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{
"title": "Independent videographer arrested during Los Angeles protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-arrested-during-los-angeles-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-17T11:43:28.451290Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:59:21.868449Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:59:21.709345Z",
"date": "2020-11-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ued9q\">Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was arrested while filming election-related protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 4, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"50853\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that protesters had planned to march from City Hall downtown to Pershing Square a little less than a mile away. By approximately 7 p.m., most of the crowd had dispersed and Beckner-Carmitchel said he thought he could head out for the night.</p><p data-block-key=\"d6go9\">A few unmarked police cars moved in on the crowd, and when protesters began taunting them the officers called for backup. Officers then began hemming in the crowd and multiple journalists using a police maneuver called <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/journalists-covering-protests-us-risk-getting-caught-police-kettling-tactic/\">kettling</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"s77ff\">“I asked the police where there was a ‘First Amendment Zone,’ as they hadn’t announced one,” Beckner-Carmitchel said, referring to the media staging areas the Los Angeles Police Department have been setting up during protests in recent months.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vqaa\">The officer directed him to the sidewalk and stairs leading up into the square. Beckner-Carmitchel tweeted that while in that press area, officers advanced forward through the intersection and he moved with them to continue his coverage. Officers then directed both him and another videographer, Vishal Singh, toward the middle of the road.</p><p data-block-key=\"dej6n\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1324224193202855937\">video posted</a> by Beckner-Carmitchel of the moments before his arrest shortly after 7:30 p.m., an officer appears to point at the videographer and can be heard saying, “Start with that guy.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Immediately before my arrest, he can be overheard saying “start with that guy.” Another officer says “Sean?”<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/1stAmendment?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#1stAmendment</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/dtla?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#dtla</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/lapd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#lapd</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blm</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/5fmmMLFFHn\">pic.twitter.com/5fmmMLFFHn</a></p>— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1324224193202855937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 5, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uuuye\">A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1324217037195862016\">video</a> posted by Singh shows Beckner-Carmitchel with zip-tied wrists being led behind the police line just moments before officers move in to arrest Singh as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"ywiio\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that while he was taken into custody an officer threw his helmet onto the ground, damaging it.</p><p data-block-key=\"thh45\">Singh said that he believed he and Beckner-Carmitchel were targeted for arrest because they were recording and acting as press.</p><p data-block-key=\"m27tt\">“They very clearly just looked for the people with the cameras who are there the most and just grabbed me,” Singh said. “As I was live-streaming, I saw multiple officers pointing me out.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gknrf\">The Tracker has documented Singh’s arrest and the detainment of at least two other journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-11-04&date_upper=2020-11-04&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"5khtw\">In the footage of his arrest, Beckner-Carmitchel doesn’t appear to have any visible identification as a member of the media, but he said both he and Singh told police they were press before they were handcuffed.</p><p data-block-key=\"612lt\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that both he and Singh were cited with failure to disperse — a misdemeanor — and released approximately two hours later. He added that both of them have been ordered to appear in court on March 9, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rnf6\">If convicted, Beckner-Carmitchel could face up to six months imprisonment and a fine of up to $1,000, according to California’s <a href=\"https://www.shouselaw.com/ca/defense/penal-code/409/#:~:text=Penal%20Code%20409%20PC%20is,fine%20of%20up%20to%20%241000.00.\">penal code</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"thco4\">Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Capt. Stacy Spell <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-04/lapd-detain-cite-two-videographers-after-declaring-downtown-protest-unlawful\">confirmed to the Los Angeles Times</a> that two individuals had been arrested and cited for failure to disperse. She also claimed that LAPD officers have been dealing with large, disruptive crowds that all subsequently claim to be members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"c0w3e\">“We are having an ongoing challenge with individuals who are participating in disruptive activities, taking over the street and failing to disperse but subsequently claiming to be media,” Spell told the Times. “Literally the entire crowd claimed to be media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ln9u2\">Singh told the Times that during his months of covering protests in LA, he hadn’t heard any protesters claiming to be members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9rww\">The LAPD didn’t respond to an emailed request for further comment.</p></div>",
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}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-01-12 15:22:00+00:00) Charges dropped against independent videographer arrested during Los Angeles protest"
],
"case_statuses": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Damage"
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"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Freelance)"
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{
"title": "CBS journalist reports ‘minor dust up’ while covering DC election protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-journalist-reports-minor-dust-up-while-covering-dc-election-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-13T22:13:07.200172Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-11-08T20:41:00.142640Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-11-08T20:41:00.059336Z",
"date": "2020-11-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"acw7r\">CBS national reporter Christina Ruffini and her crew were briefly accosted while covering election-related, pro-Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"9a32u\">Ruffini <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EenaRuffini/status/1323860260721958919?s=20\">tweeted</a> footage of the incident, which she described as a “minor dust up with protestors outside #blmplaza who didn’t like us filming,” referring to <a href=\"https://wamu.org/story/20/08/27/what-does-d-c-s-black-lives-matter-plaza-mean-to-locals/\">Black Lives Matter Plaza</a>, a two-block section of 16th Street in Washington stretching north from the White House.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Minor dust up with protestors outside <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blmplaza?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blmplaza</a> who didn’t like us filming. They’ve now cleared the street and it’s very calm. <a href=\"https://t.co/NbNAtxPoLT\">pic.twitter.com/NbNAtxPoLT</a></p>— Christina Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EenaRuffini/status/1323860260721958919?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 4, 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=\"7wu1a\">In the video, an individual wearing black bloc — a tactic used by some protesters to conceal their identities by wearing black and baggy clothing and face coverings — can be seen approaching the news crew’s camera with a raised hand.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0rjt\">After the individual places a hand blocking the camera lens, a voice can be heard saying, “Don’t touch it, don’t touch it!” Ruffini appears at the right-hand side of the shot and appears to try to protect the camera and its operator, separating the individual from the equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"c87o1\">As the camera operator moves back, Ruffini can still be seen interacting with the individual and others and appears to drop her cellphone. When she attempts to bend over to pick it up, the individual in black bloc swings his arm against her, blocking her. Ruffini backs up a step, during which the individual attempts to kick away the phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"y6xam\">Ruffini was able to recover the phone seconds later, but it was not immediately clear whether the device was damaged during the scuffle.</p><p data-block-key=\"b3mlb\">When contacted by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Ruffini said she needed approval from superiors before she could comment on the encounter. No further comment was received by Tracker.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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"Christina Ruffini (CBS News)"
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{
"title": "Journalist shoved by law enforcement officers at Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-by-law-enforcement-officers-at-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T17:09:35.429663Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:01:48.116103Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:01:47.995148Z",
"date": "2020-11-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f6gxf\">A member of a press collective called the 45th Parallel Absurdist Brigade said they were pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"d1xi5\">Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"z1g0a\">There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/march-rally-portland-revolution-hall-waterfront-november-4/283-e6c7750f-144a-4ccc-9d5a-37ec381ee4b4\">declared</a> the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"xgug3\">Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown <a href=\"https://katu.com/news/local/governor-brown-extends-executive-order\">ordered</a> a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"57vd5\">The initial round of shoving incidents reportedly occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protesters from the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"at25z\">The member of the 45th Parallel Absurdist Brigade, who asked to remain anonymous, was pushed by a police officer several times upon arrival at the scene. A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist/status/1324204948905603072\">video</a> posted on Twitter shows law enforcement officers running down the street as protesters back away. A Portland police officer then pushes the journalist several times.</p><p data-block-key=\"o5sm9\">The journalist told the Tracker that there was a crush of people around the arrest. “They were pushing and I couldn’t back up,” the journalist said. “They were shoving us into a wall of bodies.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ilmkn\">About three hours later, the journalist was pushed again by what appears to be a member of the National Guard. A video <a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist/status/1324246344601497600\">posted</a> on Twitter a little after 11 p.m. shows members of the National Guard and the police walking down Southwest Taylor Street and shouting, “Keep moving!”</p><p data-block-key=\"7cefc\">“I was walking on the sidewalk with other media and was filming the line [of officers],” said the journalist. “All of a sudden I heard, ‘You’re going too slow,’ and felt this yank.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b6r99\">In another video <a href=\"https://twitter.com/45thabsurdist/status/1324247367458025474\">tweeted</a> a few minutes later, the journalist wrote, “Being on the heels of the people in front of me was not fast enough, they begin grabbing me and others by the backpacks and shoving us back through the line.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mrmlj\">In response to the Tracker’s inquiries on this incident, Stephan Bomar, public affairs director of the Oregon Military Department, which oversees the National Guard, said in a statement: “It appears as though during this chaotic situation that all remained safe and secure.”</p><p data-block-key=\"khuue\">Since July, law enforcement officers from the <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">PPB</a> and <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">federal agencies</a> have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.</p><p data-block-key=\"87gzn\">The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.</p></div>",
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"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
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"Black Lives Matter",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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{
"title": "Journalist documenting Portland protest shoved by law enforcement officers",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-documenting-portland-protest-shoved-by-law-enforcement-officers/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T17:09:27.425086Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:01:30.710994Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:01:30.644495Z",
"date": "2020-11-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uhh0t\">Freelance journalist Maranie Staab said she was pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"symim\">Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"43ggf\">There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/march-rally-portland-revolution-hall-waterfront-november-4/283-e6c7750f-144a-4ccc-9d5a-37ec381ee4b4\">declared</a> the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"1a2st\">Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown <a href=\"https://katu.com/news/local/governor-brown-extends-executive-order\">ordered</a> a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"dz506\">The initial round of shoving incidents reportedly occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protesters from the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"pghv6\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1324566195484323842\">footage</a> of the incident posted on Twitter, Staab — wearing a black T-shirt and vest marked “press” — can be seen getting shoved about 18 seconds into the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"uviky\">“I was filming the same arrest everyone else was,” Staab told the Tracker. “It was an aggressive arrest. I was standing out of the way, not interfering, with a press vest on. But that did not stop officers from turning around and shoving me out of the way.”</p><p data-block-key=\"92qar\">Since July, law enforcement officers from the <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">PPB</a> and <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">federal agencies</a> have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.</p><p data-block-key=\"ccu3j\">The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.</p></div>",
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"election",
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{
"title": "Journalist covering Portland protest shoved by law enforcement officers",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-covering-portland-protest-shoved-by-law-enforcement-officers/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T17:09:21.607724Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-31T18:36:48.237174Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-31T18:36:48.144602Z",
