HTTP 200 OK
Access-Control-Allow-Methods: GET,OPTIONS,HEAD
Access-Control-Allow-Origin: *
Allow: GET, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Link:
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?format=api>; rel="first",
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cj0xJnA9MjAyMC0wNS0zMC03OTI%3D&format=api>; rel="prev",
<http://pressfreedomtracker.us/api/edge/incidents/?cursor=cD0yMDIwLTA1LTMwLTcxMQ%3D%3D&format=api>; rel="next"
Vary: Accept
[
{
"title": "Two Live 5 News news vehicles damaged in one night in Charleston",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-live-5-news-news-vehicles-damaged-one-night-charleston/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-28T03:49:23.978600Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:17:36.361778Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:17:36.267519Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Charleston",
"longitude": -79.93092,
"latitude": 32.77657,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"21j87\">A group of people hit and threw a rock into a stopped Live 5 News car carrying three journalists covering a demonstration against police violence in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"6qkdt\">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, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence 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=\"d63u6\">The car carrying reporter Abbey O’Brien, reporter <a href=\"/all-incidents/live-5-news-reporter-in-vehicle-attacked-during-charleston-protests/\">Rob Way</a> and producer <a href=\"/all-incidents/live-5-news-producer-in-vehicle-attacked-during-charleston-protests/\">Allyson Cook</a> was driving through a crowd to get to safety because downtown Charleston was becoming violent, O’Brien said.</p><p data-block-key=\"3u3us\">“We were in a Live 5 News car obviously designated as our station,” O’Brien told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “People started banging on our windows and flicking us off.”</p><p data-block-key=\"benei\">Demonstrations had started peacefully but turned violent as the night wore on, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ck2vp\">“Once it got dark, it turned into rioting; that was definitely not as many people,” O’Brien said. “I truly believe that it was just two different groups of people.”</p><p data-block-key=\"28rd7\">While they were stopped at an intersection, members of the crowd began to bang on the windows of the car and then a rock was thrown through the back window. No one was injured.</p><p data-block-key=\"51n7\">At the time, the journalists weren’t sure whether it was a rock, tear-gas canister or an explosive, so once they got to safety, they all exited the car.</p><p data-block-key=\"dj6bt\">“We all jumped out and realized it was just a brick,” O’Brien said. “So, no one was hurt, which is good, but it was really scary.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Now that we’re safe... here’s a look at what just happened to our <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Live5News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Live5News</a> car. Someone threw this large rock while we were driving down King St. Very scary <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/chsnews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#chsnews</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/scnews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#scnews</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/0r1Fq77nZ7\">pic.twitter.com/0r1Fq77nZ7</a></p>— Abbey O'Brien (@abbeyobrien) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/abbeyobrien/status/1266934403776864257?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=\"bie8k\">They continued to report throughout the night and made sure they didn’t leave anything valuable in the car. O’Brien said that, in a separate incident, people smashed out the front, driver’s side window of a different, unoccupied Live 5 truck. Both the car and the truck were out of commission for a few days, she said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The windows in our <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Live5News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Live5News</a> car busted in as <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/protesters?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#protesters</a> move up king street. They are using bricks dug up to also smash windows <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Charleston?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Charleston</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/zyrXyU1omv\">pic.twitter.com/zyrXyU1omv</a></p>— Lillian Donahue (@LillianDonahue) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LillianDonahue/status/1266910869742661638?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=\"jqtcd\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": 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": "private individual",
"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": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "South Carolina",
"abbreviation": "SC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Abbey O'Brien (WCSC-TV)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Two news vehicles damaged during Reno protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-news-vehicles-damaged-during-reno-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-21T21:28:45.094527Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:01:49.933271Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:01:49.840305Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Reno",
"longitude": -119.8138,
"latitude": 39.52963,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hm8vc\">Unknown individuals damaged two vehicles belonging to ABC affiliate KOLO as the channel’s journalists reported on protests in Reno, Nevada, on May 30, 2020, the channel’s news director told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"vkf5y\">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=\"fsv1u\">Hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters marched through downtown Reno, according to the <a href=\"https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2020/05/30/hundreds-gather-reno-protest-george-floyds-death/5291340002/\">Reno Gazette Journal</a>. But police intervened with tear gas after a splinter group began to damage City Hall shortly after 7 p.m. Officials declared the gathering an <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChiefJasonSoto/status/1266939136163721216\">unlawful assembly</a> and imposed a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MayorSchieve/status/1266916816586072065\">curfew</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"zq69y\">KOLO News Director Stanton Tang told the Tracker that unknown individuals attempted but failed to overturn one of the station’s news vehicles. The vehicle’s windshield and rear window were shattered.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebnih\">Videos submitted to <a href=\"https://www.kolotv.com/community/user-content/\">KOLO’s user content</a> page show the vehicle parked a couple blocks from City Hall. One video shows someone repeatedly hit the side of the car before another person body-slams the front of it amid cheers. Another shows someone jump on the hood and repeatedly stomp on the windshield. A third shows a group of people attempt, but fail, to tip the car over.</p><p data-block-key=\"zjp5b\">Tang said another vehicle suffered multiple dents and a shattered side window. He said a rock was found inside the car.</p><p data-block-key=\"chekt\">Tang said he believed both vehicles were targeted because they were news vehicles.</p><p data-block-key=\"89z15\">A photo provided to the Tracker by photojournalist Ty O’Neil, who was on assignment for This Is Reno, shows a white vehicle with large KOLO branding on the side with a shattered front left window. O’Neil told the Tracker he took the photo a few blocks from City Hall on Mill Street.</p><p data-block-key=\"7nrbs\">The station filed a police report about the incidents, but no suspects had been identified, Tang said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ubwok\">The Reno Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ng1i8\">Police chief and acting city manager Jason Soto said that the department was reviewing video and media reports to make arrests for crimes committed during the protests, according to <a href=\"https://thisisreno.com/2020/05/riots-in-reno-after-peaceful-black-lives-matter-demonstration-videos-and-photos/\">This Is Reno</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"lysgp\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/KOLO_Vehicle_Ty_ONeil_This_Is_Ren.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"06vg7\">The window of a KOLO news vehicle was shattered in Reno, Nevada, on May 30, 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": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Nevada",
"abbreviation": "NV"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"KOLO-TV"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck repeatedly with pepper balls while covering La Mesa protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-repeatedly-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-mesa-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-10T17:33:53.253264Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:01:26.656737Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:01:26.566283Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "La Mesa",
"longitude": -117.02308,
"latitude": 32.76783,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"90inu\">East County Magazine photojournalist Henri Migala was shot with pepper balls on two occasions while covering protests in La Mesa, California, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"7jqfj\">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=\"tevla\">Migala told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing demonstrations near the La Mesa police station at around 6:20 p.m., having received word that officers had begun using tear gas on demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"at206\">In an <a href=\"https://www.eastcountymagazine.org/photographer-hit-pepper-spray-shares-front-line-experience-covering-protest-la-mesa\">account for the magazine</a>, Migala wrote that when he reached the station, the standoff between police and protesters was well underway. The tear gas in the air caused his eyes to burn. Migala worked his way toward the south side of the station and crossed the street to distance himself from the protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"rn0vi\">“I was wearing a bright yellow safety vest with my ‘MEDIA’ badge on the front,” Migala wrote. “I stood alone, away from any of the protesters so that I wouldn’t be mistaken for one of them. But despite standing there, alone, for about 20 minutes, I was shot with a pepper spray paintball in the leg.”</p><p data-block-key=\"0zgqu\">Migala told the Tracker that the pepper ball hit his right thigh, leaving a large amount of the chemical irritant powder on his leg.</p><p data-block-key=\"6imkm\">Police continued to engage with protesters over the next hour, he said, firing various crowd-control munitions to disperse the demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"qqiiz\">“I had been there for so long that my back started hurting,” Migala said. “So, I sat on the curb in front of the postal office across the street from the police station, pretty far from the main demonstrators.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5vopa\">As he sat there, police suddenly fired pepper balls at him again, striking him an additional two to four times, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"aneqh\">“One of the pellets exploded and a bunch of the powder went into my nose, my mouth and in my eyes,” he said. “I was instantly incapacitated.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2son0\">Migala said a couple of young women were able to lead him to safety. One woman held his camera, glasses and hat as the other rinsed out his eyes for at least five minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"adi4a\">He added that the powder was still covering his respirator mask, face, clothes and beard when he got to his car, and caused him significant difficulty breathing. The following day, some powder residue still covered his camera, and when he attempted to brush it off, his eyes watered and became irritated.</p><p data-block-key=\"ryht0\">“Just molecules of that stuff is enough to irritate your eyes with burning pain,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"i24a6\">Migala told the Tracker and wrote about a second journalist who was also struck with a projectile — believed to have been a rubber bullet — while covering the protests that day. The Tracker was unable to identify the journalist as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"6hw0r\">East County Magazine Editor Miriam Raftery told the Tracker that they don’t know for sure that Migala was intentionally targeted. ”It seems to me they should have been able to see that he was media,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"83qt7\">The La Mesa Police Department did not respond to phone requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"2piay\">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": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Migala.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"i098g\">From right, photojournalist Henri Migala in a reflective vest and media credentials while covering a May 30, 2020, protest in La Mesa, California, his leg after a pepper ball hit that day, and his camera covered in residue.</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": 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": "unknown",
