterprotesters on Aug. 15, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Michigan",
"abbreviation": "MI"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"white nationalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Samuel Robinson (MLive)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Police officers rushed, shoved journalist covering Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-officers-rushed-shoved-journalist-covering-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-08T15:41:12.999713Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T15:34:46.375362Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T15:34:46.282694Z",
"date": "2020-08-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4e9wr\">Independent journalist Jacob Prescott said he was shoved to the ground by police officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 15, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"x1ubi\">Prescott, who livestreams on social media, was filming demonstrations in Portland against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement on the night of Aug. 14 and early into the morning of Aug. 15. At around 1 a.m, on the 15th, freelance journalist Justin Yau posted a video to Twitter with the caption “Portland Police executed a running charge across the bridge after a short standoff with protesters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hsd8d\">In the video, a line of police officers is seen running across the bridge, instructing protesters to disperse and telling the press to stay off to the side. A man in a long sleeved gray shirt, later identified as Prescott, is running on the sidelines and then begins running backwards in the middle of the bridge while filming the officers.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Portland Police executed a running charge across the bridge after a short standoff with protesters. The crowd continues to splinter as the police continues it's pursuit. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PDXProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PDXProtest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BlackLivesMatter</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/WM66T3BCwl\">pic.twitter.com/WM66T3BCwl</a></p>— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1294546208766083072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 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=\"3411a\">In a subsequent post, freelancer Yau wrote “One Portland Police officer shoved a livestreamer who dropped his equipment after the bullrush. I assumed from the audio it was because he didn't stay back far enough away from officers.” In the accompanying video, Prescott is seen picking up what appears to be a phone from the ground and then walking backward as he reattaches his phone to a tripod. Without any apparent warning, an officer approaches him from behind and pushes him 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\">One Portland Police officer shoved a livestreamer who dropped his equipment after the bullrush. I assumed from the audio it was because he didn't stay back far enough away from officers. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PDXprotests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PDXprotests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BlackLivesMatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BlackLivesMatter</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/SNxJ4mcmPx\">pic.twitter.com/SNxJ4mcmPx</a></p>— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1294584539201695744?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 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=\"zyjxa\">In another video of the incident posted to Twitter by photojournalist Dave Blazer, Prescott is seen being pushed by one officer, after he picked up his phone from the ground, and then is shoved hard a few seconds later by a different officer whose action pushed Prescott 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\">Press person repeatedly attacked by the Portland Police, eventually thrown on the ground (if someone can identify him, it would be much appreciated). Then an officer squares up with a woman who is fearless.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/FIGHTUntilLastBREATH?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FIGHTUntilLastBREATH</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PDXprotests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PDXprotests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Portland</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtesters?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtesters</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/vtKaH0DqxV\">pic.twitter.com/vtKaH0DqxV</a></p>— Dave Blazer Photography (@dave_blazer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dave_blazer/status/1294827934239174657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3wbqp\">Prescott later <a href=\"https://twitter.com/_jacobprescott/status/1294937145501655040\">retweeted Blazer’s post</a> and identified himself as the person in the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"0ka0g\">Prescott also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/_jacobprescott/status/1294736287975448576\">retweeted footage</a> of the incident taken by another journalist, with the caption “Portland Officer assaults me from behind.” In a subsequent message he posted a photo of a man he believed to be the officer who pushed him to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"q9e1w\">Prescott did not respond to Twitter and email messages from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker seeking comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"p7efa\">Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident, citing continuing litigation involving the City of Portland. Since July, 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"k2nkn\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jacob Prescott (Independent)"
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist’s equipment searched while reporting on Chicago protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalists-equipment-searched-while-reporting-on-chicago-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-19T19:21:50.366370Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-07-03T14:57:25.893108Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-07-03T14:57:25.802160Z",