"date": "2020-11-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bcw0j\">Independent photojournalist Mason Lake said he was pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"0z4z5\">Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"seth4\">There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/march-rally-portland-revolution-hall-waterfront-november-4/283-e6c7750f-144a-4ccc-9d5a-37ec381ee4b4\">declared</a> the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"fx2qh\">Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown <a href=\"https://katu.com/news/local/governor-brown-extends-executive-order\">ordered</a> a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"14uh3\">The initial round of shoving incidents reported occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protesters from the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"l2wsl\">Lake was documenting law enforcement officers arresting someone on the ground when he got shoved, he told the Tracker. A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1324204345445920770\">video</a> of the incident published on Twitter by freelance journalist Sergio Olmos shows police and state officers pushing multiple protesters and apprehending someone on the ground. The footage captures a state trooper pushing Lake, wearing a helmet marked “press” on the back and sides, several times before finally pushing him to the ground about 25 seconds into the video.</p><p data-block-key=\"qij9o\">“I was shoved to the ground,” Lake told the Tracker. “My hand and knuckle had a bruise on it, so I think a baton hit me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vh388\">In response to the Tracker’s inquiries on this incident, Stephan Bomar, public affairs director of the Oregon Military Department, which oversees the National Guard, said in a statement: “It appears as though during this chaotic situation that all remained safe and secure.”</p><p data-block-key=\"h5lsb\">Since July, law enforcement officers from the <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">PPB</a> and <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">federal agencies</a> have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.</p><p data-block-key=\"siigv\">The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX87AS4_-_Reuters_-_Goran_Tomase.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"43pep\">Police stand in front of protesters the day after Election Day in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020. Journalist Mason Lake was shoved by police while documenting protests there that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "3:23-cv-01870",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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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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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-05-22 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist’s claims dismissed over assault by Portland, Oregon, police",
"(2022-06-27 00:00:00+00:00) Oregon video journalist files suit over Portland police assaults"
],
"case_statuses": [
"dismissed"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mason Lake (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Beverly Hills Courier reporter detained during LA election-related protest, released without charge",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/beverly-hills-courier-reporter-detained-during-la-election-related-protest-released-without-charge/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-19T21:50:28.211857Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T19:06:02.924116Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T19:06:02.834919Z",
"date": "2020-11-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jfmix\">Beverly Hills Courier staff writer Samuel Braslow was one of at least five journalists detained while covering election-related protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 4, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"0zhos\">Braslow confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a protest outside City Hall in downtown L.A. that evening. When the event dispersed at 6:30 p.m., a small group of remaining demonstrators walked south down Spring Street toward Pershing Square, according to accounts from other journalists present that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"war94\">By 7:30 p.m., the approximately 40 to 50 people who remained had stopped at the intersection of West 5th and South Hill streets. Los Angeles police officers arrived on motorcycles within minutes and announced that the gathering was an unlawful assembly, journalists reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"wilga\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/desertborder/status/1324194753026519041\">Multiple</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1324217037195862016\">journalists</a> reported that officers then hemmed in everyone present using a police tactic called <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/journalists-covering-protests-us-risk-getting-caught-police-kettling-tactic/\">kettling</a>, and announced that everyone was under arrest. Braslow confirmed to the Tracker that he was among the journalists caught in the kettle.</p><p data-block-key=\"nspfd\">Two videographers were placed under arrest for failure to disperse and the remaining members of the press were directed to a media staging area within the kettle.</p><p data-block-key=\"o1hal\">The Tracker has documented the detentions of all the journalists confirmed to have been present in the kettle <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-11-04&date_upper=2020-11-04&city=Los+Angeles&categories=Arrest%2FCriminal+Charge\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"uyxl3\">According to journalists’ accounts, LAPD officers opened the kettle shortly after 8 p.m. and released the remaining members of the press and demonstrators who had been detained, including Braslow</p><p data-block-key=\"nyo2z\">When asked for comment about the arrests, Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Capt. Stacy Spell <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-11-04/lapd-detain-cite-two-videographers-after-declaring-downtown-protest-unlawful\">confirmed to the Los Angeles Times</a> that two individuals had been arrested and cited for failure to disperse. She also claimed that LAPD officers have been dealing with large, disruptive crowds that all subsequently claim to be members of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"juhml\">“We are having an ongoing challenge with individuals who are participating in disruptive activities, taking over the street and failing to disperse but subsequently claiming to be media,” Spell said. “Literally the entire crowd claimed to be media.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mypu8\">The LAPD did not respond to an emailed request for further comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
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"assailant": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Samuel Braslow (Beverly Hills Courier)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Vice News journalist shoved by law enforcement officers while documenting Portland protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/four-journalists-shoved-law-enforcement-officers-while-documenting-portland-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-13T11:53:00.647451Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:59:52.275849Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:59:52.186038Z",
"date": "2020-11-04",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"an578\">Documentary filmmaker Lance Bangs was pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020, according to videos posted on social media.</p><p data-block-key=\"zxvx5\">Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"ieh1v\">There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/march-rally-portland-revolution-hall-waterfront-november-4/283-e6c7750f-144a-4ccc-9d5a-37ec381ee4b4\">declared</a> the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"8tvbf\">Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown <a href=\"https://katu.com/news/local/governor-brown-extends-executive-order\">ordered</a> a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"ctlns\">The initial round of shoving incidents occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protesters from the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"usc9q\">Bangs was shoved by an officer while taking footage for Vice News. Video <a href=\"https://twitter.com/misstessowen/status/1324249670999109634\">posted</a> at 11:18 p.m on Twitter by Tess Owen, a senior reporter for Vice who was covering the protests with Bangs, captures law enforcement officers yelling “Move!” at protesters. Bangs was “repeatedly jabbed in back by an officer assigned to unified command, who then dragged him to the ground,” Owen tweeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"greks\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/misstessowen/status/1324249958980046853\">follow-up tweet</a>, Owen posted a video that she said shows Bangs being “dragged to the ground by an officer with the Unified Command.” The video appears to capture a law enforcement officer pushing as the camera goes askew. People can be heard saying, “You’re dragging him,” and, “He got pushed down.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Video 2/2 that shows when <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lancebangs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@lancebangs</a> was dragged to the ground by an officer with the Unified Command <a href=\"https://t.co/ldIV0XvVyc\">pic.twitter.com/ldIV0XvVyc</a></p>— Tess Owen (@misstessowen) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/misstessowen/status/1324249958980046853?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 5, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wq5q7\">Bangs, Owen and Vice News didn’t return requests for comment from the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"v9mtm\">Since July, law enforcement officers from the <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/2020-07-16_preliminary_injunction.pdf\">PPB</a> and <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">federal agencies</a> have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.</p><p data-block-key=\"3vj7d\">The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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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": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Lance Bangs (VICE News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Videographer cited for being in roadway during LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-cited-being-roadway-during-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-19T20:49:17.281211Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-29T16:54:08.231362Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-29T16:54:08.129383Z",
"date": "2020-11-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wiyuk\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, a Los Angeles-based independent videographer who has been covering local demonstrations for several months, was detained and issued a citation on Nov. 3, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"w6daq\">On the evening of the U.S. elections, Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting an event titled Marathon Party at the Polls, sponsored by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. An <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CHGadrIgCwW/\">Instagram post</a> by BLMLA advertised the event as from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with guest speakers, food, music and giveaways planned.</p><p data-block-key=\"1n066\">Beckner-Carmitchel said that when he arrived at around 6 p.m., the gathering was generally peaceful and there was not a large police presence. A bit before 7:30 p.m. Los Angeles Police Department officers advanced on and arrested three individuals whom Beckner-Carmitchel identified as protest medics. Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1323830403270995968\">tweeted</a> that the medics were targeted “because they were in antifa guise.”</p><p data-block-key=\"btern\">“At that point the crowd got a little unruly, and police were sort of antagonizing the crowd,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1323831096451227652\">tweet</a> posted by Beckner-Carmitchel, officers appear to rush the crowd of protesters and grab a fourth individual.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tp6f\">Soon after, officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, according to Beckner-Carmitchel, and while most dispersed, a group of approximately 20-30 people left the area to regroup elsewhere. Beckner-Carmitchel decided to stay behind to document the arrests of the four individuals.</p><p data-block-key=\"pk0sc\">“I decided after covering the detainments for about 20 minutes to catch up with the main crowd,” Beckner-Carmitchel said. “Not long after I did catch up with them was the moment when everyone was kettled and I was detained.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">By the way... I was arrested on the sidewalk. For not being on the sidewalk: “pedestrian on the road” citation. Along with a legal observer from <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NLG_LosAngeles?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NLG_LosAngeles</a> during what began as a celebration of Black Lives.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/dtla?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#dtla</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ElectionNight?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ElectionNight</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/2020Election?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#2020Election</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/blm?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#blm</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/STAPLESCenter?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#STAPLESCenter</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/gISuAu5PUT\">pic.twitter.com/gISuAu5PUT</a></p>— Sean Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1323941258574716929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 4, 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=\"t8y06\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/journalists-covering-protests-us-risk-getting-caught-police-kettling-tactic/\">Kettling</a> is a police maneuver by which officers hem in protesters from all sides to prevent anyone from dispersing and is often followed with arrests or citations.</p><p data-block-key=\"o0hsv\">In a video Beckner-Carmitchel posted on Twitter, a woman can be heard calling out to police a few yards away, “We are press and National Lawyers Guild!” <a href=\"https://www.nlg.org/legal-observer-appreciation-week-2018/\">Legal observers</a> from the National Lawyers Guild regularly attend protests across the country — identifiable by their lime green hats — in order to monitor police conduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"3lokb\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that though he identified himself as a member of the press and was standing on the sidewalk, he was cuffed and issued a citation that states his violation was “pedestrian on the road.”</p><p data-block-key=\"70lhj\">“Everyone was detained one by one, cuffed, cited and then released,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"gwdt0\">Beckner-Carmitchel said that once the citations were issued, everyone was allowed to leave the kettle. He estimated that they were detained for an hour and a half and released around 9:30 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"n6qvz\">Shortly before midnight, Beckner-Carmitchel <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1323877102924439552\">posted another video</a>, noting, “They are threatening to arrest me. AGAIN- I was already cited today.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wv328\">In a recent <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SamBraslow/status/1324246898438414344\">internal memo</a> shared by Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow, the LAPD explicitly stated that members of the press — regardless of whether they have media credentials — have a right to document protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"bv2op\">“The intent of this message is to remind supervisors and line personnel that the Department WILL recognize individuals who self-identify as media representatives and will NOT require specific media credentials,” the memo from Deputy Chief Dominic Choi reads.</p><p data-block-key=\"jfjo2\">“The inability to produce identification does not preclude an individual from acting as a member of the media,” the memo says in boldface type.</p><p data-block-key=\"2jzxr\">The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2ap4\">Beckner-Carmitchel was detained by LAPD officers in another law enforcement kettle the following night, Nov. 4, alongside at least three other journalists, and was arrested on charges of failure to disperse. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented those detentions <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/arrest-criminal-charge/?categories=4&city=Los%20Angeles&date_lower=2020-11-04&date_upper=2020-11-04\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"arresting_authority": "Los Angeles Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-03-01 08:38:00+00:00) Police did not charge videographer following November detainment"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"kettle",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Seattle police shove reporter filming arrest during election night protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/seattle-police-shove-reporter-filming-arrest-during-election-night-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-10T16:53:32.882327Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-09-09T14:56:47.408058Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-09-09T14:56:47.053944Z",
"date": "2020-11-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Seattle",
"longitude": -122.33207,