"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": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Henri Migala (East County Magazine)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Police pepper spray, shove journalist covering anti-police brutality demonstrations in Brooklyn",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-pepper-spray-shove-journalist-covering-anti-police-brutality-demonstrations-brooklyn/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-09T18:49:47.868302Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:00:22.999938Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:00:22.866223Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9r8ay\">Freelance journalist Nick Pinto was pushed to the ground by a New York City Police officer after clearly identifying himself as a member of the press during a chaotic night of protests in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"vwctc\">The protests were part of the many demonstrations held across the country after the May 26 video release of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd during an arrest the previous day. Floyd, a black man, was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"81vj0\">Pinto, who was covering the protests for New York outlet Gothamist, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the Saturday evening protest in the Flatbush neighborhood was “the most mayhem I've seen on the streets of New York City ever.”</p><p data-block-key=\"09925\">By the time Pinto arrived in the late afternoon, tensions between the protesters and police in riot gear were at a fever pitch. The two sides were facing off in the street, Pinto said, when the New York Police Department pushed the crowd north up Bedford Avenue. Some protesters were throwing objects at the officers, including plastic and glass bottles, but also more dangerous projectiles, Pinto said.</p><p data-block-key=\"g5fhp\">“I saw fire extinguishers, bricks, chunks of concrete the size of footballs; I saw a cop take a giant chunk of brick and concrete in the neck and go down and I feel certain that that cop is not OK,” Pinto told the Tracker. “The police would respond by pepper-spraying indiscriminately, charging into the crowd with bats, busting people up, making some really hard arrests, dragging them back while the crowd chants ‘shame!’ And then they would reset and do it all again. This lasted for eight hours.”</p><p data-block-key=\"wavva\">When the crowd came across any police vehicles that had been left unattended, they would vandalize them and set them on fire, Pinto said. Other anti-police partisans climbed on the roof of gas stations to throw objects at officers in an environment that Pinto compared to “urban combat.”</p><p data-block-key=\"s6ary\">When the moving conflict reached the intersection of Bedford and Church avenues, the police broke up the crowd into smaller groups that the officers pursued. During this time, Pinto was hit in the back of the neck by pepper spray, which he said felt like a “very strong Tiger Balm.” Later, Pinto would inadvertently touch the back of his neck and then his eyes, resulting in a much more painful burning sensation.</p><p data-block-key=\"oneq9\">The journalist, who was wearing a press pass around his neck, told the Tracker that he was not specifically targeted by the pepper spray, but soon had a more direct encounter with an officer. Pinto was on the sidewalk on Church Avenue moving away from the line of police officers who repeatedly told him to move. He said he displayed his credentials and identified himself as a member of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"lquo8\">“I was not moving fast enough for their satisfaction. And it was a challenge to their authority,” Pinto said. One officer “locked eyes on me, came at me, pushed me, knocked me to the ground. It tore open my pants and bloodied both my knees.”</p><p data-block-key=\"38gck\">“I got back up, and I was like, ‘Hey, I'm press, I'm doing my job. I understand you're doing your job, but, just respect what I'm doing,’” Pinto continued. The officer replied, “‘No, you have to respect what I'm doing.’ And I asked for his badge number and he gave it to me. I asked for his name and he gave it to me. But I was rattled enough that I was unable to read the name that I wrote—my hand was shaking.”</p><p data-block-key=\"pid5b\">Pinto was not detained or charged with any crime. In a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-pushed-ground-nyc-officers-during-protests/\">separate incident the night of June 4</a> in Brooklyn, Pinto said he was shoved to the ground by officers during a scrum with protesters. Pinto told the Tracker that he is unsure whether he’ll file a complaint with the NYPD about the officer’s behavior on May 30 or about the incident a few nights later.</p><p data-block-key=\"tk9pp\">“I'm trying to decide whether I particularly feel like talking to the police about the police,” he said. “But I may yet do so.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9jurm\">The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"ymbez\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39PSX.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"djagt\">A New York City police officer uses pepper spray on protesters during a demonstration in the borough of Brooklyn on May 30, 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": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "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"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Nick Pinto (Gothamist)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist assaulted while covering protests in Reno",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-while-covering-protests-reno/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-09T16:44:25.871776Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:27:00.945134Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:27:00.853959Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Reno",
"longitude": -119.8138,
"latitude": 39.52963,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"aj7wc\">Don Dike-Anukam, a student political writer for the news website This Is Reno, was assaulted by several people while reporting on a protest against police violence on May 30, 2020, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"qo8wz\">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, 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=\"2u67e\">Dike-Anukam and several other colleagues contributing to This Is Reno were reporting on a small crowd gathered outside City Hall as evening drew close. The crowd had splintered from a rally of hundreds of Black Lives Matter protesters who had marched through downtown Reno, Nevada, that day, according to the <a href=\"https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2020/05/30/hundreds-gather-reno-protest-george-floyds-death/5291340002/\">Reno Gazette Journal</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"pwkd2\">The mood at City Hall had darkened as Dike-Anukam began <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/donwil/videos/10101401363538269/\">to livestream</a> on Facebook at around 7 p.m. Dike-Anukam’s livestream and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/luciastarbuck/status/1266913483481739264\">other</a> <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/david.leon.77398/videos/3036035949819497/?story_fbid=3036035949819497&id=100002393648230\">videos</a> from the scene show people breaking the windows and entrance of the building. At one point, a chair is thrown from the inside of the building, shattering a window. An alarm wails as a Nevada flag smolders.</p><p data-block-key=\"qti7r\">Suddenly someone yells, “We got the gavel!” Dike-Anukam approaches a person in a white bandana and baseball cap. “Where did that come from? Where did that come from? Did you go in the chambers?” Dike-Anukam tries to ask in the livestream.</p><p data-block-key=\"u2t2p\">“Turn that shit off,” the gavel holder says. He pushes away Dike-Anukam’s phone before walking away.</p><p data-block-key=\"t3cv0\">Two other people immediately confront Dike-Anukam. The livestream is largely unintelligible, but it appears to show a woman covering her face with blue fabric shouting expletives at Dike-Anukam as a man in an NBA All-Star sweatshirt stands by her side.</p><p data-block-key=\"3lm2k\">Dike-Anukam told the Tracker he believes the woman called him “Reno” because she saw his This Is Reno press badge hanging from his neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"hkxp5\">Suddenly, the camera is knocked to the ground. Another <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/david.leon.77398/videos/3036035949819497/?story_fbid=3036035949819497&id=100002393648230\">video</a> posted to Facebook shows a fourth person, in black, who was originally standing next to the person with the gavel, backtrack toward Dike-Anukam. He swipes at Dike-Anukam’s camera before walking away through the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"3mkki\">Dike-Anukam picks up his still-streaming camera and tries to walk away. But the woman and the man in the NBA sweatshirt follow him. Off camera, she warns Dike-Anukam, “You’re still gonna get jumped.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2v41i\">“I don’t care. I don’t care. The First Amendment wins,” Dike-Anukam responds in the livestream.</p><p data-block-key=\"9nucl\">Then, chaos breaks loose on the livestream in a garbled, 30-second mess of shouting as the feed goes black.</p><p data-block-key=\"xck2w\">Dike-Anukam said he wasn’t certain if the woman was warning or threatening him, he told the Tracker. But he knew the crowd had grown increasingly aggressive toward the press. Earlier, he had watched protesters attempt to block a cameraman from the local NBC affiliate, KRNV, from filming the defacing of an American flag at police headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"i31mb\">Dike-Anukam explained to the Tracker he felt “a strong feeling, a sense of duty and conviction” to continue reporting.</p><p data-block-key=\"whuts\">Ty O’Neil, a freelance photographer on assignment for This Is Reno, told the Tracker he was standing on a nearby ledge trying to photograph the crowd when he saw someone punch Dike-Anukam in the back of the head. In the chaos of the moment, O’Neil said he didn’t know who threw the punch, but a review of his photographs that day showed the man in the NBA sweatshirt making a fist right before Dike-Anukam was hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"ofsj9\">O’Neil ran toward his colleague as several people punched and kicked Dike-Anukam, who had fallen to the ground. <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/david.leon.77398/videos/3036035949819497/?story_fbid=3036035949819497&id=100002393648230\">Video</a> shows the woman with a blue head covering joining the fray after Dike-Anukam was punched.</p><p data-block-key=\"j3lmi\">Dike-Anukam tried to protect his face, his vital organs and his phone, which contained all his footage, as best he could, he told the Tracker. As he was curled into a ball, shielding himself against multiple assailants punching, kicking and pulling at him, Dike-Anukam heard someone urge the others to go for his camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"nalku\">Lucia Starbuck, another This Is Reno contributor and reporter for NPR affiliate KUNR, filmed the assault. Her <a href=\"https://twitter.com/luciastarbuck/status/1266916902464413696\">video</a> appears to show some protesters attempting to stop the attack. Someone in a black sweatshirt throws the woman who had accosted Dike-Anukam to the ground.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt8ao\">O’Neil jumped into the melee to try to save Dike-Anukam.</p><p data-block-key=\"58cgg\">“I shoved a bunch of people out of the way, and I grabbed Don’s shoulders and he looked up at me,” said O’Neil, his voice cracking. “He had these giant eyes of fear, and that’s definitely the thing that kind of stuck with me, how awful to see him like that was.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sra1o\">Dike-Anukam said: “Had Ty not jumped in there and separated the crowd and pulled me out, I wouldn’t have made it … I would’ve sustained significant physical damage.”</p><p data-block-key=\"j3yw9\">“I grabbed him under the arm on his left side and I picked him up. And I just started running,” O’Neil said. “There were so many people around us. Just punches and kicks and, you know, chaos.”</p><p data-block-key=\"npr3g\">Then the tear gas came.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qbsb\">It isn’t clear if the police, who up until this point had been conspicuously absent from City Hall, fired tear gas in an attempt to stop the assault or whether they coincidentally engaged the crowd at the same moment.</p><p data-block-key=\"g6n79\">The Reno Police Department didn’t respond to multiple inquiries seeking comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ba8zj\">Everyone — the journalists, those who were attacking them and those who were trying to save them — all fled from the cloud of gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"6p5he\">“I just was recovering from getting my ass kicked, in a daze, and now all of a sudden I’m choking on this vile thing that’s got in my eyes,” Dike-Anukam said. “Everything hurts. My head is throbbing at this point. I’m wondering, am I bleeding?”</p><p data-block-key=\"2e8bg\">Despite the assault — and losing his glasses as a result — Dike-Anukam continued to report well into the night, as officials declared the gathering an <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChiefJasonSoto/status/1266939136163721216\">unlawful assembly</a> and imposed a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MayorSchieve/status/1266916816586072065\">curfew</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"1j6gw\">The following day, Dike-Anukam was diagnosed with a minor concussion, he told the Tracker. As of June 22, he was still feeling the effects of the assault and planned to return to receive follow-up care, he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4yxn\">O’Neil said he didn’t feel some of the blows from the crowd as his adrenaline surged. The next day, he discovered a bruise on his chest, but he didn’t know what caused it.