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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with crowd-control munition during Denver protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-with-crowd-control-munition-during-denver-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T17:52:08.221028Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:20:28.743699Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:20:28.650488Z",
"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=\"3siuk\">Taylor Schuss, a photojournalist with Denver NBC affiliate 9News KUSA, was struck with a pepper ball fired by Denver police while covering protests in the Colorado city on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"o0n7n\">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=\"pwz65\">That evening, police fired a pepper ball that hit Schuss on the ankle, according to Tim Ryan, director of content at 9News KUSA, who summarized the incident in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"98qw1\">Ryan wrote that Schuss and the reporter he was with, Steve Staeger, “don’t believe they were targeted as journalists but rather happened to be in a group of protesters who were targeted.”</p><p data-block-key=\"woa3c\">Staeger later tweeted about the incident, also adding that an individual had sprayed Schuss’ camera lens with some substance while they were covering the demonstrations.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I watched <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Taylor_TVnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Taylor_TVnews</a> take a pepper ball shot into his ankle by police and have a protestor spray his camera lens with something, all while we both endured about 5 or 6 rounds of tear gas tonight during coverage tonight. Yet through it all he stayed focused.</p>— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SteveStaeger/status/1266625470541463552?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=\"eut79\">Schuss did not reply to an interview request sent via Twitter message.</p><p data-block-key=\"yko6n\">Requests for comment on this incident sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"nly5i\">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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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Taylor Schuss (KUSA)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Unknown individual pepper sprays CBS4 Denver news crew",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unknown-individual-pepper-sprays-cbs4-denver-news-crew/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T18:06:03.480220Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:20:56.084669Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:20:55.987765Z",
"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=\"oljpi\">An unknown man sprayed pepper spray at 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=\"teobe\">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=\"qqp5f\">Photojournalist Rob McClure and reporter Jamie Leary 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=\"k5w75\">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=\"hnx9t\">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=\"1viqj\">The Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/protestor-pepper-sprays-cbs4-denver-another-news-crew/\">documented Leary’s assault here</a>. McClure’s camera was lightly sprayed, but was not damaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"jeayq\">The identity of the other camera crew attacked was not immediately available.</p><p data-block-key=\"yieki\">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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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Rob McClure (KCNC-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "AP reporter struck with projectile during Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/ap-reporter-struck-with-projectile-during-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-28T21:04:02.516110Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:25:23.652890Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:25:23.570586Z",
"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=\"9nkoy\">Associated Press photojournalist John Minchillo posted on social media that he was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"simmu\">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=\"qxkqh\">Two days after the incident, Minchillo <a href=\"https://twitter.com/johnminchillo/status/1267116569223725059\">posted on Twitter</a> that he was also struck by a less-lethal projectile while reporting that day, and said that police had fired indiscriminately.</p><p data-block-key=\"tzmta\">“No distinctions were made... when I and my colleagues were hit by officers,” Minchillo wrote. “This is a protocol that I’ve not seen elsewhere.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">No distinctions were made two nights back when I and my colleagues were hit by officers. Last night was full force in a wide spread. This is a protocol than I’ve not seen elsewhere. Lone officers do sometimes act so, not entire units. No discretion, just total area denial.</p>— john minchillo (@johnminchillo) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/johnminchillo/status/1267116569223725059?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"id416\">Minchillo could not be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"qz9u6\">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",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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{
"title": "WCCO journalist hit by projectile while covering protests in Minneapolis",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wcco-journalist-hit-projectile-while-covering-protests-minneapolis/",
"first_published_at": "2020-09-15T21:07:11.102856Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:32:25.930356Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:32:25.851759Z",
"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=\"vjav4\">Jeff Wagner, a reporter and anchor for WCCO, a CBS affiliate station based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was livestreaming protest coverage as he was hit by a police projectile on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"86zbh\">The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"3j0kx\">Wagner was covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis on May 29. The night before, protesters overran and set fire to the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct. But the focus on the 29th had shifted to the Fifth Precinct.</p><p data-block-key=\"fvqyx\">In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=545070406162328&ref=watch_permalink\">livestream</a> video filmed by Wagner, the Minnesota State Patrol can be heard over loudspeaker just before 11:30 p.m. ordering people to disperse immediately. About 10 minutes after Wagner filmed the loudspeaker warning, he was hit by a police projectile.</p><p data-block-key=\"z5cuu\">Wagner did not respond to requests for comment, and a message left on the WCCO general line was not answered.</p><p data-block-key=\"vzxk1\">In the livestream, Wagner reports that State Patrol troopers were advancing north on Nicollet Avenue, shooting projectiles at protesters who’d been throwing objects and launching fireworks at the police. He stands separate from the action in a mostly empty parking lot on the side of the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"fym5n\">A lone officer can be seen stepping into the parking lot and appears to hit one individual trying to retrieve a bike. Wagner asks if the person is all right, just as he, too, is hit. Wagner grunts as his phone tumbles to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"8cz05\">Wagner says in the livestream that he is all right despite the projectile feeling like the “the hardest punch to my forearm I’ve ever had.” But he says he recognized the risk of reporting close to the action.</p><p data-block-key=\"lplwf\">“I had my hand up. I got my news badge,” Wagner says as he flashes the badge on the video. “It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter in that moment. I looked like anybody else.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ja5me\">The livestream video does not clearly show the officer who shot the projectile at Wagner. Protesters, journalists and even law enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a <a href=\"https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ooc/news-releases/Pages/multi-agency-command-center-report-on-civil-unrest.aspx\">dozen</a> agencies joined the law enforcement effort in Minnesota in late May, often wearing similar-looking uniforms.</p><p data-block-key=\"yj07x\">The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to the Tracker’s emailed list of questions.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6pgx\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-reporter-hit-projectile-tear-gassed-during-live-coverage-minneapolis-protest/\">Several</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-european-outlets-hit-projectiles-during-minneapolis-protest/\">other journalists</a> were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-hit-by-police-projectiles-in-minneapolis-fifth-precinct/\">hit</a> by police projectiles and tear gas fired by either State Patrol or Minneapolis Police that evening, as documented by the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"g9vo0\">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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{
"title": "TV station evacuated, windows smashed amid protests in Louisville",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-station-evacuated-windows-smashed-amid-protests-louisville/",
"first_published_at": "2020-08-25T21:32:55.366401Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:32:08.048500Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:32:07.950413Z",
"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=\"qrijd\">The staff of television station WHAS 11 was forced to briefly evacuate the station’s offices in Louisville, Kentucky, after the building’s windows were smashed during a protest on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"myrqf\">The protest was held in response to the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot dead by police on March 13, as well as the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May.</p><p data-block-key=\"qh75a\">Shortly after 11 p.m. on May 29, a WHAS producer posted on Twitter that he and other staff members were back on the air after having to evacuate the downtown building for 25 minutes when unidentified people started smashing windows.</p><p data-block-key=\"1ggbq\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BreakingNews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BreakingNews</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WHAS11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WHAS11</a> crew forced to evacuate building for about 25 minutes after protesters starting smashing our windows. We're back on air now. We are SAFE and we are SECURE. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Louisville?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Louisville</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BreonnaTaylor?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BreonnaTaylor</a></p>— Stephen A. Ostrosky (@producer_steve) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/producer_steve/status/1266566387373420545?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=\"gime6\">A news reporter from the station also described having to evacuate the building and said everyone returned safe and unharmed.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WHAS11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WHAS11</a> crew was forced to evacuate the building after some protesters smashed our windows. Thankfully everyone is safe and all is well. Please stay safe <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Louisville?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Louisville</a></p>— Senait Gebregiorgis (@SenaitTV) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SenaitTV/status/1266570203292409856?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=\"jexob\">At around 11:30 p.m., a journalist from the nearby Courier-Jourier saw broken window panes and graffiti spray painted on the network’s building, the newspaper <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/metro-government/2020/05/28/breonna-taylor-shooting-what-know-louisville-protest/5280762002/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"zmrx9\">Doug Proffitt, an anchor on WHAS 11, <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=756299548476021\">reported</a> on air later that night that a group of protesters had come down Chestnut Street towards the station’s building and that “it was a frightening situation.” He also said WHAS staff had suffered effects from tear gas that entered the building, but didn’t elaborate.</p><p data-block-key=\"vjwz7\">The network didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"89ici\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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{
"title": "Journalist says police fired pepper balls at him while he stood alone covering Denver protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-says-police-fired-pepper-balls-him-while-he-stood-alone-covering-denver-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-08-18T18:32:54.838836Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:31:39.909305Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:31:39.815308Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
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"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"shfdf\">Reporter and photographer Kevin Beaty says that police officers tried to pelt him with pepper balls while he was covering protests in Denver on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"7mjda\">The protests erupted in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"iqctr\">Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held in cities across the U.S. since late May.</p><p data-block-key=\"eiglm\">Another Black man, Elijah McClain, died in August 2019 after a fateful encounter with police in Aurora, Colorado, which is in the Denver metro area. McClain’s name has been invoked in signs and chants at protests sparked by Floyd’s death.</p><p data-block-key=\"iqeez\">Beaty told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was standing alone on the lawn of the Colorado State Capitol while covering the May 29 protests for Denverite when a truck carrying Denver Police Department officers wielding pepper ball launchers arrived and began firing off rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"hpyzr\">Beaty said he didn’t take direct hits, but he heard rounds make contact with his backpack.</p><p data-block-key=\"6bf2g\">“Even the smallest bit of powder getting into your respiratory system will make you sneeze or cough,” Beaty said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tev5\">Beaty said that in addition to using pepper balls, Denver police were also hitting protesters with tear gas throughout the day and that he had taken some himself.</p><p data-block-key=\"ytaaz\">He did not seek medical attention following the May 29 protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"m9xr1\">Later that night, Beaty <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KevinJBeaty/status/1266565780671348736?s=20\">tweeted</a> that Denver Mayor Michael Hancock told him earlier that day that police would not target bystanders to the protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"rb6qm\">“Why, then, did I just get shot while standing alone on the Capitol grass taking photos?” he said in the tweet.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/DenverPolice?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@DenverPolice</a> the mayor told me this morning bystanders are not the intended target of this enforcement. Why, then, did I just get shot while standing alone on the Capitol grass taking photos?</p>— Kevin Beaty (@KevinJBeaty) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KevinJBeaty/status/1266565780671348736?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=\"f2kcn\">The Denver Police Internal Affairs Bureau contacted Beaty after he tweeted about the incident, Beaty told the Tracker. He filed a report with the office, but said he has not been contacted since.</p><p data-block-key=\"baexf\">A spokesman for the Denver Police Department declined to comment on Beaty’s case.</p><p data-block-key=\"ykt90\">“An internal affairs investigation into this incident is underway and it would be inappropriate for the department to comment at this time,” spokesman Jay Casillas said in an email.</p><p data-block-key=\"hetmw\">Denver has seen numerous demonstrations since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017, Beaty said. But the protests that broke out in the days following Floyd’s death were “some of the wildest I’ve ever seen.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xx6io\">“It was pretty bananas for the first few days,” Beaty said.</p><p data-block-key=\"qpvek\">In the months since, Beaty said that he has seen protesters in Aurora carrying firearms. He also noted that there have been a number of shootings during area demonstrations. In July, a 23-year-old man allegedly opened fire at a Jeep that attempted to drive through a group protesting McClain’s death while marching on Interstate 225 in Aurora.</p><p data-block-key=\"s1w2n\">Two protesters were struck with bullets during the shooting, <a href=\"https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/07/28/samuel-young-aurora-mugshot-shooting-jeep-elijah-mcclain-protest/\">according to CBS4 Denver</a>. Samuel Young, the accused shooter, is charged with four counts of attempted murder.</p><p data-block-key=\"une2t\">“In the last month, things have gotten more worrisome from a safety perspective,” Beaty said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2lo0s\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "Colorado",