"latitude": 47.60621,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qrgnt\">Shauna Sowersby, a freelance reporter in Seattle, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was pushed off the sidewalk by a police officer while attempting to film an arrest during an election night protest in the city.</p><p data-block-key=\"vfj6w\">Protests were held across the county on and around Nov. 3, 2020, Election Day in the United States. Sowersby began covering <a href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/election-night-protests-in-seattle-more-arrests-and-continued-calls-for-racial-justice/\">protests in Seattle</a> at around 6:45 p.m. on election night. The journalist, who said she wasn’t reporting for a particular news outlet at the time, said two separate protest groups — an election-related group and a Black Lives Matter group — had joined together, and she was following those focused on the elections. The Seattle Police Department issued dispersal orders and made at least eight arrests during the protest, according to <a href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/election-night-protests-in-seattle-more-arrests-and-continued-calls-for-racial-justice/\">The Seattle Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"pd57d\">Sowersby, whose work has been published in <a href=\"https://crosscut.com/author/shauna-sowersby\">Crosscut</a>, an online news service focused on the Pacific Northwest, and The Idaho Statesman, posted on Twitter throughout the evening. Her tweets showed dozens of bicycle cops and at least one armored vehicle following protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"enhnv\">At 11:56 p.m., Sowersby <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Shauna_Sowersby/status/1323851701825069056\">tweeted</a> a video with the caption: “SPD bike officers now rushing protestors and press. Cop behind me almost went out of his way to shove me off the sidewalk. LRAD then tells protestors they are here to support everyone’s right to protest.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/seattleprotest?src=hashtag_click\"> #seattleprotest</a>”</p><p data-block-key=\"9p6p1\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">SPD bike officers now rushing protestors and press. Cop behind me almost went out of his way to shove me off the sidewalk. LRAD then tells protestors they are here to support everyone’s right to protest. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/seattleprotest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#seattleprotest</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/sQk7rz434C\">pic.twitter.com/sQk7rz434C</a></p>— Shauna Sowersby (@Shauna_Sowersby) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Shauna_Sowersby/status/1323851701825069056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 4, 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=\"5zerx\">Sowersby was attempting to film an arrest using her phone when a police officer “just barrelled through me” from behind, she told the Tracker in a phone interview two days later. Sowersby spent the summer reporting on protests against police brutality in Seattle and Portland, Oregon; in Portland, press stayed on the sidewalk, she said, so she did the same thing in Seattle. The officer shoved her for a “good four to five seconds,” she estimates.</p><p data-block-key=\"jxfw5\">“I was shocked, it took me by surprise,” Sowersby said. “My friend tried to take a video of it happening [and] says it looked like he was going out of his way to push me. [The police] were barrelling through the press on the sidewalk.”</p><p data-block-key=\"v5i3z\">At the time she was shoved, Sowersby had “Press” marked on her body, including on the bulletproof vest she was wearing. She was not wearing physical press credentials.</p><p data-block-key=\"o4s8n\">Sowersby said she doesn’t believe she was targeted as a member of the press, but did not report it to the police because incidents of police aggression against her while reporting on protests since the summer “have happened so many times at this point it doesn’t even seem like it’s worth the effort.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ratkd\">The Seattle Police Department did not respond to a phone message requesting comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTX872VC.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cj2sa\">The Seattle Police Department responds to a protest march on Election Day in Seattle.</p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Washington",
"abbreviation": "WA"
},
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Shauna Sowersby (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Journalist accosted by person in ‘black bloc’ during Election Day protest in DC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-accosted-by-person-in-black-bloc-during-election-day-protest-in-dc/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-25T16:26:21.382145Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:02:08.687241Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:02:08.570090Z",
"date": "2020-11-03",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q4arc\">Freelance journalist Eric Thomas was pursued and threatened by an unidentified individual and had his phone knocked from his hand while he covered election night demonstrations in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 3, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"qks37\">At 10:53 p.m., Thomas <a href=\"https://twitter.com/justericthomas/status/1323835679130963973?s=20\">posted a video</a> to his Twitter account showing an individual in head-to-toe black — a technique for evading identification known as black bloc — walking toward the journalist as he filmed the interaction with his smartphone.</p><p data-block-key=\"hp55m\">The person was part of a group of about 50 or 60 people in black bloc who were gathered at Thomas Circle in downtown Washington in preparation to march through city streets.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekmdj\">“They got very agitated very quickly,” Thomas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"xvrl2\">The person shown accosting Thomas <a href=\"https://twitter.com/justericthomas/status/1323836459560898561?s=20\">was also videoed</a> trying to snatch a phone from the hand of another man at the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"34h5j\">“We asked to stop filming,” the assailant can be heard saying in Thomas’s video. “So stop filming.”</p><p data-block-key=\"d8ch8\">The individual then reaches toward Thomas, whose work has been featured on television stations ABC 7 New York and NY1, and the video goes dark for a few seconds.</p><p data-block-key=\"piofk\">“Walk away. Walk away or it gets worse,” the individual orders repeatedly before the video ends.</p><p data-block-key=\"hpmpx\">Thomas told the Tracker that the person knocked his phone out of his hands but that it didn’t damage his equipment. He said he displayed New York City Police Department-issued press credentials during the exchange.</p><p data-block-key=\"67akr\">“Close call with #antifa security as they chase me out of the protest and threaten me numerous times,” Thomas tweeted with his video.</p><p data-block-key=\"1j44p\">In footage Thomas posted with a second tweet, the same person can be seen approaching other journalists and ordering them to leave, and appears to take another swing at Thomas as he backs away.</p><p data-block-key=\"57lxs\">“Give me one excuse, give me one excuse,” the person can be heard saying to Thomas.</p><p data-block-key=\"cc1ot\">Ford Fischer, editor-in-chief of the online media outlet News2Share, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1324174598796120065?s=20\">captured video of Thomas</a> backpedalling while the person approached him. Telewizja Polska, a Polish network, also posted a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/tvp_info/status/1323889970336178178\">video of the confrontation</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jnol9\">Thomas is seen walking backwards toward a District of Columbia police vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"0gjcj\">Thomas said that an officer exited the vehicle and that he told the officer about the assault, but that the officer took no action.</p><p data-block-key=\"ygj73\">“It was actually pretty shocking to see that,” Thomas said. “I was pretty taken aback that the cops didn’t do anything.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0vbkl\">A spokesperson for D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department said the department couldn’t corroborate Thomas’ version of events.</p><p data-block-key=\"6terk\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Eric Thomas (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "NYPD arrests, assaults photojournalist during protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nypd-arrests-assaults-photojournalist-during-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-10T21:44:08.880395Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-04T20:47:45.055094Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-04T20:47:44.987652Z",
"date": "2020-11-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"olznj\">New York City police tackled and arrested photojournalist Chae Kihn as she covered protests in the New York borough of Manhattan on Nov. 1, 2020, according to a video of the incident and the general counsel of the National Press Photographers Association.</p><p data-block-key=\"bxrbi\">Kihn was covering a Make America Great Again demonstration near 10th Avenue and W. 24th Street when officers in New York City Police Department uniforms tackled Kihn to the ground, handcuffed and then arrested her. Some of the police action can be seen in a video of the incident that was <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jangelooff/status/1323020223583264768?s=19\">posted to Twitter</a>, and additional details were confirmed by Mickey Ostrreicher, general counsel of the NPPA, who said he had corresponded with Kihn after her arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"qvn1p\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jangelooff/status/1323020223583264768?s=19\">the video</a>, a man in plainclothes who was carrying a camera can be seen taking Kihn’s camera from the journalist as she was being handcuffed. A voice heard in the video tells police “She’s a reporter.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kkgto\">Kihn was issued a Criminal Appearance Ticket for a violation of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1156A “Pedestrians on roadways” for disregarding sidewalks, according to Ostrreicher. Her court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2021, the NPPA general counsel told the Committee to Protect Journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"pktbt\">After reports of Kihn’s arrest appeared on Twitter, stating that police had arrested a journalist, the NYPD <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NYPDnews/status/1323006419680067586\">tweeted</a> that “these reports are false” and that “all arrested individuals from today’s protests have been verified to not be NYPD credentialed members of the press.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pvgpq\">“I don’t have an NYPD [credential] but I have other news accreditations and have been working as a photographer for over 20 years,” Kihn <a href=\"https://gothamist.com/news/heavily-armored-nypd-officers-arrest-10-while-quashing-small-anti-trump-protest-manhattan\">told the news site Gothamist</a>. “Just because I don’t have an NYPD badge doesn’t make me less of a journalist,” she added. “Why do the police get to decide who is a journalist and who isn’t?”</p><p data-block-key=\"3imp3\">Kihn’s work has appeared in the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/10/10/t-magazine/10robots-yaeger.html\">New York Times</a>, the art magazine <a href=\"https://bombmagazine.org/articles/ezra-koenig-and-john-wray-at-the-nypl/\">Bomb</a>, and the New York City news website <a href=\"https://thevillagesun.com/chinatown-block-watch-is-looking-out-for-locals-needs\">The Village Sun</a>, according to the online art publication <a href=\"https://hyperallergic.com/598941/photographer-arrested-nypd-anti-trump-protest/\">Hyperallergic</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"x9kbv\">The NYPD did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
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"actor": null,
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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": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-01-22 13:43:00+00:00) Charges dropped against photojournalist arrested during NYC protest"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Chae Kihn (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Journalist subpoenaed for testimony in defamation lawsuit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-subpoenaed-for-testimony-in-defamation-lawsuit/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-10T16:16:12.455398Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-14T21:33:06.806388Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-14T21:33:06.714506Z",
"date": "2020-11-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rfch9\">Journalist Sharon Churcher was subpoenaed for testimony as part a defamation suit related to litigation surrounding accused sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein and his associates.</p><p data-block-key=\"toom9\">As a reporter for the Mail on Sunday in 2011, Churcher published the first in a series of <a href=\"http://dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1361039/Prince-Andrew-girl-17-sex-offender-friend-flew-Britain-meet-him.html\">articles</a> wherein Virginia Giuffre, under her maiden name Virginia Roberts, was named as one of the Jane Does central to ongoing litigation against Epstein. The <a href=\"https://account.miamiherald.com/paywall/registration?resume=221404845\">Miami Herald reported in 2018</a>, in a timeline of the case, that in January 2015, Giuffre filed “court papers in Florida claiming that she was forced by Epstein to have sex with Prince Andrew and lawyer Alan Dershowitz when she was underage.”</p><p data-block-key=\"34cdt\">Dershowitz vehemently denied Giuffre’s allegations, <a href=\"https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article222532470.html\">writing to the Herald</a> shortly thereafter: “I never met Roberts; I never had sex with her; she simply made up the entire story for money.”</p><p data-block-key=\"57lwa\">In April 2019, Giuffre filed a defamation suit against Dershowitz. As part of that suit, Dershowitz subpoenaed Churcher, seeking her testimony about communications with Giuffre; Churcher’s attorney, Laura Handman, responded to the subpoena in November 2020. Dershowitz also filed a countersuit against Giuffre in November.</p><p data-block-key=\"7bozp\">That same month, Handman filed a pre-motion request to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to quash the subpoena against Churcher, writing, “Although the Subpoena does not specify the precise topics on which Dershowitz intends to question Churcher, in discussions with the undersigned, his counsel made clear that they intend to inquire about her 2011 interviews with Giuffre to determine what, if anything, Giuffre said about her interactions with Dershowitz from 2000-2002. They also stated their contention that emails between Churcher and Giuffre show that Churcher was not acting as a journalist in her interactions with Giuffre.”</p><p data-block-key=\"98zd3\">The request noted that a previous subpoena had been issued to Churcher by Ghislaine Maxwell, accused of abetting Epstein in sex trafficking of minors and a defendant in a 2016 defamation lawsuit filed by Giuffre, and was quashed that year by the same court, citing New York’s shield law and “First Amendment reporter’s privilege.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5kh0r\">Handman confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in April 2021 that the matter remains pending.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": "other testimony",
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"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sharon Churcher (The Mail on Sunday)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [
"pending"
],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "November: Journalists harassed, threatened while covering election and social justice protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/november-journalists-harassed-threatened-while-covering-election-and-social-justice-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-03T15:14:29.640555Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:42:25.095195Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:42:24.961433Z",
