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{
"title": "Tennessee reporter told to leave, threatened with arrest at a town hall meeting with Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-tv-crew-told-to-leave-threatened-with-arrest-at-a-town-hall-meeting-with-rep-majorie-taylor-greene/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-24T19:39:27.055969Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-20T21:27:57.056222Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-20T21:27:56.964182Z",
"date": "2021-01-27",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Whitfield County",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6au9o\">A Tennessee-based journalist from Chattanooga’s WRCBtv was told to leave and threatened with arrest after trying to ask a question at a town hall meeting with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Jan. 27, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"rzonr\">WRCB reporter Meredith Aldis was among a group of journalists invited to Greene’s town hall in Whitfield County, Georgia, about 30 miles southeast of Chattanooga. Upon arrival at the event, journalists were told they could not ask questions or speak to anyone in attendance, WRCB News Director Callie Starnes told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"lyoc4\">“If WRCB knew that ahead of time, we would have opted not to cover the event,” Starnes said. “WRCB did not agree to those terms.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xuuby\">Aldis and a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tennessee-photographer-ejected-threatened-with-arrest-during-town-hall-with-rep-majorie-taylor-greene/\">WRCB photographer were</a> ejected from the meeting after Aldis attempted to ask Greene, a Georgia Republican, about criticism of social media posts she had made before her election to Congress, including <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/26/politics/marjorie-taylor-greene-democrats-violence/index.html\">Facebook posts</a> in which she advocated conspiracy theories and appeared to support execution of some Democratic political leaders. In other screenshots, posted by <a href=\"https://www.mediamatters.org/false-flag-conspiracy-theory/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-facebook-2018-parkland-school-shooting-was\">Media Matters for America</a>, Greene agreed with a Facebook comment that the 2018 school killings in Parkland, Florida, were a “false flag,” or a staged event. A WRCB photographer, who was accompanying Aldis and asked not to be identified, was also asked to leave the meeting.</p><p data-block-key=\"qpeyf\">After she was sworn in to Congress in early 2021, the revelations prompted calls from other members to expel Greene; on Feb. 4 the House voted to <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/house-gop-votes-greene-d00c46241478d39db3996a36f5cbf91e\">strip Greene of her congressional committee</a> assignments.</p><p data-block-key=\"7ggc2\">In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkzIAX0RiRo\">video clip</a> of the Jan. 27 town hall, one of three that Greene hosted in her Georgia congressional district, WRCB reporter Aldis can be heard attempting to ask the representative a question, when Greene replies “I am talking to my constituents.”</p><p data-block-key=\"kgb86\">The station <a href=\"https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43245677/channel-3-crew-threatened-with-arrest-after-asking-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-a-question-during-town-hall-meeting\">reported</a> that a member of Greene’s staff then approached Aldis and told her to leave the town hall. The staffer waved over a member of the Whitfield County (GA) Deputy Sheriff’s office, who threatened to arrest the journalists, according to the station’s report.</p><p data-block-key=\"8uwd5\">The station said that following the incident, a representative from Greene’s staff reached out to WRCB and said Aldis was told to leave because the town hall <a href=\"https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43245677/channel-3-crew-threatened-with-arrest-after-asking-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-a-question-during-town-hall-meeting\">"was not a press conference"</a> and her question had caused a “disruption.”</p><p data-block-key=\"86pfd\">In an <a href=\"https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43255605/whitfield-county-sheriff-defends-deput\">interview</a> with the television station, Whitfield County Sheriff Scott Chitwood defended the actions of his deputies who had threatened Aldis with arrest. He said Greene's staff had instructed his deputies to remove any member of the media who attempted to talk to anyone or ask a question.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2muo\">Greene’s office had not responded to a Tracker request for comment as of press time.</p></div>",
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"name": "Georgia",
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{
"title": "Justice Department secretly obtained emails from Project Veritas journalist",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-journalist/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-08T20:24:42.952838Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-13T20:59:21.043178Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-13T20:59:20.960645Z",
"date": "2021-01-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lihl0\">The U.S. Justice Department issued a secret warrant to Microsoft on Jan. 26, 2021, to obtain emails and contacts of a Project Veritas journalist as part of its investigation of a diary stolen from President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden. </p><p data-block-key=\"54skp\">The name of the employee whose emails were targeted was redacted in <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">the warrant</a>, but in a later <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">court filing</a>, attorneys for Project Veritas identified the person as a journalist. </p><p data-block-key=\"6j2hn\">The warrant was one of five issued to the technology company for communications of eight journalists from Project Veritas, which is known for hidden-camera sting operations of liberal politicians and nonprofits. As a result of the warrants, the government collected nearly 200,000 emails and other files, attorneys for Project Veritas said in a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filing</a>. </p><p data-block-key=\"b9nls\">In the other secret warrants, federal agents sought emails and contacts from Project Veritas founder <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-founder/\">James O’Keefe</a>, Project Veritas journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-emails/\">Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads,</a> and four <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-three-project-veritas-journalists/\">additional</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-email-information\">unidentified</a> Project Veritas journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"50hhr\">A U.S. District Court ordered that the Jan. 26 warrant be sealed for two years, but Microsoft threatened to sue to make it public, along with that for Cochran and Meads. The Justice Department then lifted the gag order early and Microsoft alerted Project Veritas of the warrants on March 11, 2022, according to <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/22/us/politics/project-veritas-emails.html\">The New York Times</a> and <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filings</a>. </p><p data-block-key=\"bakp\">Project Veritas, which identifies itself as a nonprofit investigative outlet, purchased the Biden diary in September 2020 from <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/politics/ashley-biden-diary-project-veritas-guilty.html\">two people who later pleaded guilty</a> to conspiring to transport stolen materials, a felony. Project Veritas never published the diary and gave it to police on Nov. 8, 2020. </p><p data-block-key=\"efeuo\">The Department of Justice, however, opened an investigation into the outlet and its journalists concerning alleged conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, conspiracy to possess stolen goods, interstate transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen goods.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct6bp\">The secret <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">warrant sought the journalist’s emails</a>, contacts and Microsoft subscriber information. Prosecutors said in the warrant that they were looking for information mentioning Ashley Biden, her associates or her father; anything regarding her stolen property and where it was located; their alleged co-conspirators; plans to sell the stolen items and the value of them; surveillance of Ashley Biden; and any other evidence of a conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"27ve8\">The warrant for the unidentified journalist, along with Cochran and Meads, sought information going back to January 2020, although Project Veritas had only received the diary that September. </p><p data-block-key=\"1nerh\">“The fact that the government secretly obtained emails from three different Project Veritas journalists dating from eight months prior to the newsgathering conduct that the government is scrutinizing shocks the conscience,” Project Veritas <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">lawyers wrote in a request for preliminary relief from U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres</a>. It does not appear from court records that the court ruled on this request.</p><p data-block-key=\"evmpv\">The various orders and subpoenas also sought emails and contacts from a human resources manager.</p><p data-block-key=\"1k56p\">Separately, search warrants were carried out at the homes of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/project-veritas-founder-detained-phones-seized-amid-fbi-raid-of-his-home/\">O’Keefe, </a><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-staffer-detained-devices-seized/\">Cochran</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-journalist-detained-devices-seized/\">Meads</a> in November 2021, alarming <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24253862-143-letter-brief-of-amici-curiae-aclu-fpf-fire-in-re-search-warrant-dated-november-5-2021-no-21-mc-00813\">free speech advocates</a>, including Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is a project. A special master was appointed to determine what seized information could be shared with prosecutors. </p><p data-block-key=\"9gq8c\"><i>Editor’s Note: This report has been corrected to reflect that the warrant was ordered sealed for two years, as was the warrant for Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads. Three other warrants targeting Project Veritas journalists were ordered sealed for just one year.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Jan-26-warrant.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xh6t1\">A portion of a Jan. 26, 2021, Justice Department warrant issued to Microsoft seeking emails and contacts from a Project Veritas journalist.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
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},
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{
"title": "Independent journalist struck in the head with crowd-control munitions during anti-ICE protest in Portland",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-struck-in-the-head-with-crowd-control-munitions-during-anti-ice-protest-in-portland/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-25T16:29:05.565869Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-21T22:09:23.512394Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-21T22:09:23.421656Z",
"date": "2021-01-20",