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"tags": [
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"shot / shot at"
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{
"title": "May: While reporting from protests across the nation, journalists tear gassed, threatened and harassed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/while-reporting-protests-across-nation-journalists-tear-gassed-threatened/",
"first_published_at": "2020-08-13T20:07:48.595261Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-19T15:51:08.802402Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-19T15:51:08.516472Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
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"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ich7h\"><i>George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, ignited a sweeping assembly of protesters across the United States — and the globe — in a staggering, monthslong outcry for police reform and racial justice. In many moments peaceful, in many others bracingly violent, journalists of all stripes took to documenting these demonstrations. At times, to do the job meant to expose oneself to the effects of riot-control agents, to face harassment from individuals or law enforcement officials, to fear for your safety or have your reporting interrupted. Below is a geographically-organized roundup of such examples from around the U.S. in May.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"d8ytd\"><i>A full accounting of incidents in which members of the press were assaulted, arrested or had their equipment damaged while covering these protests can be found</i> <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"><i>here</i></a><i>. To learn more about how the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\"><i>pressfreedomtracker.us</i></a><i>.</i></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"bde04\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h3 data-block-key=\"cke9z\">May 29, 2020</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"y9hr9\">In Oakland, California</h4></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media right\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39L3A.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"551\" alt=\"REUTERS/Stephen Lam\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"a3anx\">In Oakland, California, on May 29, 2020, a demonstrator kicks a canister of tear gas.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — REUTERS/Stephen Lam\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"e7ogy\"><b>Mario Koran</b>, West Coast reporter for the Guardian, had been covering an escalating scene downtown that evening. Around 8:45 p.m., he noted on Twitter: “Crowd size and energy w some ebb and flow but to note that so far assembly almost entirely peaceful.” A little after 9, he reported, “That's changed. Flash grenades poppin off. Crowd throwing items at cops. Also fireworks.” Half an hour later, he noted: “Police have fired tear gas into crowd, sending people running,” and, “Many people clutching their eyes, nose running, one man bent over vomiting. Literally hard to breath.” At around 10:15, he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarioKoran/status/1266599318955257856\">tweeted</a>: “My face and lungs are burning. My nose is running. I'm going home. -30-” Koran continued to tweet and share images and videos of looting and destruction. In one of his final messages of the night, he noted: “I was struck by the kindness almost all protestors showed each other tonight, apologizing when they bumped into you, offering you water to rinse tear gas from your eyes. It was unexpectedly touching.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Many people clutching their eyes, nose running, one man bent over vomiting. Literally hard to breath</p>— Mario Koran (@MarioKoran) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MarioKoran/status/1266589018885517313?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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"clhqy\"><b>Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez</b>, a reporter/producer for KQED, a public radio and television outfit based in San Francisco, was also in downtown Oakland that evening. At around 11:30 p.m. he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FitzTheReporter/status/1266618674862911493\">tweeted</a>, “not my most dignified moment. but hey, thanks random demonstrator for the baking soda and water,” and shared a video in which the journalist can be heard coughing, spewing a lone profanity and at one point asking, “Does anyone have milk?”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">not my most dignified moment<br><br>but hey, thanks random demonstrator for the baking soda and water<a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/oaklandprotests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#oaklandprotests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeorgeFloydprotest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GeorgeFloydprotest</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/eitXljHuYn\">pic.twitter.com/eitXljHuYn</a></p>— Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez (@FitzTheReporter) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FitzTheReporter/status/1266618674862911493?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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"h47rk\"><b>Doug Sovern</b>, a political reporter for KCBS Radio, based in San Francisco, was also covering protests in downtown Oakland. In a <a href=\"https://kcbsradio.radio.com/media/audio-channel/oakland-protests-turn-violent-cops-disperse-tear-gas\">report that aired the following day</a>, Sovern said, “When protesters started setting off fireworks and throwing bottles at cops, police responded with tear gas and many in the crowd fled in panic. I got gassed, as did many other media.” He’d <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SovernNation/status/1266592079947239432\">relayed a similar account</a> at around 9:45 p.m. on May 29 on Twitter, saying, “Breaking: #Oakland police fire tear gas at #GeorgeFloyd protesters after series of small explosions. Crowd runs. I got gassed, as did many other media. Not fun. Burning eyes, hacking cough. Been at least 17 years since I managed not to avoid the gas at a protest,” and sharing a shaky video where loud noises, reported as flash-bangs, can be heard and a smoky haze looms in the distance. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/sovernnation/status/1266629484960047104\">tweet</a> sent just after midnight, Sovern reported: “Not one person in the #GeorgeFloyd protest crowd tonight in #Oakland was hostile to me in any way. No one refused an interview or a photo, no one swore at me, and several came to my aid after I got tear gassed.” The next morning, he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SovernNation/status/1266758297576599553\">added</a>: “It was a really rough night for a lot of the media working bravely to do their best to cover a chaotic situation. Some got hit with rubber bullets. Many of us got gassed. And some good people were plain ripped off.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Breaking: <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Oakland?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Oakland</a> police fire tear gas at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeorgeFloyd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GeorgeFloyd</a> protesters after series of small explosions. Crowd runs. I got gassed, as did many other media. Not fun. Burning eyes, hacking cough. Been at least 17 years since I managed not to avoid the gas at a protest <a href=\"https://t.co/T1a0Aizkch\">pic.twitter.com/T1a0Aizkch</a></p>— SovernNation (@SovernNation) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SovernNation/status/1266592079947239432?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\"><h4 data-block-key=\"abe08\">In San Jose, California</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"kzuy3\"><b>Scott Budman</b>, a reporter for NBC Bay Area, was covering protests downtown that evening. A little after 8 p.m., he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scottbudman/status/1266566233043791872\">tweeted</a>: “OK. Just got tear gassed for the first time in my career. Time to go.” Budman also spoke about the tear-gassing briefly in a June 6 podcast he co-hosts for the Silicon Valley Business Journal, <a href=\"https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2020/06/06/podcast-silicon-insider-54.html\">The Silicon Insider</a>.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">OK. Just got tear gassed for the first time in my career.<br><br>Time to go. <a href=\"https://t.co/0iLniP8YLf\">pic.twitter.com/0iLniP8YLf</a></p>— scott budman (@scottbudman) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scottbudman/status/1266566233043791872?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\"><h4 data-block-key=\"iz9of\">In Louisville, Kentucky</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"mr1ky\"><b>Sara Sidery</b>, a reporter for Fox-affiliate WDRB News, was covering protests downtown that afternoon. Sidery tweeted that moments before she was going live, police deployed tear gas without warning. “I got separated and ran out of instinct. I couldn’t breathe or see,” Sidery wrote. She received aid from some protesters, who poured baking soda solution into her eyes.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Shortly before going live, police threw tear gas w/o warning. I got separated and ran out of instinct. I couldn’t breathe or see. A group of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Louisvilleprotest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Louisvilleprotest</a> protesters stopped to help me and poured baking soda solution in my eyes so I could see again. Thank you. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WDRBNews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WDRBNews</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/PNDQwzQF6B\">pic.twitter.com/PNDQwzQF6B</a></p>— Sara Sidery (@SaraSideryWDRB) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SaraSideryWDRB/status/1266885032150536199?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"g6tqz\">In Atlanta, Georgia</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"fosav\"><b>Julieta Martinelli</b>, a reporter and producer for LatinoUSA, was covering protests downton and in front of the CNN Center. According to a series of tweets Martinelli posted on Twitter, she was recording on the front line of the protest where a few dozen protestors were facing off with police in riot gear. “Cops came from 3 directions & closed around us in [the] intersection,” Martinellie wrote, adding that the officers tear gassed and maced the crowd. “I’ve never felt anything like that before,” Martinelli said in a video. “Imagine the worst panic attack you’ve ever had times ten. That’s the only way I can describe it.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hi, just checking in. I was recording in the front line where just a few dozen protestors stood arms locked in front of police with riot gear. They were chanting but not violent. Cops came from 3 directions & closed around us in intersection. threw tear gas & maze. <a href=\"https://t.co/E1cSlQWIrN\">pic.twitter.com/E1cSlQWIrN</a></p>— Julieta Martinelli (@ItsJMartinelli) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ItsJMartinelli/status/1266571256922505217?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=\"9hsfk\"></p><hr/><h3 data-block-key=\"y65o6\">May 30, 2020</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"f1dq9\"><b>In Seattle, Washington</b></h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"bwb8x\"><b>Nathalie Graham,</b> a staff writer at the Stranger, a biweekly alternative newspaper in Seattle, had been covering protests in the city late in the afternoon. A little after 4 p.m., she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gramsofgnats/status/1266868429211852801\">noted on Twitter</a>: “Plumes of tear gas on Pine near Westlake #SeattleProtest.” The ACLU announced on June 9 that it had filed an emergency lawsuit against the city on behalf of Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County and several individuals, arguing that “the use of chemical agents and projectiles for crowd control violate the First and Fourth Amendments.” Graham was among the plaintiffs. In her <a href=\"https://www.aclu-wa.org/docs/graham-declaration\">declaration</a>, she relayed the following: “The scene when I arrived [at Westlake Park in downtown Seattle] was clouded by gas, with protesters scattering and sprinting away. The atmosphere was tense and frightening. I immediately felt the effects of the gas and began coughing. My eyes stung and watered. Although there did not appear to be any risk of violence from the crowd, law enforcement continued to fire flash bangs and tear gas, increasing the chaos. I took video footage of these protests and the violence that ensued. I was determined to continue reporting, so I began roving around the Westlake area, observing the scene. As I approached the corner of 6th and Stewart, I saw a group of protesters peacefully kneeling in the intersection as a speaker addressed them. I stood on the sidewalk nearby and listened to the speaker for a while, but then I heard an explosion from down the street. I turned and moved partway down the block to see what was happening, and then watched as a police line advanced down the street towards me, with other demonstrators fleeing in front of them. They deployed tear gas, which filled the street like plumes of smoke. It was not clear to me that the people fleeing the approaching police line and tear gas had done anything to provoke such an aggressive response. The protesters kneeling in the intersection, who were also impacted by the tear gas, had been completely peaceful. I did not see what happened next, but given the amount of gas in the air, I imagine that the kneeling protesters would have been forced to scatter. I wanted to continue to document the situation, but the gas reached me seconds later, and I had to leave. Its effects were so powerful, so painful, and so alarming that I was physically unable to remain in the intersection. As a result, I was unable to continue reporting on that incident. Shortly afterward, on E. Pine St, I saw a truck playing music, as protesters danced around it. It was an uplifting, joyful scene that contrasted with the warlike chaos of the panicked demonstrators and tear gas in other areas of the neighborhood. I paused to observe and record a video, when law enforcement threw a flash bang grenade into the crowd without warning. They deployed tear gas seconds later. The dancing protesters at first scattered, but then coalesced back into a group. Law enforcement pushed them back and continued to deploy tear gas and flash bangs. I was shocked and frightened by the consistently unprovoked, aggressive use of force by law enforcement officers on multiple different groups of peaceful protesters. I saw no evidence that any of these severe crowd-dispersal tactics were warranted, and there was never any warning before they were deployed. At this point, I decided to leave the area, because I feared for my safety. There was tear gas everywhere, flash bang grenades exploding in the street, and I was anxious that the police would further escalate their tactics. I decided that reporting on the situation was no longer worth the pain of enduring tear gas and the risk of suffering violence at the hands of law enforcement.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Plumes of tear gas on Pine near Westlake <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/SeattleProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#SeattleProtest</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/z2Pl7EtRF1\">pic.twitter.com/z2Pl7EtRF1</a></p>— nathalie graham (@gramsofgnats) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gramsofgnats/status/1266868429211852801?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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"jtqeg\"><b>Brandi Kruse</b>, who hosts a weekly politics show called the Divide on Q13Fox, was live-tweeting protests in the city throughout the afternoon. At around 4:15, she <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrandiKruse/status/1266871105186193408\">tweeted</a>: “Rioter took A-15 out of @SeattlePD SUV and started firing it into vehicles. No one hurt that we know of.” Around 5:30, she reported: “As I explained on air, our security guard felt that the public was in danger. He took the AR 15 from the rioter and disabled it. We called 911 and waited to hand it over and continue our reporting. Protesters surrounded us, calling us police. I repeated over and over I was press. One protester told me to leave the area because I would not be safe there. That’s behind us, reporting continues on Q13FOX.” Fox News <a href=\"https://www.foxnews.com/us/seattle-security-guard-ar-15-rifle-rioter-stolen-smashed-police-cruiser\">reported on</a> the security guard’s actions and threats faced by the journalists.