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{
"title": "Minnesota State Patrol officers push Canadian journalist amid protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-state-patrol-officers-push-canadian-journalist-amid-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-18T20:43:35.648642Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:30:50.221359Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:30:50.121323Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"yv202\">Radio reporter Philippe Leblanc was pushed with a baton by law enforcement officers while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, shortly after curfew went into effect on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"34e58\">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=\"8vll5\">Leblanc, a radio correspondent for Radio-Canada and television correspondent for French CBC, was standing behind the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct in a group of other Canadian journalists and their security details. Several of the reporters had flak jackets labeled “PRESS” and most were holding cameras and or other equipment, Leblanc told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei8s6\">Several Metro Transit buses with “not in service” lights on pulled up alongside the group and Minnesota State Patrol troopers disembarked, weapons drawn, and immediately began shouting at the assembled journalists to “Get back!” and “Move!” according to a video<a href=\"https://twitter.com/phil_leblancSRC/status/1266907398003924992\"> posted</a> by Leblanc on Twitter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">Les policiers débarquent et bousculent les journalistes sur place... <a href=\"https://t.co/8hxmyWjGEP\">pic.twitter.com/8hxmyWjGEP</a></p>— Philippe Leblanc (@phil_leblancSRC) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/phil_leblancSRC/status/1266907398003924992?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=\"ftch6\">The journalists complied, moving back, but the officers wielding batons kept coming toward them, Leblanc told the Tracker. “They started shoving us out of the way even though we had clearly retreated,” Leblanc said. “I was pushed three or four times on the chest.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5w81x\">Leblanc, who was holding a microphone and his press pass in one hand and his iPhone in the other, said it was clear they were members of the media, but the situation unfolded so quickly he said he did not even have the chance to yell that he was press, though others in the group did.</p><p data-block-key=\"xlxq8\">Leblanc said he was not injured and that he did not file a complaint with state police. “Had there been an injury it would have been dealt with differently,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"2nv1q\">A request for comment emailed to the Minnesota State Patrol was not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"c09vy\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Philippe Leblanc (Radio Canada)"
],
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},
{
"title": "MSNBC reporter struck with projectile during live broadcast from Washington protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/msnbc-reporter-struck-projectile-during-live-broadcast-washington-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-24T20:29:02.799913Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:15:21.512354Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:15:21.436518Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ff58q\">MSNBC reporter Garrett Haake was struck with a crowd-control projectile on May 31, 2020 in Washington, D.C. while giving an on-air report on protests that broke out over the deaths of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police.</p><p data-block-key=\"dd3sz\">Haake was reporting live after 11 p.m. from I Street Northwest and 16th Street Northwest in downtown Washington on clashes between protesters and law enforcement.</p><p data-block-key=\"m6uu1\">During the report, Haake’s film crew captured images of flipped and burning vehicles in the area and a line of Metropolitan Police Department officers forming on the east side of the intersection, according to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/gettishow/status/1267293389860384768\">clips of the broadcast</a> posted on Twitter and <a href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/tv/msnbcs-garrett-haake-struck-by-rubber-bullet-live-on-air/\">by Mediaite</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"wqbhb\">Numerous explosions are heard in the distance, which Haake describes as protesters letting off fireworks.</p><p data-block-key=\"3bmes\">Haake then begins to move toward the north side of the intersection, telling anchor Katy Tur that “we’re going to make some moves here.”</p><p data-block-key=\"io6p9\">“We’re going to end up in a place we don’t want to be in if we’re not careful, Katy. So...ah dammit!” Haake said on air.</p><p data-block-key=\"1tg5l\">The broadcast then turns back to Tur in the studio, who tells Haake to move to a safer location. But Haake is back on the air in less than a minute and tells Tur that he believed he was hit with a rubber bullet.</p><p data-block-key=\"imdj0\">“I have some souvenir welts on my side to show for it,” <a href=\"https://twitter.com/garretthaake/status/1267315757987385346?lang=en\">Haake tweeted after the incident</a>. “And sorry for cursing on tv. Those rubber bullets/pellets/bean-bags hurt!”</p><p data-block-key=\"cnlou\">It isn’t clear from MSNBC’s footage of the incident whether officers from the Metropolitan Police Department fired the rounds that struck Haake. A department spokeswoman said she couldn’t confirm whether officers used crowd-control munitions at this particular time.</p><p data-block-key=\"p6kfr\">Neither Haake nor MSNBC responded to requests for comment. The Office of Police Complaints said it didn’t receive a complaint related to the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"wbnl1\">The protest was one of many that erupted nationwide in response to the police killings of Black people including George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13, and others.</p><p data-block-key=\"k9o9f\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Garrett Haake (MSNBC)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Public Radio reporters shot at with pepper balls while covering Louisville protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-reporters-shot-pepper-balls-while-covering-louisville-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-23T18:34:20.197968Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T18:00:49.854698Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T18:00:49.748819Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Louisville",
"longitude": -85.75941,
"latitude": 38.25424,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fbcbq\">Kentucky Public Radio reporter Jess Clark was shot at with pepper balls while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"tuhiw\">The protests were sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis and the March 13 death of Breonna Taylor in Louisville.</p><p data-block-key=\"g9qww\">Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear had deployed the National Guard to the city a day earlier, and Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer instituted a citywide curfew, to begin at <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/politics/metro-government/2020/05/30/mayor-fischer-sets-breonna-taylor-protest-curfew-calls-national-guard/5290690002/\">9 p.m.</a>, ahead of the May 31 protests, <a href=\"https://wfpl.org/at-least-33-arrested-in-third-night-of-louisville-protests/\">according to NPR affiliate WFPL</a>. It was the first time the National Guard had patrolled the streets in Louisville <a href=\"https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2020/06/02/breonna-taylor-protests-city-doesnt-often-call-national-guard/5307355002/\">since 1975</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"ikrr8\">Just after 7:30 p.m. Ryland Barton, the statehouse bureau chief for WFPL, tweeted that police had surrounded three-fourths of Jefferson Square Park, setting up a perimeter from which officers shot tear gas at protesters. Barton tweeted that there were also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267250457967239178\">flash-bang grenades and pepper balls</a> deployed at the park. The crowd-control devices were deployed from the southwest corner of Liberty and Sixth streets as police moved forward, forcing protesters through the fog, <a href=\"https://wfpl.org/at-least-33-arrested-in-third-night-of-louisville-protests/\">according to WFPL</a><i>.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"ej31n\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267269439902416896\">one tweet</a>, Barton said he had been struck with pepper balls and gassed, and he described how police mocked him when he and Clark put their hands up.