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"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ew6zm\">Independent journalist Jarrid Huber said he was struck in the head with a type of tear gas canister fired by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"q4m0p\">According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\"> news reports</a>, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. to protest the detention of migrant children in cages. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"0b9h7\">In Huber’s <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Jarridhubtv/videos/826210608221948\">footage from that evening</a>, federal officers can be seen leaving the ICE facility and lining up across the railroad tracks along the east side of the building. The line begins to advance toward the crowd — which appears to be retreating up South Moody Avenue — when the officers appear to open fire with crowd-control munitions without warning. As Huber turns and jogs away at around 37 minutes into the footage, he can be heard saying, “I got hit in the head.”</p><p data-block-key=\"io45k\">Huber told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was struck in the head with one of the three canisters of a <a href=\"https://www.defense-technology.com/product/triple-chaser-separating-canister-cs/\">Triple-Chaser</a>, a type of tear gas canister that breaks apart to disperse tear gas across a wider area, when it ricocheted off the ground. Huber said that he was also struck multiple times in the chest with pepper balls and at least one baton round — a type of crowd-control munition that includes rubber bullets but also foam and wooden baton rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"0jeu1\">Huber said he was wearing a body armor vest labeled with “PRESS” on the front and back, as well as a neck gaiter branded with the logo of <a href=\"https://booptroopeugene.com/\">Boop Troop Eugene</a> and a press pass issued by the digital outlet. On its website, Boop Troop describes its coverage as focusing on “socio-economic issues, protests and educational awareness.”</p><p data-block-key=\"nt1xk\">According to Huber’s footage, he was able to continue filming for approximately two hours, saying on multiple occasions, “I feel fine.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3rb7k\">The following day, Huber posted on Facebook <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=205755547917726&id=100288651797750&__cft__[0]=AZUmMgztYOgIa6HXBtXB6eVQZgNd1gmytfZCNGUp65xLbiVYryVDQqYKM3-27U9vfHy21f-N1k0R-VtyByJACrW8rnWLfcndsX4ucVoRlgJ21kSiHPhV3nC_vx5k3uGl0-nyLfV0zCo_xCInqvKJ64Jv&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">photos of abrasions</a> on his temple and <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=206079534551994&id=100288651797750&__cft__[0]=AZWzwrNP8pvWyUOTA8VYtoT00MbJKw3fp75MjZSqMr3pYaWbpbesx1o7GJFeQc2aKrJmb3u-ibvZxNnVtG97-diR4dC1VmPu_eaf80pRVD4GV4fQs-sUj9nbnwg31Ks1KbjIbkBl82eflrxp4ncIcKF4&__tn__=%2CO%2CP-R\">an update</a> detailing the injuries he sustained.</p><p data-block-key=\"rsefa\">“I have a mild concussion and trauma to the neck from my head being shot but they don’t believe there is any internal bleeding and my eye socket and temple seem to be okay other than small swelling and bruising,” Huber wrote. “They want me keeping a close eye on if symptoms get worse and I’m going to miss a few days of work.”</p><p data-block-key=\"l3idl\">Huber told the Tracker he ultimately was unable to resume his protest coverage for two weeks.</p><p data-block-key=\"6nie6\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence during the protest, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rcem\">The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ymf4u\">Independent journalist Jarrid Huber suffered a concussion and neck trauma after being struck in the head, chest with crowd-control munitions while covering a demonstration outside an ICE facility in Portland on Jan. 20, 2021.</p>",
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{
"title": "Journalist struck on face with projectile at Portland anti-ICE protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-on-face-with-projectile-at-portland-anti-ice-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-14T15:50:44.763100Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-21T22:09:10.250051Z",
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"date": "2021-01-20",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"du33z\">Freelance journalist Michael Elliott said he was struck in the face with a pepper ball fired by federal officers while he covered a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"et1kx\">According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\"> news reports</a>, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and caging of migrant children. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"mm0xo\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/fieldnotesmedia/media\">Elliott</a>, who says his work has been published by VICE, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Willamette Week, among others, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing a protester from approximately 10 to 15 feet away shortly after 11 p.m. as they attempted to extinguish a tear gas canister using a Super Soaker water gun.</p><p data-block-key=\"u38so\">“Federal Officers began firing on the protester with the Super Soaker repeatedly hitting him with pepper balls,” Elliott said. Both he and the protester were ultimately pinned down, he said, as additional officers began firing rounds of tear gas, pepper balls and <a href=\"https://www.defense-technology.com/product/skat-shell-40-mm-multiple-projectile-round-cs/\">Skat Shells</a> — a type of munition that produces fire and disperses chemical irritants — toward them. Elliott said one of the pepper ball rounds struck him during this volley.</p><p data-block-key=\"vd23x\">Immediately, Elliott said, his eyes swelled shut and felt like they were on fire.</p><p data-block-key=\"149iv\">“Medics responded after witnessing the impact and noted a substantial cake of white dust on each of my eyelids,” Elliot told the Tracker</p><p data-block-key=\"sun0r\">Elliott said that while he typically wears a gas mask, he had forgotten it that day as he left to document the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"73yja\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"tkdf7\">The ICE protest was one of many social-justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the 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></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael Elliott (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
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},
{
"title": "Videojournalist targeted with projectiles at Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalist-targeted-with-projectiles-at-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-05-05T16:25:46.398565Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-21T22:07:51.636634Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-21T22:07:51.518619Z",
"date": "2021-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"85nau\">Independent videojournalist Mason Lake said he was targeted by various crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"x69fc\">According to <a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\">The Oregonian</a>, protesters gathered in South Portland’s Elizabeth Caruthers Park to push for more rapid policy changes than they believed President Joe Biden had promised during his inauguration that day. Later in the night, many marched a few blocks south toward the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building to oppose the detention of migrant children in cage-like quarters, the Oregonian reported. Demonstrators chanted “Abolish ICE” and spray-painted “Reunite families now” onto the building. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PortlandPolice/status/1352138074042429440?s=20\">video and tweet</a> released shortly after 10 p.m. on Jan. 20, the Portland Police Bureau said it had declared the gathering an unlawful assembly and stated that its officers used crowd-control munitions to get people to disperse.</p><p data-block-key=\"1vsq4\">Between 10 and 11 p.m., Lake said he was filming at the ICE building and standing next to other members of the press when Department of Homeland Security and ICE officers, whom he identified by their uniforms and badges, threw an explosive device at his foot.</p><p data-block-key=\"o4q2t\">“When the officer throws it, they do it right when I pan my camera to the left away from them,” Lake said in an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “They don’t know it, but my camera is actually a wide angle. As soon as I pan, he throws it in an underhand chuck.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cg4cn\">He identified the device as an instantaneous blast munition, which rattled him because he didn’t have hearing protection, but did not otherwise injure him. In a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJ5_mq4dF8Y\">video</a> shared to YouTube, Lake uses another reporter’s footage, which shows a canister being thrown directly at his feet at 0:33. Lake said officers also used <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA1mSFXESj8\">numerous other munitions</a>, including <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MasonLakePhoto/status/1352162675736805377?s=20\">riot control CS gas</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"05hy0\">Lake said he had press credentials from the National Press Photographers Association, nonprofit media cooperative Halospace Media and Boop Troop Eugene LLC, a live media outlet that covers protests and local events, in addition to visible press markings on his clothes and helmet.</p><p data-block-key=\"ff307\">DHS, which coordinated the ICE presence in Portland, did not respond to an emailed request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mason Lake (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "White House deputy press secretary resigns after threatening Politico reporter",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/white-house-deputy-press-secretary-resigns-after-threatening-politico-reporter/",
"first_published_at": "2021-04-22T21:12:21.891845Z",
"last_published_at": "2021-04-22T21:12:21.891845Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2021-04-22T21:12:21.842531Z",
"date": "2021-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p>According to <a href=\"https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/02/i-will-destroy-you-biden-aide-threatened-a-politico-reporter-pursuing-a-story-on-his-relationship\">Vanity Fair</a>, deputy White House press secretary TJ Ducklo threatened and verbally harassed Politico reporter Tara Palmeri on Jan. 20, 2021, in an attempt to quash a story about his relationship with political reporter Alexi McCammond, then of Axios.</p><p>Palmeri, Politico and the White House did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</p><p>On Jan. 21, <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/newsletters/playbook/2021/01/21/democrats-caught-flat-footed-by-total-control-of-washington-491476\">Playbook</a>, Politico’s daily newsletter, of which Palmeri is a co-author, included an item headlined “BIDEN SETS STANDARD FOR PROFESSIONAL BEHAVIOR” and a quote from the just-inaugurated president: “I’m not joking when I say this: If you ever work with me and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I will fire you on the spot. No ifs, ands or buts.” The item closed by posing the following: “Serious question on our minds this morning: Does this standard apply to how mid-level press aides treat reporters?”</p><p>A little over three weeks later, on Feb. 12, a piece by Vanity Fair seemingly explained why that question may have been percolating for Politico, reporting that on Inauguration Day, Palmeri had contacted McCammond for comment on a story about her relationship with the incoming deputy press secretary. Vanity Fair reported that Ducklo reached out to a Politico editor to object to the story, and then contacted Palmeri directly, allegedly saying, “I will destroy you”; threatening to ruin her reputation; and making other “derogatory and misogynistic comments.”</p><p>Following the publication of the article, press secretary Jen Psaki <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PressSec/status/1360284952982650883\">issued</a> a statement saying, “TJ Ducklo has apologized to the reporter, with whom he had a heated conversation about his personal life. He is the first to acknowledge this is not the standard of behavior set out by the President. In addition to his initial apology, he has sent the reporter a personal note expressing his profound regret.” She also announced that Ducklo had been suspended for one week without pay.</p><p>In a <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/media/2021/02/12/tj-ducklo-white-house-suspended-psaki-sot-vpx.cnn\">press conference</a> the same day, Psaki addressed a question from a female reporter about retaining Ducklo in his role after the revelations about the phone call and his comments. Psaki responded that Ducklo’s behavior was “completely unacceptable” and that while she did not excuse it, the story was about his personal life and not about an issue concerning the White House.</p><p>Ducklo resigned a day after his suspension was announced, on Feb. 13. Psaki confirmed Ducklo’s resignation in a statement, stating: “We accepted the resignation of TJ Ducklo after a discussion with him this evening.” She added that the decision had been approved by White House chief of staff Ron Klain.</p><p>Ducklo expressed regret over his actions in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TDucklo/status/1360741646627913728\">a statement</a> posted on Twitter account about his resignation, writing, in part, “No words can express my regret, my embarrassment, and my disgust for my behavior. I used language that no woman should ever have to hear from anyone, especially in a situation where she was just trying to do her job.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": null,
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"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Tara Palmeri (Politico)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter hit with crowd-control munitions in Portland, treated for concussion",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-hit-with-crowd-control-munitions-in-portland-treated-for-concussion/",
"first_published_at": "2021-03-05T15:16:05.186022Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T19:49:46.590590Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T19:49:46.501783Z",