<br/>On June 18, the Seattle Police Department issued subpoenas to five area news outlets, requesting all video footage and photographs taken on May 30 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. within a four-block radius. The Tracker has documented that case, and its evolution, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/seattle-police-department-subpoenas-five-news-outlets-protest-photos-videos/\">here</a>.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As I explained on air, our security guard felt that the public was in danger. He took the AR 15 from the rioter and disabled it. We called 911 and waited to hand it over and continue our reporting. Protesters surrounded us, calling us police. (1/2) <a href=\"https://t.co/q9jypdxfco\">https://t.co/q9jypdxfco</a></p>— Brandi Kruse (@BrandiKruse) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/BrandiKruse/status/1266889752466227200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"gip14\">In Beverly Hills, California</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"5s85c\"><b>Carlos Granda</b>, a reporter for ABC7 News, and his news crew were caught in tear gas as protests advanced down Rodeo Drive near the intersection with Santa Monica Boulevard. “We’re being hit by tear gas,” Granda can be heard saying during a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GMA/status/1266934049098121216\">live broadcast</a>. “I’ve got to stop, because I can’t even keep my eyes open.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">"We're getting hit by tear gas!" Live coverage from field reporters from <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ABC7?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ABC7</a> in Los Angeles as protests rage through the luxury stores of Rodeo Drive.<br><br>LIVE UPATES: <a href=\"https://t.co/xJQvixJr2S\">https://t.co/xJQvixJr2S</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/xw9ZO9yFYN\">pic.twitter.com/xw9ZO9yFYN</a></p>— Good Morning America (@GMA) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GMA/status/1266934049098121216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"xp6na\">In Reno, Nevada</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"0pnsz\">This Is Reno, an online news site, reported in a <a href=\"https://thisisreno.com/2020/05/riots-in-reno-after-peaceful-black-lives-matter-demonstration-videos-and-photos/\">multi-bylined piece</a> that, while covering protests in downtown Reno, “multiple members of the news media, including <b>News 4</b>,<b> KTVN</b>, <b>This Is Reno</b>, <b>KUNR Reno Public Radio</b> and <b>The Nevada Sagebrush</b> were tear gassed.” Lucia Starbuck, a reporter for KUNR and one of the journalists bylined on the This Is Reno piece, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/luciastarbuck/status/1266916902464413696\">noted</a> the presence of tear gas in a tweet sent around 7:20 that evening. Don Dike-Anukam, a political reporter for This Is Reno, was also assaulted by individuals while reporting that day, a case the Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-while-covering-protests-reno/\">here</a>.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/ThisIsReno?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ThisIsReno</a> reporter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dondikeanukam?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@dondikeanukam</a> got beat up. Tear gas released and the crowd scattered <a href=\"https://t.co/YxTTezxTgS\">pic.twitter.com/YxTTezxTgS</a></p>— Lucia Starbuck (@luciastarbuck) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/luciastarbuck/status/1266916902464413696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"x8fw3\">In Las Vegas, Nevada</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"axc6m\">Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter <b>Rio Lacanlale</b> and photographer <b>Kevin Cannon</b> had been covering demonstrations downtown, and as the evening wore on, documenting protesters as they moved within blocks of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department headquarters. Cannon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he’d set up on a balcony adjacent to Fremont Street East and across the street from the Downtown Container Park to livestream. The location, he said, had placed him away from the crowd for much of the evening. At around 9:35 p.m., Lacanlale, who wouldn’t pair up with Cannon for another couple of hours, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/riolacanlale/status/1266951119785177088\">tweeted</a> that the crowd had reached between 800 and 1,000 people at its peak. Just after 10, she reported that SWAT had arrived, and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/riolacanlale/status/1266960528812814337\">that</a> she was “hearing what sounds like flash bangs from a distance” <a href=\"https://twitter.com/riolacanlale/status/1266968335305990144\">and</a> “seeing a lot of protestors helping one another, spraying water into each other’s eyes, after tear gas was deployed near 6th St.” Cannon, who’d continued to livestream from his balcony perch during this time, told the Tracker: “I wasn't targeted with tear gas. Law enforcement didn’t know I was up there. I didn’t even look like a journalist because all I had was my phone.” At around 11:15, Lacanlale, who’d joined up with Cannon at this point, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/riolacanlale/status/1266976276968992768\">tweeted</a>, “While standing on the sidewalk, Metro officers began shooting pepper bullets at us.” (She later noted that she’d not been hit.) “Nearly all the protesters had left,” Cannon told the Tracker. “There was no tear gas. We were nearly a block away. I don’t think they knew we were journalists. Rio has no gear. I only had my phone. I did have my credentials on my belt, but there was no way they could see that far in the dark.” The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, Lacanlale and the Las Vegas Review-Journal did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Paired up with <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kmcannonphoto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kmcannonphoto</a> now. While standing on the sidewalk, Metro officers began shooting pepper bullets at us.</p>— Rio Lacanlale (@riolacanlale) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/riolacanlale/status/1266976276968992768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"rqfn2\">In Kansas City, Missouri</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"013hl\">A KSHB 41 Action News crew that included reporter <b>McKenzie Nelson</b>, photographer <b>Darius Smith</b>, and field producer <b>Scott Winkler</b>, was caught in tear gas deployed just before midnight. "We had to move. We are okay," Nelson <a href=\"https://twitter.com/McKenzieMNelson/status/1266957797268357120\">wrote</a> in a post to Twitter.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">My photographer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/iamDSMITH86?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@iamDSMITH86</a>, field producer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ScottWinkler41?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ScottWinkler41</a> and I have been hit by tear gas. We had to move. We are okay. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/41actionnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@41actionnews</a></p>— McKenzie Nelson (@McKenzieMNelson) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/McKenzieMNelson/status/1266957797268357120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"g1z3g\">In Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"omwjj\">Minneapolis police officers deployed flash-bangs in the direction of NBC News correspondent <b>Morgan Chesky and his crew</b>, who were reporting live on MSNBC at 8:45 p.m., according to an MSNBC video of the incident. According to a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/mchesky/videos/10105799322373615\">video</a> posted to Chesky’s Facebook page, city and state police pushed protesters away from the Fifth Precinct police headquarters to enforce an 8 p.m curfew. In the MSNBC video, Chesky reports in a gas mask a block away from Nicollet Avenue as state police continue to advance through clouds of smoke and tear gas. Minneapolis police appear from the other side of the block and yell, “Move!” Chesky and crew begin to retreat north through a bank parking lot. “We’re moving back,” Chesky says in the video. “We’re gonna give them all the space they need right now.” The video shows Chesky with what appears to be a group of other journalists and scattered protesters moving northwest through the parking lot as Minneapolis police trail behind. Someone yells, “Don’t shoot!” shortly before an officer fires a projectile launcher at an unseen target. Several loud bangs can be heard, including from a flash-bang that appears to go off just feet away from Chesky. “Let’s go. Let’s go,” Chesky says in the video as the group reaches a barrier at the far end of the parking lot. Someone repeatedly says, “Press, press,” to the police, who are now standing a few feet away. The journalists climb over the barrier and continue to report while retreating from the advancing police. “They are not hesitating to use tear gas, flash-bangs, whatever they need to do, to keep these crowds moving,” Chesky reports in the video. Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson John Elder declined to comment, citing unspecified pending litigation. The incident involving Chesky and his crew is mentioned in a <a href=\"https://www.aclu-mn.org/en/press-releases/aclu-mn-sues-law-enforcement-over-attacks-journalists-covering-george-floyd-protests\">lawsuit</a> seeking class-action status filed by the ACLU of Minnesota on June 2 against Minneapolis and state officials concerning the treatment of journalists covering the Floyd protests. Chesky is not a listed plaintiff in the case. “Our crew was shaken, but safe,” Chesky posted on <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/mchesky/videos/10105799322373615\">Facebook</a> after the incident. “And now, it’s back to work.”</li><li data-block-key=\"4q3h1\"><b>Chao Xiong,</b> a Star Tribune reporter who’d been covering protests near the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct that evening, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChaoStrib/status/1266959110265856000\">tweeted</a> a little after midnight: “I’m with @ByLizSawyer and 2 Kurdish journalists and 1 Japanese journalist near 5th precinct. Cops told us to go home. When we said we were press one said ‘Your cards are bullshit’ #GeorgeFloyd.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I'm with <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ByLizSawyer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@ByLizSawyer</a> and 2 Kurdish journalists and 1 Japanese journalist near 5th precinct. Cops told us to go home. When we said we were press one said "Your cards are bullshit" <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeorgeFloyd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GeorgeFloyd</a></p>— Chao Xiong (@ChaoStrib) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChaoStrib/status/1266959110265856000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"47nfa\"><b>Mara Klecker</b>, a fellow Star Tribune reporter, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaraKlecker/status/1266963871861964800\">shared a similar experience on Twitter</a> about 20 minutes later: “St. Paul Police also told media to go home tonight. I showed my press badge and was told ‘doesn’t matter.’” She added in a thread a few minutes later: “Let me add that all my interactions with St. Paul police tonight were civil. Clear directions, polite tone. I also wasn’t in any tense situations once the protesters were diverted from crossing the Lake St. bridge.” Later that morning, around 9:30, Klecker shared a direct message sent by the St. Paul Police Department: “Hi Mara. We saw your tweet about the police officer you say told you to go home. That doesn’t sound like something we see from a SPPD officer because we work hard to protect freedom of the press. But in the throes of such a dynamic situation, it’s possible one of our officers had a momentary lapse. It also may be possible that the officer was from another agency. There were a lot of agencies involved last night. Either way, we’d love to learn more so we can see if there’s a gap in our training or at the very least talk to the officer so we can remind him about our values and protocols. Would you mind giving one of our PIOs a call this week?” Klecker’s reaction to the message, which she shared on Twitter, was, “Very nice to wake up to this message this morning. Saint Paul police PIOs (public information officers) also helped media get permission to get through road blocks to get where we needed to be last night.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">St. Paul Police also told media to go home tonight. I showed my press badge and was told “doesn’t matter” <a href=\"https://t.co/FRx06R6G0M\">https://t.co/FRx06R6G0M</a></p>— Mara Klecker (@MaraKlecker) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MaraKlecker/status/1266963871861964800?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"1r9fr\"><b>Hossein Fatemi</b>, a freelance photojournalist, shared a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hosseinfatemii/status/1266919473111588865\">video</a> on Twitter around 9:30 p.m. in which munitions fire can be heard and a smoky haze can be seen in the background.<br/>In an interview with BBC Persian the following day, Fatemi shared another <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bbcpersian/status/1267162285442826241\">video</a>, of individuals helping to rinse out his eyes following the release of a chemical irritant. In an interview with BBC Persian the following day, Fatemi shared another <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bbcpersian/status/1267162285442826241\">video</a>, of individuals helping to rinse out his eyes following the release of a chemical irritant.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"fa\" dir=\"rtl\">گاز انبری به همه خبرنگار ها حمله کردن <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/JusticeForGeorge?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#JusticeForGeorge</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Minneapolis?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Minneapolis</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/PROTESTING?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#PROTESTING</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/HEex0ajiLI\">pic.twitter.com/HEex0ajiLI</a></p>— Hossein Fatemi (@hosseinfatemii) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hosseinfatemii/status/1266919473111588865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"kfiop\"><b>Raphaël Grand</b>, a journalist with Radio Télévision Suisse, had spent the afternoon documenting the scene in Minneapolis, at one point tweeting: “# Minneapolis One city, two atmospheres. Riots VS Contemplation.” At around 9 p.m. he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/raphaelgrand/status/1266913238932959234\">tweeted</a> in French “Tear gas for @RadioCanadaInfo.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">Gaz lacrymogène pour <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RadioCanadaInfo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@RadioCanadaInfo</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/PmZo3WNQ0K\">pic.twitter.com/PmZo3WNQ0K</a></p>— Raphaël Grand (@raphaelgrand) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/raphaelgrand/status/1266913238932959234?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"fee47\"><b>Anthony Soufflé</b>, a staff photographer for the Star Tribune, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonySouffle/status/1267122936105893892\">tweeted</a> images the following morning showing the journalist looking to catch his breath and having water poured in his eyes. “One of these groups came to my and several other journalists aid when we were tear gassed yesterday,” he wrote. In early June, Soufflé was among several journalists cited in a <a href=\"https://www.aclu-mn.org/sites/default/files/goyette_-_complaint-c.pdf\">class-action lawsuit</a> filed by the ACLU against city and state officials, alleging violations of the journalists’ First and Fourth Amendment rights.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">One of these groups came to my and several other journalists aid when we were tear gassed yesterday. I’m incredibly thankful for them. Thanks too <a href=\"https://twitter.com/scottsphoto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@scottsphoto</a>. Amid continued protests 'sick and tired' group of friends teams up to provide medical help <a href=\"https://t.co/k4LZ3jx9dt\">https://t.co/k4LZ3jx9dt</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/4tOrddeiZu\">pic.twitter.com/4tOrddeiZu</a></p>— Anthony Soufflé (@AnthonySouffle) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AnthonySouffle/status/1267122936105893892?