"date": "2020-08-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zdtyh\">Independent journalist Raven Geary said her bag was searched by police without her consent while she reported on a protest in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 15, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"j16k3\">Geary, a freelancer who later wrote about the demonstration for the <a href=\"https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/we-just-want-to-go-home/Content?oid=83201246\">Chicago Reader</a>, was covering a protest against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests against racial injustice had been held across the United States since George Floyd was killed during an arrest 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=\"joeza\">Geary was following protesters in downtown Chicago when she first noticed that police had the group surrounded on all sides, she told the Tracker. She was toward the back of the group of protesters when she saw people running and police chasing people, she said. On LaSalle Street, she said, police moved in to form a ring around the group to block protesters from leaving — a tactic called “kettling.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tewxl\">While one line of officers closed in tightly to restrict the group of protesters, another line of police formed an outer ring, she said, adding that she was stuck in the “no man’s land” between the two rings.</p><p data-block-key=\"gulxz\">Geary estimated that she was in the space between the two lines of police for about five minutes. At first, she tried to film police arresting people from the group of protesters who had been restricted against the side of the building, she said, but police officers kept her back by swinging their bicycles at her in an aggressive way.</p><p data-block-key=\"z6fhj\">After a few minutes, she said police forced her to move away. A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dudgedudy/status/1294792334207520769\">video</a> she posted on Twitter shows multiple officers with bicycles walking toward her and a few other people along the street, repeating, “Move back! Move back!” Geary shouts out, “I’m press! I’m press!” multiple times.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">They're forcing people to dump their bags before they can leave. <br><br>Lost some items. <br><br>Pandemonium in the Loop rn. <br><br>Saw some arrests. They attacked the crowd they kettled. I couldn't see much from where I was. <br><br>This is hell. <a href=\"https://t.co/Petq0Gvp1j\">pic.twitter.com/Petq0Gvp1j</a></p>— Angry Woman Who Isn't Funny & Ruins Everything Fun (@dudgedudy) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dudgedudy/status/1294792334207520769?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"e4l5p\">Geary told the Tracker that once she had been pushed to the outer ring of police, officers demanded that she and protesters who had been in the same area hand over their belongings in order to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"fpbi9\">A <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgRpuTOneV4\">video</a> published by the Chicago Reader on YouTube shows Geary, wearing a black helmet with bright green tape marked “press,” standing near a wall in front of a line of police officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"wjwjn\">One officer grabs her backpack, which is also marked “press,” from her, turns it upside down and shakes it repeatedly, spilling her belongings onto the ground. In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgRpuTOneV4\">YouTube video</a> posted by Chicago Reader, Geary can be heard saying, “I am a reporter! I am a reporter!”</p><p data-block-key=\"hk3c7\">Geary said she was able to grab some of her items, but couldn’t get everything before she was forced to leave. She lost an insulated water bottle, a pair of shoes and a bike tool, she said. The phone she was using to report that day wasn’t searched or seized, she said, and she had no other reporting equipment with her at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"thhxi\">Geary said she didn’t report the incident to the police because she believed it would be a waste of time.</p><p data-block-key=\"lbhyr\">A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department said in a statement that anybody who feels they were mistreated by an officer can file a complaint. The department “strives to treat all individuals our officers encounter with respect and remains committed to ensuring members of the press are able to do their jobs safely,” the spokesperson said in an email.</p></div>",
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "equipment bag"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Raven Geary (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist shoved by police officers while covering Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/multiple-journalists-shoved-by-police-officers-while-covering-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-22T18:29:37.111775Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T15:34:20.471458Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T15:34:20.387516Z",
"date": "2020-08-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hhnzu\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was shoved multiple times by police officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 15, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"6h2ui\">Azar told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Portland police officers were “being super aggressive with members of the press” that night. She posted a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1294583176535240704?s=20\">tweet</a>, alongside a video of officers repeatedly calling “Move!” and pressuring people to walk in one direction; Azar called the confrontation “terrifying.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5zq2y\">“People almost fell off the railing from how hard the cops were pushing. We were not even next to the protesters,” she told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"r1e8z\">Azar said officers pushed her several times, including pushing her into a car at one point.