</p><p data-block-key=\"gwbrb\">“We were crossing a street blockaded by a line of police in riot gear and they fired pepper balls at us,” Clark told the U.S. Press Freedom tracker in an email. Barton couldn’t be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"psj27\">“We were alone, not in a group... and I was carrying a boom mic — so it seems unlikely they didn't realize we were press,” Clark said.</p><p data-block-key=\"u4k5i\">Just after 10 p.m., an hour past curfew, Barton <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267276963737001985\">tweeted a picture</a> that he said showed officers shooting crowd-control munitions. He also <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267279215956803591\">tweeted a video</a> showing officers shooting pepper balls in the direction of the journalists, noting that both times the firing seemed to be without cause:</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This group of police at 4th and Broadway. They just shot proper balls at <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jess_m_clark?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@jess_m_clark</a> and I for crossing the street. Super unclear why. She's carrying a giant boom microphone. <a href=\"https://t.co/3lzdYaF0S6\">pic.twitter.com/3lzdYaF0S6</a></p>— Ryland Barton (@RylandKY) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/RylandKY/status/1267276963737001985?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=\"cyhsp\">Over the course of the night, dozens were arrested <a href=\"https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/kentucky/articles/2020-05-31/dozens-arrested-in-third-night-of-protests-in-louisville\">according to a police spokesperson</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"zps22\">The Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"41ro6\">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/RTS39U39.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pv0sn\">Army National Guard soldiers stand with Louisville Metro Police during a protest in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 31, 2020. Two journalists were shot at with crowd-control munitions while covering protests that night.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Kentucky",
"abbreviation": "KY"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jess Clark (Kentucky Public Radio)"
],
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},
{
"title": "KMBC 9 News vehicle vandalized during Kansas City protests on May 31",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kmbc-9-news-vehicle-vandalized-during-kansas-city-protests-on-may-31/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-18T18:41:53.566892Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T16:27:25.916814Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T16:27:25.824802Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Kansas City",
"longitude": -94.57857,
"latitude": 39.09973,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q2enr\">At least two news vehicles were vandalized amid protests against police violence in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"dlipl\">The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.</p><p data-block-key=\"hbnov\">A news vehicle belonging to KMBC News 9 was vandalized during demonstrations downtown that night, according to social media posts by a reporter with KSHB 41 News. The car’s windows were broken, internal mechanisms reportedly tampered with and the exterior spray-painted with graffiti. KMBC didn’t respond to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</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/kmbc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kmbc</a> car vandalized. <a href=\"https://t.co/jvFY4xbV2g\">pic.twitter.com/jvFY4xbV2g</a></p>— Megan Strickland (@StricklyMeg) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/StricklyMeg/status/1267294551238160391?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=\"0rbhc\">A KSHB 41 News vehicle was also vandalized that night, and was set on fire. The Tracker has documented that case <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kshb-news-vehicle-vandalized-set-on-fire-during-kansas-city-protests/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkvo0\">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": "",
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{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "vehicle"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
},
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"KMBC-TV"
],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
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{
"title": "Video journalist struck by crowd-control munition, briefly detained amid DC protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-struck-crowd-control-munition-briefly-detained-amid-dc-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2020-12-04T20:21:35.270869Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T17:51:35.343071Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T17:51:35.247816Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"jjdaw\">Ford Fischer, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, was struck by a crowd-control munition and detained by Metropolitan Police Department officers while on assignment for digital wire service <a href=\"https://www.zenger.news/\">Zenger</a> covering protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"uptqx\">The protest was one of a surge of demonstrations across the country, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"8nytv\">Fischer, whose video news service focuses on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/N2Sreports\">"the latest on politics and activism,</a>” told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering demonstrations in Farragut Square, just north of the White House in downtown D.C.</p><p data-block-key=\"9t9uo\">Some of the protesters, he said, moved from the square eastward toward the intersection of 16th and I streets. A group of riot police were gathered about half a block up I Street, Fischer said, and a small group of officers was on the north side of 16th Street.</p><p data-block-key=\"9yw5a\">Demonstrators were throwing fireworks and police tossed flash-bang grenades, Fischer said, as he filmed from a bit behind the protesters. In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1267337751671779337\">footage</a> he posted of the incident, Fischer appears to be standing in the street filming as fireworks are launched by individuals nearby.</p><p data-block-key=\"ekxi9\">“At some point during that charging, there was an instant strike to my head,” Fischer said, noting that he could even hear in his video footage the sound of the crowd-control munition flying through the air.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I'll have a full footage thread on <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Zenger?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Zenger</a> soon, but I found the HD footage from when I got hit with what I believe was a rubber bullet.<br><br>For about a minute, protesters were shooting fireworks at the cops.<br><br>Police charged in and open fired, hitting me at 1:17 in this clip. <a href=\"https://t.co/m8iNrUAmSU\">pic.twitter.com/m8iNrUAmSU</a></p>— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1267337751671779337?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=\"ux67v\">Fischer <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1267313639733723136\">noted in a separate tweet</a> that the “solid goggles” he was wearing helped minimize the harm, saying that he was “fine.” He told the Tracker that he believes the goggles deflected the round.</p><p data-block-key=\"0i7vn\">“That’s how I ended up with this weird, two part injury from this one shot,” Fischer said. “There was this half-golf ball-sized sore coming out of my forehead and then also an impact on the upper part of my nose.”</p><p data-block-key=\"keiw0\">Fischer said that after he was struck, he attempted to leave the protest by heading west on I Street, where some looting was taking place.</p><p data-block-key=\"rmki4\">“At some point police charged them, and it was while everyone was running away westward towards the Foggy Bottom/George Washington region of D.C. that the particular group I was running with ended up being kettled.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ftg2n\">“Kettling” is a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/journalists-covering-protests-us-risk-getting-caught-police-kettling-tactic/\">police maneuver</a> used to hem in protesters and is often followed with indiscriminate arrests or citations.</p><p data-block-key=\"jx9f6\">Fischer said that he and about 20 protesters were detained in the kettle for approximately eight minutes.</p><p data-block-key=\"xtgn4\">“When I realized what was happening I identified myself as press to one of those officers,” Fischer said, “and I remember that he responded, ‘We’ll talk about that later.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"hlos5\">While detained, Fischer said he interviewed one of the protesters who had his front teeth knocked out by police earlier that evening. Eventually an officer came up to the group and announced that everyone would be allowed to leave as long as they returned home upon their release, according to Fischer.</p><p data-block-key=\"15b77\">“So they let us out one by one, and one of the officers took their body cam off of their vest and held it close to our faces as we exited, effectively taking mugshots or documenting the people they had kettled before letting us go,” Fischer said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"s157m\">The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"57uqh\">The previous night, May 30, Fischer was struck twice with pepper balls, which are functionally paintballs filled with a powdery pepper spray: once in the stomach and once on his right shoulder. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/video-journalist-hit-head-projectile-during-dc-protests/\">documented that incident here</a>.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"arresting_authority": "Metropolitan Police Department",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"kettle",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