"date": "2021-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"w5huq\">Independent journalist Alissa Azar was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"hlctv\">According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\"> news reports</a>, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and caging of migrant children. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"ubfcp\">Azar, who was live-tweeting during the protest, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was standing on the sidewalk across the street from the facility with a row of journalists when federal officers suddenly rushed outside from the ICE building. She said they deployed crowd-control munitions including pepper balls and tear gas for "almost 20 minutes straight" to push the crowd back.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Teargas currently flooding the neighborhood. Almost 20 minutes straight of teargas and munitions. <a href=\"https://t.co/yQItLq5Gar\">pic.twitter.com/yQItLq5Gar</a></p>— Alissa Azar (@AlissaAzar) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1352136678438158337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 2021</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=\"ndas2\">Azar said she left the ICE facility with a reporter with Full Revolution Media, John, who declined to provide his last name due to safety concerns. She heard of a different gathering happening two blocks away, but she said that when they arrived, there were no protesters, only a line of federal officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"ax25i\">Those officers pushed Azar and the other reporter “back to the ICE building even though [officers at the ICE building were] asking people to leave," Azar told the Tracker. When she got back with the other members of the press, the officers "were just fumigating [us] directly in the face.” Azar said she did not know what the officers were spraying at the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"mspba\">“What’s scary about that machine is that you can’t look at the spent munitions to see what they’re deploying,” John added. The officers used what John described as a pesticide gun, similar in shape to a leaf blower, to release an unknown gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"vp6v1\">In a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/AlissaAzar/status/1352160676173684739?s=20\"> tweet</a> posted at 11:46 p.m., Azar wrote that she "lost count of pushes" and her chest hurt, making it hard to breath. She told the Tracker she was wearing visible press markings on her clothes and helmet, as well as a National Press Photographers Association credential. John said he wore a helmet with press markings across the front and back.</p><p data-block-key=\"kj5g9\">"I had a flash bang thrown right at my ear," Azar told the Tracker. "I ended up passing out because I was trapped in the tear gas and it went through my gas mask." She said her friends then took her to Providence Portland Medical Center’s emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a concussion and torn muscle.</p><p data-block-key=\"cfe3l\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"4eloz\">The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"case_number": 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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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Oregon",
"abbreviation": "OR"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Alissa Azar (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
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},
{
"title": "Independent videographer struck with tear gas canister while covering Portland protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-struck-with-tear-gas-canister-while-covering-portland-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-24T18:35:50.754928Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-06T19:52:06.061671Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-06T19:52:05.956469Z",
"date": "2021-01-20",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Portland",
"longitude": -122.67621,
"latitude": 45.52345,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5eg89\">Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said she was struck with a tear gas canister fired by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"3qoop\">According to<a href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2021/01/inauguration-day-in-oregon-protests-celebrations-expected-gov-kate-brown-cheers-a-new-chapter.html\"> news reports</a>, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and holding of migrant children in cages. At 9:30 p.m. federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly, the Oregonian reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"o6rj7\">Lewis, who has sold her footage to ABC, The Daily Beast and Oregon’s Willamette Week, among others, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was filming as federal officers advanced on the crowd and one officer began using a strobe light.</p><p data-block-key=\"muiuz\">In footage she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Claudio_Report/status/1352137304781963267\">posted to Twitter</a> and labeled “Attack part 2,” a line of law enforcement officers can be seen shining lights toward the crowd. One officer turns on a strobe light and, as it flashes, Lewis appears to duck briefly behind a demonstrator’s shield. She then comes out from behind the shield and yells “You’re being sued for strobing epileptics!” Immediately after she speaks, an officer on the right-hand side of the line can be seen aiming and firing a projectile toward Lewis.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"sv\" dir=\"ltr\">Attack part 2 <a href=\"https://t.co/j0HIcol6Ey\">pic.twitter.com/j0HIcol6Ey</a></p>— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Claudio_Report/status/1352137304781963267?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 21, 2021</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=\"1lvpd\">Lewis said she was struck in the upper thigh with what she believes was a <a href=\"https://www.defense-technology.com/product/triple-chaser-separating-canister-cs/\">Triple-Chaser</a>, a type of tear gas canister that breaks apart to disperse tear gas across a wide area. Multiple other journalists also reported being struck with crowd-control munitions while covering protests that day, which the Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Portland&date_lower=2021-01-20&date_upper=2021-01-20\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"y1u54\">Of her comment about the strobe light and epileptics, Lewis said “I reminded them [law enforcement] about something that I am actively suing them for.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9qkfg\">Lewis and independent researcher and scientist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=833\">Juniper Simonis</a> are both plaintiffs in <a href=\"https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d645da3cf8e4c000158e55a/t/5f9f8ec55578154aa894c887/1604292295905/Wolfe+v.+City+of+Portland+et+al+-+Complaint.pdf\">a November 2020 suit</a> filed by Disability Rights Oregon against the City of Portland and 100 law enforcement officers. The suit says it aims to “stop local, state, and federal law enforcement from assaulting, brutalizing, and failing to reasonably accommodate people with disabilities during assemblies and protests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4whyq\">The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal law enforcement presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"k05u0\">The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the 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></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": 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": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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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": [
"chemical irritant",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Justice Department secretly obtained Project Veritas journalists’ emails",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-project-veritas-journalists-emails/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-01T20:00:49.890990Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-13T20:57:25.486635Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-13T20:57:25.389529Z",
"date": "2021-01-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r0aiy\">The U.S. Justice Department issued a secret warrant on Jan. 14, 2021, to Microsoft to obtain emails and contacts of former Project Veritas journalists Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads as part of its investigation of a diary stolen from President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley Biden.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t8ei\">The warrant was one of five issued to the technology company for communications of eight journalists from Project Veritas, which is known for hidden-camera sting operations of liberal politicians and nonprofits. As a result of the warrants, the government collected nearly 200,000 emails and other files, attorneys for Project Veritas said in a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filing</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"97k2t\">Project Veritas, which identifies itself as a nonprofit investigative outlet, purchased the diary in September 2020 from <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/25/us/politics/ashley-biden-diary-project-veritas-guilty.html\">two people who later pleaded guilty</a> to conspiring to transport stolen materials, a felony. Project Veritas never published the diary and gave it to police on Nov. 8, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjhu7\">Search warrants were carried out at the homes of <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/project-veritas-founder-detained-phones-seized-amid-fbi-raid-of-his-home/\">founder James O’Keefe</a> and journalists <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-staffer-detained-devices-seized/\">Cochran</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-project-veritas-journalist-detained-devices-seized/\">Meads</a> in November 2021, alarming <a href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/24253862-143-letter-brief-of-amici-curiae-aclu-fpf-fire-in-re-search-warrant-dated-november-5-2021-no-21-mc-00813\">free speech advocates</a>. A special master was appointed to determine what seized information could be shared with prosecutors.</p><p data-block-key=\"7sivh\">The <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.64.1.pdf\">warrant for Cochran’s and Meads’ emails</a> indicated that officials were investigating the charges of conspiracy to transport stolen property across state lines, conspiracy to possess stolen goods, interstate transportation of stolen property and possession of stolen goods.</p><p data-block-key=\"a8h9n\">A judge ordered that the warrant be sealed for two years. Microsoft threatened to sue to make the warrant public; the Justice Department then lifted the gag order and Microsoft alerted Project Veritas on March 11, 2022, according to the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/22/us/politics/project-veritas-emails.html\">New York Times</a> and <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823/gov.uscourts.nysd.569823.70.0.pdf\">court filings</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9gucd\">Although Project Veritas received the diary in September 2020, the warrant seeks Cochran’s and Meads’ emails and contacts beginning in January 2020. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/justice-department-secretly-obtained-emails-from-project-veritas-founder/\">A separate warrant</a> sought emails and contacts from O’Keefe.</p><p data-block-key=\"4lj22\">“The fact that the government secretly obtained emails from three different Project Veritas journalists dating from eight months prior to the newsgathering conduct that the government is scrutinizing shocks the conscience,” Project Veritas <a href=\"https://assets.ctfassets.net/syq3snmxclc9/36sXRLOl9uMicjgduyyLkB/d4063861052db931115a0b18f29ebfc5/2022-03-22__DE_64__Motion_regarding_Microsoft_materials.pdf\">lawyers wrote in a request for preliminary relief to U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres</a>. It does not appear from court records that the court ruled on this request.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdcop\">The warrant sought all emails, contacts and subscriber information. Prosecutors said in the warrant that they were looking for information mentioning Ashley Biden, her associates or her father; anything regarding her stolen property and where it was located; their alleged co-conspirators; plans to sell the stolen items and the value of them; surveillance of Ashley Biden; and any other evidence of a conspiracy.</p><p data-block-key=\"d451q\">The various orders and subpoenas also sought emails and contacts from a human resources manager.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bt6f\">Attorneys for Cochran and Meads didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"8c701\">The Justice Department also issued a subpoena to Uber on Feb. 18, 2021, to provide information from Cochran’s and Meads’ accounts, as well as Project Veritas’ accounts. Uber provided the information on March 22, 2021. The non-disclosure order was lifted a year later, and Uber notified Cochran, Meads and Project Veritas on March 15, 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"5fhft\">It’s not clear what information was requested or provided, but Uber has outlined <a href=\"https://lert.uber.com/s/article/ECPA-quick-reference?language=en_US\">what information it will give to authorities</a>; in general, a subpoena is required for account information, a court order is needed for trip information and a search warrant for GPS information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bj7r3\">A portion of a Jan. 14, 2021, Justice Department warrant issued to Microsoft seeking emails and contacts from three Project Veritas employees. Attorneys identified two of the targets as former Project Veritas journalists Eric Cochran and Spencer Meads.</p>",
