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{
"title": "Photojournalist shoved with police batons at NYC pro-Palestinian protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shoved-with-police-batons-at-nyc-pro-palestinian-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-04T16:22:50.747350Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-04T16:22:50.747350Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-04T16:19:50.742065Z",
"date": "2024-08-14",
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"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4h72g\">Independent photojournalist Alexa Wilkinson was repeatedly shoved with a baton by New York City police officers while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"38ddn\">State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Politico <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/14/nyc-harris-rally-pro-palestinian-demonstration-00174120\">reported</a>. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"f89st\">Wilkinson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. She said she was near the front of the march when protesters arrived, and she was one of five or six journalists to make it into the restaurant alongside approximately 15 protesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3ve2\">After yelling back and forth between demonstrators and event attendees in the restaurant, Wilkinson said the manager ordered the protesters and press out of the restaurant. As they exited, she added, police had already begun making arrests and she was quickly trapped between planter boxes by officers from the department’s Special Response Group, a rapid response unit that the New York Civil Liberties Union calls <a href=\"https://www.nyclu.org/podcast/s2-ep-9-inside-the-special-nypd-unit-thats-brutalizing-protesters\">notoriously violent</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7fqs4\">“As I looked to my left, a door or two down there was one cop — who I now know to be one of the ones who had his baton out incorrectly and handle facing outward toward people — he was to the left sort of cornering press, an acquaintance of mine, and cracked him in the ribs,” Wilkinson said. “As press were trying to document that pocket of violence, SRG was then trying to push press and protesters out, very violently, down the sidewalk away from the restaurant and into the street.”</p><p data-block-key=\"72goq\">She told the Tracker that a group of journalists accidentally became trapped between a line of police and the protesters. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-08-14&date_upper=2024-08-14&state=New+York&tags=protest&categories=Assault\">At least four journalists</a>, including Wilkinson, were struck or pushed by officers with batons that night. Wilkinson said she was repeatedly shoved and an officer grabbed her by the arm and threw her sideways during the chaos.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">From there it was pure chaos. White shirts, SRG, and every cop in between was wielding whatever baton or hard object they had to either beat or use it to shove us. Press were at the front line of the group they were shoving</p>— Alexa Wilkinson (@alexabwilkinson) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alexabwilkinson/status/1823904203980280087?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"4h72g\">“That was the most brutal I’ve seen them be toward press,” she said. “And I was taken aback about how not quiet they were about their contempt for us.” Wilkinson added that she heard supervisory officers taunting the journalists and shouting things like “fuck your press pass” while pushing the journalists back.</p><p data-block-key=\"e37sv\">The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"bkal\">Officers also repeatedly attempted to grab Wilkinson’s camera by the lens and the phone from her hand; her backpack was also ripped, which she said caused her to lose some of her personal belongings. She added that she was wearing a lanyard with her city-issued press credentials and was clearly identifiable as a member of the press.</p><p data-block-key=\"a4fth\">After she left the protest at around 10 p.m., Wilkinson said she noticed bruises along the back of her arms and general soreness from the continuous shoving.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rcap7\">Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside a presidential campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024. Police shoved photojournalist Alexa Wilkinson multiple times while she covered the protest that evening.</p>",
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"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
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"Alexa Wilkinson (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Independent journalist shoved with batons by NYC police at protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-shoved-with-batons-by-nyc-police-at-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-04T19:54:05.950997Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-04T19:54:05.950997Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-04T19:50:48.666521Z",
"date": "2024-08-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New York",