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"Ford Fischer (Zenger)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Colorado magazine editor hit in groin by rubber bullet while covering protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/editor-at-colorados-yellow-scene-magazine-hit-in-groin-by-rubber-bullet-while-covering-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-29T16:00:46.196125Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-03T22:42:43.805730Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-03T22:42:43.715195Z",
"date": "2020-05-31",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sl2ae\">Johnathen Duran, the content editor at Colorado-based Yellow Scene Magazine, said he was hit in the groin by a rubber bullet while he livestreamed from a Black Lives Matter protest in Denver on May 31, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"er87u\">Duran, who writes under the name De La Vaca, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was at the intersection of Colfax Avenue and North Pearl Street at around 9:30 p.m. when a police officer shot at him with a rubber bullet.</p><p data-block-key=\"ujxf8\">“I was shot in the left testicle with a rubber bullet while wearing a press pass, carrying a camera bag and backpack, holding a cellphone to livestream,” he said, adding he was wearing a white helmet with MEDIA written on it in four places while he shot video with his phone.</p><p data-block-key=\"m0zdl\">In video supplied by Duran and reviewed by the Tracker, gunfire can be heard amid the scene of an apparent protest. In the video he shows a large rubber bullet to the camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"fgjsx\">“It feels like I was kicked in the balls, but I am walking,” he said in the video, adding later: “There’s no blood on my pants, so I should be OK.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cey3t\">A Denver Police Department spokesperson said the incident was investigated and closed because the officer couldn’t be identified. However, the spokesperson said the department had <a href=\"https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/d25ae76545014a8f9cf3392b4946f682\">undertaken a review of its response</a> to the large-scale demonstrations in the city following the killing of George Floyd, some of which escalated into violence.</p><p data-block-key=\"2fb8t\">The department reviewed the use and tracking of “less-than-lethal” munitions, the processes for documenting use of force during protests, the use of body cameras and improving dispersal orders, among other issues.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2020-06-01T000000Z_810301830_RC24.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ozhrw\">A line of police officers at a protest in Denver, Colorado, on May 31, 2020, following the murder of George Floyd. Journalist Johnathen Duran was shot in the groin by a rubber bullet while documenting a Denver protest that day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": "1:20-cv-01878",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-03-07 15:06:00+00:00) Trial date set for Denver journalist’s claims against city of Aurora, police department",
"(2020-07-23 00:00:00+00:00) Editor at Colorado’s Yellow Scene Magazine files lawsuit against cities of Denver, Aurora",
"(2024-08-16 00:00:00+00:00) Journalist settles police assault claims against Aurora, Colorado"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Johnathen Duran (Yellow Scene Magazine)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Swiss correspondent shot at with crowd-control munitions amid Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/swiss-correspondent-shot-at-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T15:26:31.473058Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:08:08.880325Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:08:08.741860Z",
"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=\"rkko0\">While covering the fifth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, three Swiss journalists were shot at with crowd-control munitions shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"2zmi0\">Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Gov. Tim Walz’s order. The curfew followed protests 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=\"le7x8\">Shortly after 8:30 p.m. in Minneapolis, officers fired foam rounds at the journalists after they held up their press passes and yelled that they were members of the media.</p><p data-block-key=\"54tbl\">Massimiliano Herber, the Washington-based television correspondent for RSI (Radiotelevisione svizzera), an Italian-language channel of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, told the Tracker in an interview that he and videographer Jean-Pascal Azaïs had been reporting on protests downtown with Gaspard Kühn, a Washington-based correspondent for RTS (Radio Télévision Suisse), the public broadcaster’s French-language channel. Neither Azaïs nor Kühn could be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"hjvym\">Police had begun to throw tear gas and shoot foam rounds at protesters, according to Herber. Some of the tear gas wafted toward the Swiss journalists, stinging their eyes.</p><p data-block-key=\"jtjpz\">As the journalists attempted to reach their car, he said, they found police lines on either end of the block, preventing them from moving.</p><p data-block-key=\"czdzf\">Standing in the middle of the road, the journalists held up their press passes issued by the U.S. Congress and shouted, “Media! Media! Press!” toward the police and asked if they could pass by to reach their car. Azaïs was holding a small video camera. They had taken a couple steps forward, Herber said, when the officers told them to “back up”. The officers then began to shoot at the journalists, firing off four or five foam rounds, all of which missed the journalists, Herber said.</p><p data-block-key=\"59v3c\">They were able to flee to the safety of a nearby parking lot, but when they tried to move, the officers again opened fire, firing two to three foam rounds, Herber said. Eventually, with the help of a local resident, they found a safe route back to their car.</p><p data-block-key=\"s7541\">The officers in the area were from the Minneapolis Police Department and the Minnesota State Patrol, Herber said, but he was not sure who fired the rounds.</p><p data-block-key=\"v5c5g\">The broadcaster filed a complaint about the matter with the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland on June 1, Herber said.</p><p data-block-key=\"n7um2\">Requests for comment on these incidents sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"zqths\">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": "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",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Gaspard Kühn (Radio Télévision Suisse)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Free Press journalists targeted with chemical irritants while covering Detroit protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/free-press-journalists-targeted-with-chemical-irritants-while-covering-detroit-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-27T20:10:58.171536Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:44:55.496356Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:44:55.381656Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Detroit",
"longitude": -83.04575,