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@PDocumentarians</a> got maced and they wouldn’t let us get to him to help. I just got pushed into a car</p>— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1294555183918137345?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 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=\"rzmqm\">“I’m still shaken. I honestly was afraid for everyone’s safety,” Azar said.</p><p data-block-key=\"bue1f\">She said she had been wearing a vest and helmet, both labelled with press markings, as well as a credential from Pacific Northwest Press Corps, which describes itself as an association of independent journalists covering ongoing protests in Portland and other parts of the Pacific Northwest.</p><p data-block-key=\"0aivd\">Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident, citing continuing litigation involving the City of Portland. Since July, 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"n3wgz\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alissa Azar (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Livestreamer says his equipment damaged by law enforcement officer in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/livestreamer-says-his-equipment-damaged-by-law-enforcement-officer-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-19T15:24:30.712433Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:31:12.534675Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:31:12.431567Z",
"date": "2020-08-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"91gt8\">Law enforcement damaged livestreaming equipment belonging to independent journalist Jon Ziegler while he was covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 15, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"up4gh\">On the night of Aug. 15 and early into the morning of Aug. 16, Ziegler was covering demonstrations in northeast Portland against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Ziegler, who previously worked with the media collective Unicorn Riot, has been documenting protests for his independent livestreaming account, RebZ.tv.</p><p data-block-key=\"lgox9\">Sometime after 9 p.m., law enforcement declared the gathering a riot and forced protesters to disperse, Ziegler told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. The journalist said he was walking behind a line of police officers and filming them as they chased protesters down the street, when he saw an officer shove a woman in front of him. In a recording of the incident posted to Twitter, the woman can be seen falling to the ground. Ziegler is then seen following the officer and asking for his badge number. The officer turns, yells “right up behind you” and lunges at Ziegler.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As cops chased and ran protesters down the street from the police precinct, some of the cops took out their aggression on the press trailing behind<br><br>This one tried to rip my phone off my monopod but failed at the tug of war...and the livestream kept going! (but my clip is broken) <a href=\"https://t.co/0vpzMAZjz4\">pic.twitter.com/0vpzMAZjz4</a></p>— Jon Ziegler “Reb Z” (@Rebelutionary_Z) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Rebelutionary_Z/status/1295189992650678273?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 17, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5gyxt\">The officer tried to grab Ziegler’s phone, but was unsuccessful, the journalist told the Tracker. The officer pushed Ziegler’s RetiCAM smartphone tripod mount so forcefully into this chest, however, that the clamp broke and the journalist was left with a minor scrape. Ziegler said he was wearing a bulletproof vest with a fluorescent press insignia. “It was obvious from two blocks away that I was press,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"32de2\">Portland Police Bureau spokesman Sgt. Kevin Allen declined to comment on the incident, citing continuing litigation involving the City of Portland. Since July 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">barred by court rulings</a> from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"2gx5p\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jon Ziegler (RebZ.tv)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist repeatedly pushed by a police officer while covering a rally in Georgia",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-repeatedly-pushed-by-a-police-officer-while-covering-a-rally-in-georgia/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-23T19:21:16.190826Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-21T20:36:58.736684Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-21T20:36:58.671206Z",
"date": "2020-08-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Stone Mountain",
"longitude": -84.1702,
"latitude": 33.80816,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7naxt\">Atlanta-based independent journalist Anissa Matlock was repeatedly pushed by a police officer while reporting during a rally in Stone Mountain, a city in the Atlanta suburbs, on Aug. 15, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"os3ou\">Stone Mountain’s <a href=\"https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-race-usa-stone-mountain-idUSKBN2441C7\">nine-story high depiction</a> of Confederate leaders, carved into the mountain that gives the city its name, is considered a shrine for white supremacists. On Aug. 15 several <a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/15/georgia-stone-mountain-park-confederate-rightwing-rally-close\">far-right and white supremacist groups arrived in Stone Mountain</a> to protest against a movement calling for removal of the monument.</p><p data-block-key=\"e6riy\">Those groups were met by counterprotesters carrying signs in support of racial justice and Black Lives Matter. After a few hours officers in riot gear intervened to stop <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/police-move-in-after-fights-break-out-during-georgia-protest/2020/08/15/c5ecb7fc-df27-11ea-b4f1-25b762cdbbf4_story.html\">the altercations</a> between members from the opposite groups.</p><p data-block-key=\"iwg33\">According to Matlock, an officer who was part of a law enforcement line dispersing the crowd aggressively confronted her, pushing his riot shield against the front of her body, as she walked backwards.