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"hg833\">In Fort Wayne, Indiana</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"4yvd0\">A<b> WPTA ABC 21 television news crew</b> was threatened with arrest by an Indiana State Police trooper while covering protests in the city. WPTA news director Jonathan Shelley told the Tracker that he and other staff members had been caught in tear gas as they reported on the protests that day, but to his knowledge, it was never directed at the journalists. He said that shortly before 10 p.m., the police went through the streets with loudspeakers, announcing that an “unlawful assembly” had been declared and directing people to get off the streets. The news crew continued to stay on the scene, documenting arrests that were happening in the area. As they filmed a group of Fort Wayne Police Department officers handcuffing an individual, an Indiana State Police trooper not involved with the arrest noticed the journalists and “made a beeline toward us” from across the street, Shelley said. Video that Shelley took of the interaction shows the officer walking briskly toward the journalists. From a distance, he appeared to shout “walk” and “you’re next” at Shelley and his colleagues. The officer walked up close behind the news crew as they moved away from the area. “If I catch you, you’re going to jail,” the officer can be heard saying on the video. “I’m going to jail?” Shelley responded, then saying, “I’m press,” and “I’m moving out of the way.” “Then walk,” the officer can be heard saying. Shelley said the members of his group were clearly marked as journalists, wearing bright red jackets with the ABC 21 WPTA logo and press badges with their names and station affiliate visible. Sergeant Brian Walker of the Indiana State Police said in an emailed statement that Shelley alerted him to the situation and he shared the information with his superiors. He said he and Shelley discussed the situation and “the matter has been satisfactorily addressed” for both the news organization and the police. Shelley said in a follow-up email that his meeting with the Indiana State Police representative was productive and the matter was being addressed with the trooper. He said he was told that the Indiana State Police plans to use the video for training purposes in the future “in hopes of reducing the likelihood of future occurrences,” Shelley said. According to Shelley, there have also been broader discussions between local media and police, including the Fort Wayne Police Department, which took the lead on enforcement during the protest, and involving Indiana State Police. They discussed how the decision to declare “unlawful assembly” is reached and the rights journalists have to operate once such a declaration has been made, he said. In a separate incident later that day, Indiana State Police helped a WPTA journalist who’d sustained minor injuries when she fell while covering the protest. “Our experience as a team involved...examples of assistance to the press by law enforcement officers, as well as hindrance to the press in some cases. And so we kind of saw a little bit of both,” Shelley said.</li><li data-block-key=\"ueuz0\"><b>Brianna Dahlquist</b>, a reporter for Fox 55, and her news crew were caught in tear gas while covering protests that afternoon. “While reporting we got tear gassed and my coworker is hurt right now,” Dahlquist said in a video posted to Twitter. In the tweet, she added, “Tear gas [is] NO JOKE.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Had to put the phone down to catch my breath. Please lift us up in prayer. Tear gas in NO JOKE. 💔 <a href=\"https://t.co/r6l7CExWDX\">pic.twitter.com/r6l7CExWDX</a></p>— Brianna Dahlquist (@bridahlquist) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bridahlquist/status/1266874436373950469?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\"><h4 data-block-key=\"rtcve\">In Columbus, Ohio</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"zj6ce\"><b>Amy Harris</b> had started her workday in Columbus around 10 a.m. at a demonstration at the Capitol. She told the Tracker that the protest had been going on for about an hour and a half when police, who’d had a large presence at the scene, became agitated and made a wall of bicycles in front of thousands of peaceful protesters. Harris said she didn’t see this incident transpire explicitly, but it seemed apparent that a demonstrator had thrown an object at the officers, who then pepper-sprayed the crowd. Later, she said, more officers arrived and tear-gassed the crowd. Harris said she was assisted by protesters when the tear gas blocked her airways. They poured milk and saline solution on her face, until she was able to breathe again. She said that people from the back of the crowd began to throw bottles at the police, who then fired on the crowd with tear gas canons. Harris said she began to have serious trouble breathing and started to throw up. Some demonstrators helped to get her out of the area. “The protesters immediately came and sprayed my eye and offered milk and saline,” she said. “I took the spray of water and baking soda and started to be able to breathe. I recovered and went back to the area to shoot the arrests that were taking place.”<br/>Harris was struck by a projectile fired by police the following day while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, a case the Tracker has documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-hit-projectile-tear-gas-while-covering-protests-louisville/\">here</a>.</li><li data-block-key=\"nbney\"><b>Kyle Robertson</b>, a staff photographer for the Columbus Dispatch, told the Tracker that he was pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while covering a protest adjacent to the Capitol. Robertson said that as the size of the protest grew, groups of police officers on bicycles had moved to create a barricade and contain protesters to the sidewalk area and keep them off the street. Robertson said that a protester either tripped or was pushed into the street and that police officers immediately jumped on this person. Robertson said that local government officials who had been standing between the police and the protesters tried to intervene to deescalate the situation. He said he moved to photograph the altercation among the protesters, the officers and the government officials when the police began to use pepper spray on the crowd. Robertson said he took pepper spray on one side of his face and arm and on his camera gear. Unable to see in the moments after the attack, he said an individual grabbed him and pulled him aside and led him back to a local business along South High Street, where the man soaked his bandana in saline and helped him to clean himself and his camera. Robertson said the individual told him, “They were aiming for you,” but as he was focusing on photographing when the attack occurred, he said he hadn't seen what had happened and that he couldn't say if he’d been targeted. Noting his height — Robertson is 6-foot-4 — he said it was possible he stood out in the crowd and was clearly visible to the officers shooting the pepper spray. After a short break, Robertson said he soon went back to work. “I kept shooting with one eye and didn’t stop for several hours,” he said.</li><li data-block-key=\"hc2iu\">Another Dispatch journalist, <b>Lucas Sullivan</b>, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DispatchSully/status/1266750146693550080\">tweeted</a> around 11:15 that morning, noting that both he and Robertson had been pepper-sprayed. Sullivan could not be reached for additional comment.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our photographer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KRobPhoto?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KRobPhoto</a> and I got pepper sprayed <a href=\"https://t.co/OIc0WviqOH\">pic.twitter.com/OIc0WviqOH</a></p>— Lucas Sullivan (@DispatchSully) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DispatchSully/status/1266750146693550080?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\"><h4 data-block-key=\"1g89p\">In Nashville, Tennessee</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"bo2y2\">Reporter <b>AJ Abell</b>, of Fox 17 News in Nashville was doing a live shot amid unrest at the Metropolitan Courthouse when a group of protesters interrupted his broadcast, forcing his team to go off-air. Law enforcement had been trying to disperse protesters from the area after some had <a href=\"https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/crime/2020/05/30/nashville-city-hall-and-courthouse-fire-george-floyd-protest/5295953002/\">lit fires at the courthouse</a>—which is also home to City Hall—and vandalized the grounds. At about 9:05 p.m., just before Abell went on air, officers could be heard over loudspeakers ordering the crowd to disperse. The sound of flash-bangs soon followed, and a large group of protesters was sent running in Abell’s direction. Some of them moved into Abell’s shot, getting in front of the camera while yelling protest slogans and expletives and giving the middle finger. One person picked up the crew’s tripod and threw it, though it sustained no damage. Abell told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they had to cut their broadcast because “you couldn’t understand or hear what I was saying.” Aside from the incident with the tripod, Abell told the Tracker that no one assaulted him or his crew. In the minutes following the incident, after moving away from the courthouse, Abell appeared to be experiencing the effects of tear gas. “My whole face is burning, literally my entire face,” he can be heard saying on a<a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/73949382289/videos/663806961105822/\"> livestream broadcast by Fox 17</a>.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"and3h\">In Raleigh, North Carolina</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"iui8j\"><b>Charlie McGee</b>, currently a reporter with Bloomberg News but a freelancer on May 30, said he’d spent several hours <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bycharliemcgee/status/1266840977874059265\">covering protests</a> downtown that afternoon and evening. He said that at around 8:45 p.m., police officers started to fire tear gas toward protesters who’d congregated near the Wake County Courthouse. Protesters, he said, then began to shoot off fireworks and shatter windows. McGee said that at around 9:30 he went to inspect and film some damage near the intersection of South Salisbury and West Davie streets, in front of the courthouse. Ten minutes earlier, protesters had smashed windows and thrown trash cans, but there were now only a few scattered people on the sidewalks and in the street, including a medic and another photographer, and no one within 10 feet of him, he said. “Out of nowhere, from the other side of the intersection, a tear gas canister flew in and landed by the right side of my feet,” McGee told the Tracker. “Then another lands and spikes to the ground by the left side of my feet and bounced a few feet behind me.” McGee said he moved fast enough to evade most of the gas, but he felt some irritation on his face. He didn’t capture the incident on video but afterward posted a message to Twitter about his experience. McGee said he believes he was clearly identifiable as a member of the press because he was wearing a laminated press badge around his neck and had been filming in the vicinity of police officers all evening. “It was either a misfire and mistaken strategy, or maybe someone decided intentionally to do that with a couple journalists in the street. But all of that is speculation,” McGee told the Tracker. A spokesperson for the Raleigh Police Department said the department and an independent contractor for the city were reviewing the response to the incident. She declined to comment further.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Group of riot police fired this tear gas dump directly at my feet. Larger crowd and property damage was happening a block down the road, and ZERO ruckus from protesters in my area at time. These officers have seen me all day and know I'm a journalist. Ihave a press pass on. <a href=\"https://t.co/BUmKkrTbCh\">pic.twitter.com/BUmKkrTbCh</a></p>— Charlie McGee (@bycharliemcgee) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/bycharliemcgee/status/1266906032539930624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"51smm\">In New York, New York</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"hayi1\"><b>Jon Farina</b>, a freelance photojournalist, was threatened by a Strategic Response Group officer with the New York City Police Department while documenting protests in the Lower West Side neighborhood of Manhattan. In an <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CA3kkZKBacQ/?igshid=1e1b0hfjuzkcz\">Instagram post</a> with a video and description of the incident, Farina said that he was walking with two other photojournalists when they found a group walking past the Lenox Health Greenwich Village hospital on Seventh Avenue. “We noticed they vandalized an NYPD vehicle that was parked in front of the hospital,” Farina wrote. “As the group was leaving heading uptown, someone came back and threw something that was lit on fire into the vehicle.” Farina told the Tracker that the three photojournalists stayed in the area to document the scene. Shortly after the group left, Farina said, an NYPD officer came out of the hospital, drew his weapon and pointed it at Farina as he was filming the scene from the street. “Get away from the fucking car,” the officer can be heard shouting in Farina’s video of the incident. The officer does not respond to Farina’s question of why the officer had drawn his weapon, but does appear to lower and holster the firearm. The officer then continues to shout for Farina to get away from the car and cross back to the other side of the street. “I immediately moved to the side and I just kept moving because I didn’t know if he would start shooting,” Farina told the Tracker. “I wasn’t even near the car, my [press] credentials were out, the other two journalists had credentials out, we had big cameras, so there was no threat to him, for him to do that.” At that point, Farina said he walked away and gave up asking the officer about his actions out of concern that he might be arrested or harmed.</li></ul><hr/><p data-block-key=\"ci7f\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h3 data-block-key=\"2p105\">May 31, 2020</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"hu7xl\">In Denver, Colorado</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"zkjzo\"><b>Lindsay Fendt</b>, a freelance journalist on assignment for High Country News, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that she was enveloped in a cloud of tear gas at 7:12 p.m. outside the state Capitol when a police officer kicked a canister of tear gas that had rolled in his direction. The canister happened to land near her, she said, and she inhaled the gas, which left her sweating and temporarily unable to see. “I just stumbled up a hill and thought I was going to throw up,” she said. She used milk and water with baking soda to rinse off her face. She said she does not feel as though she was targeted as a journalist with the gas. “I don’t think they were really paying attention to who anybody was,” she said.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Covering Denver protests tonight. Standing next to the police with a crowd of photographers. One of their chemical bombs rolled back and a cop kicked it sideways right into us. Took it full on to the face, but I’m ok now. I’ll tweet camera photos tomorrow. Stay safe everyone. <a href=\"https://t.co/u5TzAfXJI8\">pic.twitter.com/u5TzAfXJI8</a></p>— Lindsay Fendt (@LEFendt) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LEFendt/status/1266953418871984128?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"bi18e\">In Austin, Texas</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"3f88f\"><b>Kacey Bowen</b>, a reporter for KTBC, a Fox affiliate station based in Austin, and her photographer were caught up in tear gas while <a href=\"https://www.fox7austin.com/video/689954\">reporting live</a> outside Austin Police Department headquarters. After throwing the feed back to the studio, Bowen and her photographer can be heard coughing and dousing their face and eyes with a solution Bowen said was provided by some protesters. “The tear gas definitely came down from [I-]35. We did get hit with it. It did get in our eyes and in my photog’s face. But we are doing OK. Definitely did burn for a little bit,” she reported once she was live again.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I had been following this protest all morning and it had remained peaceful up until this moment. <br><br>Thankful for the protestors who poured solution into my photographer and I eyes so we were able to keep reporting. <a href=\"https://t.co/1sqy59SvIa\">https://t.co/1sqy59SvIa</a></p>— Kacey Bowen (@KaceyonFox7) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KaceyonFox7/status/1267252821189107713?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"fq05f\">In Dallas, Texas</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"xft4q\"><b>Tabitha Lipkin</b>, a host on NBCLX, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TabithaLipkin/status/1266950908530884611\">tweeted</a> around 11:30 p.m. on May 30: “Went into downtown Dallas to cover the protest. They were happening just a few blocks away from my new apartment. Here’s the images I captured. It was peaceful for the majority of my journey, but turned intense and somewhat violent towards the end.” In one of the four accompanying photos, Lipkin can be seen pouring a liquid solution into her left eye. A little after midnight, she followed up with a video and posted that she and executive producer <b>Americo Capodagli</b> had tear gas thrown at them: “I turned on my camera the moment tear gas was thrown right towards where me and my Exec Producer @americocap were standing at the press line. My first and first hand experience with tear gas.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Went into downtown Dallas to cover the protest. They were happening just a few blocks away from my new apartment. Here’s the images I captured. It was peaceful for the majority of my journey, but turned intense and somewhat violent towards the end. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NBCLX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NBCLX</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/qDGTD7rVBY\">pic.twitter.com/qDGTD7rVBY</a></p>— Tabitha Lipkin (@TabithaLipkin) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TabithaLipkin/status/1266950908530884611?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"3qy1l\">In Cincinnati, Ohio</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"eqebb\"><b>Sarah Brookbank</b>, a reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer, was <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/Enquirer/videos/619693188633657/\">live on Facebook</a> documenting the scene near the Hamilton County Courthouse right around the time of the city’s <a href=\"https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2020/05/31/cincinnati-protests-george-floyd-what-we-know-sunday/5299512002/\">9 p.m. curfew</a>. A few minutes in, she noted the use of what she described as pepper balls. A little over seven minutes into the video, an officer can be seen approaching Brookbank and other reporters in the area: “Go. Move. Now. What’d I tell you about curfew?” Brookbank and fellow Enquirer reporter Dan Horn can be heard identifying themselves as media and members of the press. The officer then says to Brookbank, “You don’t look like the media to me.” About an hour later, as she was documenting the arrest of a protester nearby, Brookbank <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SarahBrookbank/status/1267278438924259328\">tweeted</a>: “Cops yelled at us as we filmed, told us to ‘get the f***k out of here’ and came toward us, I yelled that we were with the media, we’re told we needed ‘more visible’ marking. I have my press badge in my hand.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Cops yelled at us as we filmed, told us to “get the f***k out of here” and came toward us, I yelled that we were with the media, we’re told we needed “more visible” marking. I have my press badge in my hand</p>— Sarah Brookbank (@SarahBrookbank) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SarahBrookbank/status/1267278438924259328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"97n9b\">In Washington, D.C.</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"gwia4\">WUSA, a CBS affiliate station in the nation’s capital, <a href=\"https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/4-days-of-dc-protests-protesters-avoid-arrest-after-taking-refuge-at-logan-circle-homes-police-make-arrests/69-54c61594-cef6-40d8-9e14-b57adc026d5e\">reported</a> that at midnight reporter <b>Matt Gregory</b> and photographer <b>James Hash</b> “were tear-gassed on Live TV while reporting at the scene of the protest.” At approximately 12:25 a.m., Gregory <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MattGregoryNews/status/1266948494557941761\">tweeted</a>: “As they move the protestors down H street, police fired a combination of tear gas and flash bangs. We took a little bit of the gas. Protestors stopped to help us breathe and clear our eyes out.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As they move the protestors down H street, police fired a combination of tear gas and flash bangs. We took a little bit of the gas. Protestors stopped to help us breathe and clear our eyes out. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/wusa9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wusa9</a></p>— Matt Gregory (@MattGregoryNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MattGregoryNews/status/1266948494557941761?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"pjtnz\">Reporter <b>Shelby Talcott</b>, of the Daily Caller, a Washington-based news website, told the Tracker that while she was covering protests near Lafayette Square just after midnight when police at the scene fired a tear gas canister in her direction. Talcott said she had to leave the area and had someone rinse her eyes with saline solution, but said that she did not require medical attention and was able to keep covering the demonstration. “I had to step back for about five to 10 minutes.” Talcott said she did not think she was targeted by police, as she was standing in the middle of a group of protesters and was not wearing credentials or clothing that clearly identified her as a member of the press. “My view of it was that it was thrown at me because I was in a crowd of protesters,” she said. “So I wouldn’t say I was targeted as press.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Struggling a bit after tear gas was thrown directly at me tonight during <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/DCProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#DCProtests</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/tV7CWzEefh\">pic.twitter.com/tV7CWzEefh</a></p>— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ShelbyTalcott/status/1266968097996648450?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"bvayi\">In Wilmington, North Carolina</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"ph42z\">Reporter <b>Emily Featherston</b>, of WECT, an NBC affiliate station based in Wilmington, reported to the Tracker: “Myself and fellow reporter/videographer <b>Bryant Reed</b> were, like others, affected by tear gas (authorities originally denied having used CS tear gas, but when confronted with what we experienced and a canister found on the street, walked back). Then, after being told by the chief of police we were standing in an acceptable location (on the steps of City Hall, out of the street and way of law enforcement), a Sheriff's deputy approached us in full riot gear.” Featherston said that the deputy then told them to move, to which they responded: “We’re with the media!” The deputy then said, “I don’t give a shit! Move!” according to Featherston. She continued: “The deputy then told us if we did not move we would be arrested on the spot. In the interest of continuing our coverage, we moved up the street.” In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/110795228128/videos/1456387391204324\">Facebook Live stream</a>, Featherston discussed the incident with New Hanover County Sheriff Ed McMahon, who apologized to her. Reed later <a href=\"https://www.wect.com/2020/07/17/reporters-covering-protests-tear-gas-rocks-emotions-with-jon-evans-podcast/\">told WECT colleague Jon Evans</a> in his podcast 1on1 with Jon Evans: “We didn’t take a direct hit. Where we were, it was the wind that blew back the tear gas toward the officers we were close to. That’s how it got in our eyes, how we got affected. Then, one of the officers was telling us to disperse the area immediately or we could be arrested, so we had to walk back into the tear gas and we got more of it. At least for myself, it wasn’t that bad at first. But then within a minute it was ‘Oh my goodness, my eyes are burning terribly.’ I’m crying. We had the masks on too, which seemed to make it even worse.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A final update and personal message from me this evening.<br>Lots to work through and digest. We will be back in the morning with all the details. <a href=\"https://t.co/GUejW3hqKy\">pic.twitter.com/GUejW3hqKy</a></p>— Emily Featherston - WECT (@EmilyWECT) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/EmilyWECT/status/1267314956988485634?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"dex8h\">In Richmond, Virginia</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"3rtxn\"><b>Olivia Ugino</b>, a reporter for WWBT, an NBC affiliate station based in Richmond, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OliviaNBC12/status/1267326052428328961\">tweeted</a> around 11:25 p.m.: “Here’s how it’s going down tonight. Police seem to be swarming vehicles and arresting those out past curfew. I attempted to get out of my car to shoot video and was approached by officers with guns pulled and was told to get on the ground.” In an accompanying video, Ugino can be heard telling the officers that she worked for NBC12. An officer can then be heard saying, “If you’ve got credentials, I need to see them.” Upon showing the officer her credentials, he says, “All right, yes, ma’am, you’re fine. Do what you gotta do.” In a threaded tweet, Ugino wrote: “I was told I was fine with my credentials. I then tried to get video of the arrest, with my door open, and another officer reached in and grabbed me. We were then told to leave.” In the accompanying footage, an officer can then be heard saying, “Back it up, back it up. I don’t care who you work for. Back it up, I don’t want you here. Let’s go. It’s a security issue.” Ugino complied and moved her vehicle to a nearby parking lot, according to an <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=835767240278562&ref=watch_permalink\">account on Facebook</a> she gave in the early hours of June 1. Neither Ugino or WWBT could be reached for comment.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Here’s how it’s going down tonight. Police seem to be swarming vehicles and arresting those out past curfew. I attempted to get out of my car to shoot video and was approached by officers with guns pulled and was told to get on the ground. Here’s part one. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NBC12?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@NBC12</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/jFJ71kdBvy\">pic.twitter.com/jFJ71kdBvy</a></p>— Olivia Ugino (@OliviaNBC12) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/OliviaNBC12/status/1267326052428328961?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 1, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39UM4.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"REUTERS/Alyson McClaran\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"9l07j\">Protesters in Denver on May 31, 2020.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — REUTERS/Alyson McClaran\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q6daz\"><i>Information in this roundup was gathered from published social media and news reports as well as interviews where noted. To read similar incidents from other days of national protests also in this category,</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/other-incident/?categories=63&date_lower=2020-05-25&tags=111\"><i>go here</i></a><i>.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"fgwk3\">Associated Press photojournalist John Minchillo reports during a night of demonstrations in Minneapolis on May 30, 2020.</p>",
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{
"title": "Videographer hit by police projectiles in Minneapolis’ Fifth Precinct",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videographer-hit-by-police-projectiles-in-minneapolis-fifth-precinct/",
"first_published_at": "2020-08-08T11:11:19.119271Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:30:29.755819Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:30:29.672284Z",
"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=\"tggag\">Police officers struck freelance filmmaker and journalist Mike Shum with two projectiles while he was reporting on protests in Minneapolis on May 29, 2020 for the New York Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"w6x10\">The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"hrct4\">Shum and Katie G. Nelson, a freelance journalist also reporting for the New York Times, were covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis on May 29. The night before, protesters overran and set fire to the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct. The focus on the 29th had shifted to the Fifth Precinct, Shum told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"pcpxl\"><a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000007164958/protests-minneapolis-police.html\">Video</a> shot by Shum and Nelson shows hundreds of protesters gathered outside the station as police stand on the rooftop, ordering them to disperse. Police deploy tear gas and protesters aim laser pointers and shoot fireworks at police. The video ends with a line of police emerging through a thick cloud of either tear gas or smoke on Nicollet Avenue next to the station.</p><p data-block-key=\"oev7x\">Shum said he and several other photojournalists filmed the officers as they began to fire projectiles. Protesters scattered by the tear gas were nearby, but the journalists stood together “obviously trying to get our shots,” Shum said.</p><p data-block-key=\"i5wbr\">Shum heard projectiles whizzing by his head before he was hit in the foot and side.</p><p data-block-key=\"t9c2q\">“I was trying to hold my shot realizing I could hear the whizzing by and I was like, OK, they are obviously shooting at us. And that’s when I got hit in the foot,” Shum said. “We should probably start running now.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xhikw\">He said he wasn’t sure what kind of projectile hit him, though he suspected the one on his side was a ricochet given the force and angle of the impact.</p><p data-block-key=\"vmumn\">The projectile that hit his foot “had more of an impact than I gave it credit for,” Shum said. His foot bruised with minor swelling. Walking was harder than normal but the injury didn’t require a doctor’s visit, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"pkgu4\">Shum told the Tracker he believed the police didn’t specifically target him but were shooting indiscriminately in a general direction that included many journalists. He said he wasn’t sure which law-enforcement agency was responsible, or whether other journalists in the group were hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"5wvry\">Protesters, journalists and even law-enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a <a href=\"https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ooc/news-releases/Pages/multi-agency-command-center-report-on-civil-unrest.aspx\">dozen</a> different agencies joined the law-enforcement effort in Minnesota, often wearing similar looking uniforms.</p><p data-block-key=\"4t27k\">In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=545070406162328&ref=watch_permalink\">livestream</a> filmed by Jeff Wagner, a reporter with CBS affiliate WCCO, the Minnesota State Patrol can be heard over loudspeaker just before 11:30 p.m. ordering people to disperse immediately. Within the next twenty minutes, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-reporter-hit-projectile-tear-gassed-during-live-coverage-minneapolis-protest/\">several</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-european-outlets-hit-projectiles-during-minneapolis-protest/\">journalists</a> were hit by police projectiles and tear gas fired by either State Patrol or Minneapolis Police, all within a block radius of where Shum was hit. Nine minutes after Wagner filmed the loudspeaker warning, he, too, was hit by a police projectile.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ubso\">Minneapolis Police Department spokesman John Elder told the Tracker he couldn’t comment on Shum getting hit. He added that “every use of force by the MPD is under investigation internally.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sbbwf\">The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to the Tracker’s emailed list of questions.</p><p data-block-key=\"mpi02\">Capt. Melanie Nelson, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota National Guard, told the Tracker that “the Minnesota National Guard did not employ non-lethal rounds during the civil unrest in Minneapolis, Saint Paul and surrounding communities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"qvgqp\">Despite the injury, Shum continued to report on the protests with Nelson. The following day, law-enforcement officers pushed him over a wall and fired on Nelson’s car in separate incidents, the journalists said.</p><p data-block-key=\"eebuc\">Nelson and Shum have joined a class-action <a href=\"https://www.aclu-mn.org/en/press-releases/aclu-mn-sues-law-enforcement-over-attacks-journalists-covering-george-floyd-protests\">lawsuit</a> filed by the ACLU of Minnesota against Minneapolis and Minnesota officials concerning the treatment of journalists covering the Floyd protests.</p><p data-block-key=\"yjr4j\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"56toq\"><i>Editor’s Note: Shum withdrew from the lawsuit in September 2021. The metadata for this incident has been updated to reflect that. The journalists documented in the Tracker and remaining in the suit can be found</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?case_number=0:20-cv-01302\"><i>here</i></a><i>.</i></p></div>",
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{
"title": "Journalist hit with projectile two days in a row in Minneapolis",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-projectile-two-days-row-minneapolis/",
"first_published_at": "2020-08-04T20:59:12.490697Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:30:08.341092Z",
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"date": "2020-05-29",