"latitude": 42.33143,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"sas4r\">Free Press reporter J.C. Reindl said he was pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while covering protests in downtown Detroit, Michigan, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"nf1nx\">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=\"9hx6q\">Reindl told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that on May 30, the protests had shifted in tone from when he’d begun reporting earlier in the afternoon. At around 10:30 p.m., Reindl said he was “trying to get closer to the action” for a tweet to document the escalating scene before he was sprayed.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up “media” badge <a href=\"https://t.co/XGNN32dl1v\">pic.twitter.com/XGNN32dl1v</a></p>— JC Reindl (@jcreindl) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jcreindl/status/1266925170192715782?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=\"u6ynq\">“[An officer] began to pepper-spray some of the demonstrators and I began trying to photograph this because I was surprised. The protesters ran away and I kind of thought, I’m so far away there’s no way he’s going to come after me,” Reindl told CPJ. “Then [the officer] started coming at me and I held up my press badge and still had the phone going. I naively thought that I’m so far away he’s definitely not going to pepper-spray me, but he did.”</p><p data-block-key=\"sia1k\">Reindl, who was wearing contact lenses and a cloth mask at the time of the incident, left the protests after being sprayed, but decided not to seek medical attention. Reindl also told CPJ that he did not file a police complaint because “[he] did not want to be a little whiner.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9s96w\">After the incident, Reindl <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jcreindl/status/1266925170192715782\">tweeted</a>, “Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up ‘media’ badge." The accompanying image shows a law enforcement official in a gas mask. In the shadow he casts on the pavement below, a canister and line of spray can also be seen aimed in the direction of another shadow, presumably that cast by Reindl.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last thing I saw before I got sprayed. I was even holding up “media” badge <a href=\"https://t.co/XGNN32dl1v\">pic.twitter.com/XGNN32dl1v</a></p>— JC Reindl (@jcreindl) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jcreindl/status/1266925170192715782?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=\"s0l3p\">When contacted by CPJ, the Detroit Police Department’s voicemail box was full. The department did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment as of press time.</p><p data-block-key=\"5dm4e\">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,
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"image_caption": "",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"actor": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "Michigan",
"abbreviation": "MI"
},
"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": [
"J.C. Reindl (Detroit Free Press)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Cameraman, news crew chased from Baltimore protest, later assaulted and robbed",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-news-crew-chased-from-baltimore-protest-later-assaulted-and-robbed/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-24T20:43:20.286721Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:44:31.781611Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:44:31.665075Z",
"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=\"a8yyo\">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=\"su9ib\">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=\"tgeve\">J. Thomas Fisher, a cameraman for Fox45 WBFF, and reporter Dan Lampariello 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=\"0o5hd\">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=\"bsjvv\">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=\"qi67c\">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/news-crew-baltimore-chased-away-protest-later-assaulted-and-robbed/\">Lampariello’s assault is documented here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"lg7ix\">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=\"79x5d\">Lampariello, Fisher and the WBFF newsroom did not respond to requests for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hmaa\">“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=\"eg9ec\">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=\"o05zm\">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=\"zvdyg\">“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=\"m8oik\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "Maryland",
"abbreviation": "MD"
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"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"robbery"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck in knee by projectile during Raleigh protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-knee-by-projectile-during-raleigh-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T15:33:39.676233Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:08:58.204317Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:08:58.123329Z",
"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=\"vp4ox\">Brad Simmons, a photojournalist for North Carolina station WRAL-TV, was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Raleigh, North Carolina, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"j961y\">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=\"v3wnu\">Simmons told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he was shooting video at the protest in Raleigh, which he said was “peaceful” until around 7:30 p.m., when it began to escalate.</p><p data-block-key=\"u4s7v\">“There was tear gas, people running. People started being a little bit more combative when law enforcement showed up,” Simmons says.</p><p data-block-key=\"i557c\">Simmons witnessed protesters throwing bottles and garbage can lids, as well as breaking windows and storefronts. At around 10:20 p.m., he was struck in the left knee by a rubber bullet. He assumes it was fired by police. Simmons estimates he was about 75 feet from police when he was struck. At the time he was struck, he saw many officers in riot gear.</p><p data-block-key=\"vqfnx\">Simmons doesn’t believe he was targeted for being a member of the media and thinks he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.</p><p data-block-key=\"1e2c3\">The Raleigh Police Department did not immediately respond to CPJ’s request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"r81oe\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "North Carolina",
"abbreviation": "NC"
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"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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"Assault"
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"Brad Simmons (WRAL-TV)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Star-Tribune reporter struck in groin with rubber bullet while covering Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/star-tribune-reporter-struck-in-groin-with-rubber-bullet-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-07T16:31:27.273212Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:57:27.187437Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:57:27.095616Z",
"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=\"zhf9d\">Minneapolis Star-Tribune reporter Chris Serres was struck by a rubber bullet and caught in tear gas while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"y3j2v\">Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, 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=\"qbkf3\">Serres <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChrisSerres/status/1267098060938776581\">wrote</a> on Twitter that Minneapolis police tear gassed him and shot him in the groin with a rubber bullet while he was covering the protests, despite waving his press badge.</p><p data-block-key=\"85hfg\">“I was twice ordered at gunpoint by Minneapolis police to hit the ground, warned that if I moved ‘an inch’ I’d be shot,” Serres wrote.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Regarding police behavior last night, I was twice ordered at gunpoint by Minneapolis police to hit the ground, warned that if I moved "an inch" I'd be shot. This after being teargassed and hit in groin area by rubber bullet. Waiving a Star Tribune press badge made no difference. <a href=\"https://t.co/pfBm7ubzOg\">pic.twitter.com/pfBm7ubzOg</a></p>— Chris Serres (@ChrisSerres) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ChrisSerres/status/1267098060938776581?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=\"l9keo\">More than three dozen journalists were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-05-30&date_upper=2020-05-30\">assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged</a> while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"rwiml\">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": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"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": [
"Chris Serres (Minneapolis Star Tribune)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "TRT World cameraman hit with projectiles while covering Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trt-world-cameraman-hit-with-projectiles-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T15:18:51.686368Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:07:18.793942Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:07:18.670703Z",
