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{
"title": "As CBS Channel 11 prepared to go live in Dallas, an officer tossed a tear gas canister toward the news crew",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-channel-11-prepared-go-live-dallas-officer-tosses-tear-gas-canister-toward-news-crew/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-11T22:13:28.656057Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:17:52.877210Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:17:52.772884Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Dallas",
"longitude": -96.80667,
"latitude": 32.78306,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sqknv\">A news crew with CBS Channel 11 covering protests in Dallas was forced to scatter when a police officer tossed an activated canister of tear gas at two journalists as they were about to go live on air on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"vztl0\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"5j234\">Reporter Steve Pickett and photojournalist Bret Kelly were stationed in downtown Dallas covering protests. At around 10:15 p.m., they were getting ready to begin their live shot. Typically, the station would have alerted them both, but they had only one working earpiece so Pickett told Kelly aloud, Kelly told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"som3n\">Kelly believes that a Dallas police officer standing 10 feet away overheard him, because as soon as they went live, the officer threw a tear gas canister right at their feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"l7h1c\">"We got gassed pretty hard and took flight a little bit," Kelly said. The Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-targeted-with-tear-gas-while-covering-dallas-protest/\">documented Kelly’s assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ujfd8\">Pickett can be seen on CBS 11 <a href=\"https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2020/05/29/cbs-11-reporter-steve-pickett-overcome-tear-gas-covering-george-floyd-protest/\">video</a> struggling to breathe and find a way out of the area where the gas was deployed. "I’m trying to get out of the tear gas, this is killing us," Pickett says to the studio journalist as his eyes visibly water and he stumbles his way out of the cloud. He tells his colleague that earlier that night he was also threatened with arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"bfwui\">An interview request sent to Pickett was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"c7qeu\">Kelly <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BKSpxshooter11/status/1266901579728379908\">wrote</a> about the experience on Twitter the next day, saying “ ... I was nowhere near any protesters. Definitely a conscious decision by that officer.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rp4t9\">An emailed request for comment sent to the Dallas Police Department about the incident was not returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"uxwol\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Pickett_assault_Dallas_0529_Floyd.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sn77m\">CBS 11 reporter Steve Pickett wipes tears from his eyes after an officer targeted his Dallas news crew just prior to starting a live broadcast on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Steve Pickett (KTVT)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist assaulted, camera lost while documenting New York City protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-camera-lost-while-documenting-new-york-city-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-10T03:23:40.969331Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:47:44.225342Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:47:44.136296Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"prgy4\">NYPD officers injured freelance journalist Sue Brisk and allegedly seized her camera while she was covering protests in New York City on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"qxssp\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"0pz7j\">Brisk told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was photographing demonstrations at 42nd Street in Times Square in the evening of May 29 with her NYPD-issued press pass clearly displayed.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ee3t\">“I watched the police beat people with billy clubs and then they threw a woman up against a pole right in front of me,” Brisk said. “After that it’s a blur, kind of.”</p><p data-block-key=\"60qkl\">Brisk said that, before she knew what was happening, her head was slammed to the ground and she found herself pinned under at least three NYPD officers, and said her camera strap had wrapped around a bicycle handle and was choking her.</p><p data-block-key=\"tp666\">“Protesters were pleading with the police to please let go of me because they said I was an old lady and that I guess it looked very violent, what had happened,” Brisk said. She noted that she is short, lightweight and has silver-gray hair. Protesters pleaded with the NYPD riot officers to let her up and out of the way, Brisk told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"xt6gh\">She said a protester intervened and pulled her to the opposite sidewalk. Brisk then realized that one of her cameras was missing.</p><p data-block-key=\"p002o\">Brisk said she believes police took possession of the camera, and said everyone who had been in the vicinity was soon arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"m2503\">“I’ve lost camera equipment which is essential to the job that I do,” she added. “I did nothing wrong.”</p><p data-block-key=\"juhx1\">Brisk told the Tracker that she did not go to a hospital out of concern over potential exposure to the coronavirus. Instead, she said she worked through the night documenting the protests in order to stay awake in case she had a concussion.</p><p data-block-key=\"zi4gh\">When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30 minute mark” of <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6eUFc_kltc\">a press briefing</a> held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.</p><p data-block-key=\"boiuy\">Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second — maybe too long — to sort out.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a5dn0\">Brisk told the Tracker that she is still trying to figure out how to retrieve her camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"9oe7c\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"actor": "unknown",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sue Brisk (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "‘I’m covered with bruises.’ Photojournalist says Denver police targeted her with pepper balls and rubber bullets",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/im-covered-with-bruises-photojournalist-says-denver-police-targeted-her-with-pepper-balls-and-rubber-bullets/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-07T03:32:21.791115Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T17:55:14.788155Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T17:55:14.703601Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"b70ol\">Denver police shot projectiles at Madeleine Kelly, a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/Madeleineindependent/\">freelance photojournalist</a>, while she was covering protests in the city on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"o9nhl\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"i7xqo\">Just before midnight, police shot a rubber bullet and pepper balls that hit Kelly, a freelancer and member of the International Association of Press Photographers, while she was on the lawn of the Colorado State Capitol, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"ecr80\">Kelly said she was photographing police officers in riot gear as they knocked down, pepper-sprayed, and shot pepper balls at a protester. When officers saw her taking photographs, she said they yelled at her to move.</p><p data-block-key=\"n8pjx\">She complied and started walking away with her hands up, when an officer standing about ten feet away fired a rubber bullet that hit the back of her left thigh, she said. Kelly then began to run away, and officers shot her three times with pepper balls, one landing on her buttocks, one on her shoulder, and one on her backpack.</p><p data-block-key=\"ut0ke\">She was wearing press credentials from IAPP as well as a vest emblazoned with the word PRESS, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"g29sw\">Kelly reported the incident to the Denver Police but did not receive any response, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"mhp27\">"I'm covered with bruises," she said. The rubber bullet left behind a "big meaty bruise. And the pepper balls left a mark."</p><p data-block-key=\"p6qri\">Kelly said she believed police targeted her as a member of the media, and felt "a little trepidation" when donning her press vest to cover subsequent days of protests. "I didn't think that the U.S. police would be doing the same thing that the Hong Kong police did," she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"fn2qv\">Requests for comment sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"lca9x\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/CO_assault_Kelly_0529.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"la8k2\">Protesters gather at the state capitol in Denver, Colorado on May 28, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Madeleine Kelly (Freelance)"
],
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},
{
"title": "CBS4 Denver journalists and another news crew pepper sprayed by individual",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/protestor-pepper-sprays-cbs4-denver-another-news-crew/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-02T15:15:51.835151Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:17:06.186284Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:17:06.103096Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"adioa\">An unknown man sprayed pepper spray at a CBS4 Denver news crew that was covering the protests on the streets of Colorado’s capital on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"nmvfb\">This incident occurred during the second night of protests in Denver over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes on May 25. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.</p><p data-block-key=\"60174\">Reporter Jamie Leary and photojournalist Rob McClure were both “OK” after the attack, according to a tweet from CBS producer Dago Cordova, who <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dago_deportes/status/1266586649024176128\">shared</a> video footage of the incident.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">During our special <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/CBSNDenver?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CBSNDenver</a> coverage of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForGeorge?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#JusticeForGeorge</a> protests, a man went up to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/JamieALeary?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@JamieALeary</a> & <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RobCBS4?