</p><p data-block-key=\"e055z\">“We were asked to disperse, to move back, so I started moving back but I had my camera on the police line in front of me,” Matlock told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. She said that the officer who confronted her took several strides ahead of the line in her direction. “He broke the line to get closer to me as I was moving back and then leaned the shield against my gas mask, my head and began to push forward,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"113w2\">Matlock <a href=\"https://twitter.com/matlockartist/status/1294827747059970049\">video recorded the confrontation and tweeted it that night</a>. The video shows Matlock, who was wearing her press credentials and a gas mask, being pushed back while complying with the officer’s order to move. “I have press credentials sir,” she can be heard saying as the officer forces her back, pressing his shield against her. “I’m moving, I’m complying,” she says.</p><p data-block-key=\"hzwsh\">Matlock, who posts her videos of Black Lives Matter protests on her social media channels, believes that she was targeted because she was pointing her camera on the officer’s face. “I feel that because I was zooming, he tried to get me out of the way,” she explained.</p><p data-block-key=\"pgvmn\">Matlock said she did not file a complaint about the incident. The Stone Mountain Police Department and the DeKalb County Police Department did not return requests for comment.</p></div>",
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"white nationalism"
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{
"title": "Police strike journalist with baton at Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-strike-baton-shove-journalists-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-22T16:28:00.355139Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T15:35:08.824210Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T15:35:08.721726Z",
"date": "2020-08-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cnois\">Independent photojournalist Sean Bascom said he was hit by police during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the night of Aug. 14, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"j0b0y\">Portland had experienced regular protests since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On the evening of Aug. 14, protesters gathered in North Portland's Peninsula Park and began marching. According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/portland-protests-against-police-violence-racism-continue-on-79th-night-friday.html\"> The Oregonian</a>, their intended destination was believed to be the Portland police union headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahmql\">Just before 10:30 p.m., Bascom was filming at the intersection of Killingsworth Street and North Mississippi Avenue as Portland police officers charged a line of shield-bearing protesters and began pushing protesters and members of the media down the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"8zrd2\">Over a loudspeaker, police can be heard declaring an unlawful assembly, saying that “paint bombs and other projectiles” had been thrown at officers. They also can be heard addressing the press and legal-rights observers, saying that they would adhere to a temporary restraining order and allow them to do their jobs so long as they moved off the roadway and didn’t interfere with officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"s4ny3\">In July, <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-temporary-restraining-order-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">a U.S. district judge issued a temporary restraining order</a> barring police in Portland from using physical force against, dispersing, arresting or threatening to arrest journalists and legal-rights observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"zrn6w\">In a video Bascom shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, the journalist can be seen complying with police orders, walking on the sidewalk while continuing to film while moving north on North Mississippi Avenue.</p><p data-block-key=\"bj02g\">Meanwhile, police were making arrests in the street, “knocking people down and dragging them across the pavement” Bascom said. At one point, Bascom moved between parked cars to film a protester being thrown to the ground by police. An officer can be heard shouting: “Get out of the street now!”</p><p data-block-key=\"0aucs\">In the video, Bascom tells the officer he is a member of the press and then the camera shakes.</p><p data-block-key=\"nmacq\">“He came barreling in out of my view and just yelled “press out of the street” and then immediately hit me, it must have been with his baton, like right in my ribs,” said Bascom.</p><p data-block-key=\"xli04\">Bascom said he was wearing bright clothing and a helmet with press markings. He added he was also using a camera with a large lens and that he believed it was clear to the officer that he was a member of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"5j9os\">He told the Tracker he felt sore for about a month, experiencing pain when he breathed deeply. He didn’t get the injury checked out by a medical professional, but said it felt like he previously had bruised ribs while snowboarding and skateboarding.</p><p data-block-key=\"bgohu\">While he technically wasn’t on the sidewalk, Bascom said he wasn’t in the way of police actions and that the officer was taking advantage of a technicality.</p><p data-block-key=\"uz10q\">“I can’t be in their way because of the cars that are parked on either side of me,” he said. “The Portland police seem to have decided that when they’re clearing a street if press are on the sidewalk, then they’re fine, but as soon as they step one foot off of the sidewalk, they are totally free to use as much force as they want.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2iqj7\"><a href=\"https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=261095\">In a press release regarding the Aug. 14 protest</a>, the Portland Police Bureau wrote that “several people with ‘press’ affixed to them shined flashlights in officers eyes.” A spokesperson for the PPB told the Tracker they were unable to comment on the incidents due to ongoing litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"jcd6e\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Bascom (Freelance)"