"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=\"gs7vr\">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=\"rv9wk\">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=\"99067\">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=\"1a96x\">“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=\"tvpyk\">According to Donovan, the police advanced down the street and began to fire off tear gas and flash-bang grenades 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=\"s8kgg\">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=\"64jtd\">Requests for comment sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not immediately returned.</p><p data-block-key=\"eg8al\">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=\"6gann\">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": "",
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
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},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Barbaros Sayilgan (TRT World)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "German reporter shot at, threatened with arrest amid Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/german-reporter-shot-at-threatened-with-arrest-amid-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-07T16:59:31.799677Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:05:17.666269Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:05:17.571924Z",
"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=\"mdnnk\">Police attacked dozens of journalists with rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray on May 30, 2020, during protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"7zfv7\">Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, 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=\"ijqyj\">Minneapolis police fired projectiles at Deutsche Welle reporter Stefan Simons and his camera operator, according to a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1267119897806397442\">tweet</a> from the news agency.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A DW reporter and his camera operator have been shot at with projectiles by Minneapolis police and threatened with arrest while covering the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd. <a href=\"https://t.co/SFKMv5SFW6\">pic.twitter.com/SFKMv5SFW6</a></p>— DW News (@dwnews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/dwnews/status/1267119897806397442?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=\"f0gpm\">“A DW reporter and his camera operator have been shot at with projectiles by Minneapolis police and threatened with arrest while covering the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd,” the network tweeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"wwzfa\">More than three dozen journalists were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-05-30&date_upper=2020-05-30\">assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged</a> while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"he4id\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
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},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
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"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Stefan Simons (Deutsche Welle)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "LAPD officer aims weapon at student reporter during protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/lapd-officer-aims-weapon-at-student-reporter-during-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-29T17:45:06.972021Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:54:20.177185Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:54:20.046593Z",
"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=\"8cxjy\">Jintak Han, a photographer and reporter for the Daily Bruin, UCLA’s student newspaper, was shot at by law enforcement while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"vokrj\">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=\"erpwk\">Han told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he was wrapping up an afternoon reporting on the protests and trying to cross Beverly Boulevard to head back to his car around 7:15 p.m. when he found himself facing a police line that was clearing protesters block-by-block.</p><p data-block-key=\"u1820\">Han said he was readily identifiable as a journalist, wearing a press pass, as well as a white helmet and a vest emblazoned with “PRESS,” and carrying three cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"o26u5\">Despite this, he said, an officer aimed his weapon at him, prompting Han to raise both hands in the air. He moved into an opening, and soon was standing “some distance away” from a group of four protesters who were shielding themselves behind a mattress when officers opened fire. “The rubber bullets fell short and hit the ground near my feet before I hid behind the mattress,” he told CPJ.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">.<a href=\"https://twitter.com/LAPD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@LAPD</a> fired rubber bullets at me despite me:<br>1. Wearing my press helmet<br>2. Wearing my press vest<br>3. Wearing my press pass<br>4. Telling them I’m press<br>Thankfully they missed. <a href=\"https://t.co/jyLRF1Wt81\">pic.twitter.com/jyLRF1Wt81</a></p>— Jintak Han (한진탁) (@jintakhan) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jintakhan/status/1266918983598354432?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=\"0irhi\">LAPD did not respond to an email requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"w7351\">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": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jintak Han (Daily Bruin)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Yellow Scene Magazine editor shot with pepper balls while covering Denver protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/yellow-scene-magazine-editor-shot-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-denver-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-07-29T15:55:30.825536Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-04-04T00:41:50.883853Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-04-04T00:41:50.790575Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Denver",
"longitude": -104.9847,
"latitude": 39.73915,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4le4b\">Johnathen Duran, content editor at Colorado-based Yellow Scene Magazine, said he was shot with pepper balls and hit with tear gas while livestreaming from a Black Lives Matter protest in Denver on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"1n8ex\">“I was shot in the arm and foot with pepper balls,” Duran, who writes under the name De La Vaca, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “This was at approximately 5:40-6 p.m.,” he said, adding that police officers used chemical agents including smoke bombs and pepper balls, as well as flash-bang grenades, on protesters in a dirt lot adjacent to the city’s Civic Center Station.</p><p data-block-key=\"j64x6\">“I was on the far sidewalk, taking photographs while wearing a press badge,” he said. “I was subsequently hit with tear gas twice, once on the Capitol lawn, and the second time of which forced me to leave the protest to recover.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vy7a0\">Duran shared images with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker of bruising on his arms, which he said were caused by the pepper balls.</p><p data-block-key=\"xgkws\">A Denver Police Force spokesperson said the department didn’t have a record of the incident. However, the spokesperson said the department had <a href=\"https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/d25ae76545014a8f9cf3392b4946f682\">undertaken a review of its response</a> to the large-scale demonstrations in the city following the killing of George Floyd, some of which escalated into violence.</p><p data-block-key=\"chhrr\">The department reviewed the use and tracking of “less-than-lethal” munitions, the processes for documenting use of force during protests, the use of body cameras and improving dispersal orders, among other issues.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"case_number": "1:20-cv-01878",
"case_type": "CIVIL",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "unknown",
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"state": {
"name": "Colorado",
"abbreviation": "CO"
},
"updates": [
"(2022-03-07 15:03:00+00:00) Journalist reaches settlement with city of Denver",
"(2020-07-23 00:00:00+00:00) Editor at Colorado’s Yellow Scene Magazine files lawsuit against cities of Denver, Aurora"
],
"case_statuses": [
"settled"
],
"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": [
"Johnathen Duran (Yellow Scene Magazine)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": [],
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "British reporter struck with crowd-control munitions amid Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/british-reporter-struck-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-07T16:16:34.939808Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:56:30.350736Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:56:30.266043Z",