"longitude": -74.00597,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hffxm\">An independent journalist who writes under the moniker Spyder Monkey was repeatedly shoved with batons by New York City police while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcpj0\">State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Politico <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/14/nyc-harris-rally-pro-palestinian-demonstration-00174120\">reported</a>. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"du8q8\">Spyder Monkey, who asked to be identified only by his pen name for safety reasons, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. He said protesters went into the restaurant, yelled at attendees and quickly exited.</p><p data-block-key=\"61u11\">“As they were leaving, that’s when the police who were monitoring them from earlier in the day came in and immediately arrested two or three protesters, and that’s when the cop riot basically started,” Spyder Monkey said. “That’s where most of the violence kind of happened, with all the press filming everything around them, smoke bombs being thrown, arguments between police and protesters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7l4s4\">He said that the press became trapped between the protesters and a line of officers from the department’s Special Response Group, a rapid response unit that the New York Civil Liberties Union calls <a href=\"https://www.nyclu.org/podcast/s2-ep-9-inside-the-special-nypd-unit-thats-brutalizing-protesters\">notoriously violent</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"a88r7\">“It was a lot of shoving, a lot of police pushing press who, including me, were just trying to hold their arms up to show nonviolence, but we just kept getting manhandled and pushed around,” Spyder Monkey said.</p><p data-block-key=\"1bkbq\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/SpyderMonkey0_0/status/1823924956154966134\">clip</a> Spyder Monkey posted on the social platform X, a supervisory officer can be seen using a baton to shove back independent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-shoved-with-police-batons-while-covering-nyc-protest/\">Gerard Dalbon</a> — wearing a black shirt — while the journalist’s press credential is visible on a lanyard.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I can corroborate that Ruel Stephenson, as usual, was wild today in shoving and hitting press with his baton (you can see him push <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GerardDalbon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GerardDalbon</a> at the end of the clip)<br><br>Officers constantly manhandled press who half the time were squished between protesters and the police <a href=\"https://t.co/GWGQJUX7Vm\">https://t.co/GWGQJUX7Vm</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/EJ1pmpqY5c\">pic.twitter.com/EJ1pmpqY5c</a></p>— Spyder Monkey (@SpyderMonkey0_0) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SpyderMonkey0_0/status/1823924956154966134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hffxm\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-08-14&date_upper=2024-08-14&state=New+York&tags=protest&categories=Assault\">At least four journalists</a>, including Spyder Monkey and Dalbon, were struck or pushed by officers with batons during the chaos. Spyder Monkey told the Tracker that his city-issued press credentials were visible and that he was clearly identifiable as press.</p><p data-block-key=\"aal93\">The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS15RR43.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"us8ot\">Attendees outside a presidential campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024, are surrounded by pro-Palestinian protesters. An independent journalist was shoved by police while covering a protest that night.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
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"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Spyder Monkey (Independent)"
],
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"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck, shoved with police batons while covering NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-shoved-with-police-batons-while-covering-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-04T17:29:41.384406Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-04T17:29:41.384406Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-04T17:26:15.010082Z",
"date": "2024-08-14",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"blat0\">Independent photojournalist Gerard Dalbon was struck repeatedly with a baton by New York City police while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"av8mt\">State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Politico <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/14/nyc-harris-rally-pro-palestinian-demonstration-00174120\">reported</a>. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"895lq\">Dalbon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. Officers with the department’s Special Response Group, a rapid response unit that the New York Civil Liberties Union calls <a href=\"https://www.nyclu.org/podcast/s2-ep-9-inside-the-special-nypd-unit-thats-brutalizing-protesters\">notoriously violent</a>, quickly arrived and began pushing everyone back and hitting people with batons.</p><p data-block-key=\"4gpe2\">He said that he was shoved by a supervisory officer who was one of the first to pull out his baton and begin striking at people. “I was repeatedly hit with a baton by him as we were getting pushed back. I was showing him my press badge and he did not care,” Dalbon said. “He was saying ‘fuck your press badge’ as he was hitting people.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5v786\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/SpyderMonkey0_0/status/1823924956154966134\">clip</a> posted on the social platform X, a supervisory officer can be seen using a baton to shove back Dalbon — wearing a black shirt — while the journalist’s press credential is visible on a lanyard.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I can corroborate that Ruel Stephenson, as usual, was wild today in shoving and hitting press with his baton (you can see him push <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GerardDalbon?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@GerardDalbon</a> at the end of the clip)<br><br>Officers constantly manhandled press who half the time were squished between protesters and the police <a href=\"https://t.co/GWGQJUX7Vm\">https://t.co/GWGQJUX7Vm</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/EJ1pmpqY5c\">pic.twitter.com/EJ1pmpqY5c</a></p>— Spyder Monkey (@SpyderMonkey0_0) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/SpyderMonkey0_0/status/1823924956154966134?