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"city": "Minneapolis",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cqc8r\">Reporter Julio Rosas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was struck by a projectile shot by law enforcement while reporting on a protest in Minneapolis on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"pw86o\">The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"qhcox\">Rosas said he was hit near Minneapolis' Third Precinct while reporting for Townhall, which describes itself as a conservative news and commentary site.</p><p data-block-key=\"7p3jg\">In the early afternoon, Rosas <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1266437348537106432\">filmed</a> State Patrol troopers and National Guardsmen stationed near stores that had been burgled. At about the same time, officials <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MnDPS_BCA/status/1266436388767105024\">announced</a> the arrest of fired police officer Derek Chauvin on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison later added a second-degree murder charge in addition to charging three other former officers with aiding and abetting murder.</p><p data-block-key=\"7d0de\">The situation grew tense as an <a href=\"http://news.minneapolismn.gov/2020/05/29/mayor-frey-signs-emergency-regulation-in-minneapolis-establishing-curfew-tonight-at-8-p-m/\">8 p.m. curfew</a> drew closer, Rosas said. He filmed <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1266492246519623685\">protesters</a> emotionally <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1266509533171658755\">confronting</a> a mixed deployment of National Guard and police, including State Patrol.</p><p data-block-key=\"0wh57\">Some officers can also be seen wearing riot gear with “Police” or “Sheriff” written on it. It isn’t precisely clear to which law enforcement agencies they belonged.</p><p data-block-key=\"ipv4p\">Protesters, journalists and even law enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a <a href=\"https://dps.mn.gov/divisions/ooc/news-releases/Pages/multi-agency-command-center-report-on-civil-unrest.aspx\">dozen</a> different agencies joined the law enforcement effort in Minnesota, often wearing similar looking uniforms.</p><p data-block-key=\"e0prb\">Officials by loudspeaker ordered protesters to disperse 10 minutes before curfew, as officers donned gas masks, Rosas told the Tracker. Rocks and bottles flung from the protesters’ side of a barricade were met with projectiles and tear gas from law enforcement, Rosas said.</p><p data-block-key=\"afpwj\">But instead of advancing to enforce the curfew, police and National Guard troops began to withdraw from the area, Rosas said.</p><p data-block-key=\"tfp75\">In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1266550380193873920\">video</a> of the incident Rosas filmed from the sidewalk, law enforcement are seen backing past a burned-out building. He told the Tracker he had informed the National Guardsman closest to him that he was a journalist. He was wearing press credentials around his neck. Rosas pans to the left as police fire projectiles toward a line of protesters down the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"nujlu\">Then the sound of another shot rings out and the video cuts off. Rosas was hit in the torso. He would later <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Julio_Rosas11/status/1266539093908959232\">tweet</a> a photo of a welt of about 40 millimeters in diameter, the same as some of the projectiles he saw being used.</p><p data-block-key=\"w5k20\">Rosas, who was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-projectile-shot-minneapolis-police-vehicle/\">hit by what he believed was a pepper ball</a> the previous day, said the pain of getting hit by a 40mm projectile was on a different level.</p><p data-block-key=\"trcdh\">“When I first got hit, on a scale of one to 10 pain-wise, it was a 10 for the first minute,” Rosas said. “And then I thought ‘Oh shoot I need to get out of here.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"uiaux\">Rosas said he jumped over a small fence on the side of the road and landed on his back. Other people in the area helped him up and asked if he needed to go to the hospital. He wasn’t coughing up blood and didn’t feel pain breathing, so he went back to reporting, assuming he didn’t suffer serious internal damage. Later that night, he went to the hospital and received an official all-clear.</p><p data-block-key=\"1lhm6\">Capt. Melanie Nelson, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota National Guard, told the Tracker it “did not employ non-lethal rounds during the civil unrest in Minneapolis, Saint Paul and surrounding communities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rzx8n\">The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to questions sent by the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ki9l8\">Rosas said he would be “very surprised” if he was hit by accident because there was no one around him. But he said he didn’t know whether he was targeted specifically as a journalist.</p><p data-block-key=\"40yrt\">Citing his experience assessing threats in the Marines, Rosas said it didn’t make sense to focus on him, as he posed no danger whether he was recognized as a journalist or not.</p><p data-block-key=\"0xhlf\">At least 12 people across the country were partially blinded by police projectiles between May 28 and June 2, according to a Washington Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/2020/07/14/george-floyd-protests-police-blinding/?arc404=true#main-visual\">investigation</a>. One of those 12, freelance writer and photographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-permanently-blinded-others-assaulted-during-minneapolis-protests/\">Linda Tirado</a>, was hit in the left eye on the same night and precinct as Rosas.</p><p data-block-key=\"hoxyy\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"nvmtm\">Townhall reporter Julio Rosas shows the welt left behind from a projectile that hit him while covering protests on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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{
"title": "CNN headquarters in Atlanta vandalized during protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-headquarters-atlanta-vandalized-during-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-08-04T13:27:05.745128Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:28:57.475314Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:28:57.396920Z",
"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=\"3az88\">On May 29, 2020, CNN’s headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, was targeted by individuals who threw objects, broke windows and graffitied the large “CNN” logo out front.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ene4\">The crowd had gathered in Centennial Park earlier in the day, <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/us/cnn-center-vandalized-protest-atlanta-destroyed/index.html\">CNN reported</a>, but by about 7 p.m. individuals were damaging the news organization’s headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"3kmwk\">The protests in Atlanta were part of a national response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"doq4y\">As the crowd became rowdier on May 29, they set an Atlanta Police Department vehicle on fire and a SWAT team was called in, <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/us/cnn-center-vandalized-protest-atlanta-destroyed/index.html\">CNN reported</a>. As police faced off with protesters, someone threw either a firework or a flash-bang grenade over a line of officers. It <a href=\"https://www.thedailybeast.com/furious-demonstrators-swarm-cnn-center-in-atlanta-during-protest-of-george-floyds-death\">detonated in front of</a> CNN correspondent Nick Valencia and his crew as they reported from the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"7c0ha\">Despite that dramatic incident, no CNN employees were harmed, according to a CNN spokesperson.</p><p data-block-key=\"8g1ic\">“The protests were not directed at CNN and they were not protesting us/CNN, but our office in downtown Atlanta is a landmark location,” Bridget Leininger, CNN senior director of communications said.</p><p data-block-key=\"0unsm\">A <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/29/us/cnn-center-vandalized-protest-atlanta-destroyed/index.html\">CNN report</a> did note that some protesters were “chanting anti-media rhetoric.” In one <a href=\"https://twitter.com/fernalfonso/status/1266512702958112768?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1266512702958112768&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2020%2F05%2F29%2Fus%2Fcnn-center-vandalized-protest-atlanta-destroyed%2Findex.html\">social media video</a> someone can be clearly heard yelling, “Fuck CNN!”</p><p data-block-key=\"qs2xv\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"sbuaq\">Protesters stand in front of a vandalized CNN logo at the CNN Center in Atlanta, Georgia, on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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{
"title": "Reporter for Swedish outlet struck with projectile during Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-european-outlets-hit-projectiles-during-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-27T19:54:17.894924Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:19:17.030017Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:19:16.955619Z",
"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=\"b6xme\">Nina Svanberg, a reporter for the Swedish outlet Expressen, was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"o39m9\">Multiple days of 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=\"hbcy4\">Svanberg told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that she and Thomas Nilsson, a photojournalist for Norwegian outlet Verdens Gang, had walked with protesters up from the Third Precinct to the Fifth Precinct on the 29th. National Guard troops and police arrived to the area to disperse the crowd and enforce the 8 p.m. curfew.</p><p data-block-key=\"xbqgo\">At about 11:30 p.m., Minneapolis Police Department officers began indiscriminately firing projectiles and tear gas to disperse the crowd, Svanberg said. One hit her on the hip.</p><p data-block-key=\"hbnvo\">“All of a sudden, I feel a sudden pain in the leg, and I’m losing my balance and falling down,” Svanberg told CPJ.</p><p data-block-key=\"n2d4a\">She said that she crawled behind a car to avoid being hit again, but was caught in the tear gas. Nilsson was affected by the chemical irritant as well. The Tracker documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-for-norwegian-outlet-targeted-with-projectiles-during-minneapolis-protest/\">his assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7we55\">The journalists eventually met up in an alley where an Australian news team was sheltering with its security team.</p><p data-block-key=\"gt9bb\">Svanberg told CPJ that both she and Nilsson were wearing press passes.</p><p data-block-key=\"2q9vz\">“The thing is, I think it was obvious that we were there working,” Svanberg said. “We were behaving like journalists and not demonstrators.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6r8vj\">The Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to multiple phone and emailed requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ankef\">“We stood there for a while,” Svanberg said. “And then we just went from the corner and continued working.”</p><p data-block-key=\"z1vj4\">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": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Nina Svanberg (Expressen [Sweden])"
],
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},
{
"title": "Indianapolis Star journalist pepper sprayed, threatened, shot with projectile",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indianapolis-star-journalist-pepper-sprayed-threatened-shot-projectile/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-22T22:40:27.320438Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:48:03.823637Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:48:03.732427Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Indianapolis",
"longitude": -86.15804,
"latitude": 39.76838,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uxjqr\">Indianapolis Star photojournalist Kelly Wilkinson was tear gassed, pepper sprayed, threatened and shot with a pepper ball on May 29, 2020, while documenting the first night of protests in Indianapolis, Indiana.</p><p data-block-key=\"rh7a5\">The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"t2r7l\">Wilkinson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protests that day had been largely peaceful until shortly after sunset when something triggered a back-and-forth between protesters and law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"rhkhu\">“It sort of spiraled downhill after that,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"jbwbv\">Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers began launching tear gas into the crowd, Wilkinson said. It was the first time she had experienced the chemical irritant.</p><p data-block-key=\"rl3fp\">“I don’t know whether I had a panic attack or what, but that first time that it got me, it got me good,” Wilkinson said. “I thought I was going to die.” After taking a few minutes to recover she said she was able to resume working.</p><p data-block-key=\"4rw4v\">Shortly before 10 p.m., as the skirmish between police and demonstrators continued, Wilkinson said she was working near a street corner where a number of police officers were assembled in a line. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ericweddle/status/1266564799384649728\">a video captured</a> by Eric Weddle, a reporter with NPR affiliate WFYI, Wilkinson can be seen approaching the intersection with one of her cameras raised as she photographs the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"25fh3\">An officer breaks away from the police line and approaches Wilkinson with his weapon trained on her. A second officer appears to intervene and directs Wilkinson to step back; as she does, the first officer appears to begin lowering his weapon.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">On the ground moments ago in Indianapolis. <a href=\"https://t.co/H4fto941z0\">pic.twitter.com/H4fto941z0</a></p>— Eric Weddle (@ericweddle) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ericweddle/status/1266564799384649728?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=\"rkgx3\">Wilkinson told the Tracker that she didn’t remember the incident happening until she saw the video and that she hadn’t felt threatened at the time. “It does look quite shocking though, when you see it,” she added.</p><p data-block-key=\"uxwsj\">Wilkinson noted that in a separate incident that night she was struck above the knee with a pepper ball. She didn’t realize what hit her until she researched the wound pattern when she got home.</p><p data-block-key=\"1k0d5\">Later that evening, after Wilkinson had put on a gas mask to protect herself from the tear gas, officers directly pepper sprayed her, Wilkinson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"gl0l2\">“It looked like he was pointing right at me,” Wilkinson said. “I was maybe 8 to 10 feet away from him, so not too far.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gu1nj\">“Again, I thought I looked like a photographer, but maybe I didn’t. I did have all of my equipment on me,” she added, noting that she was carrying two cameras, a fanny pack and her press pass.</p><p data-block-key=\"1w300\">The following day, Wilkinson said the Star issued new press passes that are bright yellow and marked PRESS in large capital letters. Editors from the Star did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"7x21c\">The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ou1ns\">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 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": "",
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"arresting_authority": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
"abbreviation": "IN"
},
"updates": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Kelly Wilkinson (The Indianapolis Star)"
],
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},
{
"title": "CNN producer, crew arrested on-air while documenting Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-producer-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-22T16:16:58.135257Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T17:56:30.661884Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T17:56:30.556105Z",
"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=\"yn71d\">CNN Producer Bill Kirkos 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=\"62i4i\">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 in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local 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=\"uaioe\">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 protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"jwumz\">Just after 5 a.m. on May 29, the CNN news crew — comprised of Kirkos, correspondent <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-news-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Omar Jimenez</a> and photographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-photojournalist-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Leonel Mendez</a> — 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=\"xgn5t\">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=\"t4udc\">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=\"u0wuw\">Within minutes, officers in riot gear approach and arrest each member of the news crew in turn while the camera continues to broadcast live.</p><p data-block-key=\"6o2yt\">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=\"dx98f\">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=\"d4cup\">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=\"nydn3\">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=\"g8eft\"><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=\"tt1yt\">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=\"byb6t\">“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=\"za51e\">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=\"eszpi\">“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=\"dkmvq\">Neither CNN nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to multiple emailed requests for comment about the incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Kirkos.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bh13r\">CNN producer Bill Kirkos is arrested with two other members of the news crew during a live broadcast from protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 29, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Minnesota State Patrol",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Bill Kirkos (CNN)"