"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=\"5p66g\">Andrew Buncombe, the chief U.S. correspondent for the British Independent newspaper, was struck by crowd-control munitions and caught in tear gas while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"gy3ce\">Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, 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. An 8 p.m. curfew was put into effect on May 30.</p><p data-block-key=\"0dp4r\">At about 8:40 p.m., a group of Minnesota state police and National Guard officers fired tear gas and rubber bullets at a group of protesters, which also hit several journalists covering the demonstrations.</p><p data-block-key=\"q9kt9\">Buncombe told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he and several other reporters were trying to retreat from the area where police were advancing on protesters when police fired a non-lethal round that hit his backpack, leaving a white powder behind. He posted <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AndrewBuncombe/status/1266911306889789440\">a photo</a> of the backpack 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\">Independent’s backpack also hit despite holding press credential high in air <a href=\"https://t.co/f64VnT4eUs\">pic.twitter.com/f64VnT4eUs</a></p>— Andrew Buncombe (@AndrewBuncombe) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/AndrewBuncombe/status/1266911306889789440?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=\"zvqx9\">After journalists separated themselves from the crowd, police released more tear gas in their direction, despite journalists repeatedly showing their press credentials and saying they were press, Buncombe said.</p><p data-block-key=\"iy18a\">More than three dozen journalists were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-05-30&date_upper=2020-05-30\">assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged</a> while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"6dnsa\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"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 Buncombe (The Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Producer struck in the back with projectile while covering Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/producer-struck-in-the-back-with-projectile-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-07T16:51:59.102810Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:04:16.661009Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:04:16.582616Z",
"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=\"i4hpu\">Vice News producer Roberto Daza was struck with a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"ref3r\">Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, 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=\"s6yvi\">Daza told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that in the early evening state troopers fired a less-lethal round that struck him in the back.</p><p data-block-key=\"jweif\">More than three dozen journalists were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-05-30&date_upper=2020-05-30\">assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged</a> while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"zg7vt\">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": "",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"links": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Roberto Daza (Vice News)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Dallas Morning News reporters targeted by state trooper with tear gas",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dallas-morning-news-reporters-targeted-by-state-trooper-with-tear-gas/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-28T19:26:01.667866Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:47:23.622647Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:47:23.535320Z",
"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=\"92dgp\">Two Dallas Morning News reporters said a Texas state trooper rolled a can of tear gas at them while they covered protests in downtown Dallas, Texas, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"1155o\">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=\"0m9y7\">On May 30th, Dallas Morning News reporters Corbett Smith and Jesus Jiménez were documenting police efforts to clear out protesters from outside of their newspaper’s office.</p><p data-block-key=\"9kcue\">Smith told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the incident happened just after 8 p.m., when a state trooper, who was standing 20 to 25 yards away, made eye contact with Smith as the pair stood on South Harwood Street near the The Dallas Morning News headquarters.</p><p data-block-key=\"2wtl7\">“There's a state trooper who turns and looks right at me,” Smith said, “and pulled the pin on the gas.” The trooper <a href=\"https://twitter.com/corbettsmithDMN/status/1266899262719303681\">rolled the canister</a> toward Smith and Jiménez, but the canister “kind of skittered off to the west underneath a car that was 10 feet away.” The pair was able to quickly retreat, avoiding being enveloped by the gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"c0mt2\">There was no one standing between the journalists and the trooper at the time he rolled the canister at them, Smith said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1gnqh\">Both Smith and Jiménez said they were clearly identifiable as members of the media. The Tracker <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/dallas-morning-news-reporters-targeted-by-law-enforcement-with-tear-gas/\">documented Jiménez's assault here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"nduua\">“It was very clear who I was and what I was doing,” Smith said. “I never thought that I would have an officer do something like that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"74ho0\">Smith identified the officer as a state trooper, part of the Texas Department of Public Safety, based on the shield he was carrying.</p><p data-block-key=\"xvduf\">In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson from the Texas DPS wrote in an email that the department “does not have a record of any of our personnel deploying a gas canister in the area of the Dallas Morning News offices in Dallas on the evening of May 30, 2020.”</p><p data-block-key=\"upen3\">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><p data-block-key=\"hy3f6\"><i>This article was updated to reflect comment from the Texas Department of Public Safety.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"state": {
"name": "Texas",
"abbreviation": "TX"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Corbett Smith (Dallas Morning News)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Toledo Blade editor tear gassed, shot at with police projectiles during Ohio protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/toledo-blade-editor-tear-gassed-shot-at-with-police-projectiles-during-ohio-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-18T17:43:06.628988Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:10:36.447813Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:10:36.358093Z",
"date": "2020-05-30",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Toledo",
"longitude": -83.55521,
"latitude": 41.66394,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3l3wp\">Toledo Blade editor Nolan Rosenkrans said he was caught in tear gas and shot at with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while covering protests in Toledo, Ohio, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"t4ux2\">The protest was held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.</p><p data-block-key=\"db219\">Nolan Cramer, a journalism student interning for the Toledo City Paper, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing near the corner of East Woodruff and Franklin Avenues as Toledo Police Department officers worked to disperse protesters in the street at around 5:45 p.m.</p><p data-block-key=\"m6798\">Cramer said that an officer deliberately threw a tear gas canister at him and Toledo Blade editor Nolan Rosenkrans, who was standing next to them, despite both of them wearing visible press passes. Both journalists were caught in the cloud of tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"bzqeh\">Rosenkrans told the Tracker that he had not felt targeted with tear gas that day, but noted that he did not know what Nolan had experienced or seen.</p><p data-block-key=\"r2kqu\">“What police did do was shoot pepper spray balls when I crossed some arbitrary line toward them,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"izp9n\">Rosenkrans <a href=\"https://twitter.com/nolanrosenkrans/status/1266860898242658304\">tweeted</a> shortly after 6:30 p.m. that he had also been shot at with a “paintball gun” by an officer who knew he was a reporter.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just was shot at with a paintball gun by a cop who knows I’m a reporter. He’s wearing fatigues.