"date": "2020-11-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2ncq9\"><i>George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. during November 2020, a notably fraught month backdropped by an election, rising COVID-19 cases, and an increasingly encumbered economy and workforce.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"xib2g\"><i>A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found</i> <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"><i>here</i></a><i>. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\"><i>pressfreedomtracker.us</i></a><i>.</i></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yabpv\"><b>Nov. 2, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"miowc\">In Portland, Oregon</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"khui5\">On the eve of the 2020 election, protesters marched on Portland State University, with some smashing windows and throwing rocks <a href=\"https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/protests/unified-command-declares-unlawful-assembly-at-portland-election-eve-protest/283-fed51a0e-8d10-43bc-b249-ddb65597d66e\">according to press accounts</a>. Oregon State Police and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office deputies formed a “unified command” to address the potential unrest and, at 9:15 p.m., declared an unlawful assembly, according to KGW8, a local NBC affiliate station. Independent journalist <b>Brian Conley</b> told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he’d arrived at the South Park Blocks area, a 12-block-long green space that runs through the university, after the unlawful assembly had been declared. He said he was trying to catch up to the main group of protesters when he ran into a line of law enforcement officers in riot gear. He said he was about 20 feet from the line of officers, taking pictures and “trying to figure out what was going on,” when an officer approached him and told him to leave the area. Conley said he did not comply, telling the officer he was a member of the press. “He kind of went back to his line,” Conley told the Tracker. “I took maybe another step forward and maybe a little to the right to see around the block, what was going on over there. He turned around again and said, ‘If you come any closer you’re going to be arrested.’ I was a little bit shaken, not really sure what to do, so I sort of stepped back a little bit at that point.” Conley said he was wearing body armor that marked him as press and had verbally told the officer he was a member of the media. He estimates that somewhere between two-thirds and three-quarters of the people in the park were either press or street medics at the time the officer made the threat of arrest. Conley believes the officer was from the Oregon State Police. Contacted by the Tracker, the OSP declined to comment.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rvufp\"><b>Nov. 4, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"gp3l7\">In Portland, Oregon</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"7afdh\"><b>Cory Elia</b>, an editor at Village Portland and host of a KBOO podcast, was threatened with arrest by police while covering a reactionary protest to the elections, he told the Tracker. A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1324201002086494209\">video</a> Elia posted to Twitter shows dozens of police officers and state troopers following behind protesters. In the video, police threaten to arrest Elia and other reporters because he “stepped back to film from behind the police line instead of getting stuck in front of it,” Elia wrote in his tweet. He added that police were “still pushing the crowd around” at the time. After being told he was at risk of being arrested, he shouted back at police: “You’re not allowed to tell the press where to go. Court order,” referring to an <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/18/protections-for-journalists-portland-unrest-417684\">injunction</a> that exempts journalists from dispersal orders announced by police officers.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was threatened with arrest because I stepped back to film from behind the police line instead of getting stuck in front of it. Officers are still pushing the crowd around. Currently at SW 5th and Washington. <a href=\"https://t.co/jpQfInPV7b\">pic.twitter.com/jpQfInPV7b</a></p>— Cory Elia (@TheRealCoryElia) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TheRealCoryElia/status/1324201002086494209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 5, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"0yob7\">A man harassed and told Fox 12 Oregon journalist <b>Brenna Kelly</b> to cease filming as she covered escalating unrest downtown. At around 5:35 p.m., Kelly <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrennaKellyNews/status/1324163601033175041\">tweeted</a>, “Protesters just tried to break windows of Starbucks then began vandalizing ATM. We’re here to document this event but it’s clear they don’t want to be filmed.” In an accompanying video, a man can be heard shouting, “No, get your fucking camera...” before another, a security guard working with Kelly’s news station, tells him to get back. The same man can then be heard shouting, “Get your camera off of these protesters.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters just tried to break windows of Starbucks then began vandalizing ATM. We’re here to document this event but it’s clear they don’t want to be filmed. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/fox12oregon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@fox12oregon</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/IuxaaRsimB\">pic.twitter.com/IuxaaRsimB</a></p>— Brenna Kelly (@BrennaKellyNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrennaKellyNews/status/1324163601033175041?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 5, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-image\">\n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Nov_Other_AZ.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"REUTERS/Edgard Garrido\">\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"l3qg3\"><i>Supporters of President Donald Trump gather in front of the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Phoenix, Arizona, to protest about the early results of the 2020 presidential election on Nov. 4, 2020. (REUTERS/Edgard Garrido)</i></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f653z\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"sbmm1\">In Phoenix, Arizona</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"nlieh\"><b>Kim Powell</b>, a reporter with Phoenix’s 3TV and CBS 5, was covering the scene at the Maricopa County Elections Department. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KimPowellTV/status/1324185235743932419\">tweet</a> posted around 8 p.m., she noted that Trump supporters had gathered outside, “demanding to be let inside as ballots are being counted.” At 9:55 she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KimPowellTV/status/1324213627998461953\">tweeted</a> that she and her photographer had left the scene “after one protester threatened us and said he would find where we live.” Powell added that she would be filing a police report. Briana Whitney, a fellow reporter with 3TV and CBS 5, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrianaWhitney/status/1324189128557121542\">tweeted</a> that the group outside the election center had been yelling “‘you are fake news’ and profanities to press behind the caution tape who [have] been inside reporting on the Arizona election results.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My photographer and I have left after one protester threatened us and said he would find where we live. We are filing a police report. <a href=\"https://t.co/mx9cr6MDq1\">https://t.co/mx9cr6MDq1</a></p>— Kim Powell (@KimPowellTV) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KimPowellTV/status/1324213627998461953?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 5, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kmswz\">In Minneapolis, Minnesota</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"4qkp5\">Freelance photographer <b>Ben Hovland</b>, who has reported on 2020 protests for Minnesota Public Radio and Agence France-Presse, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/benjovland/status/1324197122749747208?s=20\">captured video</a> of a mounted police officer charging at him as he covered a post-election demonstration in Minneapolis. Just after 7 p.m., hundreds of protesters — marching from two separate locations in the city — converged on the eastbound traffic lanes of Interstate 94, closing off the roadway to motor vehicle traffic, Minneapolis-based <a href=\"https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/11/04/demonstrators-taking-to-minneapolis-streets-to-protest-election-pandemic-recession/\">CBS affiliate WCCO reported</a>. Hovland told the Tracker that he was embedded with the group as it moved along the interstate and eventually faced Minnesota State Patrol troopers lined up just west of the Riverside Avenue exit. Other officers from the Minneapolis Police Department lined up along the sides of the roadway, and Hovland’s photos also show how police vehicles boxed the group in from the rear. “They weren’t letting anyone off,” Hovland said. The photographer said he scaled a chain-link fence along the south side of the freeway to access a bridge overlooking the scene in order to get <a href=\"https://twitter.com/benjovland/status/1324212369891991553?s=20\">aerial shots of the situation</a>. “I was basically just trying to film down into the highway as long as I could,” Hovland said. At about 8, while Hovland was on the street abutting I-94 to the south, Minneapolis police officers — including several mounted police — ordered Hovland and other journalists to back up to one side of the street. Hovland said that he was standing next to a camera operator who turned on a bright light to film. The flash seemed to agitate the officers, Hovland said. “Get back. Get to the other side,” one officer can be heard ordering Hovland in his <a href=\"https://twitter.com/benjovland/status/1324197122749747208?s=20\">captured video</a>. Hovland can be heard saying “I’m moving” several times as he moves back, but while he speaks, an officer mounted on a white horse approaches and continues walking directly at him for several seconds, turning away just as he reaches the photographer. Hovland was filming at the time and said he was displaying press credentials issued by the National Press Photographers Association. “I was disappointed with the amount of force and intimidation that they used to break the press up,” Hovland said. He said he did not file a complaint with police. State troopers and Minneapolis police cited 646 people at the Nov. 4 demonstration on I-94 for public nuisance and for being pedestrians on a freeway, <a href=\"https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ooc/news-releases/Pages/More-than-600-cited-and-released-on-I-94-in-Minneapolis.aspx\">according to a news release</a> from the state police. The Tracker has documented the detainment that evening of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/arrest-criminal-charge/?categories=4&city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-11-04&date_upper=2020-11-04&state=27&tags=125%2C111\">several journalists here</a>. The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As I was filming with my press credentials clearly displayed, a mounted officer gave me a close-up. <a href=\"https://t.co/OnKH7P8hIL\">pic.twitter.com/OnKH7P8hIL</a></p>— Ben Hovland (@benjovland) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/benjovland/status/1324197122749747208?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 5, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nsq1u\"><b>Nov. 6, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"j5op8\">In Los Angeles, California</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"erbx5\"><b>Vishal Singh</b>, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering local demonstrations, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1324831700497543168\">noted on Twitter</a> around 2 p.m.: “Tons of officers stationed near city hall. One asked ‘what network you work for, bro?’ to me, in a mocking fashion. Trump supporters plan to throw a ‘Stop the Count’ action here. Counter protesters are also planning on standing ground at city hall.” A little after 3 p.m., he shared a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1324853542016872449?s=20\">video</a> of a group of LAPD officers passing in front of him. One officer can be heard telling another, who was carrying a camera, “I want you to zoom in and get as many faces of people who say they are press.” Singh can be heard responding that he did have press credentials. Singh tweeted that he repeatedly offered to provide his USPRESSCORPS.ORG verification number, which acts as his press credentials, but that officers responded that they did not want it. In the same tweet, Singh also alleged that officers threatened to arrest him.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">LAPD told video officer to zoom in on faces with cameras, including me, who they called “alleged press.” I offered to give them my <a href=\"https://twitter.com/USPRESSCORPSORG?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USPRESSCORPSORG</a> verification number multiple times. They said they didn’t want it and threatened to arrest me. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/eleccion2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#eleccion2020</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreedomOfThePress?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FreedomOfThePress</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/jF3FbF2Fmz\">pic.twitter.com/jF3FbF2Fmz</a></p>— Vishal P Singh (@VPS_Reports) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/VPS_Reports/status/1324853542016872449?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 6, 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=\"0m3ei\">In Phoenix, Arizona</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"mswxv\">Telemundo journalists <b>Diego Santiago</b> and<b> Maria Paula Ochoa</b> were harassed during their live broadcasts outside the Maricopa County Elections Department. Santiago, an investigative reporter for the Spanish-language network, shared a snippet of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DSantiagoTAZ/status/1324958750885605376\">footage</a> on Twitter around 10:15 p.m., writing: “Sympathizer of @realDonaldTrump aggressively disrupts our live broadcast from downtown #Phoenix. The protests were peaceful until now.” In the video, a man holding a Trump flag can be heard repeatedly shouting, “Biden is a rapist. He raped his daughter,” as Santiago and his cameraman attempt to go live from the scene. Another man, presumably a security guard for the network, can then be seen stepping between the man holding the flag and the journalists. The man’s shouting escalated. In a separate incident, Ochoa, a correspondent, was interrupted by two screaming men while broadcasting live from outside the election center. A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ochoamariapaula/status/1324901057454071808\">video</a> posted on Twitter by reporter Zach Crenshaw, of Phoenix’s ABC affiliate, shows the same man who’d shouted about Joe Biden to Santiago getting very close to Ochoa’s face while not wearing a mask. The video also shows a security agent preventing another protester from getting close to Ochoa. When this protester is blocked, he starts to repeatedly shout, “Assault.” The National Association of Hispanic Journalists released a <a href=\"https://nahj.org/2020/11/07/nahj-condemns-harassment-against-telemundo-journalists-during-election-coverage/\">statement</a> about the incidents. “The harassment and disrespect inflicted on Maria Paula Ochoa, Diego Santiago, and their news team is deplorable,” Nora López, president of the organization, said. “It is important for journalists at large to have their First Amendment right protected.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">Simpatizante de <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@realDonaldTrump</a> interrumpe de manera agresiva nuestra transmisión en vivo desde el centro de <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Phoenix?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Phoenix</a>. Las protestas fueron pacíficas hasta este momento. Advertencia: Lenguaje ofensivo. <a href=\"https://t.co/1PzmL2mxgi\">pic.twitter.com/1PzmL2mxgi</a></p>— Diego Santiago (@DSantiagoTAZ) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DSantiagoTAZ/status/1324958750885605376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 7, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zije7\"><b>Nov. 7, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"03iol\">In Salem, Oregon</p><p data-block-key=\"qpzqd\">In the shadow of the presidential election being called for Joe Biden that morning, about 200 people gathered at the Oregon Capitol in the afternoon for a “Stop the Steal” rally. Several journalists documented harassing, threatening interactions with pro-Trump supporters, which included members of the Proud Boys, among others, whose disdain and mistrust of the press was evident throughout the day.</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"0l9e6\"><b>Robert Evans</b>, a reporter for investigative news site Bellingcat and host of a podcast for iHeartMedia, tweeted a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/IwriteOK/status/1325179132280410112\">video</a> around 12:50 p.m. in which a man can be heard shouting at Evans and other assembled members of the press. The man was part of a group of people who were antagonistic to both the institution and idea of media throughout the protest, as well as individual journalists. At one point he can be heard saying: “Your fucking days are numbered.”</li><li data-block-key=\"iitsf\"><b>Garrison Davis</b>, an independent Portland-based reporter, tweeted similar footage of Trump supporters that afternoon. In one <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1325178474789699585\">video</a>, a man walks across the street saying, “Fake press,” and then approaches Davis unmasked and asks to see his credentials. Several others nearby can also be heard repeatedly saying, “Fake press,” and “Fuck the media.”</li><li data-block-key=\"otxfu\"><b>Beth Nakamura</b>, a photojournalist with the Oregonian, tweeted a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bethnakamura/status/1325226795453460482\">video</a> in which a man with a megaphone says, “The press is the problem. You are the problem. You are the one who caused the division.” As she continued to film, walking backward, the group, many unmasked, follows her, getting ever closer and asking to see her press credentials.</li><li data-block-key=\"9zoe6\"><b>Alissa Azar</b>, an independent Portland-based journalist, was standing on a sidewalk when a protester approached her and talked about a “fake ass press badge.” She was verbally harassed and threatened by several male protesters, and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/R3volutionDaddy/status/1325197733318193153\">filmed</a> much of their verbal abuse.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kdpdu\">In Austin, Texas</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"15h96\"><b>Molly Hennessy-Fiske</b>, the Houston bureau chief for the Los Angeles Times, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mollyhf/status/1325457404859985921\">tweeted</a> the morning of Nov. 8 that she had been “harassed yesterday for being a reporter.” Hennessy-Fiske had spent the previous afternoon in downtown Austin reporting on what she called “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/mollyhf/status/1325166790276763653\">dueling</a>” protests between Trump and Biden supporters. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mollyhf/status/1325458435949948930\">video</a> Hennessy-Fiske shared of the incident, a pro-Trump supporter can be heard saying: “You’re destroying the United States,” before stating a number of conspiracy theories about president-elect Biden. “I’ve covered @realDonaldTrump rallies and this has never happened to me before,” Hennessy-Fiske wrote.