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RobCBS4</a> and sprayed them with pepper spray. He did this after he did it to fellow local journalists. Jamie & Rob are okay <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CBSDenver?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@CBSDenver</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/k76tZsoHXq\">pic.twitter.com/k76tZsoHXq</a></p>— Dago Cordova (@dago_deportes) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dago_deportes/status/1266586649024176128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t8iiw\">The crew was set up directly across from the Colorado Capitol along Lincoln Avenue. In the video, an unidentified young man in a colorful striped shirt, black baseball cap and black balaclava holding a canister of pepper spray walks by the journalists, who are filming live, then doubles back and sprays the crew with pepper spray. “Hey hey hey, Are you kidding me?” Leary says as the attack is underway.</p><p data-block-key=\"genat\">Leary told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that both she and McClure were able to avoid a direct hit from the pepper spray because they had just watched the man pepper spray another camera crew nearby. They were watching him carefully, she explained. “He walked by us and then did an about-face,” Leary said.</p><p data-block-key=\"nogbi\">McClure’s camera was lightly sprayed, but was not damaged. The Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unknown-individual-pepper-sprays-cbs4-denver-news-crew/\">documented his assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"qcqug\">The identity of the other camera crew attacked was not immediately available.</p><p data-block-key=\"k5j5o\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"59k49\">A CBS News producer shared video of a man directly pepper-spraying the CBS4 Denver news crew while they were filming on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"name": "Colorado",
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},
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"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jamie Leary (KCNC-TV)"
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist arrested covering Las Vegas protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-covering-las-vegas-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-02T04:31:23.693341Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-05-12T22:21:40.250784Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-05-12T22:21:40.135286Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Las Vegas",
"longitude": -115.13722,
"latitude": 36.17497,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vosfj\">Ellen Schmidt, a photojournalist on staff at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and Bridget Bennett, a freelance photographer working for Agence France-Presse, were arrested on May 29, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The journalists were covering protests that broke out in response to the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"fe41v\">A video posted on Twitter shows a group of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers shoving and grabbing Schmidt, and throwing Bennett to the ground, before arresting the women.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you for the update! Is this you being arrested last night? <a href=\"https://t.co/7IJhg8AZ6M\">pic.twitter.com/7IJhg8AZ6M</a></p>— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LasVegasLocally/status/1266809512175890432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wr7bd\">Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later <a href=\"https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/two-photojournalists-arrested-during-protests-in-las-vegas\">told the Nevada Independent</a> that Schmidt and Bennett had ignored LVMPD officers’ orders to disperse and did not identify themselves as members of the media. But <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/2-photojournalists-including-review-journal-staffer-arrested-covering-george-floyd-protest-2039655/\">in an interview with the Review-Journal</a>, Schmidt said that she and Bennett had in fact repeatedly identified themselves as a member of the press and were wearing their press badges at the time that they were arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"wbxm4\">“It is appalling that Las Vegas police officers, who have nothing to do with what happened in Minnesota, would so forcefully take into custody two people who were obviously working photojournalists and posed no threat to law enforcement or public safety,” Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook said in a statement. “They never should have been touched, let alone arrested and then booked into jail.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f2wwu\">Schmidt and Bennett were each charged with “failure to disperse,” a misdemeanor. Although people charged with “failure to disperse” are supposed to be released immediately, rather than being held in jail on bail, both Schmidt and Bennett were held in jail overnight and only released on the morning of May 30.</p><p data-block-key=\"13f8l\">Las Vegas Chief Justice of the Peace Suzan Bacum told the Review-Journal that the two journalists should not have been held overnight in jail and blamed the situation on a miscommunication between the police and the court system.</p><p data-block-key=\"yxnhu\">“These people should have never been held on these misdemeanors,” she said. “It’s a travesty.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8alwj\">Richard Karpel, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/nevadapress/status/1266824720634109952\">condemned the arrests</a> in a statement:</p><p data-block-key=\"48etf\">“The press serve a vital, constitutionally protected role during moments of national strife and civil disobedience,” he said. “Journalists put themselves at risk to inform citizens about protestors’ grievances and their actions, and to observe whether law enforcement personnel are operating within the bounds of the law. The arrest of journalists working in a public forum at a highly newsworthy event is absolutely unacceptable."</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Nevada",
"abbreviation": "NV"
},
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"(2020-10-28 15:39:00+00:00) Charges dropped against AFP photojournalist arrested while covering Las Vegas protest"
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
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{
"title": "Photojournalists for Review-Journal arrested while covering Las Vegas protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-review-journal-arrested-while-covering-las-vegas-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-02T04:26:12.383816Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-05-12T22:21:12.919817Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-05-12T22:21:12.846165Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Las Vegas",
"longitude": -115.13722,
"latitude": 36.17497,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"86pw6\">Ellen Schmidt, a photojournalist on staff at the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-covering-las-vegas-protest/\">Bridget Bennett</a>, a freelance photographer working for Agence France-Presse, were arrested on May 29, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The journalists were covering protests that broke out in response to the killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"t0ql8\">A video posted on Twitter shows a group of Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department officers shoving and grabbing Schmidt, and throwing Bennett to the ground, before arresting the women.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thank you for the update! Is this you being arrested last night? <a href=\"https://t.co/7IJhg8AZ6M\">pic.twitter.com/7IJhg8AZ6M</a></p>— Las Vegas Locally 🌴 (@LasVegasLocally) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LasVegasLocally/status/1266809512175890432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wwqvz\">While Schmidt was being arrested, an LVMPD officer took possession of her camera. She <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ellenschmidttt/status/1266804632170319872\">later clarified on Twitter</a> that the LVMPD officer only turned her camera off and did not look through or delete any of the pictures that she had taken or the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"36oog\">Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo later <a href=\"https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/two-photojournalists-arrested-during-protests-in-las-vegas\">told the Nevada Independent</a> that Schmidt and Bennett had ignored LVMPD officers’ orders to disperse and did not identify themselves as members of the media. But <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/the-strip/2-photojournalists-including-review-journal-staffer-arrested-covering-george-floyd-protest-2039655/\">in an interview with the Review-Journal</a>, Schmidt said that she and Bennett had in fact repeatedly identified themselves as a member of the press and were wearing their press badges at the time that they were arrested.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekjkh\">“It is appalling that Las Vegas police officers, who have nothing to do with what happened in Minnesota, would so forcefully take into custody two people who were obviously working photojournalists and posed no threat to law enforcement or public safety,” Review-Journal executive editor Glenn Cook said in a statement. “They never should have been touched, let alone arrested and then booked into jail.”</p><p data-block-key=\"hob4e\">Schmidt and Bennett were each charged with “failure to disperse,” a misdemeanor. Although people charged with “failure to disperse” are supposed to be released immediately, rather than being held in jail on bail, both Schmidt and Bennett were held in jail overnight and only released on the morning of May 30.</p><p data-block-key=\"5q4vk\">Las Vegas Chief Justice of the Peace Suzan Bacum told the Review-Journal that the two journalists should not have been held overnight in jail and blamed the situation on a miscommunication between the police and the court system.</p><p data-block-key=\"k7zsp\">“These people should have never been held on these misdemeanors,” she said. “It’s a travesty.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wybcg\">Richard Karpel, executive director of the Nevada Press Association, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/nevadapress/status/1266824720634109952\">condemned the arrests</a> in a statement:</p><p data-block-key=\"xbnhi\">“The press serve a vital, constitutionally protected role during moments of national strife and civil disobedience,” he said. “Journalists put themselves at risk to inform citizens about protestors’ grievances and their actions, and to observe whether law enforcement personnel are operating within the bounds of the law. The arrest of journalists working in a public forum at a highly newsworthy event is absolutely unacceptable."</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Nevada",
"abbreviation": "NV"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-11-04 15:51:00+00:00) District Attorney drops charges against Las Vegas Review-Journal photojournalist"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