],
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{
"title": "Police shove journalist during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-shove-journalist-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-08T15:20:50.087639Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T15:36:18.193957Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T15:36:18.107823Z",
"date": "2020-08-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xzxuu\">Independent journalist Brian Conley said he was shoved by police during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the night of Aug. 14, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gqar\">Portland had experienced regular protests since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On the evening of Aug. 14, protesters gathered in North Portland's Peninsula Park and began marching. According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/portland-protests-against-police-violence-racism-continue-on-79th-night-friday.html\"> The Oregonian</a>, their intended destination was believed to be the Portland police union headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"ac7vc\">Over a loudspeaker, police can be heard declaring an unlawful assembly, saying that “paint bombs and other projectiles” had been thrown at officers. They also can be heard addressing the press and legal-rights observers, saying that they would adhere to a temporary restraining order and allow them to do their jobs so long as they moved off the roadway and didn’t interfere with officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"jqzdt\">In July, <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-temporary-restraining-order-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">a U.S. district judge issued a temporary restraining order</a> barring police in Portland from using physical force against, dispersing, arresting or threatening to arrest journalists and legal-rights observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"gf3za\">Conley said that later that night he was pushed by a Portland police officer clearing a street in North Portland.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/BaghdadBrian/status/1294531973143097346\"> On Twitter, he wrote</a> that he and legal-rights observers had been pushed by a police officer at 11:45 p.m. for not walking fast enough. The officer “then struck me hard enough to knock the light from my camera. There was nowhere to go because too many people were in front of us,” he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"2407t\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians/status/1294524426654855169\">In a video shot by freelance journalist Justin Yau</a>, officers can be seen pushing people with batons, telling them to walk down the street faster. At one point, Conley can be seen turning around to film officers as he walks backwards using a camera with a light mounted on top of it. A voice can be heard saying “stop shining this light in my eyes” as one officer’s hand reaches out towards Conley’s camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"75z26\">“I was walking. I was not on the street. I was on the sidewalk,” Conley told the Tracker. “There was a mass of people in front of me. I really couldn’t go any faster” unless he stopped filming, he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"uiasy\">Conley said the light mounted on his camera was knocked to the ground and retrieved by another journalist. It was undamaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"39l3g\">At the time, he was wearing body armor marked “press” as well as a gas mask and a helmet. He said he had verbally identified himself as press as well, adding he believes the officer knew he was a member of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"tw792\">“He was already kind of pushing me more than he should have been and there was nowhere for me to go,” he said. “I wasn’t a danger to him.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d9pdy\"><a href=\"https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=261095\">In a press release regarding the Aug. 14 protest</a>, the Portland Police Bureau wrote that “several people with ‘press’ affixed to them shined flashlights in officers' eyes.” A spokesperson for the PPB told the Tracker they were unable to comment on the incidents due to ongoing litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"vtxuk\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
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},
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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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},
{
"title": "Police grabs at journalist’s phone during Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-grabs-at-journalists-phone-during-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-08T15:20:32.598239Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T15:35:40.641170Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T15:35:40.554065Z",
"date": "2020-08-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dy4hn\">Garrison Davis, an independent journalist, said police attempted to grab his phone while he was filming a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the night of Aug. 14, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"evpqz\">Portland had experienced regular protests since the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. On the evening of Aug. 14, protesters gathered in North Portland's Peninsula Park and began marching. According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2020/08/portland-protests-against-police-violence-racism-continue-on-79th-night-friday.html\"> The Oregonian</a>, their intended destination was believed to be the Portland police union headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"iet3r\">Over a loudspeaker, police can be heard declaring an unlawful assembly, saying that “paint bombs and other projectiles” had been thrown at officers. They also can be heard addressing the press and legal-rights observers, saying that they would adhere to a temporary restraining order and allow them to do their jobs so long as they moved off the roadway and didn’t interfere with officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"yrkfp\">In July, <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/press-releases/judge-grants-temporary-restraining-order-protect-journalists-and-legal-observers\">a U.S. district judge issued a temporary restraining order</a> barring police in Portland from using physical force against, dispersing, arresting or threatening to arrest journalists and legal-rights observers.