</p><p data-block-key=\"59p25\">Dike-Anukam told the Tracker he filed a police report about the assault. On June 18, <a href=\"https://www.rgj.com/story/news/2020/06/18/reno-police-seek-help-identifying-suspects-attack-journalist/3215535001/?fbclid=IwAR2pDZZKx8yvNm67z1lzI3syQraDWecPn-2gbQ0f-rYUhr-mwG0nUQGTHNE\">the Reno Police Department</a> said it had identified the woman with a blue head covering and the man in the NBA sweatshirt as suspects in the assault and asked the public to help identify them.</p><p data-block-key=\"71qoh\">Police chief and acting city manager Jason Soto said that the department was reviewing video and media reports to make arrests for crimes committed during the protest, according to <a href=\"https://thisisreno.com/2020/05/riots-in-reno-after-peaceful-black-lives-matter-demonstration-videos-and-photos/\">This Is Reno</a>. He denounced the assault on Dike-Anukam, saying the journalist was a “personal friend of mine through the media, and it breaks my heart that he was injured.”</p><p data-block-key=\"y4id2\">In a personal account of the attack for <a href=\"https://www.press.org/newsroom/student-member-gives-first-person-account-being-injured\">the National Press Club</a>, Dike-Anukam wrote that his heart, too, was broken by the events of May 30. He noted the irony of a Black journalist being assaulted while covering a protest in response to the killing of Floyd, an unarmed Black man.</p><p data-block-key=\"jpvgg\">But the assault didn’t blunt his dedication to journalism. “I am not deterred, scared, or less in love with this profession,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"psz7t\">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=\"http://pressfreedomtracker.us/george-floyd-protests/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Dike-Anukam_assault_by_Ty_ONeil_T.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"v4c5i\">This Is Reno reporter Don Dike-Anukam, center, with hat and white gloves, films just before being assaulted by multiple individuals on May 30, 2020 near City Hall in Reno, Nevada.</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": 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": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Nevada",
"abbreviation": "NV"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-08-05 06:40:00+00:00) Reno police issue warrants in battery of journalist who was covering protests"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Don Dike-Anukam (This Is Reno)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shot at with foam rounds while covering Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/despite-identifying-press-multiple-journalists-shot-projectiles-minneapolis-law-enforcement/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-06T21:52:28.843664Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:41:07.983171Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:41:07.863454Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5ik9z\">Freelance photojournalist Adam Bettcher said State Patrol troopers fired foam rounds at him while he was covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"siju0\">A curfew was in effect following protests sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest 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=\"h8fai\">Bettcher, who was on assignment for Reuters, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that State Patrol troopers fired at him at around 11 p.m. near the Fifth Precinct.</p><p data-block-key=\"eiy3x\">Bettcher said he was holding up his press credentials and shining a flashlight at himself as he approached a police line, yelling out, “I’m press! I’m press.” Bettcher said he was wearing body armor and a denim shirt that had an embroidered patch that said “PRESS” on his chest. He said he told the troopers he was trying to reach his car and they yelled at him to “go home!”</p><p data-block-key=\"v4sgl\">Bettcher replied that he was trying to get home and asked them how he could reach his car, and they shouted at him to use Google Maps, he recounted. Seconds later, one of the officers fired a projectile that whizzed by his head, he said. “I heard it hit the wall behind me,” he said. At this, he left the area. “I didn’t go back to see what they shot at me, but it was a foam baton round from the sound of it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6lhnw\">A request for comment about this incident sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"7yyzi\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39PT7.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"djcaw\">A Minneapolis police officer clears a cameraman from near the department’s Fifth Precinct on May 30, 2020. Photojournalist Adam Bettcher, who captured this image, was shot at with a projectile after he identified as press.</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": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"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": [
"Adam Bettcher (Reuters)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "TRT World correspondent hit with projectiles while covering Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-crew-hit-projectiles-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-06T21:41:05.898417Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:40:35.461547Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:40:35.336715Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kon86\">Just after Minneapolis’ curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020, a correspondent and cameraman for Turkey’s state-run English-language news channel were hit by projectiles fired by police.</p><p data-block-key=\"8w86s\">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 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=\"b7tru\">Lionel Donovan, a Washington-based correspondent for TRT World, said he had set up for a live shot outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct just after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, near some peaceful protesters staging a sit-in at an intersection. Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Governor Tim Walz’s order.</p><p data-block-key=\"a46q3\">“The curfew came and it was like a button got hit,” Donovan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"pebx6\">According to Donovan, the police advanced down the street and began to fire off tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd. One of the tear gas canisters hit cameraman Barbaros Sayilgan’s foot during Donovan’s live shot.</p><p data-block-key=\"fwzl0\">Sayilgan could not be reached for comment, but Donovan said he helped the cameraman and a producer off to safety, then went back into the street to film more footage himself. Donovan was filming on his phone, he said, when a blue foam round struck him in the inside of his left thigh, breaking the skin.</p><p data-block-key=\"tz7nq\">“It felt like someone took a baseball bat and set it on fire and hit me in the leg,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"tkor9\">Donovan was wearing a helmet and flak jacket, both emblazoned with “PRESS” in white uppercase letters. He said he was not close to the crowd when he was hit.</p><p data-block-key=\"y945u\">“It definitely made us very jittery for the rest of the deployment because then we just didn’t trust the police in any way, shape or form to help us with anything,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"w1wl2\">Requests for comment sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"6jnj2\">On June 1, Donovan tweeted a video in which he displayed the wound on his leg:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">When you hear journalists talk about getting fired on by police, this is one of the things we’re getting hit with. It felt like I got hit with a baseball bat... <a href=\"https://t.co/Xp4ZSYalvE\">pic.twitter.com/Xp4ZSYalvE</a></p>— Lionel Donovan, III (@LionelDonovan3) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LionelDonovan3/status/1267477984300208128?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\"><p data-block-key=\"5jw8i\">Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, brought up the attack on the crew in a June 3 phone call with David Satterfield, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, according to an <a href=\"https://www.dailysabah.com/politics/diplomacy/communications-director-expresses-concern-for-turkish-journalists-in-us-amid-civil-unrest\">article</a> published in the Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper.</p><p data-block-key=\"g4xhq\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39PTD.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"xzneq\">Minnesota State Patrol officers move toward protesters gathered near the police department’s Fifth Precinct on May 30, 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": 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": "unknown",
"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": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"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": [
"Lionel Donovan (TRT World)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporters chased out of Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park by officers in riot gear",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-chased-out-of-washington-dcs-lafayette-park-by-officers-in-riot-gear/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-02T17:46:39.936304Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:29:07.639671Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:29:07.555271Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"tfc2w\">Secret Service agents and U.S. Park Police chased two journalists out of Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park in the early morning hours of May 30, 2020, minutes after the journalists were caught in a cloud of pepper spray, video footage of the incident shows.</p><p data-block-key=\"kz5ya\">At 3:22 a.m, officers in riot gear with the Secret Service and the U.S. Park Police sprayed pepper spray toward a crowd of protesters as they attempted to clear the park across from the White House, according to the video streamed live on Periscope by Yahoo News White House Correspondent Hunter Walker. Some of it wafted over to the side of the park where journalists were standing.</p><p data-block-key=\"393nj\">“After several hours of standoff here, this was the moment that the Secret Service and U.S. Park Police decided to advance,” Walker said, narrating the unfolding scene to his viewers on the <a href=\"https://www.pscp.tv/w/1LyGBNWbrZoGN\">livestream</a>. “So they’re now pushing this crowd through the park.” Walker said he was holding up his White House “hard pass,” press credentials that allow him to enter the White House, to show he was a member of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"mk0k8\">He said he inhaled some of the pepper spray through his N95 mask, leading to the sensation of “a little fire in the back of my throat,” he said. “I only got the smallest edge of that. They’re spraying more. They’re saying 'out of the park or you will be sprayed’”</p><p data-block-key=\"wvdmw\">The officers then rushed toward the crowd. “All of us reporters are here on the side, the police are just running forward into the crowd,” he said, coughing. “I am holding my hard pass in the air.”</p><p data-block-key=\"k5uly\">A few officers then turned their attention to Walker, running towards him with their shields out, the video shows. “Press, guys, press. Press. OK. Press, press. Hard pass. Press. OK. Press. I’m press,” Walker shouts. Walker was chased out of the park, and turned off his livestream as an officer continued to come towards him, even as the reporter continued to wave his pass.</p><p data-block-key=\"6u76d\">In a Yahoo News <a href=\"https://news.yahoo.com/night-of-rage-on-pennsylvania-avenue-as-protesters-clash-with-secret-service-in-front-of-the-white-house-190027102.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=tw\">story</a> he published later that day, he described the incident and said officers from both the Secret Service and Park Police forced identified members of the press out of the park across from the White House, shouting: “Get the f*** out of the park!”</p><p data-block-key=\"yldsc\">Mike Balsamo, who covers the Justice Department and federal law enforcement for The Associated Press, also was present as the officers chased reporters out of the park.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">US Park Police just told the crowd, including credentialed reporters to “get the fuck out of the park right now” as fellow officers sprayed a crowd of protesters with pepper spray</p>— Mike Balsamo (@MikeBalsamo1) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1/status/1266632390757187584?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=\"7ojjz\">Neither the Secret Service nor the U.S. Park Police provided comment on the incident in response to an e-mailed request.</p><p data-block-key=\"uqna8\">A few hours earlier, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/yahoo-news-correspondent-hit-in-washington-dcs-lafayette-park/\">Walker was hit</a> by an individual, which interrupted his livestream.</p><p data-block-key=\"4wz6a\">The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25, 2020. 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 United States since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"6xmdu\">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 Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find<a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\"> these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": 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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"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": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Hunter Walker (Yahoo News)",