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{
"title": "Independent journalist shot by police with pepper balls in San Diego",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-shot-by-police-with-pepper-balls-in-san-diego/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-01T16:11:49.107355Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:14:08.567238Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:14:08.484715Z",
"date": "2021-01-09",
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"city": "San Diego",
"longitude": -117.16472,
"latitude": 32.71571,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"safqc\">Independent journalist James Stout said he was shot with pepper balls by police while covering a protest in San Diego, California, on Jan. 9, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"03hh3\">Demonstrators gathered in the city’s Pacific Beach neighborhood for a rally in support of President Donald Trump, and counterprotesters massed nearby in opposition to Trump,<a href=\"https://www.kpbs.org/news/2021/jan/10/three-arrested-trump-pacific-beach-protest/\"> KPBS</a> reported. At around 2:30 p.m., after bottles, rocks and eggs were thrown at officers, the San Diego Police Department declared an unlawful assembly, according to the report.</p><p data-block-key=\"zq6w1\">Stout told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the protest for <a href=\"https://leftcoastrightwatch.org/\">Left Coast Right Watch</a>, which describes itself as a Bay Area (CA) site “dedicated to covering politics and extremism.”</p><p data-block-key=\"r9cz5\">Stout said that after a few protesters started throwing things at police, law enforcement officers suddenly surged forward and grabbed a protester.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2ire\">Stout said he was near other members of the press when police started to use pepper spray. He said he then felt one pepper ball hit him. He said he turned around and saw a SWAT officer pointing the weapon at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"vhza7\">The officer fired multiple times, Stout said; he said he was hit four or five times, mostly in the thighs and groin. He said he experienced some bruising from the projectiles, but did not seek medical assistance.</p><p data-block-key=\"4qn9u\">In a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ3DuETDhlC/?igshid=1c7xdlfokk29h\">photo</a> shared on Instagram by the National Lawyers Guild of San Diego, Stout, who is on the left, can be seen with white chalky marks on his jeans near his groin.</p><p data-block-key=\"tgapa\">Stout told the Tracker he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist; he was wearing a vest that clearly marked him as “PRESS” and was also carrying a camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"t2sk5\">A spokesperson for the San Diego Police Department told the Tracker in an email that the department is aware of Stout’s allegation, and declined to comment.</p></div>",
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"name": "California",
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"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
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{
"title": "CNN photojournalist assaulted while documenting Capitol riots",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-photojournalist-assaulted-while-documenting-capitol-riots/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-30T20:45:20.212871Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:34:46.149802Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:34:46.035184Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"64y00\">CNN photojournalist Ronnie McCray was assaulted by a rioter while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, according to a <a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-assaults-on-journalists-once-verbal-have-become-potentially-lethal\">news report</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"hwu41\">President Donald Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol. After the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags<a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=ig-nytimes&utm_source=curalate_like2buy&utm_medium=curalate_like2buy_3euQ1BMQ__8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382&crl8_id=8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382#trump-speaking-to-protesters-declares-we-will-never-concede\"> violently stormed the Capitol</a>, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"0z903\">CNN reporter Alexander Marquardt<a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarquardtA/status/1346911295837138944\"> tweeted</a> shortly after 3 p.m. that “protesters swarmed and mobbed” his news team — including McCray — after discovering that they worked for CNN.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters swarmed and mobbed my team at the Capitol after figuring out who we are. Extremely aggressive, had to get out fast.</p>— Alexander Marquardt (@MarquardtA) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarquardtA/status/1346911295837138944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2021</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=\"exqv7\">The Daily Beast <a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/trumps-assaults-on-journalists-once-verbal-have-become-potentially-lethal\">reported</a> that at one point a member of the mob assaulted McCray and smacked his camera; another individual got between the CNN team and the mob and told them they should leave before they got hurt.</p><p data-block-key=\"gq3y5\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarquardtA/status/1347719469024612358\">footage</a> captured by McCray and posted on Twitter by Marquardt on Jan. 8, rioters can be heard booing the news team and shouting, “Get out of here, motherfuckers,” “Traitors” and “There’s more of us than you… We could absolutely fucking destroy you.”</p><p data-block-key=\"m9vlo\">“I was very afraid for my safety and my team’s,” Marquardt told The Daily Beast. “We were vastly outnumbered, surrounded, with no real escape route. We’re lucky we got out physically unscathed, just shaken, and our camera was hit. I’ve covered parliaments stormed, foreign coups, riots and protests across the Middle East and this was by far the most universally hostile crowd I’ve been in. In the city that I call home.”</p><p data-block-key=\"boomr\">As of press time, McCray had not responded to a message requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"0y3jx\">The Tracker documents assaults, arrests and other incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?tags=34\">involving journalists covering protests</a> across the country. Find<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/election-2020/\"> election-related coverage here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist assaulted multiple times while covering Capitol riots",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-assaulted-multiple-times-while-covering-capitol-riots/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-16T13:58:20.294762Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:22:23.350729Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:22:23.253435Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q6jp1\">Christopher Morris, a freelance photojournalist affiliated with VII Agency, said rioters assaulted him at least four times while he covered riots at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"fa2tu\">Morris, who could not be reached for comment, said during a Jan. 18 <a href=\"https://viiphoto.com/resource/anarchy-in-the-usa-revisit-the-conversation-with-vii-photographers-who-covered-the-events-in-the-capitol/\">panel with VII Insider</a> — an event platform for photographers, journalists and curators — that he was covering the day’s events independently, and had arrived at 9 a.m. to cover then-President Donald Trump’s rally in response to the congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden. During his speech, Trump promoted false claims of election fraud and called on his supporters to march to the Capitol.</p><p data-block-key=\"pknc1\">“When I got out of the car I was immediately met with tens of thousands of maskless, screaming, mad, insane people, people who’d gone mad. That was my morning,” Morris said during the panel. “My big fear was not what was going to happen up at the thing: I figured police would hold the line and we were going to be there all night. My big fear was COVID.”</p><p data-block-key=\"15s76\">Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags<a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=ig-nytimes&utm_source=curalate_like2buy&utm_medium=curalate_like2buy_3euQ1BMQ__8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382&crl8_id=8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382#trump-speaking-to-protesters-declares-we-will-never-concede\"> violently stormed the Capitol</a>, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building. Morris said he didn’t initially follow the crowd, as he needed to pick up warmer clothing and protective equipment, including a helmet and gas mask.</p><p data-block-key=\"7zi0q\">Morris said he parked near the Supreme Court on the east side of the Capitol; while grabbing coffee nearby, a group of Trump supporters confronted him, pinned him down and threatened him, accusing him of being a counterprotester.</p><p data-block-key=\"zk3ag\">When he reached the east side of the Capitol, Morris said he immediately witnessed more violence, largely targeting the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"rw0n4\">“I saw in the first 70 meters as I’m approaching, I see someone swinging what looks like a long pole; it wasn’t a flag pole, it looked like a pipe. And on the other end of that pipe was a TV cameraman running. And I’m seeing this from far away. ...I just think: ‘Oh my god, they’re attacking this cameraman,’” Morris said. “And he gets hit, and the camera goes off his shoulder and he falls down and the guy sets on him and beats him. And the guy gets up and runs and leaves his camera.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pyuxj\">As he turned to go in a different direction, Morris said he saw a photographer fleeing from a fighting crowd; he said he immediately flipped the pouch displaying his press badge so he wouldn’t be as recognizable as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"mwq4r\">“I’ve covered the world. I’ve been beaten, I’ve been arrested, I’ve been thrown in jail, I’ve done coups, I’ve done it all in that regard,” Morris said. “I was afraid for my life on the east side of those steps. There were a good 45 minutes that I basically had to fight for my life and stand my ground. And to see that in my own country: extremely frightening.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6m1ne\">Morris said that he was attacked at least three more times — which included “pushing, shoving, some kicking, [and] pulling” — as he attempted to reach a nearby SWAT vehicle. When he reached it and attempted to climb up onto the vehicle, Morris said someone grabbed his legs and pulled him to the ground. Once he was down, the crowd began kicking and pulling him; when he was able to stand, Morris said, he pulled off his mask and shouted at the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"74jw4\">“I basically looked up and said, ‘I work for TIME magazine. I document history. I’m not fake news. This is reality. You’ve just stormed and taken over the US government. This is historic. Leave me alone,’” Morris said. “Very few things have shaken me to where I can weep. And that event that day, I could weep. ... I feared for my life in my own country. I had to defend myself that I’m an American, I'm not ‘fake news,’ I’m not the ‘enemy of the people.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"weoxt\">In a<a href=\"https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/statement-steven-sund-chief-police\"> press release</a> the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the Jan. 6 attacks "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a “thorough review of this incident.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6noah\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06\">Find those here</a>.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "PBS NewsHour correspondent assaulted during Capitol riots",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pbs-newshour-correspondent-assaulted-during-capitol-riots/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-13T17:59:38.480935Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:21:29.226186Z",