],
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},
{
"title": "CNN photojournalist, crew arrested on-air while documenting Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-photojournalist-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-22T16:12:55.313880Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:28:29.494788Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:28:29.388421Z",
"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=\"e3ujl\">CNN photojournalist Leonel Mendez was arrested with two other members of a CNN news crew while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early morning of May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"dgfbp\">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 in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local 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=\"484qx\">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 protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"z5dok\">Just after 5 a.m. on May 29, the CNN news crew — comprised of Mendez, correspondent <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-news-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Omar Jimenez</a> and producer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-producer-crew-arrested-air-while-documenting-minneapolis-protests/\">Bill Kirkos</a> — 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=\"wt435\">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=\"7v9l8\">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=\"gf9dr\">Within minutes, officers in riot gear approach and arrest each member of the news crew in turn while the camera continues to broadcast live.</p><p data-block-key=\"qrz7x\">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=\"ysgj9\">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=\"0aonj\">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=\"y4bmc\">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=\"tdcqb\"><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=\"xaesi\">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=\"xf9mt\">“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=\"u05j4\">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=\"yther\">“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=\"v3foe\">Neither CNN nor the Minnesota State Patrol responded to multiple emailed requests for comment about the incident.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Mendez.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1gtax\">The camera operated by CNN photojournalist Leonel Mendez continues to broadcast from Minneapolis, Minnesota as Mendez and two other members of the CNN news crew are arrested live on-air on May 29, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Minnesota State Patrol",
"arrest_status": "detained and released without being processed",
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge"
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"Leonel Mendez (CNN)"
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},
{
"title": "Photographer assaulted by police officer during protests; now part of lawsuit against NYPD",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-assaulted-by-police-officer-during-protests-part-of-lawsuit-against-nypd/",
"first_published_at": "2021-08-18T14:25:30.757966Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-14T14:20:39.359062Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-14T14:20:39.175845Z",
"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=\"4hy2l\">Visual journalist and documentary filmmaker Amr Alfiky was repeatedly assaulted by police officers while photographing a protest in the Brooklyn borough of New York City, New York, on May 29, 2020, according to a federal lawsuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"at081\">Alfiky is one of five news photographers who filed a <a href=\"https://nppa.org/news/news-photographers-file-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-new-york-city-police-department\">federal lawsuit</a> on Aug. 5, 2021, “seeking to hold the New York Police Department [NYPD] accountable for its violation of their First Amendment rights.” The suit is being led by the National Press Photographers Association, of which four of the journalists are members, in partnership with Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.</p><p data-block-key=\"xrf3d\">According to the <a href=\"https://nppa.org/sites/default/files/Gray%20v%20City%20of%20New%20York%20et%20al%20-%20Complaint%20-%20Filed%208-5-2021.pdf\">complaint</a>, Alfiky was covering a demonstration near Barclays Center with his camera in one hand and press pass in the other when an NYPD officer began shouting at him. Alfiky repeated, “I'm a journalist, I have a press pass,” but the officer responded with “I don't give a fuck about your press pass,” shoving him in the chest with a baton.</p><p data-block-key=\"73wjf\">The complaint stated that the officer continued to shove Alfiky back, causing him to trip and fall with “such force that an approximately one-inch-wide benign cyst on his back ruptured,” which led to "excruciating pain.” The officer continued to hit him with his baton and did not stop until two protesters pulled Alfiky away and helped him stand, according to the complaint.</p><p data-block-key=\"xqnj5\">“As a result of this assault, Mr. Alfiky suffered fever and infection. He later had to undergo medical treatment including a surgical procedure to clean the infected area in his back, and an additional procedure to remove the ruptured cyst,” the complaint noted. “Mr. Alfiky has also suffered back pain since the assault, which has been evaluated as likely caused by a traumatic incident.”</p><p data-block-key=\"alh6d\">“He was showing his credential and not only did the officer completely disregard it, but actually said, ‘I don't give a fuck,’” Mickey H. Osterreicher, general counsel to the NPPA, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “That seems to sum up, unfortunately, a lot of the attitude of law enforcement toward journalists.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1n8da\">Alfiky and the New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents</a> involving journalists covering protests across the country.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39KII_-_Reuters_-_Shannon_Stap.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"p1ik8\">Police officers at a protest in New York City on May 29, 2020, following the killing of George Floyd. Journalist Amr Alfiky was shoved and beaten by an officer while documenting the demonstration.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:21-cv-06610",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2024-02-07 00:00:00+00:00) Judge accepts journalists’ settlement with NYPD",
"(2023-09-05 17:02:00+00:00) Journalists reach ‘historic’ settlement with NYPD in First Amendment suit",
"(2025-04-09 00:00:00+00:00) Appeals court affirms photographers’ settlement with NYPD",
"(2023-09-08 00:00:00+00:00) Judge voids First Amendment settlement with NYPD"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Amr Alfiky (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "San Jose journalist hit with rubber bullet in back during live coverage of protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-jose-journalist-hit-rubber-bullet-back-during-live-coverage-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-14T17:19:51.500695Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:53.317313Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:53.224628Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Jose",
"longitude": -121.89496,
"latitude": 37.33939,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"k43og\">Len Ramirez, a news reporter for KPIX 5 News, was shot in the back with a rubber bullet on May 29, 2020 while covering a protest in downtown San Jose, Calif.</p><p data-block-key=\"xr6xr\">The protest was part of a wave of Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality demonstrations across the country sparked by the release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead in a hospital. The officer has been charged with second-degree murder. Three other officers who were present face felony charges.</p><p data-block-key=\"nxywl\">Ramirez was covering a crowd of protesters at San Jose City Hall when they were confronted by a police line. Officers declared the protest an illegal assembly.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3upu\">Ramirez was live on the air for the Bay Area CBS affiliate with a camera person, who had a backpack transmitter. Ramirez was wearing a camera and holding a microphone labelled with the Channel 5 logo.</p><p data-block-key=\"tp7ef\">Officers began firing rubber bullets into the crowd and deploying flash-bang grenades.</p><p data-block-key=\"qpkna\">“I pulled back and was actually walking back and out of the area when I got shot,” Ramirez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I was wearing a white shirt, it left a black mark on the back and left a small bruise.” Ramirez was live on air at the time. In the clip from the broadcast he says, “Whoa, I just got hit with something.”</p><p data-block-key=\"r7phz\">The next day Ramirez tweeted: “Thanks to all for your concerns. I was shot in the back with a rubber bullet that left a bruise and mark on my shirt. I am fine. I was hit while reporting live on<a href=\"https://twitter.com/KPIXtv\"> @KPIXtv</a> during last night’s protest in downtown San Jose. I knew there were risks in being in the middle of that.” The tweet included an image of the black mark on the back of his shirt.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Thanks to all for your concerns. I was shot in the back with a rubber bullet that left a bruise and mark on my shirt. I am fine. I was hit while reporting live on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KPIXtv?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KPIXtv</a> during last night’s protest in downtown San Jose. I knew there were risks in being in the middle of that. <a href=\"https://t.co/4UsUVDH8Qi\">pic.twitter.com/4UsUVDH8Qi</a></p>— Len Ramirez (@lenKPIX) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lenKPIX/status/1266922145944186880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 31, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"me2mu\">A photo provided to the Tracker shows bruising in the same area on his back. SJPD and KPIX 5 News owner CBS have yet to comment on this incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"xroo5\">On June 4, <a href=\"https://kcbsradio.radio.com/articles/sj-officials-to-reconsider-use-of-rubber-bullets\">KCBS Radio</a> reported that San Jose leaders were “questioning the use of aggressive police tactics and are re-evaluating how they police protests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vx62g\">“I knew that there were risks involved in covering riots because I’ve covered several over the past 36 years that I’ve been a TV reporter,” Ramirez told the Tracker, “this is the most danger that I’ve felt in covering riots or police activity.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3cduf\">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 these incidents <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"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"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Len Ramirez (KPIX-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist bruised, camera broken during NYC protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-bruised-camera-broken-during-nyc-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-01T02:28:16.859384Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:35.976252Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:35.879812Z",
"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=\"q76tp\">Joel Marklund, a photojournalist with the Scandanavian photo agency Bildbyrån, was hit by pepper spray and involved in an altercation with New York City Police that damaged his camera and left him bruised while covering protests in the borough of Brooklyn on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"wfh1q\">The protest at Barclays Center was one of many demonstrations sparked across the country by the May 26 release of a video showing a white Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd during an arrest the prior day. Floyd, a Black man, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"n6nve\">Marklund, who has been covering the protests since they began, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that this particularly large gathering numbered in the hundreds or thousands. Police contained the protest by using portable fencing. Around 7:15 p.m., as tensions between protesters and police intensified, officers picked up the fencing and used it to push the crowd back. They also began to “go wild” with the pepper spray, Marklund said, and some of it landed on him.</p><p data-block-key=\"nknjp\">Goggles and a facemask protected Marklund from the worst effects of the spray. But he said the spray also hit his exposed neck and arms, leaving him with a burning sensation that lasted for five or six hours. Marklund was wearing press credentials around his neck, but said that he wasn’t targeted for being a journalist. “They didn't look to see if it was press or someone else,” he said of the officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"h3ayp\">Around 8:30 p.m. during the same protest, a police officer swung his baton near Marklund to force the crowd back. In the scrum, the photographer was struck by something — probably the baton, but he could not say for sure — that left a bruise the size of his hand on his stomach, he told the Tracker. Something also made contact with the lens and body of his camera. Marklund anticipated costly repairs to his camera but expected his insurance to cover most of the expense.</p><p data-block-key=\"syywe\">“The police were very, very aggressive,” Marklund told the Tracker. “They’ve been shoving me and other media every single night. It's been very intense, but we haven't been close to what I see other photographers and media have experienced in other cities where they’ve been shot at [with projectiles]. But it's definitely been an aggressive atmosphere where it doesn't really matter if you're press or not.”</p><p data-block-key=\"88lxm\">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. <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">Find these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Marklund_floyd_0529.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qmp7b\">Photojournalist Joel Marklund, who captured this image, said he was pepper sprayed, hit with a baton and had his camera broken while documenting protests in the Brooklyn borough of New York City 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,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera lens"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Joel Marklund (Bildbyrån [Sweden & Norway])"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Individuals at protest in Tucson target journalist with repeated physical attacks",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-protest-tucson-target-journalist-repeated-physical-attacks/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-24T03:17:09.266840Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:18.417528Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:28:18.318818Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Tucson",
"longitude": -110.92648,