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"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
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{
"title": "Rock thrown through window of WSB-TV news vehicle during Atlanta protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rock-thrown-through-window-wsb-tv-news-vehicle-during-atlanta-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-01T00:30:08.827506Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:05:32.587917Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:05:32.507595Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"acole\">A WSB-TV news vehicle was vandalized on May 29, 2020, during protests in Atlanta, Georgia.</p><p data-block-key=\"pivx4\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"vr6qz\">WSB reporter Matt Johnson <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MattWSB/status/1266580746703179781\">tweeted</a> around midnight on May 29 that someone had just thrown a rock through the back window of the news vehicle.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Someone just threw a rock through a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wsbtv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wsbtv</a> vehicle. <a href=\"https://t.co/U64XQxiL4T\">pic.twitter.com/U64XQxiL4T</a></p>— Matt Johnson (@MattWSB) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MattWSB/status/1266580746703179781?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"c31bs\">Johnson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the vehicle was unmarked, but had a satellite dish on top that may have made it a target.</p><p data-block-key=\"8t6sa\">“A photographer and I were next to the car when someone threw a rock at it from behind,” Johnson said. “We heard some people saying, ‘No, don’t do that, they’re just trying to make a living’ after the first rock was thrown.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0f8s5\">Shortly after, another rock was thrown at the front window of the vehicle.</p><p data-block-key=\"kt6pw\">Johnson told the Tracker that soon after, a separate group of people made a semi-circle around the news crew and began cursing and threatening them for reporting fake news. He <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MattWSB/status/1266582013957615617\">tweeted</a> a video of the group of at least a dozen individuals.</p><p data-block-key=\"in43u\">In the video, multiple individuals can be heard harassing the journalists, calling them “fake-ass news,” flipping them off and telling them to “keep it real” and tell the people what is really going on.</p><p data-block-key=\"0dtxx\">“Eventually they cleared out when we just stood there and took it,” Johnson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4q3t6\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1cjz\"><i>Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect comment from Matt Johnson.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"actor": "private individual",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Georgia",
"abbreviation": "GA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"WSB-TV"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
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},
{
"title": "News vehicle reported vandalized in Los Angeles amid protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-vehicle-reported-vandalized-los-angeles-amid-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-01T00:18:34.848353Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:16:09.434176Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:16:09.347094Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"akyre\">An ABC7 News vehicle was reported vandalized by protesters on May 29, 2020, during protests in Los Angeles, California.</p><p data-block-key=\"0r5ht\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"hjnb2\">An ABC7 news vehicle was found vandalized at around 6:30 p.m. on May 29, according to a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BillFOXLA/status/1266543592492789761\">tweet</a> posted by FOX 11 Los Angeles reporter Bill Melugin.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our colleague’s vehicle at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ABC7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ABC7</a> just got tagged by protesters. <a href=\"https://t.co/89VfOrcrp0\">pic.twitter.com/89VfOrcrp0</a></p>— Bill Melugin (@BillFOXLA) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BillFOXLA/status/1266543592492789761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o0li6\">ABC7 could not immediately be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"6ul79\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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{
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"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"KABC-TV"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
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},
{
"title": "Chief photographer at WLKY news crews attacked by individuals in Louisville",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/separate-wlky-news-crews-attacked-protesters-louisville/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T23:55:11.576255Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:15:21.975588Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:15:21.888290Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wqbgf\">Paul Ahmann, chief photographer for local broadcast station WLKY, was assaulted by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020. At least four other WLKY journalists were also attacked and two WLKY news vehicles vandalized that night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented those incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-05-29&date_upper=2020-05-29&targeted_institutions=265\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"qvuw0\">Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"jc8wc\">Ahmann was knocked over and beaten by a mob of people, suffering a concussion that sent him to the emergency room, according to a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKYJulie/status/1266627704868265984?s=20\">pair</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKYJulie/status/1266629893841920000?s=20\">of tweets</a> from WLKY anchor Julie Dolan.</p><p data-block-key=\"hw6p6\">Shaky video of the attack was <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/chriscoleman.malone/videos/818598728549036/\">livestreamed</a> on Facebook. In the footage, Ahmann lays on the ground as the crowd takes photos and videos of him, while at least one man visibly tries to hold the crowd back.</p><p data-block-key=\"kmwuf\">WLKY correspondent Deni Kamper was also attacked, but reported in a tweet that she was “ok,” <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKYDeni/status/1266586434565177346\">writing</a>, “A lot of people helped us tonight and I’m so grateful.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j8ld6\">Kamper and Ahmann did not immediately respond to an emailed interview request.</p><p data-block-key=\"sqi8f\">Their news vehicle was also vandalized and later set on fire, and another WLKY news vehicle was vandalized that night. At least one other WLKY news crew was also attacked. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented all May 29 WLKY incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-05-29&date_upper=2020-05-29&targeted_institutions=265\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbj5t\">The Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ebzwx\">Tear gas is deployed into a Louisville, Kentucky, crowd on May 29, 2020. At least two WLKY news crews reported being assaulted by individuals during protests that evening and two station vehicles were damaged.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Paul Ahmann (WLKY)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist permanently blinded during Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-permanently-blinded-others-assaulted-during-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T19:50:26.203685Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T21:12:51.183352Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T21:12:51.056575Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zk58o\">Freelance writer and photographer Linda Tirado was struck with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"501py\">Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"w6vgl\">Tirado told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was reporting near the Third Precinct around midnight on the 29th when she was struck by a tracker round, judging from the green residue on her backpack.</p><p data-block-key=\"z1adb\">A second round that she believes was a rubber bullet then struck the side of her head and her left eye.</p><p data-block-key=\"xur9t\">“I got hit. My goggles broke, and I felt the blood and there was gas so I just closed my eyes, held up my hands and started yelling, ‘I’m press, I’m press!’” Tirado said.</p><p data-block-key=\"q6y3h\">Tirado said that a group of protesters took her to a nearby van and transported her to the hospital.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hey folks, took a tracer found to the face (I think, given my backpack) and am headed into surgery to see if we can save my left eye<br><br>Am wisely not gonna be on Twitter while I’m on morphine<br><br>Stay safe folks <a href=\"https://t.co/apZOyGrcBO\">pic.twitter.com/apZOyGrcBO</a></p>— Linda Tirado (@KillerMartinis) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KillerMartinis/status/1266618525600399361?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xx77d\">Tirado later <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KillerMartinis/status/1266786161143537669\">tweeted</a> that she is permanently blind in her left eye.</p><p data-block-key=\"foimh\">The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"m9w5g\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39MDZ.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"c8ll0\">A Minneapolis Police Department officer fires a less-lethal round during continued demonstrations on May 29, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "0:20-cv-01338",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-06-10 12:33:00+00:00) Photojournalist Linda Tirado sues city of Minneapolis, police for excessive force",
"(2022-05-26 15:57:00+00:00) City of Minneapolis settles lawsuit with journalist blinded in one eye amid 2020 protests",
"(2022-03-18 10:57:00+00:00) Journalists subpoenaed in connection with ongoing excessive use of force lawsuit"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Linda Tirado (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter assaulted live on air at Phoenix protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-live-air-phoenix-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T19:45:48.002016Z",
"last_published_at": "2022-04-04T18:09:47.939618Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2022-04-04T18:09:47.865409Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Phoenix",
"longitude": -112.07404,