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"longitude": -77.03637,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bdxz2\">PBS NewsHour correspondent Lisa Desjardins said an unidentified individual grabbed her and tried to wrest her phone away as she reported inside the Capitol in Washington, D.C., as rioters swarmed the building and forced their way inside on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"9zwuh\">At a rally in front of the White House earlier that day, then-President Donald Trump called on his supporters to protest at the Capitol as Congress confirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Following Trump’s speech, which included unfounded claims of election fraud and calls to fight the outcome, hundreds then marched to the Capitol, fought police and broke inside the building from multiple locations, Reuters<a href=\"https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION/PROTESTS/qmyvmqewmvr/\"> reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"5il8q\">Desjardins, who didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, <a href=\"https://www.vice.com/en/article/4avqqn/reporters-survived-capitol-riot-struggling\">told Vice News</a> that she was on the House side of the Capitol when rioters surrounded the building. As they began to make their way inside shortly after 2 p.m., Desjardins said she tried to interview some of them.</p><p data-block-key=\"rwp6y\">“I’m reporting in real time, over the phone, what I’m seeing, and I did an interview with some of the rioters,” Desjardins wrote in an account <a href=\"https://www.marieclaire.com/politics/a35152166/lisa-desjardins-reporting-inside-us-capitol-breach/\">published by Marie Claire</a> magazine. “I saw them going into the offices themselves and starting to think about going into the chamber. There were more and more of them.”</p><p data-block-key=\"48jcb\">After speaking with a few individuals, Desjardins retrieved her second phone and returned to a post behind a desk on the third floor where she continued <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4E72MIiS8UM\">broadcasting live</a> to PBS, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ydc55\">Desjardins told Vice that when rioters yelled at her, asking who she was, she defused the tension by yelling back “PBS — Sesame Street! Big Bird!” While most of the rioters laughed and moved on, she said, an individual who appeared to be intoxicated lunged at her and grabbed her by the shoulder as he tried to wrest her phone from her hands. According to Vice, another rioter pulled him away.</p><p data-block-key=\"92r25\">“When I saw his eyes, that was one of the only times I recognized I was scared,” Desjardins told Vice.</p><p data-block-key=\"6umq7\">Desjardins wrote in her account for Marie Claire that she was evacuated alongside members of Congress to the Longworth Office Building for several hours. She was then among those escorted back into the Capitol around 7:30 or 8 p.m., and she remained until nearly 4 a.m. the next morning to cover the vote.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My deepest thanks to all of you for the incredible support and Twitter embrace today.<br><br>It meant more than you could know.<br><br>Going home now, so glad to say.</p>— Lisa Desjardins (@LisaDNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LisaDNews/status/1347101994964688896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 7, 2021</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=\"1ypu6\">Desjardins told Vice that, six months after the riot, she still wasn’t sleeping well.</p><p data-block-key=\"60uh1\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, detainments and equipment damage from Jan. 6 events.<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06\"> Find those here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Lisa Desjardins (PBS NewsHour)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Man charged with assaulting documentary filmmaker during Capitol riot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-charged-with-assaulting-documentary-filmmaker-during-capitol-riot/",
"first_published_at": "2023-06-08T20:04:21.657242Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-23T18:13:07.053293Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-23T18:13:06.965911Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
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"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xgfrg\">Documentary filmmaker Nick Quested was recording the <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=ig-nytimes&utm_source=curalate_like2buy&utm_medium=curalate_like2buy_3euQ1BMQ__8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382&crl8_id=8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382#trump-speaking-to-protesters-declares-we-will-never-concede\">riot in and around the U.S. Capitol</a> on Jan. 6, 2021, when a man struck and pulled his camera, causing Quested to stumble down the stairs.</p><p data-block-key=\"u29n\">According to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.256180/gov.uscourts.dcd.256180.1.1.pdf\">an FBI affidavit</a> dated June 6, 2023, a journalist identified by the initials N.Q. was documenting the riot from the steps of the Capitol when a man swiped up and grabbed at the journalist’s camera and then pulled it, causing the journalist to stumble down the stairs. Politico <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/07/gop-donor-arrested-jan-6-00100752\">confirmed</a> that the journalist targeted was Quested.</p><p data-block-key=\"aj4b9\">The incident was captured in a Capitol police officer’s <a href=\"https://rumble.com/v2bi8we-exhibit-bodycam-footage-from-officer-owais-akhtar.html\">body camera footage</a> from the riot. The recording shows (starting at approximately 3:10) Quested catching his balance and following the man down the stairs. It appears that a second man stands between them as Quested confronts the man who grabbed his camera. Seconds later, when Quested walks back up the stairs, a press badge can be clearly seen on a lanyard around his neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"am3ob\">The Department of Justice <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/long-island-man-arrested-felony-assault-charges-actions-during-jan-6-capitol-breach\">announced</a> that the alleged assailant, identified as Peter G. Moloney, was <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.256180/gov.uscourts.dcd.256180.5.0.pdf\">arrested</a> on June 7, 2023. Moloney was charged with eight counts, including assaulting Quested and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-photojournalist-assaulted-during-capitol-riot/\">AP photojournalist John Minchillo</a>, as well as multiple Capitol police officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"f9080\">Moloney is scheduled to appear for an initial hearing on June 20.</p><p data-block-key=\"8u4j4\">Quested did not respond to a request for comment. The filmmaker, executive director and owner of Goldcrest Films, was embedded for months leading up to the riot with the Proud Boys, which the Southern Poverty Law Center<a href=\"https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/proud-boys\"> designates</a> as a hate group. The British documentary filmmaker was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/documentary-filmmaker-subpoenaed-by-house-committee-investigating-jan-6-riot/\">subsequently subpoenaed</a> by and testified as a witness before the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol breach.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"01p9b\">U.S. Capitol Police body camera footage from Jan. 6, 2021, shows journalist Nick Quested, far right in a tan jacket, holding on to his camera while a man pulls on it. The assailant was later identified and arrested by the FBI.</p>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"(2025-01-21 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist’s assailant pardoned by Trump"
],
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"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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},
{
"title": "AP photojournalist assaulted during Capitol riot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-photojournalist-assaulted-during-capitol-riot/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T15:52:07.004243Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-23T21:18:40.964963Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-23T21:18:40.748203Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p1aqp\">Associated Press photojournalist John Minchillo was assaulted by rioters while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"oj8ib\">President Donald Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/trump-speech-capitol.html\">reported</a>. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=ig-nytimes&utm_source=curalate_like2buy&utm_medium=curalate_like2buy_3euQ1BMQ__8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382&crl8_id=8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382#trump-speaking-to-protesters-declares-we-will-never-concede\">violently stormed the Capitol</a>, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"hctmu\">Minchillo and fellow AP photographer Julio Cortez were documenting from along the front barriers, near where Capitol Police officers stood, when rioters attacked Minchillo.</p><p data-block-key=\"4in0r\">Cortez posted an<a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/tv/CJxKMArpN0_/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\"> Instagram video</a> showing multiple rioters dragging Minchillo through an angry mob.</p><p data-block-key=\"9x9al\">“He was labeled as an anti protesters, even though he kept flashing his press credentials, and one person can be heard threatening to kill him,” wrote Cortez in the post.</p><p data-block-key=\"ua5tz\">In Cortez’s video, shouts of “Get the media out of here!” and “Who is he? Antifa!” can be heard. At the 45-second mark, an individual shoves Minchillo over a wall. Several aggressively question if he is “antifa,” while a man in a Trump hat retrieves his camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"yc1u4\">After Minchillo shows his press pass and repeats that he is press, two men help him leave the area, with Cortez filming from behind. “Thankfully, he wasn’t injured,” Cortez wrote in his post.</p><p data-block-key=\"cujcn\">“Please use this moment to reflect on the importance of journalism as a conduit between us,” Minchillo wrote in a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/johnminchillo/status/1347380111792893952?s=20\">tweet</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"49iv4\">In an AP <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-new-york-journalists-media-social-media-cba6bd7b93be0ade1da714a32c33d74c\">article</a> about the attacks and harassment journalists faced while covering the riot, an AP spokesperson specifically responded to the attack on Minchillo.</p><p data-block-key=\"g9zlh\">“While we are thankful he is OK, this is a reminder of the dangers journalists both in the U.S. and around the world face every day while simply trying to do their jobs,” said Patrick Maks.</p><p data-block-key=\"q0k05\">Minchillo did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ua6j2\">In a<a href=\"https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/statement-steven-sund-chief-police\"> press release</a> the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."</p><p data-block-key=\"yohuc\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events.<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06\"> Find those here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25008631921378.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ikt66\">An image by photojournalist John Minchillo of the U.S. Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. Minchillo was dragged by rioters and shoved over a wall that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
"updates": [
"(2023-04-14 14:06:00+00:00) Maryland man pleads guilty to attacking AP photojournalist during Capitol riot",
"(2023-09-22 00:00:00+00:00) Maryland man sentenced in attack on AP photojournalist at Capitol",
"(2025-01-21 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist’s assailants pardoned by President Trump",
"(2022-10-21 13:31:00+00:00) Pennsylvania man sentenced to 34 months in prison for attacking AP photographer during Capitol riot",
"(2023-06-07 14:21:00+00:00) Fourth man charged with assault of AP photojournalist during Capitol riot",
"(2022-05-24 12:21:00+00:00) Third man charged for the assault of an AP photojournalist during Capitol riot",
"(2022-07-25 12:35:00+00:00) Pennsylvania man pleads guilty to attacking AP photojournalist during Capitol riot",
"(2021-08-19 10:58:00+00:00) Man charged for the assault of an AP photojournalist during Capitol riot"
],
"case_statuses": [],
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"tags": [
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"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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"John Minchillo (The Associated Press)"