"latitude": 32.22174,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9gd82\">Individuals assaulted a freelance video journalist at a protest that devolved into violence in downtown Tucson, Arizona, on the evening of May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ssgpv\">The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"5099u\"><a href=\"http://www.ericrosenwaldphotography.com/\">Eric Rosenwald</a> was capturing footage of police and protesters outside the main police station in downtown Tucson around 10:30 p.m. when individuals in the crowd began to criticize him for filming them, claiming he was “with the police,” he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"j7e66\">Rosenwald, who was wearing a yellow safety vest adorned with a reflective patch that read “PRESS” and carrying a still camera, was clearly identifiable as a member of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"af2eb\">Rosenwald was first attacked by a young man in a blue baseball cap, who began to throw punches at him. The police line was about 20 yards away, and when officers noticed what was happening, they fired pepper balls at the ground near the attacker’s feet, affording Rosenwald the opportunity to escape, according to Rosenwald and video he furnished the Tracker of the encounter. He was not hit by any of the pepper balls nor did he inhale any of the powder they give off on impact.</p><p data-block-key=\"ooujo\">Less than a minute later, an individual came up to Rosenwald and started screaming at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"2x1kt\">“You’re fucking antagonizing us right now. You’re fucking antagonizing us right now. This is a protest and we’re protesting you, motherfucker,” that individual said, according to <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CA1G0ZMAts-/\">video footage</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"asolc\">As this verbal attack continued, Rosenwald said he was pushed to the ground by a scrum of five people, who kicked him in the head, legs and torso before he was able to find his footing again.</p><p data-block-key=\"2r6h3\">Rosenwald’s iPhone, attached to a recording rig, slipped out of his hand during this attack, and someone stole the microphone that had been attached to it, he said. He recovered his phone and continued to film as he walked backward away from his attackers. The Arizona Daily Star posted <a href=\"https://tucson.com/demonstrators-attack-photojounalist-language-alert/video_b6d1b339-1aed-5d1f-8d9b-21b348e2a6c8.html\">video</a> on its website of that attack in progress, captured from another angle by a journalist standing across the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"r9rtf\">About 30 minutes later, Rosenwald was attacked and pushed over again. During the course of the evening, he estimated he was punched or kicked 10 times, including three blows to the head that left him with large bruises and two black eyes. “I never left. I kept covering it,” Rosenwald said. “I think they realized I wasn’t going to go anywhere.”</p><p data-block-key=\"60qkz\">One of his attackers later found him in the crowd and gloated about the newly forming bruises on his face. “Look at his dumbass face. Yeah, you got fucked up. Guess who hit you? Me, you punk-ass bitch,” one attacker gloated. Rosenwald <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CA-D5cXA4Wp/\">posted video</a> of that encounter to his Instagram feed.</p><p data-block-key=\"s66bz\">Rosenwald said that the attacks were unexpected, given that he was on a well-lit street next to the police station and near plenty of other journalists. He said that his attackers seemed to range in age from 18 to 25.</p><p data-block-key=\"0hpf1\">“What really scared me, in some ways worse than the physical part, was the complete ignorance as to what the First Amendment means,” Rosenwald said. “That was frightening to me as a journalist.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eqcqw\">Rosenwald’s bruises lingered for more than two weeks, but he did not suffer any long-term injuries from the attacks. He filed a report with the Tucson Police Department on June 6 but said he has yet to hear back. A request for comment emailed to the department was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"csczb\">One of the individuals who attacked Rosenwald also accosted a reporter for the Arizona Daily Star, Caitlin Schmidt, and threw her cellphone. That incident is documented <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-crowd-accost-newspaper-reporter-covering-protests-tucson/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"pghu8\">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 Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
"updates": [
"(2021-01-08 15:31:00+00:00) Individual charged with assault, robbery of Tucson journalist during May 2020 protest and pays restitutions"
],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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"Eric Rosenwald (Freelance)"
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},
{
"title": "CNN reporter hit with a projectile, tear-gassed during live coverage of Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-reporter-hit-projectile-tear-gassed-during-live-coverage-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-22T14:00:32.627732Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-10-24T18:56:29.655182Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-10-24T18:56:29.510351Z",
"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=\"j0vqk\">Miguel Marquez, a national correspondent for CNN, was hit with a projectile and tear-gassed on live TV while reporting from protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for Cuomo Prime Time on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"g4ajo\">The protests were part of several days of demonstrations that began in response to a video of a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"hjmhw\">Marquez was covering protests near the Fifth Precinct headquarters where demonstrators refused to comply with warnings from <a href=\"https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2020/05/30/protesters-defy-minneapolis-curfew-order-several-fires-set-during-4th-night-of-unrest-over-george-floyds-death/\">law enforcement and the National Guard</a> that they were breaking curfew and would be removed, Marquez reported. “That’s when things got very, very intense here,” he said in <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2020/05/30/marquez-minneapolis-tear-gas-police-bts-cpt-vpx.cnn\">a video of the incident</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8hca9\">Marquez went on to say that protesters were firing bottle rockets and fireworks at the precinct, while law enforcement was responding with tear gas and flash-bang grenades. At one point in the video, the CNN reporter lets out an exclamation after being struck with a canister or a rock, and host Chris Cuomo advises him and his crew to retreat from the action.</p><p data-block-key=\"knoeh\">While describing the action in front of him — which included protesters “using the fireworks as weapons” — Marquez wound up in the line of tear gas, telling his cameraperson to “watch yourself” as they moved away. In the video, he can be heard coughing.</p><p data-block-key=\"m2fot\">“That’s a healthy dose,” he said, before continuing to report. “They fired a hell of a volley of tear gas into the crowd to get them out,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2pans\">A CNN spokesperson declined to make Marquez available for an interview, noting that he had not specifically been targeted by tear gas but was merely “in the area where the tear gas was being shot.”</p><p data-block-key=\"alxam\">A Minneapolis Police Department spokesperson did not respond immediately to a question about why tear gas was deployed or the type of projectile that struck Marquez.</p><p data-block-key=\"08iqo\">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 <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Marquez_assault_0529_floyd_MN.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"zxvf5\">Demonstrators chant outside the Fifth Precinct on May 29, 2020.</p>",
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"assailant": "unknown",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Miguel Marquez (CNN)"
],
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},
{
"title": "WLKY correspondent attacked while covering Louisville protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wlky-correspondent-attacked-while-covering-louisville-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T19:52:30.343289Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:22:23.637077Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:22:23.490115Z",
"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=\"ll492\">Deni Kamper, a correspondent for local broadcast station WLKY, and her news partner were assaulted by individuals while covering protests in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"fx10e\">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=\"8f9aw\">Kamper was attacked by a mob of people alongside photographer Paul Ahmann, 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></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">All - I’m ok. Paul, the photographer who’s been with me all night, is being treated but is also ok. A lot of people helped us tonight and I’m so grateful.</p>— Deni Kamper (@denikamper) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/denikamper/status/1266586434565177346?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=\"8vx58\">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=\"mcoia\">Kamper and Ahmann did not immediately respond to an emailed interview request.</p><p data-block-key=\"1g47s\">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=\"6bh1s\">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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"arresting_authority": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Deni Kamper (WLKY)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Individuals in crowd accost newspaper reporter covering protests in Tucson",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/individuals-crowd-accost-newspaper-reporter-covering-protests-tucson/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-22T02:46:04.327534Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:18:53.327925Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:18:53.239535Z",
"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=\"fb2zi\">While covering protests in Tucson on the evening of May 29, 2020, Caitlin Schmidt, a sports reporter with the Arizona Daily Star, was accosted by individuals in the crowd who hit her arm and threw her phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"gckip\">The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"ihvis\">Schmidt arrived outside the police station in downtown Tucson at 10 p.m. to document the protest, attended by several hundred people.</p><p data-block-key=\"vf1va\">She began filming the scene on her phone to send to her editor to post on social media, when three members of the crowd wearing medical masks approached her and began yelling at her, Schmidt told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"jjmgv\">One shouted at her, “When you put our faces on TV, it gets us killed,” according to Schmidt’s recounting. She responded, “I'm not putting you on TV, I’m just doing my job,” and continued to film.</p><p data-block-key=\"18f4s\">Another one hit her arm very hard, causing her phone to slip out of her grasp. The first person, who had been yelling, scooped up Schmidt’s phone and threw it some 20 feet away, nearly hitting someone. The phone was not damaged, and a coworker was able to retrieve it for her.</p><p data-block-key=\"rnafv\">“The next day I had a pretty large bruise on my arm,” she said, as well as some “fairly significant swelling.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3i7fy\">Schmidt was wearing press credentials around her neck, which caught the eye of the individuals who accosted her. They took photos of it and threatened to find her later. “If you use our faces, we’re going to come find you,” Schmidt recounted one said.</p><p data-block-key=\"rjvmi\">She was standing within six feet of the police line at the time, as well as close to some TV cameramen from another outlet, and the incident was caught on the TV camera's live stream, she said. Schmidt said she did not “move or react” until the three left her alone.</p><p data-block-key=\"sn4a2\">An hour later, one of the same people found Schmidt in the crowd again and began yelling at her. That encounter was captured by freelance photojournalist Eric Rosenwald, who <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/eric.rosenwald/videos/1517285145109755/\">posted</a> it on Facebook. "Announce your privilege! Announce your privilege! You won't, because you're part of the problem, and that's why you got your shit tossed," the person yelled. Schmidt again remained silent until the person walked away.</p><p data-block-key=\"wjkt5\">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": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"g6jeh\">An individual harasses Arizona Daily Star reporter Caitlin Schmidt about an hour after she was assaulted while reporting from a protest in Tuscon on May 29, 2020.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Caitlin Schmidt (Arizona Daily Star)"
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{
"title": "WPTA journalist hit with tear gas canister while covering Indiana protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wpta-journalist-hit-tear-gas-canister-while-covering-indiana-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-15T02:08:04.603037Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:18:24.901352Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:18:24.814952Z",
"date": "2020-05-29",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fort Wayne",
"longitude": -85.12886,
"latitude": 41.1306,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"x09lt\">Karli VanCleave, a journalist with WPTA ABC 21, was struck by a tear gas canister fired by police while she was covering protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on May 29, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"awt46\">Protests in Fort Wayne began as demonstrations erupted across the country, sparked by a video of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest in Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"46iuw\">VanCleave covered the protests in downtown Fort Wayne for several hours. In the evening, as protesters gathered in the street, she said police formed a barricade to keep them from the courthouse lawn. The tension between protesters and police went on for several hours, VanCleave said, and police used tear gas several times.</p><p data-block-key=\"8knwp\">VanCleave was part of a group of five journalists with WPTA covering the protests. They had been standing near the police, who were aware the journalists were there, she said. VanCleave and her colleagues were wearing bright red shirts and jackets with the station’s logo. She was carrying equipment, including a camera marked with ABC 21’s letters.</p><p data-block-key=\"on68m\">As protesters and police faced off, without a warning, police began shooting canisters off in every direction, VanCleave said. She began to run and lost the rest of her team.</p><p data-block-key=\"s9cbj\">She saw one of the canisters, billowing smoke and looking “like a firework,” coming straight toward her face. VanCleave said she turned to duck, and the canister hit her in the back. She couldn’t breathe and had to hunch over. She was also carrying a large camera and a microphone, which made it “impossible” to run, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"tzj8r\">VanCleave’s coworker, Kayla Crandall, posted on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Karli_VanCleave/status/1266618555484823554\">Twitter</a> that VanCleave had been struck with a canister while covering the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"z0f5j\">The blow from the canister left VanCleave feeling sore the next day. Being close to the tear gas was worse, she said, because she couldn’t breathe or see and her skin felt as though it was burning everywhere.</p><p data-block-key=\"z5fm0\">VanCleave did not report the incident to police. Though the news organization has been in touch with police about other issues from the protests, she did not believe her experience had been reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"256w2\">Sergeant Brian Walker, the regional public information officer for the Indiana State Police, said in an email that he had looked into the claim, but there was nothing to comment on and confirmed there was no documentation of it.</p><p data-block-key=\"0qq9d\">VanCleave said police did not give warnings before using tear gas. For both protesters and the press, it was not clear what people were supposed to do to avoid exposure. “We would inch closer and closer so we could get the best shots, and still thinking that we were OK for a little bit to not get tear-gassed,” VanCleave said. “But then it would just happen out of nowhere, it seemed like almost every time.”</p><p data-block-key=\"33ja0\">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 these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"z2pmf\">Journalist Karli VanCleave covering protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Indiana",
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"shot / shot at"
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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",
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"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": "",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Pickett_assault_Dallas_0529_Floyd.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"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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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
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"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",
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"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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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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{
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"equipment": "camera"
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],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
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"Equipment Damage"
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"targeted_journalists": [
"Sue Brisk (Freelance)"
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{
"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",
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"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": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"la8k2\">Protesters gather at the state capitol in Denver, Colorado on May 28, 2020.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
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