</p>— Nolan_Rosenkrans⚔️ (@NolanRosenkrans) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NolanRosenkrans/status/1266860898242658304?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=\"ruo8p\">He told the Tracker that he had continued documenting the protest and speaking with protesters and police as the march continued down Franklin Avenue to where it becomes 17th Street.</p><p data-block-key=\"j8lpo\">“[The police] knew I was a journalist. The camo team was near me for several miles and I had been talking to them from the street for quite some time,” he said. “I can’t say I was targeted because I was a journalist, but I can’t say for sure.”</p><p data-block-key=\"rr8fa\">Lieutenant Kellie Lenhardt, who commands the Toledo Police Public Information Section, told the Tracker over email that the department did not receive complaints from Rosenkrans or other journalists that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"joi22\">Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said <a href=\"https://www.toledoblade.com/local/police-fire/2020/06/22/Police-banned-from-wearing-military-style-camouflage-city-plans-to-move-internal-affairs-by-August/stories/20200622099\">during a press conference</a> on June 22 that there was an investigation into officers’ conduct during the protests. Kapszukiewicz also announced that officers will no longer be permitted to wear military-style camouflage.</p><p data-block-key=\"qoi1w\">On July 22, Toledo police announced that three officers were <a href=\"https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/toledo-police-officers-riot-discipline/512-c4ac369d-3a86-4d62-893d-48f5e516b787\">disciplined</a> for misconduct during the May 30 protests. One officer received a written reprimand while the other two were suspended and given last chance warnings, meaning they could be fired following another infraction.</p><p data-block-key=\"grb0q\">“Police legitimacy cannot improve if departments fail at policing their own,” Police Chief George Kral said in a <a href=\"https://toledopolice.com/images/Press_Releases/News_Release_-_Officers_Disciplined_for_May_30_Riot_Actions.pdf\">press release</a> announcing the disciplinary measures. “I will ensure that officers are held accountable when their actions are found to violate department policies, and I will always support the hundreds of officers that positively represent Toledo Police.”</p><p data-block-key=\"jr9qe\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "Ohio",
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"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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},
{
"title": "Minneapolis news crew held at gunpoint, menaced with crowbar",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-news-crew-held-at-gunpoint-menaced-with-crowbar/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-14T15:10:58.986068Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:06:47.269373Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:06:47.177964Z",
"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=\"bvmy2\">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=\"alf0o\">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=\"mfu5t\">Photojournalist Devin Krinke and investigative journalist A.J. Lagoe 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=\"1q5hd\">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=\"q41jf\">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=\"p2uzk\">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=\"nwvoa\">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=\"ddylc\">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=\"f9kbo\">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=\"a94an\">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=\"ezomn\">Lagoe told the Tracker that they did not file a police report about either assailant.</p><p data-block-key=\"1nqz1\">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=\"nvww8\">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=\"tqix7\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"tags": [
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],
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],
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"Devin Krinke (KARE)"
],
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{
"title": "Broadcast correspondent shot at with crowd-control munitions during Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-correspondent-shot-at-with-crowd-control-munitions-during-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2021-11-22T14:45:07.104841Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:12:20.778659Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:12:20.680650Z",
"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=\"4mp68\">CBS News correspondent Michael George and his news crew were shot at with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"kd29j\">Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, 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=\"il7ej\">Shortly after the 8 p.m. curfew began, police began shooting rubber bullets and other crowd-control munitions at the crew, according to<a href=\"https://twitter.com/MikeGeorgeCBS/status/1266919447970942986\"> tweets</a><a href=\"https://twitter.com/MikeGeorgeCBS/status/1266916104951214080\"> posted</a> by George.</p><p data-block-key=\"pyaq0\">Sound engineer John Marschitz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the news crew had retreated down the street and into the parking lot where the team's car was parked after police began deploying tear gas into the crowd. The protesters kept moving in the opposite direction, and were several hundred feet away when officers began shooting crowd-control munitions at the news crew.</p><p data-block-key=\"68z3d\">“We were not standing within 500 feet of any protesters at the time, and we had credentials displayed and cameras out,” George wrote.</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 the moment Minneapolis Police fired on our CBS News crew with rubber bullets. As you can see, no protesters anywhere near us- we all were wearing credentials and had cameras out. Our sound engineer was hit in the arm. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/cbsnews?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#cbsnews</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/UAy7HYhGnL\">pic.twitter.com/UAy7HYhGnL</a></p>— Michael George (@MikeGeorgeCBS) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MikeGeorgeCBS/status/1266919447970942986?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=\"mwvpm\">George did not respond to a message requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"qzhr0\">One of the rounds <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cbs-news-sound-engineer-struck-in-arm-by-rubber-bullet-while-covering-minneapolis-protests/\">struck Marschitz in the arm</a>; a second round <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-at-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-minneapolis-protest/\">struck a light</a> on RumJungle photojournalist Peter Norton’s camera, but did not damage the equipment.</p><p data-block-key=\"bzgm5\">When asked whether he felt police targeted the crew, Marschitz said, "I don't think they cared, they just shot at us."</p><p data-block-key=\"bfbce\">More than three dozen journalists were<a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-05-30&date_upper=2020-05-30\"> assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged</a> while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"bj5kc\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Michael George (CBS News)"
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},
{
"title": "Raleigh News & Observer, other newspaper offices damaged during protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/raleigh-news-observer-other-newspaper-offices-damaged-during-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-15T19:56:11.927054Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:09:46.841130Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:09:46.746806Z",