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist harassed, his mask pulled during Capitol riot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-harassed-his-mask-pulled-during-capitol-riot/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-22T18:35:07.602776Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:32:27.535491Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:32:27.409607Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3e7rk\">Freelance photojournalist Christopher Lee said he was harassed and roughed up by demonstrators while he covered riots at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"8pbqj\">Lee, who didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment, said during a <a href=\"https://viiphoto.com/resource/anarchy-in-the-usa-revisit-the-conversation-with-vii-photographers-who-covered-the-events-in-the-capitol/\">panel with VII Insider</a> — an event platform for photographers, journalists and curators — that he was on assignment for Time magazine covering protesters as they marched toward the west side of the Capitol from the National Mall. The demonstrators, spurred by a speech by then-President Donald Trump earlier that day, aimed to disrupt the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.</p><p data-block-key=\"qeo04\">As rioters breached the Capitol in the early afternoon, Lee <a href=\"https://time.com/5927198/capitol-trump-rioters-photography/\">told Time</a>, he tried to remain incognito as he followed them into the building. However, a group of at least six individuals recognized him as a journalist, shouted that he was “fake news” and a member of the “liberal media” and started to grab him to remove him from the Capitol.</p><p data-block-key=\"oanmj\">“It was a moment that I realized, ‘If I don’t leave the situation right now by any way possible, it could escalate into something really, really bad,’” Lee said. “I’ve had it happen on a couple occasions in America, but not to that level of severity that quickly.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0s032\">Lee said during the VII Insider panel that the individuals targeted him in part because he was wearing an N-95 mask.</p><p data-block-key=\"5quzf\">“I remember having interactions with people saying, ‘We know that you’re not one of us because you’re actually taking the virus seriously,’” Lee said. “When they did kind of rough me up a little bit, they did make it a point in all the chaos to try and pull my mask off of my face."</p><p data-block-key=\"aqbis\">According to Time, after Lee left the initial group that had harassed him, he found another group breaking into the building through a different entryway and followed them back inside.</p><p data-block-key=\"szt0z\">“While doing my job in America, that was probably the time that I feared the most for my safety,” said Lee, who has photographed conflicts and protests in the Middle East, Central Asia and elsewhere in the U.S.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
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"tags": [
"coronavirus",
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Independent photojournalist shoved off railing during Capitol riot",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photojournalist-shoved-off-railing-during-capitol-riot/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T16:05:19.785297Z",
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"longitude": -77.03637,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9qxyy\">Independent photographer Nate Gowdy was threatened and shoved off a railing while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"bpq3y\">Presidnt Donald Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/trump-speech-capitol.html\">reported</a>. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=ig-nytimes&utm_source=curalate_like2buy&utm_medium=curalate_like2buy_3euQ1BMQ__8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382&crl8_id=8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382#trump-speaking-to-protesters-declares-we-will-never-concede\">violently stormed the Capitol</a>, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"l6777\">Gowdy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing the scene as rioters stormed up the Capitol steps and began to breach the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"rf1ai\">"Everything happened so fast. They converged and then started tearing down barricades," Gowdy said. "I got on a balustrade at the base of the stairs and then a man pointed at me and threatened me. I can't even remember what he said but he just shoved me off the balustrade."</p><p data-block-key=\"7og9l\">Gowdy said he wasn't wearing protective gear at the time, but was able to land on his feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"colu5\">Gowdy's <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-pictures/trump-supporters-capitol-dc-attack-1111216/010621_stop-the-steal-credit-nate-gowdy-07/\">photograph</a> of this moment shows the man with an American flag hat, sunglasses and mask, pointing intensely at the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"y0wrn\">A <a href=\"https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-pictures/trump-supporters-capitol-dc-attack-1111216/\">Rolling Stone slideshow</a> with Gowdy’s images said the photographer has documented close to 30 official Trump rallies since 2016.</p><p data-block-key=\"4f027\">“I’m still processing what I witnessed yesterday. We all are. It’s difficult to know what people are thinking when they’re breaching security barriers, attacking law enforcement, threatening members of the media, flaunting pandemic safety protocols, and bashing down the doors and windows to Congress,” Gowdy wrote in the slideshow’s introduction.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bwwx\">Throughout the day, he said he was repeatedly threatened and heckled for taking photos and wearing a mask.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ylam\">"You have to be careful what you take photos of," he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dl123\">In a <a href=\"https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/statement-steven-sund-chief-police\">press release</a> the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."</p><p data-block-key=\"2k13z\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events.<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06\"> Find those here</a>.</p></div>",
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"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
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"Assault"
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{
"title": "Illinois man charged with assaulting a cameraman during Capitol riots",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/illinois-man-charged-with-assaulting-a-cameraman-during-capitol-riots/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-06T21:58:07.632305Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-24T14:46:28.541444Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-24T14:46:28.321425Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rofba\">A June 21, 2021, <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/case-multi-defendant/file/1405966/download\">affidavit</a> charged an individual with tackling to the ground an unnamed news cameraman who was covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. According to the affidavit, the individual, identified by the FBI as Shane Jason Woods, was charged with the assault as well as with participating in the destruction of multiple news outlets’ equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"29qby\">At a rally in front of the White House earlier that day, then-President Donald Trump called on his supporters to protest at the Capitol as Congress confirmed President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Following Trump’s speech, which included unfounded claims of election fraud and calls to “fight” the outcome, hundreds then marched to the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside, Reuters <a href=\"https://graphics.reuters.com/USA-ELECTION/PROTESTS/qmyvmqewmvr/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ad8xm\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/ethevessen/status/1346963803167195136\">Multiple broadcast journalists</a> were reporting from a media staging area in the northeast area of the Capitol when a crowd of rioters stormed the area and broke through the barricades, surrounding the journalists and their equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"hkt12\">In<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChuckModi1/status/1347063751674114048\"> videos</a><a href=\"https://twitter.com/WilliamTurton/status/1346940440935870472\"> of the</a><a href=\"https://twitter.com/Journo_Christal/status/1346945835368501249?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1346945835368501249%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fnews%2F533022-videos-show-protesters-outside-capitol-destroying-journalists-equipment\"> incident</a>, the rioters can be heard yelling “Fuck the mainstream media” as well as “CNN sucks” and “Fuck CNN!” The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has not found any information to suggest that a CNN news crew was assaulted in the attack.</p><p data-block-key=\"ink2q\">According to the affidavit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Woods was allegedly among those “yelling and spitting at members of the news media along a pushed-over fence next to the media staging area.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fuyst\">“Moments later, the individual who appears to be WOODS climbed over the toppled fence and participated in the assault on the media equipment,” the affidavit says.</p><p data-block-key=\"14707\">The unidentified cameraman — dressed in blue jeans and a blue jacket — was filming the property destruction, according to the affidavit. In footage of the incident, Woods can be seen walking closely around the cameraman.</p><p data-block-key=\"3j9yw\">“Soon after, WOODS is observed running into and tackling this same cameraman as the cameraman is facing away from Woods,” the affidavit says. “In the video, WOODS is seen departing quickly after tackling the cameraman, causing the man to fall to the ground and drop his camera.”</p><p data-block-key=\"t4lpc\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has been unable to identify the cameraman, who is not named in the affidavit, or determine whether his camera was damaged when it fell.</p><p data-block-key=\"ajjsf\">According to the affidavit, the assault on the cameraman was similar to an assault Woods is also charged with perpetrating on a U.S. Capitol Police officer earlier that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"luxdh\">The affidavit charges Woods with numerous federal offenses, including assault of a law enforcement officer, assault in special maritime and territorial jurisdiction (a category that includes the Capitol and its grounds), obstructing law enforcement, trespassing and engaging in physical violence in a restricted building or grounds. If convicted on all charges, Woods faces imprisonment for up to 17 years, fines or both.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3onn\">According to a June 24 Justice Department <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/usao-dc/pr/illinois-man-arrested-assault-law-enforcement-and-first-be-arrested-assault-members-news\">press release</a>, Woods is the first individual to be arrested for an assault on members of the news media during the Capitol riots.</p><p data-block-key=\"x9ie4\">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. Find<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/election-2020/\"> election-related coverage here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/shane_jason_woods_screenshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"uaop5\">A Reuters photojournalist was tackled to the ground while documenting the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. Assailant Shane Jason Woods, seen above, was arrested in June 2021 for the assault and for destroying multiple news outlets’ equipment.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"updates": [
"(2022-09-09 13:09:00+00:00) Illinois man pleads guilty to assaulting a Reuters journalist during Capitol riots",
"(2025-01-20 00:00:00+00:00) Photojournalist’s assailant pardoned by Trump",
"(2023-10-04 00:00:00+00:00) Illinois man sentenced for assault on Reuters journalist"
],
"case_statuses": [],
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 9 (Reuters)"
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},
{
"title": "Independent photographer chased, punched while covering Capitol riots",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photographer-chased-punched-while-covering-capitol-riots/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T16:00:13.099837Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:33:54.589093Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:33:54.515540Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8tlv5\">Independent White House correspondent Douglas Christian was harassed, pursued and punched by rioters while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"h6gte\">President Donald Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/trump-speech-capitol.html\">reported</a>. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=ig-nytimes&utm_source=curalate_like2buy&utm_medium=curalate_like2buy_3euQ1BMQ__8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382&crl8_id=8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382#trump-speaking-to-protesters-declares-we-will-never-concede\">violently stormed the Capitol</a>, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"k032r\">Christian told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting the riots near the Russell Senate Office Building at around 4:45 p.m. when pro-Trump rioters assaulted him.</p><p data-block-key=\"vksfp\">Christian said he had two government-issued press badges displayed around his neck and was taking photographs when "increasingly angry" protesters started to harass him, saying "Democrats should be tried for treason."</p><p data-block-key=\"hmrkc\">One of the demonstrators tried to grab his press pass, according to an <a href=\"https://marylandreporter.com/2021/01/07/photographer-assaulted-during-capitol-siege/\">article</a> in the Maryland Reporter and confirmed by Christian.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ivxz\">As he tried to leave the area, another man began shouting obscenities after him. He said he ignored the man, but then was pursued.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ycqd\">Out of nowhere, the man punched him right in the face and his glasses went flying, Christian told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"7xknl\">"My ear, which he didn't hit, was in terrible pain. I thought, did I just suffer a hemorrhage in my brain? I actually think I was doubled over in so much pain that he didn't punch me again."</p><p data-block-key=\"8f7hx\">As he was leaving the area, he said he saw a police officer nearby and recounted everything that had just happened, but the officer "wouldn't even acknowledge my presence."</p><p data-block-key=\"g2czg\">Subsequently, a Capitol Hill staffer scolded him for approaching the officer. "You’re distracting the officer. He can’t do anything about the guy who is assaulting other people," Christian told the Reporter.</p><p data-block-key=\"9mnmp\">He later tried to contact Capitol Police about the incident, but has yet to hear a response. Christian said he also still has difficulty chewing and is requesting an X-ray for more information.</p><p data-block-key=\"8d0aq\">In a <a href=\"https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/statement-steven-sund-chief-police\">press release</a> the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."</p><p data-block-key=\"p6b8e\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events.<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06\"> Find those here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