"Mike Balsamo (The Associated Press)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Rubber bullets crack windshield on FOX 9 new vehicle",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rubber-bullets-crack-windshield-fox-9-new-vehicle/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-02T17:09:47.553872Z",
"last_published_at": "2023-11-03T13:57:44.988257Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2023-11-03T13:57:44.886282Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2q8zw\">A vehicle used by FOX 9, the Minneapolis-St. Paul Fox affiliate, was hit with two rubber bullets, which cracked its windshield, on May 30, 2020, in Minneapolis, according to tweets from two network reporters, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DawnAtFOX9/status/1266910636916781060\">Dawn Mitchell</a> and <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AmyHockert/status/1266911510862979073\">Amy Hockert</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"zspjr\">The incident occurred as the crew was reporting about ongoing protests in Minneapolis relating to the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis police custody.</p><p data-block-key=\"9neib\">Hockert tweeted around 9:30 p.m. that two rubber bullets hit the car and that everyone was OK.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Please go home, they mean business, our crew just got two rubber bullets to the car. They are OK. And they are allowed to be there. <a href=\"https://t.co/1lAPlp3XWC\">pic.twitter.com/1lAPlp3XWC</a></p>— Amy Hockert (@AmyHockert) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AmyHockert/status/1266911510862979073?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=\"37uu9\">Mitchell tweeted that the Minneapolis Police Department fired the bullets. The two reporters appeared not to be with the crew at the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"dmoxr\">Hockert could not be reached for comment via email. Christina Palladino, a FOX 9 reporter who was part of the crew in the car, according to Mitchell’s tweet, could not be reached via email. In a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/CPalladinoFox9/status/1266911930717016064\">tweet</a> about the incident, Palladino wrote “we are all good!”</p><p data-block-key=\"nuwzj\">FOX 9 did not return CPJ’s voicemail requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"mnva9\">The MPD did not return CPJ’s emailed request for comment.</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": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"KMSP-TV"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": null
},
{
"title": "Officer in Minneapolis points weapon at public radio reporters",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/officer-minneapolis-points-weapon-public-radio-reporters/",
"first_published_at": "2020-07-01T17:06:20.223632Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:40:13.299811Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:40:13.211452Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jet8l\">An officer brandished a weapon at two public radio reporters in Minneapolis, Minnesota, even after they identified themselves as press, just after midnight on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"jsxdg\">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 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=\"qvqzx\">American Public Media reporters Madeleine Baran and Samara Freemark had spent much of the evening covering the protests outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct when they decided to head back to their car and go home, Freemark told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"mfxb9\">As they attempted to cross Nicollet Avenue, a formation of law enforcement officers appeared, blocking them from crossing the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"544r9\">Freemark described the situation as initially being calm, but suddenly “there was a switch that flipped.” An officer suddenly appeared next to Freemark and Baran and shoved a weapon inches from their faces while shouting, “Get the fuck out of here,” Freemark recounted. She said she was not sure exactly what type of weapon it was, but that it did not resemble a pistol and seemed designed to fire crowd control ammunition.</p><p data-block-key=\"zl7yn\">In a tweet recounting the experience, Baran wrote, “A Minneapolis police officer pointed a weapon at me at @sfreemark’s heads, while we were standing on Nicollet and 32nd covering the protests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sv9ka\">“I yelled that I’m a journalist. He did not lower his weapon, so we ran. Calling it a night,” she wrote.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A Minneapolis police officer pointed a weapon at me at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/sfreemark?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@sfreemark</a>’s heads, while we were standing on Nicollet and 32nd covering the protests. I yelled that I’m a journalist. He did not lower his weapon, so we ran. Calling it a night.</p>— Madeleine Baran (@madeleinebaran) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/madeleinebaran/status/1266610933071138816?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=\"ax2x4\">Freemark and Baran were unable to reach their car and had to walk home, Freemark said. An interview request sent to Baran was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"fherm\">Minneapolis was under an 8 p.m. curfew that evening, but journalists were expressly exempt from it.</p><p data-block-key=\"osnq5\">Freemark said that the police line they encountered included officers from multiple agencies, and she was unsure which agency the officer who pointed the weapon was from.</p><p data-block-key=\"8epja\">An email sent to the Minneapolis Police Department inquiring about this incident was not returned as of press time. Bruce Gordon, director of communications for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety, replied that before he could comment he would need to know if the incident in question involved a State Patrol trooper.</p><p data-block-key=\"087yb\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39PTB.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"z3zep\">Minnesota State Patrol officers clear an area near the Minneapolis Police Department's Fifth Precinct on May 30, 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": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Madeleine Baran (American Public Media)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Yahoo News correspondent hit in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/yahoo-news-correspondent-hit-in-washington-dcs-lafayette-park/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-30T02:35:19.094148Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:16:34.204730Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:16:34.121235Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1l0l6\">An individual at a protest hit a White House correspondent in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Park in the early morning hours of May 30, 2020, interrupting footage the journalist was streaming live from his phone to Periscope.</p><p data-block-key=\"xaogx\">In his <a href=\"https://www.pscp.tv/w/1lDGLgzQRozKm?t=7\">livestream</a>, Yahoo News correspondent Hunter Walker narrated the scene around him on the evening of May 29 and into the early morning of May 30: “The situation has become extremely heated in the last few minutes. Again, this is Yahoo News White House Correspondent Hunter Walker. We are in front of the White House along Pennsylvania Avenue, where protesters have taken down some of the barricades and are just repeatedly clashing with Secret Service and U.S. Park Police who have plastic riot shields and riot helmets,” Walker said on the livestream, before his phone was knocked out of his hand, cutting off the livestream.</p><p data-block-key=\"l9v92\">In the video, an unidentified individual verbally accosts Walker, telling the reporter to go away and accusing him of saying racist comments. Walker identified himself as a journalist and asked the individual, “What racist things did I say?" before the video cuts out.</p><p data-block-key=\"659h3\">Walker was able to recover his phone and resume live streaming. “After a brief interruption, someone hit me and threw my phone — one of the protesters here — I am back live in front of the White House,” he said in a <a href=\"https://www.pscp.tv/w/1LyGBNWbrZoGN\">subsequent clip</a> posted to Periscope. “I’m doing fine, guys, I’m doing great, no worries.”</p><p data-block-key=\"n9p49\">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=\"nlxd5\">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></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": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Hunter Walker (Yahoo News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck with projectile during LA protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-projectile-during-la-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-29T22:42:29.819130Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T17:50:55.447119Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T17:50:55.368912Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"h5ewg\">While on assignment for Reuters, freelance photojournalist Kyle Grillot was struck by an unknown crowd-control munition when Los Angeles police officers fired projectiles at demonstrators during protests on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"jfy66\">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=\"yepnx\">Grillot was documenting protests in Los Angeles as they continued past the city’s 8 p.m. curfew. Grillot told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was at the intersection of Hope Street and Olympic Boulevard, preparing to document the police advance toward protesters in the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"vgl7d\">“I positioned myself safely on a corner and held up my LAPD press badge,” Grillot said.</p><p data-block-key=\"32mq7\">As officers opened fire on the demonstrators with crowd-control munitions, Grillot said he realized that his position was actually putting him in danger and moved behind an electrical box.</p><p data-block-key=\"3pxxi\">“That’s when I felt it hit my thigh,” he said, adding that he believes it was a rubber bullet that struck him. “I ran around the corner and continued to take photos, continuing to try to make my press badge as visible as possible.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c0m89\">Grillot told the Tracker that beyond a bit of bruising, he was not seriously injured and none of his equipment was damaged. While he does not believe he was deliberately targeted, Grillot said that the officers were firing indiscriminately.</p><p data-block-key=\"d524p\">“I’m left wondering what I could have done to make it any more apparent that I was working press,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"xje5i\">The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"x56ue\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39PMZ.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ebdkb\">Photojournalist Kyle Grillot was hit with a projectile fired by a Los Angeles police officer the day he captured this image. Grillot was on assignment for Reuters to cover protests in the city.</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": 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": "unknown",
"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": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"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": [
"Kyle Grillot (Reuters)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photographer shoved by police amid Louisville protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shoved-police-amid-louisville-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-27T13:44:31.915135Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:42:55.248470Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:42:55.162079Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3r5tr\">Photographer Max Gersh was shoved by police with batons while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"hkrrl\">The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/ac63cb2f81e1adfba583451aee9115bf\">reported</a> that recent protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, kneeled on his neck for several minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"blng3\">Gersh, a photographer with the Commercial Appeal, a daily newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee, had been sent to Louisville to help with the Louisville Courier-Journal’s coverage of protests in the city (both papers are part of the Gannett newspaper chain). At around 11:50 p.m., Gersh and a group of reporters from the Courier-Journal and other outlets were walking down an empty block near the Fourth Street Live Entertainment district when a flank of police officers came marching down the street, occupying the total width of the block, Gersh told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Gersh was wearing a neon reflective vest that said “Press” and had his press ID around his neck on a lanyard.</p><p data-block-key=\"8gonv\">Gersh said that he and the other reporters backed up against a building to stay out of the way but were told by the officers to “get moving” and clear the area. The journalists began to leave, with the officers moving behind them.</p><p data-block-key=\"lca2w\">Suddenly, Gersh told the Tracker, the officers began to jog, forcing the journalists in front of them to break into a run. Gersh, slowed down by his heavy photography equipment, was falling somewhat behind the rest of the journalists when he said several officers began shoving him with batons and telling him to move faster. Gersh said he told the officers, “You don’t need to shove me,” but they kept pushing him along.