"latitude": 33.44838,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wtsef\">Briana Whitney, a correspondent for CBS 5 & 3 TV in Phoenix, Arizona, was assaulted live on air by a man who grabbed her and shouted obscenities while she was covering protests outside of the Phoenix Police Department headquarters on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"15hzj\">Whitney was in the middle of a live broadcast when a man runs into her shot, tackling her while grabbing her microphone and screaming “Fuck her right in the pussy!” He then runs off.</p><p data-block-key=\"2t052\">Whitney stays on her feet and quickly says, “I'm so sorry you guys, I did not see that coming. I’m so sorry. We're doing the best we can to keep everything appropriate here,” she says, before returning to her description of the scene in front of headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"t5emi\">Early the next morning, she tweeted out a video of the attack, writing, “I feel violated, and this was terrifying. Let us do our jobs. We are trying our very best.”</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 NOT OKAY.<br><br>This is the moment I was intentionally tackled by this man while I was on air trying to report what was happening during the protest at Phoenix PD headquarters. I feel violated, and this was terrifying.<br><br>Let us do our jobs. We are trying our very best <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/azfamily?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#azfamily</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/bHXwbnDVPB\">pic.twitter.com/bHXwbnDVPB</a></p>— Briana Whitney (@BrianaWhitney) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrianaWhitney/status/1266614725284003845?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nqlf9\">Tommy Thompson, a spokesman for the Phoenix Police Department, said in an email that the incident had been reported to the department and remains under investigation, and that no arrest had yet been made.</p><p data-block-key=\"jg5py\">An interview request sent to Whitney was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"xwil9\">This incident occurred as Whitney covered Phoenix protests over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died on May 25 after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.</p><p data-block-key=\"tq2ol\">A similar <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-arrested-following-assault-reporter-during-live-broadcast/\">assault</a>, where the assailant shouted identical obscenities to a female broadcaster, occurred in Illinois on May 23.</p><p data-block-key=\"o2tbe\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases <a href=\"https://slack-redir.net/link?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpressfreedomtracker.us%2Fall-incidents%2F%3Ftags%3D111\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Whitney_assault_AZ.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rd25r\">Arizona reporter Briana Whitney was assaulted during a live news shot by a man shouting obscenities.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"sexual assault"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Briana Whitney (KTVK/KPHO-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck on chin with tear gas canister during Denver protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-photojournalist-struck-chin-tear-gas-canister/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T12:10:27.764212Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:13:58.854089Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:13:58.773214Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"gy29i\">Hart Van Denburg, visuals editor for Colorado Public Radio, was struck on the face with a tear gas canister fired by Denver police while covering protests in the city on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"8y1io\">Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"6po7q\">During the protests, police fired a tear gas canister that hit Van Denburg on the chin. He <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hartoutwest/status/1266564171178610691\">posted a selfie</a> to Twitter that night documenting his bruised chin, and expressing gratitude to those who shared milk with him to dampen the effect of the tear gas.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tear gas canister on the chin. Ok. Thanks to volunteers with the milk. <a href=\"https://t.co/K0mgHXQC6o\">pic.twitter.com/K0mgHXQC6o</a></p>— Hart W. Van Denburg (@hartoutwest) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hartoutwest/status/1266564171178610691?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fpick\">Details regarding precisely where in Denver the incident occurred were not immediately available, and Van Denburg — who covered the protests again the following day — did not immediately reply to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"higig\">Requests for comment on this incident sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"92d5z\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/CO_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ndkos\">Protesters gather in Denver, Colorado, on May 28, 2020.</p>",
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Hart Van Denburg (Colorado Public Radio)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist covering Denver protests hit by multiple pepper balls",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-covering-denver-protests-hit-multiple-pepper-balls/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T03:32:23.183559Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:13:34.679711Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:13:34.561118Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dwqxk\">Jan Czernik, a photojournalist for Denver 7 News, was struck four times by pepper balls fired by police while covering protests in Denver, Colorado, on May 29, 2020. The reporter accompanying him, Adi Guajardo, said she avoided being hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"yh9iy\">The camera Czernik was holding was also hit, damaging the lens.</p><p data-block-key=\"ov0xq\">Guajardo tweeted about the experience, initially identifying the projectiles as paintballs:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Police just fired off paintballs and tear gas.<br><br>Our photographer got hit four time and our camera got hit.<br><br>Luckily, I ducked and avoided getting struck.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/denverprotests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#denverprotests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DenverChannel?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DenverChannel</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/8KstNp39HS\">pic.twitter.com/8KstNp39HS</a></p>— adigtv (@AdiGTV) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AdiGTV/status/1266554320717099008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vnz6k\">This incident occurred during the second night of protests in Denver over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes on May 25. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.</p><p data-block-key=\"a3lfz\">According to a Denver 7 News <a href=\"https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/peaceful-protests-demanding-justice-for-george-floyd-in-denver-turn-violent-for-a-2nd-straight-day\">story</a> about the protests, police fired pepper balls and pepper spray into a crowd of protesters gathered near where Guajardo and Czernik were standing.</p><p data-block-key=\"4wm1c\">"Earlier today one of our photographers got hit by paintballs four times, including on the camera,” Guajardo later <a href=\"https://news.yahoo.com/denver7-reporter-describes-sights-people-040245348.html\">said</a> on air. “We believe it might have been either tear gas or pepper spray balls but at one point my entire face was burning so I know what some of these people are experiencing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"lfowr\">Later in the evening, Guajardo was filming a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=808566022881911&ref=watch_permalink\">live shot</a>, answering the anchor’s questions about Czernik being hit by pepper balls, a group of officers wielding pepper ball guns approached her, forcing her and her crew to retreat. “Where do you guys want us to go? Why are you pushing us back right now? Can we get some answers as to why you’re pushing us back at this moment?” she asks the officers, camera still rolling. “Where are the crowds supposed to go? You keep pushing them back. Where do people protest peacefully?” One of the officers shouted “move back” in reply.</p><p data-block-key=\"opczj\">Adi then tells the anchor, “So they’re asking us to move back but they’re not giving us answers. If people want to protest, where do you protest?”</p><p data-block-key=\"nzzvh\">Guajardo declined comment to the Tracker, citing guidance from Denver 7 management.</p><p data-block-key=\"4tui6\">A request for comment sent to the Denver Police Department was not returned as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"277t9\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"actor": "law enforcement",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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{
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"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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},
{
"title": "WAVE3 News vehicle vandalized in Louisville amid protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-news-vehicles-vandalized-louisville-amid-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T03:08:29.756790Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:13:09.410156Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:13:09.334799Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4inpk\">A news vehicle belonging to local broadcast station WAVE3 News was vandalized on May 29, 2020, during protests in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the station.</p><p data-block-key=\"wtj9j\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/ac63cb2f81e1adfba583451aee9115bf\">reported</a> that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"6c06f\">WAVE 3 <a href=\"https://www.wave3.com/2020/05/29/lmpd-officer-fires-pepper-balls-wave-news-reporter-during-louisville-protest/\">reported</a> that amid the protests on May 29, one of the station’s news vehicles was found vandalized in the downtown area as the crowd intensified.</p><p data-block-key=\"zno6b\">The station did not immediately respond to requests for additional information or comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"s0ku9\">During the protests that night, two WAVE 3 journalists, a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-crew-struck-pepper-balls-live-tv-while-documenting-louisville-protests/\">reporter</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-cameraman-struck-by-pepper-balls-on-live-tv-while-documenting-louisville-protests/\">cameraman</a>, were also deliberately shot at with pepper balls by a Louisville Metro Police Department officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"lx1gf\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/KY_protests_5-29.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jgaqs\">Kentucky State Troopers and protesters face off in Louisville on May 29, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "private individual",