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"targeted_journalists": [
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},
{
"title": "VICE News correspondent assaulted by rioters at Capitol",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vice-news-correspondent-assaulted-by-rioters-at-capitol/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-02T16:10:45.397601Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T16:34:13.812254Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T16:34:13.722164Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xna3n\">VICE News international correspondent Ben Solomon and cameraman Chris Olson were attacked by several rioters while documenting riots on the steps of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"ji3cd\">President Donald Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/trump-speech-capitol.html\">reported</a>. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=ig-nytimes&utm_source=curalate_like2buy&utm_medium=curalate_like2buy_3euQ1BMQ__8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382&crl8_id=8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382#trump-speaking-to-protesters-declares-we-will-never-concede\">violently stormed the Capitol</a>, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"jg46h\">In a<a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ3iTJNlNpK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\"> video</a> Solomon posted on Instagram, demonstrators can be seen confronting the VICE journalists, shouting, "Get the fuck out of here!" and asking, "Who are you with? Is it CNN? Better not be CNN.”</p><p data-block-key=\"x43pn\">"Chris had a broken handle grip and that guy in forest camo gave me a good hard shove to the throat," Solomon wrote in an Instagram caption. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented Olson’s assault and the damage to his camera <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vice-news-journalist-assaulted-camera-damaged-during-capitol-riots/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"qmdez\">In the <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CJ3iTJNlNpK/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link\">video</a>, demonstrators can be seen confronting the journalists, shouting, "Get the fuck out of here!" and asking, "Who are you with? Is it CNN? Better not be CNN."</p><p data-block-key=\"oamcl\">In the full-length<a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfP_5L8epow&feature=youtu.be\"> video</a> posted to Youtube, the camera is hit at 1:23 and Solomon's voice can be heard, "They tried to smash our camera."</p><p data-block-key=\"iwsdc\">"We were lucky to get away with minimal damage," Solomon wrote on Instagram. "To hear how many colleagues had it worse that day, I consider myself lucky."</p><p data-block-key=\"9eh36\">Solomon did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"qmwlz\">In a<a href=\"https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/statement-steven-sund-chief-police\"> press release</a> the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 "criminal riotous behavior" and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a "thorough review of this incident."</p><p data-block-key=\"fwvq1\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events.<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06\"> Find those here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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},
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"tags": [
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"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Fox 5 DC news crew, other journalists face targeted assaults while covering Capitol riots",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-face-targeted-assaults-while-covering-capitol-riots/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-15T22:24:29.613780Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-24T14:45:37.795908Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-24T14:45:37.542349Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lihgu\">A Fox 5 DC news crew was harassed and a cameraman assaulted by rioters while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"lal9w\">Trump spoke at noon at a rally in front of the White House in response to the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/trump-speech-capitol.html\">reported</a>. Following the rally, thousands of pro-Trump supporters waving Confederate and Trump flags <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=ig-nytimes&utm_source=curalate_like2buy&utm_medium=curalate_like2buy_3euQ1BMQ__8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382&crl8_id=8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382#trump-speaking-to-protesters-declares-we-will-never-concede\">violently stormed the Capitol</a>, disrupting and occupying several areas within the building.</p><p data-block-key=\"j742y\">At about 4:40 p.m., Fox 5 DC reporter Sierra Fox posted a tweet showing her and the news crew covering the scene outside the Capitol when demonstrators harassed and assaulted them, forcing them out of the area.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is how the media is being treated out here. <a href=\"https://t.co/Rxr6ozxOxs\">pic.twitter.com/Rxr6ozxOxs</a></p>— Sierra Fox (@thesierrafox) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/thesierrafox/status/1346934950222647296?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 6, 2021</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=\"r14ue\">“This is how the media is being treated out here,” Fox wrote alongside a<a href=\"https://twitter.com/thesierrafox/status/1346934950222647296?s=20\"> video</a> posted on Twitter. In the video, as she and the crew are navigating the crowd, demonstrators can be heard yelling, “Fuck the media,” and “Get out of here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fw2t0\">At the 11-second mark, a woman lurches at what is presumably Fox’s phone, but Fox quickly turns away. The same woman grabs and kicks another, unidentified member of the crew a few seconds later. In the back, a demonstrator can be seen reaching for the Fox cameraman’s equipment. Toward the end of the video, several people follow the crew and continue to harass and film them, but ultimately fall back. In another video shared with the Tracker, a demonstrator is seen ripping off the cameraman's mask.</p><p data-block-key=\"8nl8b\">Fox could not be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"1emuu\">In a <a href=\"https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/statement-steven-sund-chief-police\">press release</a> the next day, outgoing Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund called the attacks on Jan. 6 “criminal riotous behavior” and said the United States Capitol Police would be conducting a “thorough review of this incident.”</p><p data-block-key=\"u57v7\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple assaults, detainments and equipment damages from Jan. 6 events.<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06\"> Find those here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jxmpo\">A rioter at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, caught on video assaulting and harassing a WTTG news crew.</p>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
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"updates": [
"(2023-12-07 00:00:00+00:00) Texas woman arrested for actions during Capitol riot",
"(2024-10-17 00:00:00+00:00) Woman sentenced for actions at Capitol riot, where she assaulted TV news crew",
"(2025-01-20 00:00:00+00:00) News crew’s assailant pardoned by Trump"
],
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"election",
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"protest"
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"Assault"
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},
{
"title": "Broadcast journalist sprayed with chemical irritant by armed individual during Olympia protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-journalist-sprayed-chemical-irritant-armed-individual-during-olympia-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-22T17:49:58.763135Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:20:04.046601Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rvrj6\">An unidentified videojournalist for Washington state public broadcaster TVW was threatened and sprayed with a chemical irritant by an armed individual while covering a demonstration in Olympia, Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"3yij6\">The protest that day, which started at the Capitol, migrated to the Governor’s Mansion and grew <a href=\"https://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/article248312660.html\">increasingly aggressive</a> as the afternoon wore on, was one of several held by supporters of President Donald Trump around the country, organized as the U.S. Congress was set to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.</p><p data-block-key=\"2pc2n\">KOMO News <a href=\"https://kpic.com/news/nation-world/court-file-seattle-man-arrested-for-assaulting-media-at-olympia-protest\">reported</a> that around noon, an individual carrying an assault-type rifle sprayed two members of the media with what court documents identified as bear spray near the intersection of 11th Avenue and Capitol Way South. The documents reportedly said the spray “caused bodily harm and incapacitated both victims for hours.”</p><p data-block-key=\"467fs\">The Seattle Times, citing charging documents, <a href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/seattle-man-charged-with-assault-felony-harassment-accused-of-targeting-journalists-during-protests-at-state-capitol/\">reported</a> that the man had first approached a freelance photojournalist, telling him to leave the area and that the media wasn’t welcome at the demonstration. When the journalist refused, “the man sprayed his face and camera lens with bear spray, disorienting and blinding the photographer,” according to the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"egf0y\">Soon after, the armed man quickly came up on the TVW videojournalist, yelling repeatedly for the journalist to “get the [expletive] out of here,” the Times reported. The videojournalist crossed the street, only to once again be approached by the man, this time from behind. When the journalist turned, the man sprayed him in the face. The journalist then returned to his office to seek aid from his co-workers and was reportedly incapacitated for over two hours, the Olympian <a href=\"https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/crime/article248636970.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dj2mc\">The same individual allegedly threatened two other journalists as well. The Tracker<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Olympia&date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06&state=53\"> documented the multiple assaults in Olympia here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ehe7\">The Washington State Patrol said in a <a href=\"https://www.wsp.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/huseman-arrest.pdf\">press release</a> on Jan. 19 that Damon Huseman, a 26-year-old resident of Seattle, had been taken into police custody without incident and was being booked at the Thurston County Jail on charges of second-degree assault, felony harassment and criminal trespass in connection with the events of Jan. 6.</p><p data-block-key=\"u8xd2\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/seattle-man-charged-with-assault-felony-harassment-accused-of-targeting-journalists-during-protests-at-state-capitol/\">Seattle Times,</a> Huseman had a preliminary court appearance on Jan. 20 and was ordered to remain in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail. The judge also ordered Huseman to have no contact with the journalists he’s accused of targeting or the Capitol campus.</p><p data-block-key=\"iurwu\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple incidents involving journalists, including assaults, arrests and equipment damage, from Jan. 6. All of our election-related coverage can be found <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/election-2020/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "Washington",