"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=\"excsl\">The offices of The News & Observer, INDY Week and ABC11 in downtown Raleigh, N.C. were damaged during protests in the city on May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"dd230\">Alternative weekly newspaper INDY Week reported extensive damage to its newsroom, while ABC11 and The News & Observer newspaper both had windows smashed as protests stretched late into the night.</p><p data-block-key=\"lucjt\">The protests in Raleigh echoed demonstrations across the country sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"gevbn\">The newsrooms in Raleigh were damaged late in the first major day of protesting in the city. Demonstrations had been peaceful through the day, but late in the evening, after police began using tear gas to disperse crowds, a small group of people began destroying property in the city’s downtown.</p><p data-block-key=\"qp3g4\">At The News & Observer, business reporter Aaron Sánchez-Guerra saw windows at the entrance to the offices being smashed by a small group of people who broke off from a larger group that had been destroying property and looting in the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"qmsmt\">Sánchez-Guerra told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he recognized one of the individuals as a protester whom he had interviewed a short time earlier. He said that he shouted at the group to stop, that they were journalists. The protester appeared to recognize him, and they left.</p><p data-block-key=\"uymkx\">The newspaper didn’t appear to be targeted, but was just one of many businesses that were impacted that night, according to members of the publication’s staff. Many nearby restaurants sustained damage and were looted, Sánchez-Guerra said. “We were just another open target.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8zg42\">Two windows at The News & Observer were damaged during the protest, according to Betsy Womble, executive assistant to the publisher and president of the paper. The damage was reported to police, but there have been no developments with the report, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"r1j5z\">The three offices were just some of many businesses damaged in the city. According to <a href=\"https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article243135136.html\">an article in the News & Observer</a>, “nearly every” business in Raleigh’s downtown area was damaged overnight.</p><p data-block-key=\"5igbh\">A spokesperson for the Raleigh Police Department said police were aware of damage to INDY Week and the News & Observer. There haven’t been any arrests related to the incidents, according to the department.</p><p data-block-key=\"w7t58\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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{
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}
],
"state": {
"name": "North Carolina",
"abbreviation": "NC"
},
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"The [Raleigh] News & Observer"
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"protest"
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"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
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{
"title": "Live 5 News reporter in vehicle attacked during Charleston protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/live-5-news-reporter-in-vehicle-attacked-during-charleston-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2022-03-11T17:00:28.736927Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-14T18:25:48.316565Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-14T18:25:48.204659Z",
"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=\"hm4y9\">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=\"55kn8\">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=\"5qp7d\">The car carrying reporter Rob Way, reporter <a href=\"/all-incidents/two-live-5-news-news-vehicles-damaged-one-night-charleston/\">Abbey O’Brien</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=\"fnhdv\">“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=\"c0v04\">Demonstrations had started peacefully but turned violent as the night wore on, she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2gtf\">“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=\"6ft12\">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=\"6vnni\">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=\"7ap73\">“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=\"hm4y9\">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><p data-block-key=\"7avfs\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">these incidents here</a>.</p></div>",
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"name": "South Carolina",
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"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"Assault"
],
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"Rob Way (WCSC-TV)"
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{
"title": "Independent photojournalist targeted with pepper spray amid Minneapolis protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photojournalist-targeted-with-pepper-spray-amid-minneapolis-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2021-10-07T16:57:33.025609Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T18:04:58.688263Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T18:04:58.607805Z",
"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=\"yyhwx\">Police attacked dozens of journalists with rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray on May 30, 2020, during protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p><p data-block-key=\"8q1ku\">Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, 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=\"4sl6t\">Half an hour after an 8 p.m. curfew began on the 30th, Minnesota state patrol officers fired pepper spray and rubber bullets at a group of at least 20 journalists including independent photographer Sait Serkan Gurbuz.</p><p data-block-key=\"jcdku\">Gurbuz told the Committee to Protect Journalists — a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker — that he was covering the protests as a contributor to <a href=\"http://www.zumapress.com/index.html?cktst=1?cktst=1\">Zuma Press</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cb1og\">Gurbuz said police pepper sprayed him while he was holding his credentials and saying “journalist” as loudly as he could. Gurbuz said that he was wearing a respirator when police used pepper spray, but his hands and right ear burned for a day after the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"705iz\">More than three dozen journalists were <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?city=Minneapolis&date_lower=2020-05-30&date_upper=2020-05-30\">assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged</a> while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.</p><p data-block-key=\"0und2\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
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"Black Lives Matter",
"chemical irritant",
"protest"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
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"targeted_journalists": [
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{
"title": "Unicorn Riot reporter threatened, shoved by Minnesota State Police",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unicorn-riot-reporter-threatened-shoved-by-minnesota-state-police/",
"first_published_at": "2021-09-29T15:05:16.847096Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-06-17T17:49:15.228186Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-06-17T17:49:15.118825Z",
"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=\"hdopm\">Jenn Schreiter, a reporter for the nonprofit media collective Unicorn Riot, was threatened and shoved by a state patrol officer while covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in the early hours of May 30, 2020.</p><p data-block-key=\"zx8oz\">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=\"tazhi\">Schreiter told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker over text that she and her colleague Niko Georgiades were interviewing a local businessman just after 3 a.m. on the 30th when Minnesota State Patrol officers in riot gear and carrying assault rifles approached them and shouted, “Get inside or go to jail!”</p><p data-block-key=\"giw69\">“We hurried into the restaurant and one officer shoved me with his baton then slammed the door,” Schreiter said.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Clip from our stream earlier shows when Minnesota state police in riot gear & SWAT w assault rifles pushed UR off an empty street, threatening our reporters w arrest. At the time were were interviewing Louis Hunter about his restaurant, Trio Plant Based, which he's been guarding. <a href=\"https://t.co/bSnnks4Vxg\">pic.twitter.com/bSnnks4Vxg</a></p>— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/UR_Ninja/status/1266652249650016257?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=\"5tquq\">Schrieter told the Tracker that both she and Georgiades have been reporting each night with their press badges visible and helmets branded with Unicorn Riot.</p><p data-block-key=\"17kxc\">The journalists remained inside the restaurant until the state patrol officers had left the intersection of Lake Street and Lyndale Avenue. The Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to an emailed request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gfak\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests <a href=\"/blog/blm-and-unprecedented-aggressions-against-media/\">here</a>.</p></div>",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
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},
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"tags": [
"Black Lives Matter",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jenn Schreiter (Unicorn Riot)"
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}
]