"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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"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"WAVE"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
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{
"title": "News crew struck by pepper balls on live TV while documenting Louisville protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-crew-struck-pepper-balls-live-tv-while-documenting-louisville-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-31T03:14:54.045126Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-02T21:54:36.609655Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-02T21:54:36.502630Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"92raq\">A WAVE 3 News crew was shot at with pepper balls by a Louisville Metro Police Department officer while broadcasting live on May 29, 2020, during protests in Louisville, Kentucky.</p><p data-block-key=\"2kowz\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/ac63cb2f81e1adfba583451aee9115bf\">reported</a> that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"w99t7\">WAVE 3 reporter Kaitlin Rust was reporting live at around 9:45 p.m. on May 29 when an officer walked into the frame and turned toward Rust and photojournalist James Dobson.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vc9n\">In <a href=\"https://www.wave3.com/2020/05/29/lmpd-officer-fires-pepper-balls-wave-news-reporter-during-louisville-protest/\">the video</a>, Rust can be heard screaming, “I’m getting shot!”</p><p data-block-key=\"563ut\">Rust then adds that the officer was firing “pepper bullets” directly at her and Dobson. The Louisville Courier Journal <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/05/29/louisville-protests-officer-fires-pellets-tv-reporter-video/5288734002/\">reported</a> that pepper balls are essentially paintballs filled with a powdered form of pepper spray.</p><p data-block-key=\"ydatx\">WAVE 3 reported that both journalists were struck by the ammunition and suffered minor injuries. The Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-cameraman-struck-by-pepper-balls-on-live-tv-while-documenting-louisville-protests/\">documented Dobson’s assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"w5tng\">The station’s general manager, Ken Selvaggi, said in a <a href=\"https://www.wave3.com/2020/05/29/lmpd-officer-fires-pepper-balls-wave-news-reporter-photographer-during-louisville-protest/\">statement</a>, “We strongly condemn the actions of the LMPD officer who tonight repeatedly fired at and hit our reporter and cameraman, both of whom were courageously and lawfully covering breaking news in their community.”</p><p data-block-key=\"01gk9\">“There is simply no justification for the Louisville police to wantonly open fire, even with pepper balls, on any journalists under any circumstances,” Selvaggi added.</p><p data-block-key=\"ydtg6\">LMPD spokesperson Jessie Halladay <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/05/29/louisville-protests-officer-fires-pellets-tv-reporter-video/5288734002/\">told</a> the Courier Journal that the department would investigate the video after the protests were resolved and investigate or discipline as necessary. Halladay also apologized for the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"mdlrl\">“[It’s] not our intention to target or subject the media as they try to cover this,” Halladay said.</p><p data-block-key=\"r8fu3\">WAVE 3 reported that during the same night of protests, one of its <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-news-vehicles-vandalized-louisville-amid-protests/\">news vans was vandalized</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"88xtb\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_438.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"lhsy4\">In this screenshot from WAVE, reporter Kaitlin Rust reacts to being targeted with projectiles while covering a protest in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
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"(2024-11-07 00:00:00+00:00) Louisville officer who shot pepper balls at TV crew cleared of most violations"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
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"Assault"
],
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{
"title": "CNN correspondent, news crew arrested on-air while documenting Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-news-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-05-29T19:54:05.344754Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T17:50:13.329844Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T17:50:13.129892Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"liplc\">CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez was arrested with two other members of his CNN news crew while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early morning of May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"eng2o\">Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Thousands gathered around the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the police department’s Third Precinct building in the days that followed.</p><p data-block-key=\"d7r1e\">At least five journalists were hit with crowd-control ammunition while covering the Minneapolis protests on <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-struck-projectiles-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/\">May 26</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-hit-less-lethal-rounds-during-second-day-minnesota-protests/\">May 27</a> as police officers launched tear gas, stun grenades and less lethal ammunition into the crowd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"lktp1\">Just after 5 a.m. on May 29, CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez was reporting live a few blocks from the Third Precinct, which had been set on fire by protesters the night before, CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protest-updates-05-28-20/index.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"vwi88\">In the <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/29/minneapolis-protests-omar-jimenez-arrested-newday-vpx.cnn\">live footage</a>, Minnesota State Patrol troopers can be seen approaching the news crew and asking them to move.</p><p data-block-key=\"xpfih\">Jimenez calmly shows the officers his CNN identification and is heard telling the troopers, “We can move back to where you’d like. We are live on the air at the moment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"234sv\">Soon after, two officers in riot gear approached Jimenez and told him he was under arrest. The officers did not appear to respond to the reporter’s questions about why he was being taken into custody.</p><p data-block-key=\"iysfr\">CNN’s camera continued to film as Jimenez was cuffed and led away from his crew. Shortly after, other officers detained photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-photojournalist-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Leonel Mendez</a> and producer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-producer-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Bill Kirkos</a> as well. The crew’s camera — which was still rolling — was also seized by the troopers.</p><p data-block-key=\"9qtbv\">Soon after the arrests, CNN posted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/1266321293974134784\">a statement on Twitter</a> condemning the arrests as a violation of the journalists’ First Amendment Rights and demanding that the news crew be released.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A CNN reporter & his production team were arrested this morning in Minneapolis for doing their jobs, despite identifying themselves - a clear violation of their First Amendment rights. The authorities in Minnesota, incl. the Governor, must release the 3 CNN employees immediately.</p>— CNN Communications (@CNNPR) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CNNPR/status/1266321293974134784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 29, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"xcfjn\">The three journalists were released from the Hennepin County Public Safety facility in downtown Minneapolis at around 6:40 a.m., CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/george-floyd-protest-updates-05-28-20/index.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"qyd44\">In an on-air recounting of events after his release, Jimenez said, “As far as the people who were leading me away — there was no animosity there, they weren’t violent with me. We were having a conversation about how crazy this week has been for every part of the city.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f061t\">The local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists released a <a href=\"http://www.mnspj.org/2020/05/29/mnspj-and-tcbj-condemn-arrest-of-cnn-news-team/\">joint statement</a> condemning the arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"up740\">The statement reads, in part: “Police, State Patrol and other law enforcement officers should be well aware of the importance of the media whose job it is to document and report on breaking news for the benefit of the general public. We implore the responding parties to alert their officers on the rights of the press and the necessity of their presence as they continue to report on the current unrest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3fh7b\"><a href=\"https://freedom.press/news/minneapolis-minnesota-police-arrest-cnn-reporter-live-tv/\">Freedom of the Press Foundation</a>, the <a href=\"https://cpj.org/2020/05/cnn-team-arrested-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/\">Committee to Protect Journalists</a> and other press advocacy groups also released statements condemning the arrests.</p><p data-block-key=\"lqez8\">Minnesota Governor Tim Walz apologized for the arrests during a <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs4VjEsigiU\">press conference</a> a few hours after the journalists were released, stating that it should not have happened.</p><p data-block-key=\"7zgjo\">“This one is on me and I own it,” Walz said. “I am a teacher by trade and I have spent my time as governor highlighting the need to be as transparent as possible and to have the media here: I failed you last night in that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"re05z\">Walz added that ensuring that there is a safe place for journalists to report during such incidents is vital, and that the arrest of journalists can increase fear in affected communities.</p><p data-block-key=\"dk61r\">“We will continue to strive to make sure that that accessibility is maintained,” Walz added. “The protection and security and safety of the journalists covering this is a top priority, not because it’s a nice thing to do, because it’s a key component of how we fix this.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4qmre\">Neither CNN nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to multiple emailed requests for comment about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"26bd3\"><i>This incident was updated on July 22, 2020, to separate each crew member's arrest into its own accounting. Find all</i> <a href=\"http://pressfreedomtracker.us/arrest-criminal-charge/\"><i>arrests</i></a><i> here.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2020-05-29_12-27-23.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1gtxk\">CNN correspondent Omar Jimenez is arrested while reporting live from protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The mayor later apologized for the arrest of Jimenez and two other members of the CNN crew.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Minnesota State Patrol",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": "2020-05-29",