</p><p data-block-key=\"ksvdg\">That night, an officer tried to grab Davis' phone away from him as he recorded, the freelance videographer said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4cvlq\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1294523144984596481\">In a video filmed sometime before midnight</a>, a Portland police officer can be seen approaching Davis, telling him to “back off away from our van” and then moving his hand toward the journalist’s phone in an action Davis said was an attempt to grab the device. Davis repeatedly told the officer he was on the sidewalk and not in their way. He had previously shouted at officers telling him to move that he was with the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"c8zwf\">“Portland Police continuing to blatantly ignore the federal restraining order. An officer comes off of the riot van, approaches me, and grabs my phone”<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1294530884587069440\"> Davis tweeted.</a></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Portland Police continuing to blatantly ignore the federal restraining order. An officer comes off of the riot van, approaches me, and grabs my phone. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blacklivesmatter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blacklivesmatter</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/protest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#protest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/pdx?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#pdx</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Portland</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oregon?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Oregon</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BLM?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BLM</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/acab?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#acab</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandProtests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PDXprotests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PDXprotests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PortlandStrong?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PortlandStrong</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/7GWQojHlq0\">pic.twitter.com/7GWQojHlq0</a></p>— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1294530884587069440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 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=\"ka5l6\">Davis told the Tracker he felt that he and other journalists had been targeted that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"4fldu\">“At this point I think they were mad at press because the reason why they keep getting in trouble is because the press is thoroughly documenting their crimes,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ppo4\"><a href=\"https://www.portlandoregon.gov/police/news/read.cfm?id=261095\">In a press release regarding the Aug. 14 protest</a>, the Portland Police Bureau wrote that “several people with ‘press’ affixed to them shined flashlights in officers eyes.” A spokesperson for the PPB told the Tracker they were unable to comment on the incidents due to ongoing litigation.</p><p data-block-key=\"s5e1s\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Garrison Davis (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist arrested, cameras seized while covering protests in Washington, D.C.",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-cameras-seized-while-covering-protests-washington-dc/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-23T17:09:49.866610Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-10-10T19:32:19.454019Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-10-10T19:32:19.329486Z",
"date": "2020-08-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zr8ap\">Freelance journalist Kian Kelley-Chung was arrested while covering protests in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 13, 2020, and held overnight in jail. Although police dropped felony riot charges against him, the journalist’s two cameras and cellphone were seized by law enforcement officers and were not returned for over two months, Kelley-Chung told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"wkcqr\">On the evening of Aug. 13 and into the morning of Aug. 14, protesters demonstrating against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement marched through the neighborhood of Adams Morgan, according to <a href=\"https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/protests/mpd-releases-dozens-from-custody-after-protests-in-adams-morgan/65-cecf9764-e239-403f-930d-80def1156856\">local news reports</a>. Protesters said they were surrounded and corralled on 18th Street NW, between Florida Avenue and Willard Street, by police officers who then began arresting people in the crowd, according to news reports. In a <a href=\"https://mpdc.dc.gov/release/arrests-made-felony-riot-acts-third-district\">statement</a>, the Metropolitan Police Department said that officers arrested 41 people on charges of “Felony Riot Acts and Assault on a Police Officer offenses” and alleged that protesters had also been involved in acts of arson and destruction of property.</p><p data-block-key=\"25hlw\">Kelley-Chung, who has been <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/national/photography/young-photographers-covid-protests/\">covering</a> Black Lives Matter protests for several months as an independent <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/lifestyle/magazine/the-endless-call-for-racial-equity-and-justice-in-photos-and-quotes/\">photographer</a> and filmmaker, was among those arrested and charged with felony rioting, according to <a href=\"https://mpdc.