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Side note: Cops straight shoved <a href=\"https://twitter.com/pd_cameraman?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@pd_cameraman</a> twice with their batons while we ran. <a href=\"https://t.co/FJDniuHC0X\">https://t.co/FJDniuHC0X</a></p>— Natalie Neysa Alund (@nataliealund) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/nataliealund/status/1266942943551725569?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=\"h9p0q\">When the journalists reached the corner, they turned to move into another intersection, where the group of officers eventually arrived. Gersh said no reason was given as to why they needed to clear the empty street.</p><p data-block-key=\"r7nr0\">Gersh continued to cover the protests. The following night, while taking photographs of law enforcement, he said a police officer yelled at him unprovoked, “You guys are just as bad as the protesters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"isihx\">“We’re just doing our jobs,” he replied.</p><p data-block-key=\"el3vs\">The Louisville Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"ksowd\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here.</a></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Gersh_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"6fz6k\">While covering May 30, 2020, protests in Kentucky, photojournalist Max Gersh documents Louisville Metro Police Department officers clearing the street, including media.</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": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Max Gersh (Commercial Appeal)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Journalist’s camera hit by pepper ball in Louisville",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-camera-hit-by-pepper-ball-in-louisville/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-26T12:03:53.631938Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:15:59.875065Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:15:59.775289Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"f61pg\">Journalist Juanita Ceballos’ camera was hit by a pepper ball while she covered protests against police violence in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"c6l1q\">Ceballos, a producer and cameraperson for VICE News, was filming with a colleague near Jefferson Square in downtown Louisville for several hours when police officers declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly and ordered protesters to disperse, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Crowds of protesters were marching in response to the March 13 killing by Louisville police of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, and the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day.</p><p data-block-key=\"swzk6\">At 8:25 p.m., while filming a line of police officers advancing toward a protester, Ceballos’ camera was hit by a pepper ball, she said, adding she was filming from the corner at a removed distance. After reviewing the footage of the hit to her camera — which wasn’t permanently damaged — she said she couldn’t be sure whether or not she had been targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"xq3ge\">“I always make an intentional effort to look officers in the eye. If I have to move I will move,” she said. This time she hadn’t done so, she said, because she felt she was “far enough away that I was not in their way.”</p><p data-block-key=\"xkg8i\">Ceballos said she expected that her equipment and the press identification she was wearing made her clearly identifiable as a journalist. The night before, a reporter and photojournalist from Louisville TV station WAVE 3 were <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2020/05/29/louisville-protests-officer-fires-pellets-tv-reporter-video/5288734002/\">hit by pepper balls fired by police</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"hjjoo\">The Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to a call and email from the Tracker requesting comment. Following the WAVE 3 incident, <a href=\"https://www.wave3.com/2020/05/31/lmpd-officer-who-fired-pepper-balls-wave-news-crew-reassigned-pending-investigation/\">an LMPD official said</a> officers have orders to not shoot pepper balls at members of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"c4y0u\">Ceballos said that after the hit she felt threatened, not knowing whether the attack had been directed toward her or not. The journalist said she stopped filming for nearly half an hour, until she had cleaned the pepper powder off her lens, changed her N95 and gas masks and stopped coughing.</p><p data-block-key=\"sxm3y\">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 Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": 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": "unknown",
"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 lens"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Juanita Ceballos (Vice News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist struck with projectiles at Tucson protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-hit-two-freelance-journalists-projectiles-tucson-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-25T15:12:05.860377Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:39:46.746295Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:39:46.647421Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Tucson",
"longitude": -110.92648,
"latitude": 32.22174,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zsum6\">Freelance photojournalist Brian Norberto was struck several times by crowd-control munitions fired by police in Tucson, Arizona, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"orif8\">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=\"5mevn\">Norberto <a href=\"https://tucson.com/news/local/tim-stellers-opinion-viewed-as-enemy-journalists-attacked-in-tucson-around-country/article_db13509e-4208-5634-8790-0e144391b369.html\">told</a> the Arizona Daily Star he was livestreaming the protests on Facebook when he was struck several times by nonlethal rounds fired by police that evening.</p><p data-block-key=\"cpzg6\">“When I got hit directly, I was continuing what I did before, getting between the crowd and the police,” Norberto said. “It’s hard to say that police were directly targeting the media, but at the same time that night I could feel a difference from the night before.”</p><p data-block-key=\"r8elz\">More details about this incident were not available as of press time, as Norberto had not responded to multiple interview requests.</p><p data-block-key=\"jn4ep\">Tucson Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on this incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2vxl\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": 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": "unknown",
"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": "Arizona",
"abbreviation": "AZ"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"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": [
"Brian Norberto (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter, news crew chased from Baltimore protest, later assaulted and robbed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-crew-baltimore-chased-away-protest-later-assaulted-and-robbed/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-27T12:55:12.888166Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:39:23.847536Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:39:23.759901Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Baltimore",
"longitude": -76.61219,
"latitude": 39.29038,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4o817\">A group of individuals chased a Baltimore, Maryland, news crew away from a protest outside City Hall on the evening of May 30, 2020. Later that evening, the journalists were assaulted and robbed.</p><p data-block-key=\"l2d2s\">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=\"r1b51\">Dan Lampariello, a reporter for Fox45 WBFF, and cameraman J. Thomas Fisher were standing in front of the police line outside Baltimore City Hall around 10 p.m. when a group of individuals on the other side of the line demanded they move back. “Some in the crowd began getting angry with us,” Lampariello says in a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=296012141795121\">voice-over</a> of tape filmed at the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"l4j0g\">A few minutes later, the situation devolved further, and Lampariello and Fisher were forced to retreat a few blocks from City Hall. “Do not touch the camera,” Lampariello said on the video as individuals push him and Fisher.</p><p data-block-key=\"kzsgl\">Ray Strickland, a reporter for WMAR 2 News, Baltimore’s ABC affiliate, captured the incident on video and posted it to Twitter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Baltimore?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Baltimore</a> just chased a camera crew away from city hall <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/BaltimoreProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#BaltimoreProtest</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeorgeFloydProtest?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GeorgeFloydProtest</a>. It’s tense out here for sure. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WMAR2News?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@WMAR2News</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/Rei7hL8nLP\">pic.twitter.com/Rei7hL8nLP</a></p>— Ray Strickland (@realraystrick) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/realraystrick/status/1266924174058160129?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=\"r4i3c\">About an hour later, the crew was chased again, and someone punched Fisher in the face, according to the WBFF <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=296012141795121\">report</a>. A live unit was stolen out of his backpack, along with a microphone. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-news-crew-chased-from-baltimore-protest-later-assaulted-and-robbed/\">Fisher’s assault and damage to the news equipment are documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9fqhf\">Early the next morning, Lampariello tweeted about the experience:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">TWICE tonight myself and photojournalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jthomasfisher?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jthomasfisher</a> were chased and assaulted by a group of people while covering the protest outside of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Baltimore?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Baltimore</a> City Hall. We had equipment stolen & destroyed. Scary and tense moments. I’m just thankful we’re both OK. <a href=\"https://t.co/fp7JbQu8ke\">https://t.co/fp7JbQu8ke</a></p>— Dan Lampariello (@DanFox45) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/DanFox45/status/1266965780672937984?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=\"7va6c\">Lampariello, Fisher and the WBFF newsroom did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"82s4z\">“Last night, a FOX45 news crew reporting from the Baltimore demonstrations outside of City Hall was attacked and chased away by a group of protesters who resorted to violence,” Scott Livingston, senior vice president of news for the Sinclair Broadcast Group, the station’s parent company, wrote the Baltimore Sun in an <a href=\"https://www.baltimoresun.com/opinion/columnists/zurawik/bs-ed-zontv-reporters-attacked-20200531-oeip7xfdufh4lo7cc2dpzd4dqy-story.html\">email</a>. “Despite this incident, we remain undeterred, and our incredible journalists will continue to fulfill their duties and report live from the protests.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ln06v\">On June 8, a Baltimore pastor was arrested in connection with the incident and charged with five counts, including second-degree assault, robbery and theft under $25,000, <a href=\"https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-west-charges-20200609-toawtkyopngbjmffxpdwkandoa-story.html\">according</a> to the Baltimore Sun.</p><p data-block-key=\"xy3vw\">According to a police report the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker obtained from the Baltimore Police Department, the station was able to recover the live unit using its GPS tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"d3le3\">“Our station will always support the Constitutional right to protest, a fundamental pillar of our democracy. At the same time, we also recognize the necessity of a free press, something that is more important now than ever before,” Bill Fanshawe, senior vice president of WBFF, told the Sun in a <a href=\"https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/crime/bs-md-ci-cr-west-charges-20200609-toawtkyopngbjmffxpdwkandoa-story.html\">statement</a>. “We ask that protesters recognize the important service that journalists everywhere provide, and should not be targets of anger and frustration.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sg8td\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": 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": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Maryland",