</li></ul></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/MichaelMinasi?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MichaelMinasi</a> captured the moment I was singled out at the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@realDonaldTrump</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Austin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Austin</a> protest and harassed yesterday for being a reporter. Another <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trump?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Trump</a> supporter told the guy to stop. The rest watched. <a href=\"https://t.co/sqBHl1P9lm\">pic.twitter.com/sqBHl1P9lm</a></p>— Molly Hennessy-Fiske (@mollyhf) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/mollyhf/status/1325457404859985921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 8, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1zn2c\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"or4iv\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-image\">\n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Nov_Other_DC.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"537\" alt=\"REUTERS/Leah Millis\">\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1kjq9\"><i>Demonstrators in support of Trump pass in front of the Capitol building in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 14, 2020. (REUTERS/Leah Millis)</i></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h9qdb\"><b>Nov. 14, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"2othv\">In Washington, D.C.</p><p data-block-key=\"rwey2\">Thousands gathered in the nation’s capital for an event dubbed the “<a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54945154\">Million MAGA March</a>,” a rally and protest in support of Trump, who’d been disputing the election results and lobbing unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. Far-right groups such as the Proud Boys, the militia group the Oath Keepers, and radio host and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones all attended the rally, according to <a href=\"https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-54945154\">reports</a>. Violence would break out that evening, with some 20 people arrested on charges that included assault and weapons possession.</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"q3ojf\"><b>Errol Barnett</b>, CBS News anchor and national correspondent, was threatened and harassed by protesters. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/errolbarnett/status/1327630840650735616\">Twitter thread</a>, Barnett explained how many at the march were distrustful of the press. In separate videos, the crowd can be heard chanting, “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/errolbarnett/status/1327716436173754368\">Fake news</a>,” and “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/errolbarnett/status/1327714425407729670\">You are the enemy</a>,” at Barnett. The crowd eventually cornered Barnett and his crew, and were so antagonistic that the team had to be escorted out of the area by police. “I’ve never experienced this level of direct and instant vitriol from people before. Distrust of the press turned into anger toward us. They continued to hurl insults as we waited for them to move on,” Barnett wrote.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">While reporting for the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBSEveningNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBSEveningNews</a> we were surrounded by protestors and only our security could hold them back.<br><br>As this woman shouted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/FakeNews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#FakeNews</a> through her megaphone the crowd began to grow.<br><br> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBSNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBSNews</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/zQiQARvy9F\">pic.twitter.com/zQiQARvy9F</a></p>— errol barnett (@errolbarnett) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/errolbarnett/status/1327714425407729670?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"mepey\"><b>Zach Roberts</b>, a freelance photojournalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/zdroberts/status/1327821316053987329\">tweeted</a> on Saturday night: “I was threatened by them [Proud Boys] twice but that’s standard for my line of work—this is what scares me—and should scare you. We need real change in this country.” When contacted by the Tracker via Twitter DM, Roberts said the Proud Boys threatened him, told him to stop filming and wanted him to leave the area. He also said that he received three threats from “random people” while covering the march.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I’ve never experienced this level of direct and instant vitriol from people before.<br><br>Distrust of the press turned into anger toward us.<br><br>They continued to hurl insults as we waited for them to move on.<br><br>They did not, so the police extracted us.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBSNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBSNews</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/MillionMAGAMarch?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#MillionMAGAMarch</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/FPi0vJ3JPC\">pic.twitter.com/FPi0vJ3JPC</a></p>— errol barnett (@errolbarnett) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/errolbarnett/status/1327718155989479426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 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-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Lot more to edit from today but I wanted to get this photo out from my coverage of the Proud Boys.<br><br>I was threatened by them twice but that's standard for my line of work - this is what scares me - and should scare you. We need real change in this country. <a href=\"https://t.co/pUhPdnu1u5\">pic.twitter.com/pUhPdnu1u5</a></p>— Zach D Roberts (@zdroberts) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/zdroberts/status/1327821316053987329?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"g5m3a\"><b>Howard Altman</b>, managing editor of the Military Times, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/haltman/status/1327758009121071106\">tweeted</a> around 6:40 p.m. that he’d been “hit w pepper spray by MPD [Metropolitan Police Department]. My eyes are killing me.” In an accompanying video, recorded outside the Capital Hilton hotel, Altman reported, “Protesters were there, some Trump folks were inside. Police came out and all of a sudden they just hit [everyone] with pepper spray and I have not been able to see for the last half-hour or so.” Altman said that members of the public gave him saline solution for his eyes and helped him walk around. Altman said he didn’t know if he was targeted for being a journalist, or if he was just caught in the indiscriminate use of pepper spray by police.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hit w pepper spray by MDP. My eyes are killing me. <a href=\"https://t.co/ObYBy41Jyx\">pic.twitter.com/ObYBy41Jyx</a></p>— Howard Altman (@haltman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/haltman/status/1327758009121071106?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 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=\"z6bdu\"><b>Nov. 28, 2020</b></p><p data-block-key=\"m5pu5\">In Portland, Oregon</p><ul><li data-block-key=\"qssgz\"><b>Justin Yau</b>, a Portland-based freelance journalist, was caught up in the spraying of bear mace while covering a protest in downtown Portland late in the evening. A Twitter account belonging to a self-described photographer, @Chriswithacame1, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChriswithaCame1/status/1332932524259954693\">tweeted</a>, “<a href=\"https://twitter.com/PDocumentarians\">@PDocumentarians</a> flees a cloud of bear mace after a fight breaks out between<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PatriotPrayer?src=hashtag_click\"> #PatriotPrayer</a> and<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/antifa?src=hashtag_click\"> #antifa</a> in downtown<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Portland?src=hashtag_click\"> #Portland</a> tonight.” A photo accompanying the tweet shows a person dressed in black spraying a can of orange mace, as people crouch to escape the spray. Yau is seen with his camera equipment walking away from the man. Yau told the Tracker that he was “briefly irritated” by a light mist of the mace, and that he wasn’t directly targeted. Yau told the Tracker that the protest that day saw Black Lives Matter supporters being confronted by right-wing counterprotesters.</li></ul></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> flees a cloud of bear mace after a fight breaks out between <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PatriotPrayer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PatriotPrayer</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/antifa?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#antifa</a> in downtown <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Portland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Portland</a> tonight. <a href=\"https://t.co/s4AIVL5X7t\">pic.twitter.com/s4AIVL5X7t</a></p>— Comrade with a Camera (@ChriswithaCame1) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChriswithaCame1/status/1332932524259954693?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 29, 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=\"13gsx\"><i>Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read about additional incidents of aggression against the press during the election,</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/election-2020/\"><i>go here</i></a><i>.</i></p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xmn50\">A man with a flag for President Donald Trump protests in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 7, after the 2020 U.S. presidential election was called for Democratic nominee Joe Biden.</p>",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved to the ground, equipment damaged during Beverly Hills political protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-ground-equipment-damaged-during-beverly-hills-political-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-04T19:02:39.359104Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T17:05:05.798491Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T17:05:05.707682Z",
"date": "2020-10-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Beverly Hills",
"longitude": -118.40036,
"latitude": 34.07362,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8chrv\">Los Angeleno photojournalist Jintak Han was assaulted by a law enforcement official dressed in riot gear while reporting on clashes between protest groups in Beverly Hills, California on Oct. 31, 2020, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Han told the Committee to Protect Journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"sdevl\">Han said that he was taking pictures of a protest staged by supporters of President Donald Trump and a counterprotest when he was pushed to the ground by an officer from the Beverly Hills Police Department. Though Han said he was unable to see which officer pushed him to the ground, <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/hesitantheroes/videos/3637082222988687\">later video footage</a> confirmed that it was a member of the Beverly Hills police force.</p><p data-block-key=\"k1no8\">Han said he was wearing an off-white T-shirt, which distinguished him from the counterprotesters wearing all black, and a backpack with a helmet with the word “press” written on it.</p><p data-block-key=\"iwimv\">“[The officer] was in my blind spot — he came up in my blind spot and he did not make any attempts to notify me that he was there or get out of my way,” Han told CPJ.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Over at Beverly Gardens Park. BHPD just tackled me to the ground for photographing counterprotesters fighting a Trump supporter.</p>— Jintak Han (한진탁) (@jintakhan) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jintakhan/status/1322653326589059072?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s9wul\">Han said that the officer knocked him over on his left side, causing Han to fall on top of one of his cameras and sprain his wrist. He told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, that he did not seek medical attention.</p><p data-block-key=\"pt0vc\">In a statement to the Tracker, Han said that the camera, a Canon 5D Mark VI, was damaged during the fall, and he estimated the cost of repairs would be at least $1,150.</p><p data-block-key=\"rsitj\">“I’ve been shoved by police before, but this was unlike anything that I’ve felt before,” said Han, describing how a police officer in riot gear — including body armor, helmet and a baton — shouldered him to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"o3iyv\">Han said two bystanders, including Vishal Singh who <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CHBlH2ggEaM/\">recorded the assault</a>, helped Han to stand and move away from the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"j39ti\">The journalist told CPJ that he was wearing accreditation from his employer Los Angeleno, the National Press Photographers Association and the Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles.</p><p data-block-key=\"z0kel\">Han told CPJ that he went to file a complaint at the Beverly Hills Police Department on Nov. 1, and that, while he was there, law enforcement officials questioned his understanding of media laws in California.</p><p data-block-key=\"bqou5\">“They suggested that I might be charged with a failure to disperse, despite the penal code specifically allowing the news media to be at the scene for news gathering purposes,” Han said. “I felt that was an attempt at journalism intimidation and was completely baseless.”</p><p data-block-key=\"l4d68\">Han said he still plans to file a complaint with the police department and the city of Beverly Hills.</p><p data-block-key=\"a137j\">BHPD executive officer Lt. Max Subin told CPJ via phone that on Nov. 5 Han filed a complaint with the department about one of their officers who allegedly shoved him while he was reporting. Subin said the department is conducting an internal use of force investigation.</p></div>",
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"name": "California",
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"Election 2020",
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"categories": [
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"Equipment Damage"
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{
"title": "Officer grabs photojournalist’s camera, pushes her back during North Carolina march to the poll",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/officer-grabs-photojournalists-camera-pushes-her-back-during-north-carolina-march-to-the-poll/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-03T22:58:25.574266Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-11T15:55:41.512670Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-11T15:55:41.414760Z",
"date": "2020-10-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Graham",
"longitude": -79.40058,
"latitude": 36.06903,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"szvq6\">A police officer grabbed the camera of News & Observer photojournalist Julia Wall to push her back while she filmed a march to the polls and rally in Graham, North Carolina, on Oct. 31, 2020, according to the outlet and an interview with the journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"r653f\">The “I Am Change” march and rally organized to encourage people to vote in the 2020 general election and included calls for accountability echoing recent protests against racial injustice. The News & Observer <a href=\"https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article246861942.html\">reported</a> that approximately 200 demonstrators marched from the Wayman Chapel AME Church to Court Square, where the Alamance County Courthouse and a Confederate monument are located.</p><p data-block-key=\"nzyec\">The Washington Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/election-graham-north-carolina-protest/2020/11/01/beee5d8c-1c64-11eb-90dd-abd0f7086a91_story.html\">reported</a> that once there, participants took part in a moment of silence for George Floyd, a Black man, who died during an arrest in Minneapolis in May.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ppmk\">Moments later, the Graham Police Department ordered the protesters to disperse and began pepper spraying the crowd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker estimates from multiple news reports that at least 10 <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/least-nine-journalists-affected-chemical-irritant-during-march-polls/\">journalists</a>, including Wall, were affected by the chemical irritant.</p><p data-block-key=\"nt3v2\">The Graham Police Department said in a <a href=\"https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20401176-10-31-2020-rally-word\">statement</a> that it issued multiple orders to relocate or disperse before using crowd-control measures.</p><p data-block-key=\"1efyp\">In a video captured by Wall, a group of demonstrators retreats down the sidewalk, with some visibly affected by the vaporized pepper spray used by police. Officers in yellow vests can be heard shouting, “Let’s move, let’s move!”</p><p data-block-key=\"6a7cz\">An officer in a respirator yells “Go!” as he reaches out his hand, covering Wall’s camera lens multiple times.</p><p data-block-key=\"m2u9l\">“I’m going! Don’t touch my camera!” Wall responds as she continues moving back. “I’m not touching your stuff, don’t touch mine.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bzwa8\">The officer continues walking behind the group for a few more seconds before turning back and rejoining his colleagues.</p><p data-block-key=\"q3quk\">Wall told the Tracker that she didn’t think the officer was trying to prevent her from filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"guaie\">“It felt like he was trying to use my equipment to shove me back,” Wall said. “It’s possible that he didn’t think I was media but I have a whole microphone set up, my camera straps say ‘Canon’ — nothing is disguised in any way to look less journalistic.”</p><p data-block-key=\"zec07\">Wall also noted that her press badge was “front and center” that day, as she says it always is when she covers protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qsxh\">Police arrested at least 12 individuals at the march, The News & Observer reported, including Alamance News reporter Tomas Murawski. The Tracker documented that <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-during-north-carolina-march-poll/\">arrest here.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"7qvi1\">North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NC_Governor/status/1322697365636239361\">condemned the police response in a tweet</a> that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"mgsme\">“Peaceful demonstrators should be able to have their voices heard and voter intimidation in any form cannot be tolerated,” Cooper wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"b96l0\">The Graham Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"p095m\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Julia Wall.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"s2h9g\">News & Observer photojournalist Julia Wall reaches for relief from the effects of a chemical spray used during a march to the polls and social justice rally in Graham, North Carolina on Oct. 31, 2020.</p>",