"detention_date": "2020-05-29",
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"name": "Minnesota",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Omar Jimenez (CNN)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Broadcast cameraman struck by pepper balls on live TV while documenting Louisville protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-cameraman-struck-by-pepper-balls-on-live-tv-while-documenting-louisville-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T18:34:23.262202Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-12-02T22:02:12.790004Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-12-02T22:02:12.664122Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9m1v8\">A WAVE 3 News crew was shot at with pepper balls by a Louisville Metro Police Department officer while broadcasting live on May 29, 2020, during protests in Louisville, Kentucky.</p><p data-block-key=\"f3ydy\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/ac63cb2f81e1adfba583451aee9115bf\">reported</a> that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"gptpd\">WAVE 3 photojournalist James Dobson and reporter Kaitlin Rust were reporting live at around 9:45 p.m. on May 29 when a police officer walked into the frame and turned toward the news team.</p><p data-block-key=\"8w30d\">In <a href=\"https://www.wave3.com/2020/05/29/lmpd-officer-fires-pepper-balls-wave-news-reporter-during-louisville-protest/\">the video</a>, Rust can be heard screaming, “I’m getting shot!”</p><p data-block-key=\"uf278\">Rust then adds that the officer was firing “pepper bullets” directly at her and Dobson. The Louisville Courier Journal <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/05/29/louisville-protests-officer-fires-pellets-tv-reporter-video/5288734002/\">reported</a> that pepper balls are essentially paintballs filled with a powdered form of pepper spray.</p><p data-block-key=\"w2aq1\">WAVE 3 reported that both journalists were struck by the ammunition and suffered minor injuries. The Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-crew-struck-pepper-balls-live-tv-while-documenting-louisville-protests/\">Rust’s assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"83sp9\">The station’s general manager, Ken Selvaggi, said in a <a href=\"https://www.wave3.com/2020/05/29/lmpd-officer-fires-pepper-balls-wave-news-reporter-photographer-during-louisville-protest/\">statement</a>, “We strongly condemn the actions of the LMPD officer who tonight repeatedly fired at and hit our reporter and cameraman, both of whom were courageously and lawfully covering breaking news in their community.”</p><p data-block-key=\"q1k54\">“There is simply no justification for the Louisville police to wantonly open fire, even with pepper balls, on any journalists under any circumstances,” Selvaggi said.</p><p data-block-key=\"odfrt\">LMPD spokesperson Jessie Halladay <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/05/29/louisville-protests-officer-fires-pellets-tv-reporter-video/5288734002/\">told</a> the Courier Journal that the department would investigate the video after the protests were resolved and investigate or discipline as necessary. Halladay also apologized for the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"hjot7\">“[It’s] not our intention to target or subject the media as they try to cover this,” Halladay said.</p><p data-block-key=\"zu1i9\">WAVE 3 reported that during the same night of protests, one of its <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-news-vehicles-vandalized-louisville-amid-protests/\">news vans was vandalized</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"flobs\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Dobson_screenshot.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kdqnk\">A police officer, at center, shoots pepper balls directly at WAVE journalists James Dobson and Kaitlin Rust on May 29, 2020, during a protest against police brutality in Louisville, Kentucky.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
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"(2024-11-07 00:00:00+00:00) Louisville officer who shot pepper balls at TV crew cleared of most violations"
],
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"tags": [
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"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter pepper sprayed by police while documenting Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pepper-sprayed-by-police-while-documenting-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-28T20:55:35.513367Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:24:37.883247Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:24:37.785826Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ectzf\">Des Moines Register reporter Tyler Davis wrote that he was pepper sprayed by a police officer while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"7l6ey\">Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"31nqk\">In an account published by <a href=\"https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/05/29/george-floyd-protests-leave-usa-today-reporter-hit-chemical-spray/5282374002/\">USA Today</a>, Davis wrote that at approximately 8:30 p.m. on the 29th he was documenting protesters confronting police who had set up barricades at the intersection of S. 4th Street and Hennepin Avenue. Once protesters began touching the barricades, officers in the parking lot began to retreat while spraying the crowd with what Davis <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TDavisDMR/status/1266185761323352064\">identified</a> as light-pressure water hoses.</p><p data-block-key=\"9yem4\">Shortly after multiple squad cars and bicycle officers arrived at the scene, flash-bang grenades and “chemical irritants” were deployed, Davis <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TDavisDMR/status/1266187565591298058\">tweeted</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Flash-bangs and chemical irritants deployed near S 4th Street and Hennpin. Multiple MPD vehicles drive down Hennepin to clear one side of road and disperse crowds. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeorgeFloyd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GeorgeFloyd</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/hpmvhZbfKc\">pic.twitter.com/hpmvhZbfKc</a></p>— Tyler Davis (@TDavisFreep) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TDavisFreep/status/1266187565591298058?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 29, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qt8ok\">Davis wrote that as he attempted to document police pepper spraying two young women near him, the officer redirected the chemical spray toward him.</p><p data-block-key=\"3tv9g\">“He laid on the trigger for a few seconds as I told him I was a member of the media,” Davis wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"mgk3j\">He said that as he walked north away from the scene, his eyes and face began intensely burning.</p><p data-block-key=\"g2g2m\">“I could hardly see,” Davis wrote. “Ten hours later, my right arm still feels as if a sunburn is subsiding.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I was one of those hit by the eye irritant during the <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeorgeFloyd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GeorgeFloyd</a> demonstration downtown. No fun at all. I’m done for the night after 10-plus hours. Follow <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TrevorHughes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TrevorHughes</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Boydenphoto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Boydenphoto</a> for more. See you all tomorrow, with a dry shirt and clean mask. <a href=\"https://t.co/Dsy4QzlSIh\">https://t.co/Dsy4QzlSIh</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/lpNSiasXFb\">pic.twitter.com/lpNSiasXFb</a></p>— Tyler Davis (@TDavisDMR) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TDavisDMR/status/1266215055860867077?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 29, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tcvv5\">The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to an email requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"livmg\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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{
"title": "Two WLKY news vehicles vandalized in Louisville amid protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-wlky-news-vehicles-vandalized-in-louisville-amid-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T19:01:15.891204Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:21:59.445410Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:21:59.338297Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"p5w6e\">Two news vehicles belonging to local broadcast station WLKY News were vandalized on May 29, 2020, during protests in Louisville, Kentucky, according to the station.</p><p data-block-key=\"4kr12\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/ac63cb2f81e1adfba583451aee9115bf\">reported</a> that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, knelt on his neck for eight minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"ngrwj\">Two separate vehicles belonging to WLKY News were vandalized that night. In a video broadcast by the station, individuals can be seen jumping on one news vehicle and kicking out its windows.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">On live TV: Protesters attack <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/WLKY?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#WLKY</a> news vehicle, kick out windows during downtown protests. <a href=\"https://t.co/7tLW8Ltftu\">pic.twitter.com/7tLW8Ltftu</a></p>— WLKY (@WLKY) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKY/status/1266580046665449473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u7ca1\">A second WLKY vehicle was kicked and dented by rioters while they were in the vehicle filming looting at a liquor store, according to a tweet from station anchor Julie Dolan.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Another WLKY reporter and photographer team was getting drive-by video of a liquor store looting when the rioters spotted them and attacked the station vehicle kicking dents in it. They drove away before it got too bad. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKYDrew?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WLKYDrew</a></p>— Julie Dolan (@WLKYJulie) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKYJulie/status/1266633104443179008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k46ft\">The station did not immediately respond to requests for additional information or comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
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"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"WLKY"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
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},
{