"abbreviation": "MD"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Dan Lampariello (WBFF)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Minneapolis news crew held at gunpoint by one man then menaced with crowbar by another",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-news-crew-held-gunpoint-one-man-then-menaced-crowbar-another/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-22T17:44:35.829005Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:38:52.770336Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:38:52.645591Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wpo0n\">In the span of two minutes on May 30, 2020, a news crew from NBC-affiliate KARE 11 that was covering protests and unrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was held up at gunpoint by one man, and threatened by another man wielding a crowbar.</p><p data-block-key=\"f4114\">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=\"6rv5s\">Investigative journalist A.J. Lagoe and photojournalist Devin Krinke had just driven into central Minneapolis from St. Paul after hearing that there might be "something going on" under the highway underpass of Interstate 35 West around 9 p.m., Lagoe told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He said there were not many police in the vicinity and several people in the area expressed unhappiness at seeing reporters around.</p><p data-block-key=\"kp2im\">A man in the crowd approached Lagoe and started asking him about the bulletproof vest he was wearing, Lagoe told the Tracker in an interview. “He kept saying he wanted it,” Lagoe said. Eventually, the man produced a semiautomatic handgun and demanded the vest.</p><p data-block-key=\"wfitm\">Lagoe was holding his cellphone on the tripod at the time and Krinke was standing a few feet away, holding his camera. “We clearly identified ourselves as press, but that didn’t help the situation at all, it only inflamed it,” Lagoe said.</p><p data-block-key=\"w8u09\">As Lagoe tried to talk his way out of the situation, a man brandishing a crowbar approached him and Krinke, Lagoe recounted. The man, who was dressed in black body armor decorated with a red medic cross, menanced them with his crowbar while shouting, “Give us all your stuff,” before running off and swinging his crowbar at someone else in the area, Lagoe recounted.</p><p data-block-key=\"vnagk\">This provided enough of a distraction to enable Lagoe and Krinke to back away from both men, and round the corner and quickly head back to their car, Lagoe said. They drove a few blocks away and set up to do a live shot, and the man with the crowbar drove by them, swearing at them through an open window.</p><p data-block-key=\"y7b8s\">Afterward, Krinke tweeted about the experience:</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/AJInvestigates?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AJInvestigates</a> and I were threatened at gun point at 2nd ave S and East Lake St. Young man even swung crow bar at AJ. He then swung at another photojournalist and destroyed his camera. Journalist friends please avoid this area. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kare11?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kare11</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/WCCO?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@wcco</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FOX9?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@fox9</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/efrostee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@efrostee</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/KSTP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@KSTP</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/HcnvevsINg\">pic.twitter.com/HcnvevsINg</a></p>— devinphoto (@devphotoK11) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/devphotoK11/status/1266927932989222917?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=\"oyiiu\">That same evening, the crowbar-wielding man struck the camera of Lucas Jackson, a Reuters photographer, breaking it. Lagoe later retweeted a video of the man striking Jackson’s camera:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is guy who swung crowbar at me & @devphotokare11 <a href=\"https://t.co/8DcxaRdZ2K\">https://t.co/8DcxaRdZ2K</a></p>— A.J. Lagoe (@AJInvestigates) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AJInvestigates/status/1266958187351158785?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=\"zxqin\">That instance of equipment damage is catalogued <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unidentified-man-attacks-reuters-photographer-crowbar-during-minneapolis-protests/\">here</a>, in a separate post on the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"cwswp\">Lagoe told the Tracker that they did not file a police report about either assailant.</p><p data-block-key=\"xlx22\">The Tracker emailed the Minneapolis Police Department for comment about whether anyone has been arrested in these incidents of alleged assault, or if police reports had been filed regarding these matters. The request was not answered as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"pidko\">Mike Max, a reporter for WCCO, a CBS affiliate station based in the city, was <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxmqAkdoQ98\">reporting live</a> a few blocks from the Fifth Precinct police headquarters when he reported that a man wielding a crowbar or cane tried to assault WCCO cameraman Chris Cruz. Max also said the man assaulted another photographer, whom he didn’t identify. Neither Max nor WCCO responded to requests for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"fswzj\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39OLS.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mlhcb\">Protesters in Minneapolis on May 30, 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": 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": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"A.J. Lagoe (KARE)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "CNN political commentator arrested by NYPD after identifying himself as press",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-political-commentator-arrested-nypd-after-identifying-himself-press/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-18T15:30:32.811697Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:36:28.603176Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:36:28.495959Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
"latitude": 40.71427,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"udk1l\">Keith Boykin, a freelance journalist and CNN political commentator, was arrested while covering a protest in Manhattan on May 30, 2020, despite identifying himself as a member of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"j1l7h\">The protest was one of many demonstrations sparked by the May 26 release of a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the prior day. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"5rqk5\">Boykin, who was an aide to Bill Clinton during his presidency, was documenting the protest for his own Twitter feed, as he has done for past protests. On this afternoon, Black Lives Matter demonstrators had gathered at the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. State Office Building in Harlem and marched west, eventually making their way up an exit ramp and onto the West Side Highway. Boykin, who was on his bike, had moved ahead of the protesters in order to photograph them when he encountered a phalanx of New York Police Department officers heading toward the group. They said something to the effect of “Get out of the way,” Boykin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He identified himself as a member of the media, and the officers walked by him, then turned around and arrested him.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hzwk\">“I said, ‘Why? I’m with the press.’ They said it doesn’t matter,” Boykin said, adding that he had a press ID with him but never got the chance to show it to the officers.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">So here’s what happened today. The NYPD arrested me at 96th Street and West Side Highway while I was taking photos and video to post to Twitter. I told the police I was with the Press, they walked by me and then turned around and arrested me.</p>— Keith Boykin (@keithboykin) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/keithboykin/status/1266933018570219520?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=\"ejn5l\">According to Boykin, officers placed zip ties tightly around his wrists and dropped his phone on the ground, cracking its screen. He was carried back to a police van, where they removed his face mask to photograph him, then placed him in the back of the vehicle, which was so hot that Boykin said he worried he would pass out, something he has a history of doing in high temperatures.</p><p data-block-key=\"py9zs\">“Even being in the back of the van was traumatizing, because I thought of Freddie Gray and how he died,” said Boykin, who is black, referencing a black man who died in Baltimore police custody in 2015. “The whole experience was totally outrageous.”</p><p data-block-key=\"n1mhh\">After an hour in the van, Boykin said he was placed on a prisoner transport bus with other arrestees and brought to NYPD headquarters in lower Manhattan, where he was processed and placed in a cell with 34 other prisoners for several hours. Very few of them had face masks, Boykin said, and he worried that these conditions risked exposing them to the coronavirus.</p><p data-block-key=\"frkxx\">“I was in that cell for four hours, never told what was going on, never given an opportunity to make a phone call,” Boykin told the Tracker, adding that he also wasn’t read his Miranda rights during the arrest. He was released at 9:30 p.m., six hours after his arrest, and given a summons to appear in court in September on misdemeanour charges of disorderly conduct and obstructing traffic.</p><p data-block-key=\"yl0t5\">“Mind you, I wasn’t blocking the highway—the police and the protesters were blocking the highway,” Boykin <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=26&v=tojt5i0dNV4&feature=emb_title\">later told CNN’s Don Lemon</a>. “I was in between the two of them, documenting what was happening.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mz5my\">After that CNN appearance, Boykin told the Tracker that he was contacted by the New York City mayor’s office, which apologized to him for his treatment. He has also filed a complaint with the attorney general’s office. But to date, the charges have not been dropped, and he is prepared to fight them in court. He said the NYPD also failed to give him his ID back with the rest of his possessions following his release, and he needs to figure out a way to retrieve that.</p><p data-block-key=\"ix3ds\">The NYPD did not immediately return a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hag0\">“I thought it was completely unbelievable and unacceptable,” said Boykin of the experience. “This was a clear violation of my First Amendment rights.”</p><p data-block-key=\"k7qyj\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/boykin_arrest_0530_floyd.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"qvtgf\">New York Police Department officers are photographed by Keith Boykin shortly before he was taken into custody.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "New York City Police Department",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": "1:21-cv-01362",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [
"(2023-11-29 16:59:00+00:00) New York judge dismisses journalist’s lawsuit alleging First Amendment violations, false arrest",
"(2020-09-22 15:45:00+00:00) Charges dropped against CNN political commentator arrested in New York City",
"(2021-02-16 00:00:00+00:00) Freelance journalist Keith Boykin files lawsuit against the city of New York"
],
"case_statuses": [
"dismissed"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Keith Boykin (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "French television correspondent arrested for curfew violation in Minneapolis",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/french-television-correspondent-arrested-curfew-violation-minneapolis/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-18T13:56:04.355271Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T21:13:55.819124Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T21:13:55.724283Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2dd79\">A French television correspondent was arrested for curfew violations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020, after police fired rubber projectiles at the car she was riding in, damaging the windshield and sending small shards of glass inside the vehicle. The <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/french-videographer-arrested-colleague-curfew-violation-minneapolis/\">videographer from her team was arrested</a> at the same time.</p><p data-block-key=\"aeyfy\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all arrests separately.</p><p data-block-key=\"yq162\">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=\"3plkd\">Amandine Atalaya, a Washington-based correspondent for TF1, a major French television station, was riding in a rental car driven by her colleague, videographer Mathieu Derrien, in Minneapolis just after 11:15 p.m. when an officer fired a foam projectile at the windshield, damaging it and sending small shards of glass flying inside the car, Derrien told the Tracker in an interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"ayxs6\">Atalaya did not return an interview request as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"qdwxu\">Derrien quickly brought the car to a stop, as a few smaller projectiles—perhaps pepper balls—hit the car, leaving behind a white powder.</p><p data-block-key=\"l9bmi\">Officers then approached the car shouting for them to get out and put their hands up, and they complied. They immediately told officers they were French journalists, but the officers said they did not care and that they were in violation of the city’s curfew, Derrien said. The officers pointed their weapons toward the journalists, who showed them their press credentials, issued by the U.S. Senate, but the officers were unmoved.</p><p data-block-key=\"x0omq\">After securing their hands behind their backs using zip ties, the officers took them to a law enforcement facility across town, Derrien said, where they were fingerprinted and briefly placed in metal handcuffs. She received a citation for misdemeanor curfew violation, which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 90 days in jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"z2shw\">Derrien said that he was unsure which agency the officers who arrested them were from. Emails sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department inquiring about this matter were not returned as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"mvlvu\">Jeremy Zoss, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, wrote in an email to the Tracker that Derrien and Atalaya were cited at the Hennepin County jail, but the sheriff’s office was not the arresting agency. Upon review of the citation, Zoss said that the arresting agency was not listed, something he termed “unusual” and was likely a result of this being a mass arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"jwo9f\">The arrests occurred despite the fact that members of the media were specifically exempt from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s<a href=\"https://mn.gov/governor/news/#/detail/appId/1/id/434117\"> executive order</a> implementing the curfew.</p><p data-block-key=\"g9tlb\">Derrien and Atalaya were released around 2 a.m. and had to find their way back to their car without their cellphones, which were locked inside their vehicle with their gear. A protester who was released at the same time gave them a ride back to the general area where their car was. When they returned to the car, they discovered that one of the tires had been deflated.</p><p data-block-key=\"pekho\">In France, Derrien and Atalaya’s colleagues were very concerned when they were unavailable for the live shot they were supposed to do at midnight and called their phones multiple times in search of them, Derrien said.</p><p data-block-key=\"v8epd\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": null,