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/mpdc/publication/attachments/Unrest-Related%20Arrest%20Data%20as%20of%20August%2031%202020_1.pdf\">police records</a>. The journalist <a href=\"https://wamu.org/story/20/08/14/dc-police-protest-black-lives-matter-arrest-adams-morgan/\">told public radio station WAMU/DCist</a> that he was arrested while trying to photograph the aftermath of an altercation between police and a protester. Kelley-Chung said his camera was clearly visible and that he told officers he was documenting the protests as a journalist, according to <a href=\"https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/local/protests/mpd-releases-dozens-from-custody-after-protests-in-adams-morgan/65-cecf9764-e239-403f-930d-80def1156856\">television network WUSA 9</a>. “I just remember asking constantly, ‘Why am I being arrested? Why am I being arrested?...I’ve been here for months...You’ve seen my work,’ ” he was quoted as saying. Kelley-Chung <a href=\"https://wamu.org/story/20/08/14/dc-police-protest-black-lives-matter-arrest-adams-morgan/\">told WAMU/DCist</a> that he was taken into custody and held at the 7th District police precinct overnight and then detained at Superior Court before being released on the evening of Aug. 14, when the charges were dropped.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">“What am I out here doing ‘rioting’. I’m a documentarian. I’m a photo journalist. I’m a member of the media. And they violated my 1st Ammend. rights. And that’s why we’re out here. That’s why they had to let me go”<br><br>My media colleague Kian <a href=\"https://twitter.com/uncleiso?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@uncleiso</a> after release at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/DCProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DCProtests</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/vBKIfJivY0\">pic.twitter.com/vBKIfJivY0</a></p>— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1294423466662387714?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 14, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p3owj\">In a brief video interview posted to twitter by Deadspin journalist Chuck Modi the day after his release, Kelley-Chung said, “they thought they could stop me, they can’t stop me. I’m going to continue to be out here.” But the journalist said he was using his father’s camera because the two cameras he had been using, in addition to his cellphone, were still in police custody.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kian in action. Despite being fellow journalist, he is one of 41 arrested Thurs. Didn’t know til now, police have not given him back his camera or phone yet (which explains arrest). <br><br>He is back out w/father’s camera. Would be nice if corporate media showed solidarity <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/DCProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DCProtests</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/X8iw2mV3MD\">pic.twitter.com/X8iw2mV3MD</a></p>— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1294820226782068736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I just did the math and MPD confiscated over $3000 worth of equipment. Thank you so much to everyone who has donated and shown support. Please keep sharing. I still don't have my stuff. <a href=\"https://t.co/8ik7AKBX2V\">https://t.co/8ik7AKBX2V</a></p>— kian (@uncleiso) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/uncleiso/status/1295050703916990464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 16, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">DC Police still have Kian’s cameras they seized in illegal kettle arrests 10 days ago. He is press. He shares story of deep “sentimental value” of them <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/DCProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DCProtests</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/l9btqsVpW9\">pic.twitter.com/l9btqsVpW9</a></p>— ChuckModi (@ChuckModi1) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1297659455480504322?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=\"kqyk2\">Seven weeks later, in a letter dated Oct. 6 that Kelley-Chung shared with the Tracker, Acting United States Attorney Michael R. Sherwin wrote that the MPD, in conjunction with the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, was conducting an investigation into the events in Adams Morgan on Aug. 13-14 and that they believed that the journalist’s cameras “may contain information relevant to the investigation. We are writing to inquire whether you would voluntarily turn over data in the above-described cameras or produce such information voluntarily in response to a subpoena.”</p><p data-block-key=\"iv2bv\">After objections from Kelley-Chung’s lawyer, Sherwin wrote the journalist in another letter, dated Oct. 22, that his “Office has indicated to MPD that we have no objection to its disposition of Mr. Kelley-Chung’s property,” but that, “we are formally requesting the preservation, pending potential legal process and until further written notice, of all photographs, videos, audio recordings, and other evidence, created or captured on August 13-14, 2020.” However, the letter concluded, “this request does not obligate Mr. Kelley-Chung to produce any materials to the government at this time." Kelley-Chung told the Tracker that his possessions were released to him the following day, Oct. 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"r13td\">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>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2020-08-14",
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:21-cv-00116",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": "returned in full",
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-04-14 10:32:00+00:00) Settlement reached in suit brought by freelance journalist who was arrested, his cameras seized while covering protests in DC"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Search or Seizure"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Kian Kelley-Chung (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
}
]