"title": "WLKY cameraman targeted with flash-bang grenades while covering Louisville protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wlky-cameraman-targeted-with-flash-bang-grenades-while-covering-louisville-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T20:04:58.355833Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:23:31.626115Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:23:31.525283Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"y36hh\">A WLKY news crew was targeted with flash-bang grenades thrown by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"43vel\">Protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor, shot and killed inside her home by Louisville police in March, and the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police on May 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"0z3fx\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Stephon_Dingle/status/1266560921238937606\">post to Twitter</a> at 10:43 p.m., WLKY correspondent Stephon Dingle said that individuals had thrown flash-bang grenades, a nonlethal device typically used by police, at him and his crew. Dingle did not respond to emailed requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"53ph7\">“And just like that a group of protestors threw their own flag bangs and hit our crew who was standing afar as people quickly dispersed,” Dingle wrote.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">And just like that a group of protestors threw their own flag bangs and hit our crew who was standing afar as people quickly dispersed. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/chaos?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#chaos</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BreonnaTaylor?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BreonnaTaylor</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WLKY?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WLKY</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/8xw32Xb5j4\">pic.twitter.com/8xw32Xb5j4</a></p>— Stephon Dingle WLKY (@Stephon_Dingle) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Stephon_Dingle/status/1266560921238937606?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"57ful\">In the Twitter video, two members of the WLKY news crew talk about being struck in the side with the projectiles — and one shows a mark on his body — but it did not identify the men. The Tracker has documented their assaults as Anonymous WLKY 1 and Anonymous WLKY 2.</p><p data-block-key=\"s1002\">At least one other WLKY news crew was also attacked and two WLKY news vehicles were vandalized that night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented all May 29 WLKY incidents <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2020-05-29&date_upper=2020-05-29&targeted_institutions=265\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"t42on\">The Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 3 (WLKY)"
],
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},
{
"title": "New Mexico reporter files suit against sheriff alleging retaliation, intimidation",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-mexico-reporter-files-suit-against-sheriff-alleging-retaliation-intimidation/",
"first_published_at": "2021-06-17T16:07:55.259658Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-12-21T16:34:43.572773Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-12-21T16:34:43.475601Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Española",
"longitude": -106.08058,
"latitude": 35.99113,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3jcvt\">A reporter for a weekly newspaper based in Española, New Mexico, filed a lawsuit against the Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office and Sheriff James Lujan for alleged civil rights violations in retaliation for her reporting on the law enforcement agency in the summer of 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"aisyd\">On May 29, 2019, former Rio Grande Sun reporter Tabitha Clay published a piece about former Deputy Jeremy Barnes tasing a student multiple times in the chest, the outlet <a href=\"http://www.riograndesun.com/news/sun-reporter-files-claim-against-sheriffs-office-for-retaliation/article_1f224d60-eb76-11e9-8c23-5bd3fa5e14a2.html\">reported</a>. Clay told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the piece garnered national attention, which is when the sheriff’s office began retaliating against her.</p><p data-block-key=\"mrmvr\">“Initially I had a great relationship with the Sheriff’s department until I wrote things that they didn’t like,” Clay said. “When the story got picked up in national news and the sheriff’s office got calls from across the country asking what was wrong with them, they got pretty upset with me for that. The sheriff basically said, ‘Look what you did, look what you caused.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"y975q\">According to a suit <a href=\"https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Clay_RioArriba-COMPLAINT.pdf\">filed</a> by the ACLU of New Mexico on Clay’s behalf: In June, Lujan directed department employees to stop providing records or comment to Clay. In July, Lujan told Barnes to order Clay to leave the scene of a car wreck and arrest her if she didn’t. In September, two department vehicles were parked outside of her apartment building in Santa Fe County in an apparent attempt to intimidate her, and deputies refused to allow her into the Rio Arriba County Courthouse in Tierra Amarilla with her reporting materials, including her laptop and camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"y9vdm\">Rio Arriba County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Capt. Lorenzo Aguilar did not respond to multiple calls requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"aw7xu\">“The Sheriff and his minions responded with frightening efforts to silence Ms. Clay, through obstruction and even intimidation. This case arises from those efforts and strikes at the very core of the First Amendment and our freedoms,” the suit says.</p><p data-block-key=\"rdwfu\">The suit also stipulated that as Clay continued to report on the “questionable conduct” of the sheriff’s office, the department changed its official policies on disclosing dispatch logs and what information is contained in them.</p><p data-block-key=\"uxtqb\">“These changes included dispatch logs that had been provided to the Rio Grande SUN every morning for approximately ten years and which had contained significant information related to RASO activities,” the suit alleges. “Following Ms. Clay’s reporting, Defendant Lujan pushed through policy changes to delay providing dispatch logs until after two weeks, and limiting the information provided in the dispatch logs.”</p><p data-block-key=\"m2x72\"><a href=\"http://www.riograndesun.com/news/sun-reporter-files-claim-against-sheriffs-office-for-retaliation/article_1f224d60-eb76-11e9-8c23-5bd3fa5e14a2.html\">According to the SUN</a>, the truncated logs were the subject of a separate legal fight between the newspaper and the New Mexico Department of Public Safety; the state settled and implemented a new records policy in October 2019.</p><p data-block-key=\"iv0lm\">The ACLU filed a tort claim notice — the first step in suing the department — in 2019, and filed a formal suit on May 26, 2021.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkiru\">The suit seeks punitive damages from the Board of County Commissioners for Rio Arriba County, the sheriff’s office, Lujan and Barnes “in connection with their retaliation and intimidation arising from the exercise of [Clay’s] constitutionally protected First Amendment Rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j2omw\">“I ended up leaving my job at the SUN because of this,” Clay told the Tracker. “It was a lot going on, and it didn’t really occur to me how much trauma it caused until we went back through it and did interviews for the brief. This was a lot. This was really scary stuff.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"case_number": "1:21-cv-00591",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "New Mexico",
"abbreviation": "NM"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-05-04 00:00:00+00:00) New Mexico reporter settles lawsuit against sheriff, Sheriff’s Office"
],
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"settled"
],
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"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Law enforcement: Local"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Tabitha Clay (Rio Grande Sun)"
],
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"Change in policy or practice",
"Other"
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},
{
"title": "NBC reporter struck with multiple projectiles while covering Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nbc-reporter-struck-with-multiple-projectiles-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-28T20:46:24.341925Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:24:11.826837Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:24:11.729441Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"w84rl\">NBC and MSNBC reporter Micah Grimes wrote that he was struck by multiple munitions fired by law enforcement while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"lgx5e\">Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"a1n35\">In the early evening, Grimes <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MicahGrimes/status/1266537250998956032\">tweeted</a> that a law enforcement officer deliberately fired a canister of green powder at him, hitting his torso.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">State patrol or national guard aimed and intentionally shot me in side with canister with green powder. I turned back to him, he taunted me like would shoot me again, twice. Clear cheap shot. Video at the end. I’m fine. Had my media badge clearly on chest. <a href=\"https://t.co/Zn4csqC7tD\">https://t.co/Zn4csqC7tD</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/n5076fRbP7\">https://t.co/n5076fRbP7</a></p>— Micah Grimes (@MicahGrimes) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MicahGrimes/status/1266537250998956032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"r46lr\">“I turned back to him, he taunted me like would shoot me again, twice. Clear cheap shot,” Grimes posted. Grimes could not be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"wxd0l\">Neither the Minneapolis Police Department nor Minnesota State Patrol responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"n6ju3\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
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"Assault"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist hit in the head by an object thrown during a protest in Atlanta",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-hit-head-object-thrown-during-protest-atlanta/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-06T15:29:15.317728Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:32:51.924739Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:32:51.841413Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Atlanta",
"longitude": -84.38798,