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2020-05-31",
"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": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-07-22 11:39:00+00:00) Charges dropped against French television correspondent arrested during protests in Minneapolis"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Amandine Atalaya (TF1)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Two Wisconsin reporters caught in tear gas, pepper spray while reporting on Madison protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-wisconsin-reporters-caught-tear-gas-pepper-spray-while-reporting-madison-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-17T19:42:49.651177Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-10T20:42:00.445300Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-10T20:42:00.371335Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Madison",
"longitude": -89.40123,
"latitude": 43.07305,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3a16p\">Two Wisconsin reporters were caught up in tear gas clouds and pepper-sprayed by police while reporting on protests against police violence in Madison, Wisconsin, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"u3c3l\">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=\"syk0z\">Reporting for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Molly Beck and Lawrence Andrea were stationed near State Street, a central business district area, from around 6 p.m. until midnight. Beck estimates that tear gas was deployed by police six or seven times during that period, she told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.</p><p data-block-key=\"o076l\">Tweets posted by Beck and Andrea that evening documented the use of both tear gas and pepper spray. Andrea <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lawrencegandrea/status/1266914315619176448\">tweeted</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lawrencegandrea/status/1266916698692747265\">videos</a> around 10 p.m. that showed tear gas being deployed. Nearly two hours later, Andrea <a href=\"https://twitter.com/lawrencegandrea/status/1266939157315817472\">tweeted</a>, “We are getting pepper sprayed.” At 1:20 a.m., Beck <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MollyBeck/status/1266962728880672769\">noted</a>, “I can still taste it an hour later.”</p><p data-block-key=\"lui88\">Beck doesn’t believe that she and Andrea were targeted for being journalists. Instead, they were caught up in tightly packed crowds of protesters who were tear-gassed and pepper-sprayed.</p><p data-block-key=\"p9b4q\">“When the spraying started, we were hit with it, and then we started running away,” said Beck. “[The police] were walking down the line spraying and it got on us, in our mouth and eyes. It wasn’t point-blank in our face or anything like that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"o3h2e\">Beck told CPJ that she believes that the tear gas was deployed by Wisconsin State Patrol officers, while the pepper spray was deployed by Madison police. She added that the tear gas could have been deployed by a mix of state and city police.</p><p data-block-key=\"9lk53\">Beck had press credentials hanging around her neck, but they were likely not visible to police.</p><p data-block-key=\"kpile\">“I would doubt that they saw that and immediately identified me as press,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"io1xp\">Beck told CPJ that the pair stopped reporting after they were pepper-sprayed.</p><p data-block-key=\"muhag\">A Madison Police Department incident report <a href=\"https://www.cityofmadison.com/police/newsroom/incidentreports/incident.cfm?id=26562\">published</a> on May 31 about protests the previous day outlines the actions of some of the crowd, including damage to property and vehicles and attacks on police officers. The report states that “chemical agents were utilized [by Madison police] as officers attempted to move the crowd from the area.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cnxty\">Joel DeSpain, public information officer for the Madison Police Department, told CPJ in an email that pepper spray is a “chemical agent” used by the Madison Police Department.</p><p data-block-key=\"w9nk7\">The Wisconsin State Police did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"452sk\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": 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": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Wisconsin",
"abbreviation": "WI"
},
"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": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Molly Beck (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)",
"Lawrence Andrea (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Camera equipment stolen from Chicago Tribune photographer during protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/camera-equipment-stolen-chicago-tribune-photographer-during-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-17T13:14:39.863005Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:38:03.727836Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:38:03.606861Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"cjoo4\">A photographer for the Chicago Tribune was shoved and had her cameras stolen by two unidentified men while covering protests in downtown Chicago, Illinois, on the night of May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"5sai1\">The protests were sparked by a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"78vdm\">Tribune photographer Erin Hooley said she had been photographing protests and altercations between demonstrators and the police when looting broke out. While photographing the looting of a CVS at the intersection of South Wabash and East Monroe Street around 9 p.m., she said she overheard a woman yell, “Get that bitch’s cameras!” Suddenly, she said, two men shoved her to the sidewalk, grabbed the cameras she had strung around her neck and shoulder, and ran off. Hooley said she was bruised but otherwise uninjured in the attack.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Looters in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chicago?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Chicago</a> shoved me on the sidewalk and took my cameras tonight. Thanks guys. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChicagoProtests?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ChicagoProtests</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/GeorgeFloyd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#GeorgeFloyd</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChicagoScanner?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#ChicagoScanner</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/riots2020?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#riots2020</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/chicagotribune?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@chicagotribune</a></p>— Erin Hooley (@erinhooley) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/erinhooley/status/1266928544132796417?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=\"k9uue\">After picking up both herself and her press badge, Hooley said she walked down the street to see if the men had dropped the cameras but they were gone. She called her editor to report what had happened and then went home. Hooley said she saw police officers around the corner from where she was attacked but that they didn’t appear to be intervening to stop the looting.</p><p data-block-key=\"r3qwv\">Hooley said her cameras were owned by the Tribune company, which did not ask her to file a police report. The photographer said a Canon representative sent her loaner gear and that she returned to cover the protests in the following days.</p><p data-block-key=\"8vqle\">According to the photojournalist, what bothered her most was the loss not of physical equipment, but rather several hours’ worth of photographs she had taken prior to the assault. Hooley said she had transferred about eight images to her editor while still in the streets, but that the rest were gone. “I was pretty angry about losing that stuff because it’s very historical,” she said. “It robbed me of being able to share this crazy time we are living in, and that’s very frustrating.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9ci3p\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": 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": "private individual",
"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": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "camera"
},
{
"quantity": 2,
"equipment": "camera lens"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Erin Hooley (Chicago Tribune)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Police fire pepper balls at photographer in Buffalo, make grab for camera",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-fire-pepper-balls-photographer-buffalo-make-grab-camera/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-17T02:10:58.360968Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:37:38.047722Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:37:37.946311Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Buffalo",
"longitude": -78.87837,
"latitude": 42.88645,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2kas8\">Police fired pepper balls at freelance photographer Andrew Jasiura and an officer tried to grab his camera while he was reporting on protests in Buffalo, New York, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"cvyxu\">The demonstration in Buffalo’s Niagara Square was one of many such protests held in the days following the May 26 release of a video that showed a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was later pronounced dead at the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"5gf9u\">Jasiura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest was peaceful until a car drove through the crowd, who responded by <a href=\"https://buffalonews.com/2020/05/31/watch-now-protesters-smash-car-in-niagara-square/\">dragging the driver from the vehicle</a>. Police began to attempt to clear the square by firing nonlethal projectiles and advancing in a line. One officer asked Jasiura why he was taking pictures, and Jasiura said he pointed to his bright yellow vest that said “PRESS” in English and Cantonese (Jasiura had previously covered demonstrations in Hong Kong).</p><p data-block-key=\"oo7s6\">The photographer subsequently tried to come to the aid of a black man who had been hit with mace and pepper balls.</p><p data-block-key=\"uddy5\">“He was just pouring mucus out of his face, out of his nose, his mouth, his eyes. His whole face was red,” Jasiura said. Jasiura tried to wash the protester’s eyes out with saline spray, at which point officers shot pepper balls at him, even though his press vest was clearly visible.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I saw one young man overheating and dripping mucus out of every hole in his head in response to the police tactics. I attempted to pull him back from the frontline when I was shot multiple times by police and told to leave him in their line of fire <a href=\"https://t.co/09wnLAQ1Ss\">pic.twitter.com/09wnLAQ1Ss</a></p>— DrewJazzyPhoto (@PhotoJazzy) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PhotoJazzy/status/1269055958078144514?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 5, 2020</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9t7du\">Jasiura said he approached one officer to try to explain that he was a photojournalist, but that officer fired more pepper balls at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"m1od9\">“When I took pictures of his nameplate, he swiped up my camera to try to knock it out of my hands, and then shot me another 10-plus times in the legs,” Jasiura said. He <a href=\"https://twitter.com/PhotoJazzy/status/1269056626843099137\">caught a photo</a> of the officer during the encounter.</p><p data-block-key=\"3wnt3\">Jasiura said his camera was not damaged and he did not suffer serious injuries beyond bruises to his leg. He said he is considering taking legal action against the Buffalo Police Department, but added that he does not want to be the center of the story.