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"name": "North Carolina",
"abbreviation": "NC"
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"tags": [
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"chemical irritant",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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{
"title": "Journalist arrested during North Carolina march to the poll",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-arrested-during-north-carolina-march-poll/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-03T22:56:43.062367Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-04-11T15:54:53.223469Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-04-11T15:54:53.027568Z",
"date": "2020-10-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Graham",
"longitude": -79.40058,
"latitude": 36.06903,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s89f1\">Tomas Murawski, a reporter for The Alamance News, was arrested while covering a march to the polls in Graham, North Carolina, on Oct. 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ac26i\">The “I Am Change” march and rally was organized to encourage people to vote in the 2020 general election and included calls for accountability echoing recent protests against racial injustice. The News & Observer <a href=\"https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article246861942.html\">reported</a> that approximately 200 demonstrators marched from the Wayman Chapel AME Church to Court Square, where the Alamance County Courthouse and a Confederate monument are located.</p><p data-block-key=\"heey8\">The Washington Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/election-graham-north-carolina-protest/2020/11/01/beee5d8c-1c64-11eb-90dd-abd0f7086a91_story.html\">reported</a> that once there, participants took part in a moment of silence for George Floyd, a Black man, who died during an arrest in Minneapolis in May.</p><p data-block-key=\"iyp6b\">Moments later, the Graham Police Department ordered the protesters to disperse and began pepper spraying the crowd. Reports compiled by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/least-nine-journalists-affected-chemical-irritant-during-march-polls/\">details 11 journalists affected by the chemical irritant</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"avcoe\">A police officer also grabbed the camera of News & Observer photojournalist Julia Wall to push her back while she filmed a march, which the Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/officer-grabs-photojournalists-camera-pushes-her-back-during-north-carolina-march-to-the-poll/\">documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"l5ev8\">The Graham Police Department said in a <a href=\"https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20401176-10-31-2020-rally-word\">statement</a> that it issued multiple orders to relocate or disperse before using crowd-control measures.</p><p data-block-key=\"rah39\">At least 12 individuals were arrested during the march, The News & Observer <a href=\"https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article246861942.html\">reported</a>, including Murawski.</p><p data-block-key=\"qszbq\">Alamance News Publisher Tom Boney Jr. told The News & Observer that Murawski was photographing the scene from the street when he was suddenly placed under arrest.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ALAMANCE NEWS REPORTER ARRESTED AMID THE PROTEST – Tomas Murawski, a staff writer for The Alamance News, was arrested at Saturday's protest. Murawski had taken a photo of the day's first arrest when he himself was arrested. See News & Observer video here: <a href=\"https://t.co/8L2P13QaZD\">https://t.co/8L2P13QaZD</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/wYnLb8Ofug\">pic.twitter.com/wYnLb8Ofug</a></p>— The Alamance News (@AlamanceNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlamanceNews/status/1322678493625372673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"pehja\">“When I spoke to him on the street, while he was in police custody, he said they ordered them to move out of the roadway,” Boney said. “He was doing so, while still taking photos, but apparently not fast enough for [the police].”</p><p data-block-key=\"a69uh\">In <a href=\"https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article246866352.html\">footage</a> of the arrest published by The News & Observer, four officers can be seen taking Murawski’s camera and camera bag and leading him away from the crowd before placing him in handcuffs. Video from a second angle <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-t4qO8HEWp0&feature=emb_title\">published by Triad City Beat</a> shows that officers bent his left arm far behind his back and toward his head while leading him away, causing Murawski to double over.</p><p data-block-key=\"ef70w\">Boney told the Tracker that Murawski was held in police custody for approximately three hours before he was released, and that all of his equipment was returned to him.</p><p data-block-key=\"p4n5s\">According to a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=3387561428028114&id=391073194343634\">Facebook post</a> published by the Alamance News, Murawski was charged with resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer — a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days of community service, supervised probation or imprisonment.</p><p data-block-key=\"3vwuq\">Murawski has a hearing scheduled for Dec. 14, Boney told the Tracker, but they hope to have the charge dismissed before then.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ns44\">Boney expressed his concerns over Murawski’s arrest in a statement to the newspaper: “Tomas has been an outstanding reporter and photographer for many years, and has always demonstrated a high standard of professionalism in all his work,” Boney said. “I cannot imagine that he did anything warranting his treatment at the Graham rally.”</p><p data-block-key=\"emj3g\">North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NC_Governor/status/1322697365636239361\">condemned the police response in a tweet</a> that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"zxai5\">“Peaceful demonstrators should be able to have their voices heard and voter intimidation in any form cannot be tolerated,” Cooper wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"zxgdu\">The Graham Police Department immediately responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"0iunu\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include additional comment from Alamance News publisher Tom Boney Jr. and to reflect the reporting of an additional journalist affected by tear gas.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rb3t4\">While covering a march to the polls in Graham, North Carolina, Alamance News reporter Tomas Murawski was arrested by a Graham police officer on Oct. 31, 2020.</p>",
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"(2021-05-26 10:57:00+00:00) Charges dropped against journalist arrested during North Carolina march to the polls"
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{
"title": "Eleven journalists affected by chemical irritant during march to the polls",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/least-nine-journalists-affected-chemical-irritant-during-march-polls/",
"first_published_at": "2020-11-03T22:47:22.632200Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-08-04T20:46:39.561524Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-08-04T20:46:39.503990Z",
"date": "2020-10-31",
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"city": "Graham",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jlakc\">At least 11 journalists were caught in pepper spray used to disperse a march to the polls in Graham, North Carolina, on Oct. 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"cxmpj\">The “I Am Change” march and rally was organized to encourage people to vote in the 2020 general election and included calls for accountability echoing recent protests against racial injustice. Demonstrators started at the Wayman Chapel AME Church at around 11:30 a.m., <a href=\"https://www.elonnewsnetwork.com/article/2020/10/march-in-graham-ends-with-police-pepper-spraying\">reported</a> the Elon News Network, the student news organization for Elon University.</p><p data-block-key=\"pwq8j\">The crowd of approximately 200 people then marched to Court Square, where the Alamance County Courthouse and a Confederate monument are located, <a href=\"https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article246861942.html\">according to</a> The News & Observer.</p><p data-block-key=\"jkuj7\">The Washington Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/election-graham-north-carolina-protest/2020/11/01/beee5d8c-1c64-11eb-90dd-abd0f7086a91_story.html\">reported</a> that once there, participants took part in a moment of silence for George Floyd, a Black man, who died during an arrest in Minneapolis in May.</p><p data-block-key=\"ucph2\">Moments later, the Graham Police Department ordered the protesters to disperse and began pepper spraying the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"0xwzo\">Reports compiled by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker details 11 journalists affected by the chemical irritant: Five <a href=\"https://www.elonnewsnetwork.com/article/2020/10/march-in-graham-ends-with-police-pepper-spraying\">ENN reporters</a>,Triad City Beat senior editor <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Triad_City_Beat/status/1322718594699005952\">Jordan Green</a>, independent photographer Anthony Crider, photojournalist <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10102108958701833&set=p.10102108958701833&type=3\">Julia Wall</a> and reporter Carli Brosseau of The News & Observer and documentary filmmakers <a href=\"https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1322636126419587073\">Nathaniel and Beatrice Frum</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Video shows Graham police deploying pepper spray against protesters and a journalist (<a href=\"https://twitter.com/jordangreentcb?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jordangreentcb</a>) after protesters kneeled in the street for 8 minutes and 46 seconds to honor George Floyd. <a href=\"https://t.co/uF99Dly4Bv\">pic.twitter.com/uF99Dly4Bv</a></p>— Triad City Beat (@Triad_City_Beat) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Triad_City_Beat/status/1322718594699005952?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 1, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1oefr\">Wall told the Tracker that Graham police officers ordered the marchers to clear the street shortly after noon, but that it was unclear where demonstrators needed to go and what to do once they got there.</p><p data-block-key=\"gzx6d\">“People were kind of milling about and not moving quickly enough for the Graham police,” Wall said, “and they started using pepper spray to get people to clear the road.”</p><p data-block-key=\"n66j3\">The Graham Police Department said in a <a href=\"https://beta.documentcloud.org/documents/20401176-10-31-2020-rally-word\">statement</a> that it issued an order to clear the roadway and move onto courthouse property or to one of two areas designated by the department.</p><p data-block-key=\"sdsl1\">“When the crowd failed to disperse, after several verbal commands,” the statement continues, “[officers] utilized a crowd control measure that consisted of spraying a pepper based vapor onto the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"91rud\">Ian Blatutis, who is the mayor of neighboring Burlington and participated in and spoke at the event, told ENN that he didn’t know why police had used chemical irritants and that the five-minute warning to disperse was given after marchers had already been sprayed.</p><p data-block-key=\"osh45\">The spray — identifiable as OC (oleoresin capsicum) vapor from photos taken that day — is <a href=\"https://www.defense-technology.com/product/first-defense-7-mk-9s-hv-vapor-oc-aerosol/\">described by the manufacturer</a> as “a high concentration of OC in a powerful mist inflaming the mucous membranes and exposed skin.”</p><p data-block-key=\"acc46\">Police arrested at least 12 individuals that day, including <a href=\"https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article246861942.html\">Alamance News reporter Tomas Murawski</a>. A Graham police officer also grabbed Wall’s camera in order to push her back, which the Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/officer-grabs-photojournalists-camera-pushes-her-back-during-north-carolina-march-to-the-poll/\">documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4fs8u\">According to the statement, once the crowd had moved to the designated areas the rally was “deemed unsafe and unlawful by unified command,” and protesters were given a five-minute dispersal warning.</p><p data-block-key=\"pcaot\">Wall told the Tracker that approximately an hour after the rally’s speeches had begun on the courthouse steps, the Sheriff’s Department claims its deputies saw a man with a gas can on the courthouse premises, a violation of their permit agreement. Deputies then moved in and began “taking things apart,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"twwtw\">“That’s when people started to resist and push back on them because it was not clearly communicated what was happening and then more pepper spray came out,” Wall said. “Myself, my colleague [Brosseau] and several other journalists and tons of people who were present got hit with all the pepper spray.”</p><p data-block-key=\"l4dcz\">Officers then moved in and arrested those who refused to leave the courthouse steps and chased everyone else away from the area using the OC vapor, according to Wall. Wall and Triad City Beat senior editor Green were walking next to each other when an officer deliberately sprayed the vapor at their feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"o2qdy\">“I know that they knew Jordan was press — he’s there all the time,” Wall said. “We were standing next to each other, both with badges out, I had a camera pointing and he had his phone up.”</p><p data-block-key=\"g1gax\">“It’s unclear to me whether or not we were being sprayed because we were press or because we weren’t moving fast enough,” she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"xmghm\">North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NC_Governor/status/1322697365636239361\">condemned the police response in a tweet</a> that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"7yg0z\">“Peaceful demonstrators should be able to have their voices heard and voter intimidation in any form cannot be tolerated,” Cooper wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"qxdnu\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment and additional information from Julia Wall.</i></p></div>",
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{
"title": "Individual aimed firearm at independent journalist during Washington protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individual-aimed-firearm-at-independent-journalist-during-washington-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2022-02-04T15:38:27.035216Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:03:56.171418Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:03:56.069647Z",
"date": "2020-10-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Vancouver",
"longitude": -122.66149,