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"(2021-03-15 00:00:00+00:00) Man sentenced for assault, harassment of journalists during Jan. 6 protests at Washington state capitol"
],
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"election",
"Election 2020",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist sprayed with chemical irritant by armed individual during Olympia protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-pepper-sprayed-armed-individual-during-olympia-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-22T17:18:38.481746Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:19:52.573564Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ckg1p\">An unidentified freelance photojournalist was reportedly threatened by an armed individual and sprayed with an irritant identified in court documents as bear spray while covering a demonstration in Olympia, Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"3im5q\">The protest that day, which started at the Capitol, migrated to the Governor’s Mansion and grew increasingly aggressive as the afternoon wore on, <a href=\"https://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/article248312660.html\">according to the Olympian</a>. It was one of several demonstrations held by supporters of President Donald Trump around the country, organized as the U.S. Congress was set to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.</p><p data-block-key=\"v3pjj\">KOMO News <a href=\"https://kpic.com/news/nation-world/court-file-seattle-man-arrested-for-assaulting-media-at-olympia-protest\">reported</a> that around noon, an individual carrying an assault-type rifle sprayed two members of the media near the intersection of 11th Avenue and Capitol Way South. The documents reportedly said the spray “caused bodily harm and incapacitated both victims for hours.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qqj71\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.theolympian.com/news/local/crime/article248636970.html\">Olympian,</a> the individual first approached the photojournalist as he was setting up his camera near the intersection, telling him that the media wasn’t welcome at the demonstration. When the photojournalist refused to leave, the man allegedly pulled out a canister of the chemical irritant to threaten him and ultimately sprayed him in the face.</p><p data-block-key=\"dhnir\">The photojournalist, disoriented by the spray, received aid from an unknown passerby and left the area unable to continue working, according to the Olympian.</p><p data-block-key=\"xqamr\">Soon after, the armed protester quickly came up on a second journalist, a videojournalist for TVW, yelling repeatedly for the journalist to “get the [expletive] out of here,” the Times reported. The TVW videojournalist crossed the street, only to once again be approached by the man, this time from behind. When the journalist turned, the man sprayed him in the face.</p><p data-block-key=\"uyasi\">The same man allegedly threatened two other journalists as well. The Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Olympia&date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06&state=53\">documented the assaults in Olympia here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"v39bw\">The Washington State Patrol said in a <a href=\"https://www.wsp.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/huseman-arrest.pdf\">press release</a> on Jan. 19 that Damon Huseman, a 26-year-old resident of Seattle, had been taken into police custody without incident and was being booked at the Thurston County Jail on charges of second-degree assault, felony harassment and criminal trespass in connection with the events of Jan. 6.</p><p data-block-key=\"nsu1r\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/seattle-man-charged-with-assault-felony-harassment-accused-of-targeting-journalists-during-protests-at-state-capitol/\">Seattle Times,</a> Huseman had a preliminary court appearance on Jan. 20 and was ordered to remain in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail. The judge also ordered Huseman to have no contact with the journalists he’s accused of targeting or the Capitol campus.</p><p data-block-key=\"9m6h3\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple incidents involving journalists, including assaults, arrests and equipment damage, from Jan. 6. All of our election-related coverage can be found <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/election-2020/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"name": "Washington",
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"(2021-03-15 00:00:00+00:00) Man sentenced for assault, harassment of journalists during Jan. 6 protests at Washington state capitol"
],
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"election",
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"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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"Unidentified photojournalist 16 (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "AP photojournalist threatened with assault while covering Olympia protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-photojournalist-threatened-assault-while-covering-olympia-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-22T17:09:23.769115Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:19:40.933881Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-25T18:19:40.824625Z",
"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Olympia",
"longitude": -122.9007,
"latitude": 47.03787,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"g955b\">Ted S. Warren, a photojournalist for The Associated Press, was threatened by an armed individual while covering a demonstration at the Capitol in Olympia, Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"ve1f5\">The protest that day, which started at the Capitol, migrated to the Governor’s Mansion and grew increasingly aggressive as the afternoon wore on, the <a href=\"https://www.theolympian.com/news/politics-government/article248312660.html\">Olympian reported</a>. The demonstration was one of several held by supporters of President Donald Trump around the country, organized as the U.S. Congress was set to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory.</p><p data-block-key=\"i79bv\">During the course of covering the events in Olympia, Warren had met up with Olympian reporter Sara Gentzler. At one point, the two were approached by a man, Gentzler said to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, armed with multiple firearms and a knife. He threatened the journalists, telling them that they had five minutes to leave the area and that he had pepper-sprayed other members of the media earlier in the day. The Tracker<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Olympia&date_lower=2021-01-06&date_upper=2021-01-06&state=53\"> documented the multiple assaults in Olympia here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"zdir2\">Gentzler said that she'd already been threatened by the man once that day, an incident the Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-threatened-assault-while-covering-olympia-protest/\">here</a>. As the man walked away after this encounter, Gentzler remembers him saying, “We’re going to shoot you fucking dead in the next year.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wrj2m\">Gentzler said she and Warren sought out another group of press to have safety in numbers and to warn them about the man.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddmyq\">Warren <a href=\"https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2021/reporters-covering-the-capitol-attack-were-used-to-harassment-and-heckling-but-wednesday-was-different/\">told Poynter</a> he worries that such threats may intimidate journalists out of interacting with demonstrators moving forward, and that in the future he would be more aware of the possibility of direct hostility.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3s2p\">“I’m still going to try and talk to people when I’m out at these things because I think it gives me insight as to why they’re there,” Warren said, “and it also helps me to make a positive case for journalists that we’re there to tell their story and to represent visually what is happening.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gs76n\">The Washington State Patrol said in a <a href=\"https://www.wsp.wa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/huseman-arrest.pdf\">press release</a> on Jan. 19 that Damon Huseman, a 26-year-old resident of Seattle, had been taken into police custody without incident and was being booked at the Thurston County Jail on charges of second-degree assault, felony harassment and criminal trespass in connection with the events of Jan. 6.</p><p data-block-key=\"v8zkd\">According to the <a href=\"https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/seattle-man-charged-with-assault-felony-harassment-accused-of-targeting-journalists-during-protests-at-state-capitol/\">Seattle Times,</a> Huseman had a preliminary court appearance on Jan. 20 and was ordered to remain in custody in lieu of $50,000 bail. The judge also ordered Huseman to have no contact with the journalists he’s accused of targeting or the Capitol campus.</p><p data-block-key=\"o8h9i\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting multiple incidents involving journalists, including assaults, arrests and equipment damage, from Jan. 6. All of our election-related coverage can be found <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/election-2020/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"name": "Washington",
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},
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"(2021-03-15 00:00:00+00:00) Man sentenced for assault, harassment of journalists during Jan. 6 protests at Washington state capitol"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist assaulted by rioters while covering Capitol insurrection",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-assaulted-rioters-while-covering-capitol-insurrection/",
"first_published_at": "2021-01-21T20:12:00.828545Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-25T18:18:54.891728Z",
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"date": "2021-01-06",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2oiff\">Photojournalist Chris Jones, who covers right-wing extremism for 100 Days in Appalachia through a partnership with Report for America, was assaulted and had his camera pouch damaged while covering the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"sgjzx\">The <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/01/06/us/electoral-vote?smid=ig-nytimes&utm_source=curalate_like2buy&utm_medium=curalate_like2buy_3euQ1BMQ__8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382&crl8_id=8cfbbaaa-aef6-4783-8eb6-3eb782b23382#trump-speaking-to-protesters-declares-we-will-never-concede\">violent storming of the Capitol</a> came after President Donald Trump had spoken at a rally in front of the White House in which he promoted false claims of election fraud and called for his supporters to march to the legislative seat of the U.S. government, where lawmakers were certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden,<a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/06/us/politics/trump-speech-capitol.html\"> reported</a> the New York Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"eleat\">Jones told the Tracker that he’d followed a group of demonstrators as they took the building but was stymied at the entrance, first due to the debilitating presence of tear gas and flash-bang grenades and then because rioters impeded his movement.</p><p data-block-key=\"qrzcw\">“Any time I went in, I got very quickly identified as press and it just got bad,” he told the Tracker. At one point, he said, he was no more than 20 feet inside the building when a rioter yelled repeatedly, “Are you press?” before picking him up and dragging him backward. Another then grabbed his legs. “The three of us clumsily made our way to the door,” Jones said.</p><p data-block-key=\"juh9g\">At around 2 p.m., he said, a Capitol Police officer threw a flash-bang grenade right next to him and the heat tore through his camera pouch.</p><p data-block-key=\"py1dh\">As Jones maneuvered among the crowd throughout the day, he said that many approached him with “We’re going to get you” and “You need to move on.” As with several journalists that day, such threats and harassment were common. The Tracker has documented such incidents, including one in which Jones was told he “deserved to be shot,” <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/national-and-international-journalists-harassed-threatened-while-covering-riot-dc/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"3g3dz\">“There was very clearly an intent and willingness. When they said, ‘Don’t stick around,’ they meant it,” he told the Tracker. He said he encountered younger teens who would show that they carried knives and one man who “flashed a pistol,” claiming, “I’m not here to fuck around.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bjody\">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. Find <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/election-2020/\">election-related coverage here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
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"tags": [
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"election",
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"categories": [
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