"latitude": 33.749,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t9a0l\">Freelance photojournalist Cole Howard was left dazed and bloodied after being struck in the head by an object thrown during a protest he was covering in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"0gkbo\">Howard was covering one of the many protests that broke out that day across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"stw56\">In Atlanta, what began as peaceful protests turned violent, with individuals<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-headquarters-atlanta-vandalized-during-protest/\"> vandalizing CNN’s headquarters</a> and setting a police cruiser on fire. “Things are getting heated up. As a police car is lit on fire by protesters and multiple vehicles are smashed up,” Howard <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RedheadNomad/status/1266521731608518665\">tweeted</a> in posting an image of the burning cruiser.</p><p data-block-key=\"qpty2\">Howard told the Tracker that he was documenting the protest at the CNN headquarters downtown, describing the situation as “essentially in riot mode.” Sometime after 8 p.m., as Howard rushed to the front to get photos of police advancing to confront the crowd, he felt “a really heavy, blunt force hit the top of my head,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"vd7cr\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RedheadNomad/status/1266525399326109697\">tweet</a> Howard posted at 8:22 p.m., he wrote, “I got pelted in the head with a stone or something and am bleeding. Despite this intense moment things were actually pretty amicable before.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Chaos ensues in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Atlanta?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Atlanta</a> as business windows are attacked. I got pelted in the head with a stone or something and am bleeding. Despite this intense moment things were actually pretty amicable before. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/protest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#protest</a></p>— Cole Howard (@RedheadNomad) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RedheadNomad/status/1266525399326109697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sqdmp\">Howard told the Tracker he believes he was hit by a rock or other object thrown by a protester at police.</p><p data-block-key=\"3jhhk\">William Bridges, a student at Georgia State University and general manager of the campus multimedia news outlet PRN, <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CA0E0wApTji/\">posted</a> a photo on Instagram of Howard appearing stunned and bloody. Bridges told the Tracker that he observed protesters throwing rocks and other objects before Howard was hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"c281a\">As police continued to advance on the crowd, Howard began running, fearful that if he stayed put he’d be beaten by officers, he said. “Then I heard somebody screaming, ‘Medic!’ and felt warm liquid all over my face,” he said. “That’s when I realized I was bleeding.”</p><p data-block-key=\"jsj0i\">Howard believes he suffered a minor concussion from getting hit in the head, saying he felt “dazed and very off” for the rest of the evening.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tqscb\">Georgia State University student journalist William Bridges documented photojournalist Cole Howard just after he was hit in the head with a thrown object during a May 29, 2020, protest in Atlanta.</p>",
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"name": "Georgia",
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Cole Howard (Freelance)"
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{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist struck by crowd-control munitions during Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-struck-by-crowd-control-munitions-during-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-28T21:00:03.910360Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:24:58.714418Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:24:58.621042Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
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"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"37kdf\">Photojournalist Zach Roberts was pepper sprayed and struck by multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"m10pl\">Protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"rpmtw\">Roberts told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was reporting freelance from Lake Street near the Midtown Light Rail Station at around 8:30 p.m. on the 29th when he was pepper sprayed by Minneapolis police.</p><p data-block-key=\"f30ll\">“I got nailed [with pepper spray] right in the face, and one eye was just gone, there was so much pain,” Roberts said. “A lot of protesters swarmed me and offered me water and milk.”</p><p data-block-key=\"djdyc\">He said that police then started firing rubber bullets “the size of a child’s fist” into the crowd, and one barely missed his head. About 15 minutes later, another ricocheted off a pillar and struck him in the leg, he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"kopng\">“They were not aiming the way that you’re supposed to,” Roberts said, noting that police typically fire rubber rounds to ricochet off the ground into legs or at people’s chests. “They were aiming at head-level.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ax4xa\">About an hour later, Roberts was caught in a cloud of tear gas fired by Minnesota State Patrol troopers. He told the Tracker that he also felt targeted when the troopers began firing rubber bullets.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I just got tear gassed and ricochet hit by a rubber bullet on my leg. These cops are fucking monsters. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForGeorge?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#JusticeForGeorge</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Minneapolisprotests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Minneapolisprotests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/policeriot?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#policeriot</a>. <a href=\"https://t.co/RFglSEwSma\">pic.twitter.com/RFglSEwSma</a></p>— Zach D Roberts (@zdroberts) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/zdroberts/status/1266540495624339456?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 30, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1yims\">“I was hiding behind a bench trying to take photos and I had rubber bullets [coming at me]: I don’t know who they were aiming at other than me, because there was no one around me,” Roberts said.</p><p data-block-key=\"zo8xo\">Neither the Minneapolis Police Department nor Minnesota State Patrol responded to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ixy7t\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"name": "Minnesota",
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"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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{
"title": "Minnesota photographer retrieves camera from fire after looters burn his equipment",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-photographer-retrieves-camera-fire-after-looters-burn-his-equipment/",
"first_published_at": "2020-08-06T20:45:46.917006Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:34:06.128794Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:34:06.038827Z",
"date": "2020-05-28",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"vgcug\">Richard Tsong-Taatarii, a photographer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, was taking photos of looters inside an Arby’s fast food restaurant when they took his camera and threw it into a fire, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"ggpf2\">Tsong-Taatarii was photographing protests following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement are continuing to take place across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"ljhse\">Tsong-Tataarii was covering protests in St. Paul, Minnesota, on May 28 when he was sent to the Third Precinct in Minneapolis. In the days prior, the Third Precinct and the surrounding area had been the site of major protests and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-permanently-blinded-others-assaulted-during-minneapolis-protests/\">multiple incidents of violence</a> perpetrated against the press by police and members of the public.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsyfv\">When Tsong-Tataarii arrived, he said he covered the main scene of protests before he spotted a group of people plotting to loot and burn the Arby’s restaurant across the street from the Third Precinct police station. He described this group as “violent anarchists” in a phone interview with CPJ.</p><p data-block-key=\"egrey\">“One of the efforts I tried to make was to cover the diversity of violence,” Tsong-Taatarii said. “There’s a stereotypical perception of, ‘why are these people ‘burning down their own community?’ I saw that the group was diverse; majority white, but a couple of black gentlemen, a couple of people of mixed backgrounds. I photographed them outside the Arby’s and followed them into the Arby’s hoping to mix in there and document it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fs8zh\">He later uploaded <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10157285535727828&set=pcb.10157285557862828\">his images</a> to Facebook.</p><p data-block-key=\"kyx6k\">Tsong-Taatarii was taking photos of a man tagging a wall with “BLM,” short for Black Lives Matter, when the man turned and asked Tsong-Taatarii, “Why are you photographing a crime?”</p><p data-block-key=\"ampu4\">Tsong-Taatarii said he started negotiating with the man and offered to give him one of his two cameras — the camera he did not use to photograph him. Instead, the man wanted his small Leica, the camera Tsong-Taatarii used to take his photo. While they were talking, Tsong-Taatarii slipped the Leica lens and card into his pocket, preserving his photos.</p><p data-block-key=\"wcbyo\">Tsong-Taatarii said that he was wearing his press badge but refrained from identifying himself as press.</p><p data-block-key=\"p8rh2\">“I just said, ‘I love photography and I love documenting history and this is history,’ which is all true,” he said. “I knew that if I said I was a member of the press, that would be the end of the negotiating. I felt like I had the right not to tell him.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sk4q6\">“At some point the negotiating stopped and one of the fellas said, ‘It’s not worth losing your life over your gear,’” Tsong-Taatarii continued. “I understood what they meant, because they were going to burn this place down and if they knocked me unconscious, I’d be laying down there. People might never find me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"30uw3\">Tsong-Taatarii gave the man his Leica, which the man threw into a fire next to a street barricade. Shortly after, Tsong-Taatarii ran into the fire and retrieved his camera. While the camera was damaged, the leather case it was stored in took most of the heat, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"l8htj\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"j4xx6\">Onlookers watch as an Arby's fast food restaurant burns near the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct on May 28, 2020.</p>",
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],
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