"latitude": 45.63873,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fmtvk\">Two journalists were threatened with firearms by individuals while covering a protest in Vancouver, Washington, during the early morning hours of Oct. 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"77fo2\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar was involved in two separate incidents, the first involving shots being fired. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented those incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-threatened-with-firearms-by-individuals-during-a-washington-protest/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ekl4\">Later, she and a Full Revolution Media journalist named John, who asked that his last name not be used out of safety concerns, had a gun pointed at them.</p><p data-block-key=\"5kigr\">They were covering one of the 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 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=\"afgau\">The demonstration, which began on Oct. 30 and stretched past midnight, was also held to protest the local shooting of Kevin Peterson Jr., a Black man killed by Clark County deputies the day before.</p><p data-block-key=\"eii86\">The protest started in Hazel Dell, a suburb about three miles northwest of Vancouver where Peterson was shot, <a href=\"https://www.columbian.com/news/2020/oct/31/arrests-follow-unrest-in-vancouver-after-shooting-of-black-man/\">according to</a> The Columbian newspaper. Hundreds of demonstrators and counterprotesters marched from the Fred Meyer store in Hazel Dell where Peterson was shot to downtown Vancouver.</p><p data-block-key=\"75eg\">A<a href=\"https://www.cityofvancouver.us/law/page/october-30-2020-vancouver-protest-arrests-update\"> statement</a> from Vancouver police said a dispersal order was given around 12:15 a.m. on the 31st, claiming the group "became more aggressive when it congregated near the Clark County Jail." Reports of “shots being fired in the air by one of the protestors” came in around 12:25 a.m., it said, though added that no injuries were reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"f7h77\">At 12:26 a.m., Azar <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1322439799915991040\">tweeted</a>, “Shots fired.” She wrote in a follow-up <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1322441487963971585\">tweet</a> that the shots “happened in eyesight of the police but nothing was done."</p><p data-block-key=\"2l5l6\">In a video accompanying that tweet, a vehicle can be seen in the distance, backing away from where Azar and others are standing. Then someone yells, “He’s got a gun!” and two bangs can be heard.</p><p data-block-key=\"7m0uf\">About a half hour later, a woman pulled a gun on Azar and a group of people. At 1:05 a.m., she posted a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1322449700612567041?s=20\"> photograph</a> of the woman, writing, "She just waved a gun around at at least 20 of us."</p><p data-block-key=\"fbj80\">Azar told the Tracker that the woman was with members of the local chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors, which Azar called a “known local right-wing group."</p><p data-block-key=\"blvke\">Azar was wearing visible press markings on her clothes and helmet, she said, as well as a National Press Photographers Association credential. While she wasn’t physically injured, it was a visible threat, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dht64\">Azar also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1322451794597871616?s=20\">posted</a> a photograph of the woman pointing the gun at John, the Full Revolution Media reporter, writing, "The police were right behind us when it happened. Here she's pointing it at @Johnthelefty."</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The police were right behind us when it happened. Here she’s pointing it at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Johnnthelefty?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Johnnthelefty</a> <br>📷 <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DocLowKey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DocLowKey</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/KCvR7DHXw4\">pic.twitter.com/KCvR7DHXw4</a></p>— alissa azar (@AlissaAzar) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1322451794597871616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fmtvk\">John told the Tracker that there were several hostile moments between demonstrators and right-wing counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"802p1\">“During tense group dynamics, the girl with the two guys involved in fights pulled a gun and pointed it at every person that she walked by,” he said. “Cops did not respond.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fgv63\">John said he didn’t have press markings that night, but was there as a journalist. He didn’t sustain any injuries.</p></div>",
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"name": "Washington",
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{
"title": "Journalists threatened with firearms by individuals during a Washington protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-threatened-with-firearms-by-individuals-during-a-washington-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-20T17:11:09.036589Z",
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"longitude": -122.66149,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"risb4\">Two journalists were threatened with firearms by individuals while covering a protest in Vancouver, Washington, during the early morning hours of Oct. 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"610zk\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar was involved in two separate incidents, the first involving shots being fired. Later, she and a journalist with Full Revolution Media had a gun pointed at them. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented his experience <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individual-aimed-firearm-at-independent-journalist-during-washington-protest/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4t00v\">They were covering one of the 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=\"0a73e\">The demonstration, which began on Oct. 30 and stretched past midnight, was also held to protest the local shooting of Kevin Peterson Jr., a Black man killed by Clark County deputies the day before.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ae00\">The protest started in Hazel Dell, a suburb about three miles northwest of Vancouver where Peterson was shot, <a href=\"https://www.columbian.com/news/2020/oct/31/arrests-follow-unrest-in-vancouver-after-shooting-of-black-man/\">according to</a> The Columbian newspaper. Hundreds of demonstrators and counterprotesters marched from the Fred Meyer store in Hazel Dell where Peterson was shot to downtown Vancouver.</p><p data-block-key=\"3m6tj\">A<a href=\"https://www.cityofvancouver.us/law/page/october-30-2020-vancouver-protest-arrests-update\"> statement</a> from Vancouver police said a dispersal order was given around 12:15 a.m. on the 31st, claiming the group "became more aggressive when it congregated near the Clark County Jail." Reports of “shots being fired in the air by one of the protestors” came in around 12:25 a.m., it said, though added that no injuries were reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"cl4wd\">At 12:26 a.m., Azar <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1322439799915991040\">tweeted</a>, “Shots fired.” She wrote in a follow-up <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1322441487963971585\">tweet</a> that the shots “happened in eyesight of the police but nothing was done."</p><p data-block-key=\"s2y83\">In a video accompanying that tweet, a vehicle can be seen in the distance, backing away from where Azar and others are standing. Then someone yells, “He’s got a gun!” and two bangs can be heard.</p><p data-block-key=\"k5d9e\">About a half hour later, a woman pulled a gun on Azar and a group of people. At 1:05 a.m., she posted a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1322449700612567041?s=20\"> photograph</a> of the woman, writing, "She just waved a gun around at at least 20 of us."</p><p data-block-key=\"74837\">Azar told the Tracker that the woman was with members of the local chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors, which Azar called a “known local right-wing group."</p><p data-block-key=\"ocu0n\">Azar was wearing visible press markings on her clothes and helmet, she said, as well as a National Press Photographers Association credential. While she wasn’t physically injured, it was a visible threat, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9yc5g\">Azar also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1322451794597871616?s=20\">posted</a> a photograph of the woman pointing the gun at John, the Full Revolution Media reporter, writing, "The police were right behind us when it happened. Here she's pointing it at @Johnthelefty."</p><p data-block-key=\"fj9dz\">John, who asked that his last name not be used out of safety concerns, told the Tracker that there were several hostile moments between demonstrators and right-wing counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qh6y\">“During tense group dynamics, the girl with the two guys involved in fights pulled a gun and pointed it at every person that she walked by,” he said. “Cops did not respond.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2ffm6\">John said he didn’t have press markings that night, but was there as a journalist. He didn’t sustain any injuries.</p></div>",
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"name": "Washington",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"Alissa Azar (Independent)"
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{
"title": "Videojournalist struck with baton during Beverly Hills protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalist-struck-with-baton-during-beverly-hills-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-19T22:09:38.610392Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T17:05:18.501202Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T17:05:18.411614Z",
"date": "2020-10-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Beverly Hills",
"longitude": -118.40036,
"latitude": 34.07362,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"agd0m\">Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles, said he was assaulted by a police officer while reporting on clashes between protest groups in Beverly Hills, California on Oct. 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"cyd0p\">Singh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering a group of counterprotesters as they marched to a rally held by supporters of President Donald Trump. When the group arrived at the Trump rally, police from Beverly Hills and other departments “immediately surrounded the counterprotesters, as well as journalists, and started advancing, started assaulting,” Singh said. “I was batoned in the back while filming but was wearing a bulletproof vest so I didn’t actually feel it that hard.”</p><p data-block-key=\"jf6rr\">Singh said both the front and back of the vest and his helmet are labeled “PRESS,” and he was carrying two copies of his press pass, with one pinned to the vest.</p><p data-block-key=\"kq4wv\">Singh said that he witnessed Jintak Han, a Los Angeles-based photojournalist, being pushed to the ground by a Beverly Hills officer and helped him up, which can be seen in his <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CHBlH2ggEaM/\">footage from that day</a>. The Tracker has documented Han’s assault and the resulting equipment damage <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-ground-equipment-damaged-during-beverly-hills-political-protest/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bzatm\">“Many journalists were assaulted that day,” Singh said.</p><p data-block-key=\"t7qak\">Beverly Hills Police Department executive officer Lt. Max Subin told the Tracker that the department had received a complaint from Han, but could not immediately confirm whether Singh had filed one as well. Singh said he has filed multiple complaints, but did not remember whether he had filed one for this incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"6tdup\">Subin also disputed Singh’s assertion that “many” journalists were assaulted by law enforcement that day. He said that the department has typically had a “great” relationship with the press and that the department is conducting an internal review of excessive use of force.</p><p data-block-key=\"v6eab\">“There were cases of use of force that day, and the use of force against members of the press will be part of that review,” Subin said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ot0je\">Singh said that he is pursuing multiple complaints and lawsuits independently and with the National Lawyers Guild.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Vishal Singh (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist hit with riot control device during rally at Portland ICE building",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-riot-control-device-during-rally-at-portland-ice-building/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-10T19:04:48.920253Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T19:46:09.715541Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T19:46:09.618087Z",
"date": "2020-10-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uusdi\">Independent videographer Garrison Davis was struck with a crowd-control munition in the early morning hours of Oct. 29, 2020, while he covered a protest outside the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon.</p><p data-block-key=\"log71\">Protests had been held on an almost nightly basis in Portland since late May, in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Videographer Davis has covered many of the Portland protests, and in November 2020, after this incident, he began co-hosting a podcast, “Uprising: A Guide From Portland,” for iHeartRadio.</p><p data-block-key=\"cdm56\">According to Davis, a group of about 100 protesters assembled at Elizabeth Caruthers Park in South Portland just before midnight on Oct. 29; they marched a few blocks south to the ICE building, a frequent site for demonstrations to protest conditions for the facility’s inmates and to call for the agency’s abolition.</p><p data-block-key=\"kpy0x\">The group stopped in front of a driveway into the facility, Davis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He said about 10 journalists were covering the gathering.</p><p data-block-key=\"837vn\">Davis captured footage of armed Federal Protective Service agents, who are part of Homeland Security, in riot gear, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1321712052876967937?s=20\">emerging from the building</a> on two separate occasions and arresting a protester each time.</p><p data-block-key=\"ftbld\">Following <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1321719074838118400?s=20\">the second arrest</a>, the agents began firing tear gas <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1321719869662916610?s=20\">and other crowd-control devices</a> at the crowd and marching toward them as they backed down South Moody Avenue, according to tweets and videos Davis posted on his account.</p><p data-block-key=\"fp484\">Davis told the Tracker that because of his work he has a gas mask that offers decent protection in such situations. “If you put it on ahead of time it’s not the worst,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ot6f\">Davis told the Tracker that he was struck on the knee with what he believed to be either a rubber bullet or a tear-gas canister.</p><p data-block-key=\"g9h5g\">“Teargas and Stun Grenades in Portland streets,” Davis <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1321720887385616384?s=20\">wrote in a Twitter post</a>. “I’ve been shot in the leg with either a rubber bullet or canister.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ayoe9\">Davis said he did not seek medical attention but that he walked with a limp for a few days after the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"a44rj\">Davis said he was wearing a press badge on a lanyard and a helmet with “PRESS” in white letters on one side. He said that, while an agent used a loudspeaker <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1321705102760054785?s=20\">to threaten protesters and journalists</a> with arrest if they were caught trespassing on federal property, the agents on the street did not issue a warning before setting off crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"tw3ne\">Davis and other people filming the scene <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hungrybowtie/status/1321724603039805443?s=20\">edged to the east side of the street</a> to keep cameras on the agents as protesters moved north. He said that it appeared agents were firing munitions toward the journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"5l9ux\">“They were doing it kind of for fun, it seemed,” Davis said.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3swp\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ncq0r\">Demonstrators and Federal and local police clash at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on Oct. 29, 2020</p>",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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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",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Garrison Davis (Freelance)"
],
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{
"title": "Federal agents shoot independent videographer three separate times with crowd-control munitions, damage camera",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/federal-agents-shoot-independent-videographer-three-separate-times-crowd-control-munitions-damage-camera/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-29T16:22:07.248082Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T19:54:31.778495Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T19:54:31.686707Z",