</p><p data-block-key=\"55krk\">The Buffalo Police Department did not respond immediately to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"wdqcd\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/photojazzy_assault_0530_floyd.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"79y05\">Freelance photojournalist Andrew Jasiura captured the moment a Buffalo police officer grabbed at his camera during an altercation in New York on May 30, 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": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Andrew Jasiura (Freelance)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "French videographer arrested with colleague for curfew violation in Minneapolis",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/french-videographer-arrested-colleague-curfew-violation-minneapolis/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-16T04:47:12.253121Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T23:57:08.084942Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T23:57:07.966342Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8e7kl\">A French videographer was arrested for curfew violations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020, after police fired rubber projectiles at the car he was driving, damaging the windshield and sending small shards of glass inside the vehicle. The correspondent from his team was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/french-television-correspondent-arrested-curfew-violation-minneapolis/\">also arrested</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cc43g\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all <a href=\"http://pressfreedomtracker.us/arrest-criminal-charge/\">arrests</a> separately.</p><p data-block-key=\"wfbvt\">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=\"ge3zs\">Mathieu Derrien, videographer for TF1, a major French television station, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that he was driving a rental car with his colleague, TF1 correspondent Amandine Atalaya, around Minneapolis just after 11:15 p.m. looking for people to interview when he made a turn off Lake Street.</p><p data-block-key=\"fsynr\">A few seconds after making the turn, a foam projectile hit his windshield, damaging it and sending small shards of glass flying inside the car, he told the Tracker. The glass did not injure either journalist. Derrien quickly brought the car to a stop, as a few smaller projectiles—perhaps pepper balls—hit the windshield, leaving behind a white powder.</p><p data-block-key=\"mnwfh\">Officers then approached the car shouting for Derrien and Atalaya to get out and put their hands up, and they complied. “We immediately told them we were French journalists,” Derrien said. “They replied that they didn’t care and that there was a curfew in place.” The officers pointed their weapons toward the journalists, who showed them their press credentials issued by the U.S. Senate, but the officers were unmoved.</p><p data-block-key=\"qv37f\">After securing their hands behind their backs using zip ties, the officers took them to a law enforcement facility across town, Derrien said, where they were fingerprinted and briefly placed in metal handcuffs. He received a citation for misdemeanor curfew violation, which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 90 days in jail.</p><p data-block-key=\"bhkz3\">Derrien said that he was unsure which agency the officers who arrested them were from. Emails sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department inquiring about this matter were not returned as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"w7kuz\">Jeremy Zoss, a spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, wrote in an email to the Tracker that Derrien was cited at the Hennepin County jail but the sheriff’s office was not the arresting agency. Upon review of the citation, Zoss said that the arresting agency was not listed, something he termed “unusual” and was likely a result of this being a mass arrest.</p><p data-block-key=\"ivulo\">The arrest occurred despite the fact that members of the media were specifically exempt from Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s <a href=\"https://mn.gov/governor/news/#/detail/appId/1/id/434117\">executive order</a> implementing the curfew.</p><p data-block-key=\"k36nd\">Derrien and Atalaya were released around 2 a.m. and had to find their way back to their car without their cellphones, which were locked inside their vehicle with their gear. A protester who was released at the same time gave them a ride back to the general area where their car was. When they returned to the car, they discovered that one of the tires had been deflated.</p><p data-block-key=\"14gap\">In France, Derrien and Atalaya’s colleagues were “worried sick” when they were unavailable for the live shot they were supposed to do at midnight. “They called our phones many times, so when we got to the car, we had 15 or 20 missed calls each,” Derrien said. “They were starting to imagine the worst.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mp1je\">Derrien later <a href=\"https://www.liberation.fr/planete/2020/06/04/la-liberte-de-la-presse-doublement-malmenee_1790362\">recounted</a> what transpired to French daily newspaper Libération and tweeted out a photo of the car’s damaged windshield, writing that the situation had left them with “more fear than harm.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">A Minneapolis hier soir, à proximité d’un barrage, la police a tiré une balle en caoutchouc sur notre véhicule en marche côté conducteur, puis nous a arrêtés avec <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AmandineAtalaya?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@AmandineAtalaya</a> . Relâchés rapidement heureusement, plus de peur que de mal <a href=\"https://t.co/hEZtkxyDDF\">pic.twitter.com/hEZtkxyDDF</a></p>— Mathieu Derrien (@MatDerrien) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MatDerrien/status/1267095983084777472?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=\"ddaxa\">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 these cases <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/derrien_arrest_MN__floyd.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0bjge\">While covering protests in Minneapolis for French publication TF1, Mathieu Derrien's rental car was hit with a rubber bullet shot by police. Derrien and a colleague were also arrested and charged with violating curfew.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": "2020-05-31",
"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": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [
"(2020-08-13 17:55:00+00:00) Update: Charges dismissed against French videographer arrested while covering May protests"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Mathieu Derrien (TF1)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck in stomach by projectile during Raleigh protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-north-carolina-photojournalists-struck-projectiles-during-raleigh-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-16T02:46:24.593543Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:37:14.367193Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:37:14.285136Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Raleigh",
"longitude": -78.63861,
"latitude": 35.7721,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fbvx4\">Ethan Hyman, a photojournalist for the Raleigh News & Observer, was struck by a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"fswgo\">The protest was among several demonstrations held across the country sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"iegdr\">Hyman told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he started to cover the protest in the city at around 5 p.m. After briefly returning to the newsroom to file, he went back to cover the protest at around 7. He witnessed confrontations between protesters and police, including officers from the Wake County Sheriff’s Department and the Raleigh Police Department<b>.</b></p><p data-block-key=\"5fsj2\">Hyman says police used tear gas throughout the protest to disperse the crowd. Hyman saw protesters trying to throw canisters back at the police and putting cones over the tear gas to stop it from spreading.</p><p data-block-key=\"eokom\">At around 10:25, Hyman was shooting video when he was struck in the stomach by a projectile. He is still not exactly sure what struck him, although <a href=\"https://twitter.com/vizjourno/status/1267494648680976395\">tweets</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/vizjourno/status/1266954106998009857\">sent</a> by fellow News & Observer photojournalist Travis Long indicate it was a rubber bullet.</p><p data-block-key=\"dco29\">At the time he was struck, Hyman says, there were officers in riot gear firing tear gas from the steps of the courthouse in downtown Raleigh. He was not standing in the direct line of fire and estimates that police were 20 to 30 feet away from him at the time.</p><p data-block-key=\"ir245\">“It was not a very controlled situation,” said Hyman. “The police didn’t seem like they had control either.”</p><p data-block-key=\"tpww6\">Hyman was wearing an N95 mask and goggles with a seal when he was struck. He says he doesn’t believe he was targeted for being a journalist. Hyman was wearing his press credentials around his neck, and they were visible when he was struck.</p><p data-block-key=\"n0kia\">A <a href=\"https://twitter.com/vizjourno/status/1266954106998009857\">tweet</a> posted by Long shows the extent of Hyman’s injuries. The tweet, sent early in the morning of May 31, is captioned, “You’re going to feel that in the morning bud.”</p><p data-block-key=\"udonh\">The Raleigh Police Department did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"hlwa5\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS39PTE.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tsdny\">Tear gas canisters land as protesters walk by in Raleigh, North Carolina on May 30, 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": 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": "North Carolina",
"abbreviation": "NC"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Ethan Hyman (The [Raleigh] News & Observer)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporter on assignment for New York Times targeted by law enforcement with tear gas, foam projectiles at Dallas protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-dallas-targeted-law-enforcement-tear-gas-foam-projectiles/",
"first_published_at": "2020-06-15T21:21:33.539095Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:36:15.378422Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:36:15.292130Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Dallas",
"longitude": -96.80667,
"latitude": 32.78306,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rg2li\">Freelance reporter Marina Trahan Martinez was targeted with foam projectiles and tear gas fired by police while covering protests in downtown Dallas, Texas, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"2vwqg\">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=\"7dhrz\">Trahan Martinez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was reporting on assignment for The New York Times wearing a black shirt emblazoned on the front and back with the word “PRESS” in white uppercase letters.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is what I was wearing <a href=\"https://t.co/0YPSUIK2lN\">pic.twitter.com/0YPSUIK2lN</a></p>— marina trahan martinez (@HisGirlHildy) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/HisGirlHildy/status/1266946753477193729?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=\"ml5kp\">She was standing on a street corner at around 8 p.m. in downtown Dallas, filming demonstrators who were kneeling, when a group of two to three dozen police officers in riot gear approached.</p><p data-block-key=\"cxdh7\">When someone in the crowd lobbed a water bottle in the direction of the advancing officers, one of the officers issued a warning on his bullhorn to protesters: “Leave the area or you will be arrested.” Seconds later, the police sent canisters of tear gas into the crowd, causing protesters to scatter.</p><p data-block-key=\"mm5dm\">Trahan Martinez was filming the scene on her phone from a corner opposite the action, when the officers repeated their call to leave, this time in her direction. “I shouted, ‘I’m with the press. I’m media. I’m just working. I’m here doing my job,’” she recounted. When they responded with another command to clear the area, Trahan Martinez reiterated that she was a member of the press, in case they had not heard her.</p><p data-block-key=\"73ul7\">“They screamed back, ‘It doesn’t matter,’” she said. Then they fired a canister of tear gas that landed a few feet behind her to her left.</p><p data-block-key=\"wcry7\">“They started shooting at me,” she said, recounting that dark blue foam less-lethal projectiles fell at her feet. None of them hit her. Trahan Martinez walked away and took shelter in the patio of a closed restaurant until she was able to reach safety.</p><p data-block-key=\"7melc\">Trahan Martinez, who has worked as a reporter in Dallas for 20 years and has plenty of sources inside the Dallas Police Department, described the experience as a jarring one. “This particular unit did not care who I was or what I was doing there,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"uw8c5\">Reached by the Tracker, Warren Mitchell, a spokesman for the DPD, wrote in an email that it was “challenging” to provide comment about the incident without hearing the details from Trahan Martinez. Mitchell invited the reporter to make a complaint with the department.</p><p data-block-key=\"00uki\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": 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": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Marina Trahan Martinez (The New York Times)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
}
]