"date": "2020-10-29",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"eid22\">Independent journalist Mason Lake said he was shot three separate times with crowd-control munitions by federal law enforcement officers while he was covering a protest outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Oct. 29, 2020. The pepper balls also damaged his video camera, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekbfo\">Lake, a videographer, was covering one of the many Portland protests against law enforcement violence that first erupted after the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"1833x\">Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a <a href=\"https://aclu-or.org/en/cases/index-newspapers-llc-v-city-portland\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/feds-ordered-not-to-assault-arrest-journalists-in-portland/\">expanded to include federal agents</a> later that month.</p><p data-block-key=\"winxa\">The <a href=\"https://pdx.recompilermag.com/2020/10/28/protests-for-october-28/\">protest</a> began late on Oct. 28, as demonstrators rallied at Elizabeth Carruthers Park, in the South Waterfront district of Portland, and stretched past midnight. The protesters marched several blocks south to the ICE building, chanting against the Trump administration’s immigration policies, including the separation of children from parents that took place from 2017 to 2018 and the <a href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/family-separation-parents-chosen-homeland-security-chad-wolf/\">lack of progress</a> in reuniting all of the families.</p><p data-block-key=\"rfhaf\">When demonstrators arrived outside the ICE building shortly before midnight, federal officers warned them they were trespassing and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to the local news station <a href=\"https://www.koin.com/news/protests/tear-gas-fills-streets-as-federal-officers-clash-with-protesters-portland-ice-protest-10282020/\">KOIN</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"l49ur\">Lake, who was marked as press on a helmet and a vest and carried his press identification with him, was shot three separate times with crowd-control munitions after midnight and caught them all on video that he later posted on YouTube. He said he believes he was targeted by the federal agents because he was filming them.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bgap\">In the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FlyVzB6J8Q&feature=youtu.be\">first</a> incident, at around 1:27 a.m., Lake captured federal officers advancing down the street in a cloud of tear gas and shooting crowd-control munitions. At about seven seconds in, Lake is heard cursing after being shot with what he believes were pepper balls.</p><p data-block-key=\"44i4a\">“I was shot in the back of my thigh when we were backing up from the line they were pushing us from,” Lake told the Tracker. “It also hit my back.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tfezo\">In the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUcGrObGTtU&feature=youtu.be\">second</a> incident, at around 1:34 a.m., Lake approached a tear gas canister on the ground, and was then fired at. He responded by cursing at the federal agents.</p><p data-block-key=\"di8v7\">“They shot me in the chest with the pepper rounds, and then my camera got hit with a pepper round, got hit with a pellet, and then another pepper round. And the mic itself got hit with a pepper round,” Lake told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"oe1e1\">His Canon EOS 6D Mark II camera was damaged, with the audio connection and hot shoe needing cleaning and maintenance. The mic also needed work after being hit with a pepper ball.</p><p data-block-key=\"kedl8\">“I had to send in the camera for work. The camera took some damage, though thankfully not too much,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"m7eza\">In the <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgQaLK6_e7w&feature=youtu.be\">third incident</a>, at 1:58 a.m., Lake is hit with crowd-control munitions as he walks towards federal officers stationed outside the ICE facility. At about six seconds in, Lake can be heard yelling that he was shot in the face. He then turns his camera to show where a mark was left on his helmet.</p><p data-block-key=\"js23o\">Lake told the Tracker it was a pepper round that hit him that time as well.</p><p data-block-key=\"rvcps\">The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
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},
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"tags": [
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"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
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"shot / shot at"
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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"targeted_journalists": [
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{
"title": "Journalist tackled, equipment damaged while covering Dodgers celebrations",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-equipment-damaged-while-covering-dodgers-celebrations/",
"first_published_at": "2021-02-11T21:46:09.557678Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:04:42.078541Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:04:41.913844Z",
"date": "2020-10-28",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gzjfd\">Lexis-Olivier Ray, a freelance multimedia journalist, was tackled to the ground by Los Angeles Police Department officers and beaten with batons, damaging his equipment as he documented the celebrations of the Dodgers’ World Series win in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 28, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"c31og\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Los%20Angeles&date_lower=2020-01-01&date_upper=2020-12-31&tags=34\">Los Angeles</a> and cities across the U.S. experienced protests against police brutality throughout the summer, and crowds in L.A. had clashed with police earlier in October during celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship win. 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=\"kma2q\">USA Today <a href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/dodgers/2020/10/28/world-series-celebration-fire-looting-los-angeles/3759882001/\">reported</a> that the Dodger celebrations in L.A. that began the night of Oct. 27 took place mainly in downtown and in Echo Park, a neighborhood near Dodger Stadium. Ray covered the event on assignment for L.A. Taco, a digital-only outlet focused on the city. Ray did not respond to emails requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"v0b6v\">Ray <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-10-28/lapd-deals-with-unruly-crowds-after-dodgers-world-series-victory\">told the Los Angeles Times</a> that he was near the intersection of West 8th and Flower Streets when officers suddenly sprinted forward and pinned him against a car. Ray said that he feared being dragged underneath the car, which was slowly moving forward, if the driver accelerated.</p><p data-block-key=\"vwh6k\">Shortly after midnight, Ray <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1321352709899907073\">posted a video</a> to Twitter that shows a line of officers in riot gear rushing at him, pushing him repeatedly and ultimately knocking him to the ground. Ray can be heard identifying himself as a member of the press multiple times.</p><p data-block-key=\"1doaf\">Ray told the Times that he had introduced himself to a police supervisor at the scene moments before the incident, so some of the officers who were standing with the supervisor should have known who he was.</p><p data-block-key=\"4jxrv\">In a subsequent tweet, Ray <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1321365608605208576\">posted pictures</a> of a few abrasions on his right hand and elbow, as well as damage to his video camera’s microphone and lens. “A group of LAPD officers just broke my camera mic, tackled me to the ground and beat me with their batons, after I identified myself as a journalist multiple times,” he wrote. He noted, however, that he was “OK.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A group of LAPD officers just broke my camera mic, tackled me to the ground and beat me with their batons, after I identified myself as a journalist multiple times. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LATACO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LATACO</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/2VaB4sq8IJ\">pic.twitter.com/2VaB4sq8IJ</a></p>— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShotOn35mm/status/1321352709899907073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 28, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"29dgi\">“It’s really difficult to be a reporter right now,” Ray told the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"fbyp1\">The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time. Officer Lizeth Lomeli, an LAPD spokesperson, told USA Today she had no information about the incident.</p></div>",
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"(2020-11-01 13:16:00+00:00) Outlet files complaint about police assault on its journalist while covering Dodgers celebrations"
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{
"title": "Journalist sprayed in face with chemical irritant during DC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-sprayed-face-chemical-irritant-during-dc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-22T18:58:54.933340Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:09:55.652276Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:09:55.539916Z",
"date": "2020-10-28",
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"city": "Washington",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9qu6b\">A police officer sprayed a chemical irritant in Wyatt Reed’s face as the independent journalist covered a protest in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 28, 2020, the journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"fynh3\">Reed is a Washington-based journalist who produces the show By Any Means Necessary for Russian state-owned Radio Sputnik. He was covering the second night of protests over the death of Karon Hylton, a 20-year-old Black man who <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/karon-hylton-crash-body-camera/2020/10/29/132727f6-19e2-11eb-befb-8864259bd2d8_story.html\">crashed an electric scooter while being pursued by police on Oct. 23</a> and died three days later. Police said they had attempted to stop Hylton after he was observed driving on a sidewalk without wearing a helmet.</p><p data-block-key=\"8huiz\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/wyattreed13/status/1321648372642697217\">In a video Reed uploaded to Twitter</a> at 11:01 p.m., a line of police officers can be advancing south on Georgia Avenue, just a block from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Fourth District station, which had emerged as a focal point for protests. Then, what appears to be a firework can be seen exploding to the left of Reed before the footage goes blurry as the camera appears to get doused in a chemical irritant.</p><p data-block-key=\"3gcpr\">“Watch as DC cop targets me and sprays me point blank in the face with high-pressure mace,” Reed wrote on Twitter alongside the video. “I was displaying my press pass & clearly posed no threat. The only other person around me was the photographer you see here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gqpif\">Reed told the Tracker he felt he was targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"rfgbc\">“He [the police officer] was directly in front of me and he went straight for my eyes. It felt like I got pressure washed by bear mace on the inside of my eyeballs,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vk3p\">Reed said he had to be helped out of the protest after being sprayed and that the effects on his vision were severe even through the next day.</p><p data-block-key=\"4bhmi\">“It probably lasted about two hours before I was really able to open my eyes and not immediately be screaming out for water,” he said. “I went home and basically gave myself an hour under the sink flushing my eyes repeatedly.”</p><p data-block-key=\"jrnen\">Reed said his vision remained “pretty severely” affected the following day and that he worries his ability to focus his eyesight isn’t the same as it was before getting sprayed.</p><p data-block-key=\"lu273\">He said he was also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wyattreed13/status/1321924488834011136\">sprayed at another point earlier in the protest</a>, but told the Tracker he wasn’t as severely hurt.</p><p data-block-key=\"peelj\">The night before, at another protest over Hylton’s death, Reed had a crowd-control munition fired next to his head at close range by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"vz40y\">The Metropolitan Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"fpmyk\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, hit by crowd-control munitions or having their equipment damaged at protests around the country. <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">Find these incidents here.</a></p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
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{
"title": "Student journalist struck with crowd-control munitions amid Dodgers celebrations",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-struck-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-dodgers-celebrations/",
"first_published_at": "2022-02-04T15:55:11.916265Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T21:06:02.033846Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T21:06:01.941268Z",
"date": "2020-10-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7g8dn\">Two journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions fired by law enforcement while documenting celebrations in Los Angeles, California, after the Dodgers won the World Series on Oct. 27, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"4h6je\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Los%20Angeles&date_lower=2020-01-01&date_upper=2020-12-31&tags=34\">Los Angeles</a> and cities across the U.S. experienced protests against police brutality throughout the summer, and crowds in L.A. had clashed with police earlier in October during celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship win. 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=\"chbpr\">Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow told the Tracker he was covering the downtown celebration with Emily Holshouser, a reporter for California State University Northridge’s student newspaper, The Daily Sundial. Holshouser declined to comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8a8p6\">The Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-10-28/lapd-deals-with-unruly-crowds-after-dodgers-world-series-victory\">reported</a> that celebrations devolved into looting and vandalism in downtown L.A. and the neighborhood of Echo Park.</p><p data-block-key=\"330q6\">Holshouser <a href=\"https://twitter.com/emilyytayylor/status/1321317813076676609\">reported</a> on Twitter that one policeman told her there were “not enough” officers to deal with the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"7gtm8\">Braslow told the Tracker, “Police were trying to respond to things, but again, they were spread thin.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8p69d\">On her Twitter feed, Holshouser said that the LAPD issued a dispersal order shortly after 10 p.m., and that a line of officers in riot gear and mounted police were <a href=\"https://twitter.com/emilyytayylor/status/1321318412463693825\">preparing to advance</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"crhr5\">Braslow said he and Holshouser were standing with a group of 10-15 people at a street corner when police began advancing toward them. Shortly before midnight, Holshouser <a href=\"https://twitter.com/emilyytayylor/status/1321344609847369729\">posted</a> a clip of nearly a dozen individuals wearing Dodgers-branded apparel posing for Braslow to take a photo.</p><p data-block-key=\"11mmo\">“These guys made @SamBraslow photograph them and then we got shot at with foam baton rounds,” Holshouser wrote. “I got shot in my hip. I’m fine just mega pissed.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">These guys made <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SamBraslow?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@SamBraslow</a> photograph them and then we got shot at with foam baton rounds ✨ I got shot in my hip. I’m fine just mega pissed <a href=\"https://t.co/OPH0By53bU\">pic.twitter.com/OPH0By53bU</a></p>— Emily Holshouser (@emilyytayylor) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/emilyytayylor/status/1321344609847369729?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 28, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"7g8dn\">Braslow <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SamBraslow/status/1321344502926204930\">tweeted</a> an image of a canister for a foam baton round — a crowd-control munition similar to a rubber bullet — at 11:54 p.m., and wrote that he had been hit in the arm by a “less-lethal” round. He told the Tracker he was not certain what type of munition struck him. The Tracker has documented Braslow’s assault <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-reporters-struck-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-dodgers-world-series-celebrations/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"do0qg\">“I’m fine, just noting it,” Braslow wrote. “As per usual, camera around my neck, carrying camera bag, and wearing press credentials.”</p><p data-block-key=\"febt0\">Braslow told the Tracker he was also wearing a bulletproof vest and ballistic goggles. Holshouser can be seen in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SamBraslow/status/1321337240635633664\">clips</a> from that night wearing a bright yellow vest and press pass.</p><p data-block-key=\"bqg2f\">Braslow said he had some bruising and soreness on his arm, but both he and Holshouser were able to continue reporting that night.</p><p data-block-key=\"1npu4\">The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to emailed requests for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"9t30h\">A third journalist, L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, was tackled to the ground and struck with batons while filming the celebrations shortly after midnight. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-tackled-equipment-damaged-while-covering-dodgers-celebrations/\">documented that assault here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "California",
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]