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"blat0\">Dalbon told the Tracker that while he has covered many protests, this was the first time he had been hit by police. He added that there was a large group of press at the front between the police and protesters, and that because of that the journalists got “pummeled.” <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-08-14&date_upper=2024-08-14&state=New+York&tags=protest&categories=Assault\">At least four journalists</a>, including Dalbon, were struck or pushed by officers with batons during the chaos.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">As protesters moved up the block to disrupt the DNC fundraiser afterparty, NYPD began violently dispersing the crowd gathered outside the bar by beating, pepper spraying, and arresting demonstrators on the sidewalk. Myself and other press and ppl were repeatedly hit with batons. <a href=\"https://t.co/c0DLjYkjSy\">https://t.co/c0DLjYkjSy</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/Xws0SigTCv\">pic.twitter.com/Xws0SigTCv</a></p>— Gerard (@GerardDalbon) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/GerardDalbon/status/1823890329533342035?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"blat0\">The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jwil7\">At least four journalists, including photojournalist Gerard Dalbon, were shoved and struck with batons by police while reporting on a pro-Palestinian protest after a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024.</p>",
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"protest"
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{
"title": "Videojournalist shoved with batons by police during NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/videojournalist-shoved-with-batons-by-police-during-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-05T15:45:46.066771Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-05T15:45:46.066771Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-05T15:30:06.007227Z",
"date": "2024-08-14",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5ip8z\">Freelance videojournalist Peter Hambrecht was shoved repeatedly with batons by New York City police while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"3iun6\">State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Politico <a href=\"https://www.politico.com/news/2024/08/14/nyc-harris-rally-pro-palestinian-demonstration-00174120\">reported</a>. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.</p><p data-block-key=\"5l4nr\">Hambrecht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. He said he was one of five or six journalists to make it into the restaurant alongside approximately 15 demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"a43jm\">“I was kind of pulled out of the restaurant by the cops, who eventually came in. And then they just start pushing people down the sidewalk away from the restaurant for a while, just really ramming people,” Hambrecht said. “Most of us at the front were press anyway, by the end of it, and they just continued to do it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f1suc\">He said that he was wearing his city-issued credentials while police shoved him multiple times with their batons, and he received multiple bruises around his ribs. Hambrecht said he licensed his footage from the protest to News2Share, a collective that sells footage to news outlets.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">VIDEO THREAD: Palestine supporters gathered at a Harris/Waltz fundraising afterparty in Harlem, New York City on Wednesday night, hoping to confront Mayor Eric Adams over his participation.<br><br>Some went inside the bar, and NYPD arrived to force them away.<br><br>Filmed by <a href=\"https://twitter.com/peterhvideo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@peterhvideo</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/drNyoz8jv0\">pic.twitter.com/drNyoz8jv0</a></p>— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/FordFischer/status/1824127355700260875?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 15, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5ip8z\"><a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-08-14&date_upper=2024-08-14&state=New+York&tags=protest&categories=Assault\">At least four journalists</a>, including Hambrecht, were struck or pushed by officers with batons during the chaos. Hambrecht, who <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Peter+Hambrecht\">routinely documents protests</a> in New York City, told the Tracker that the police response on the night of Aug. 14 “was the craziest it’s been for a while.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6ijna\">“They just didn’t stop. It was very, very strange that they seemed to be the clear aggressors in that situation, when everyone was getting out of the way and they continued to push us,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4jfdr\">The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ok8o6\">Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside a presidential campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024. Videographer Peter Hambrecht was shoved by police while covering the protest that evening.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"election",
"Election 2024",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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],
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},
{
"title": "Production company Zero Point Zero subpoenaed in music copyright suit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/production-company-zero-point-zero-subpoenaed-in-music-copyright-suit/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-22T20:14:14.701178Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-14T19:14:41.514532Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-14T19:14:41.283678Z",
"date": "2024-08-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"lsm7k\">Production company Zero Point Zero Production was subpoenaed on Aug. 8, 2024, for documents and testimony related to a docuseries it produced, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"7g1hq\">The subpoena is part of a music copyright suit filed on behalf of Jamaican reggaetón duo Steely & Clevie and their representatives. The suit <a href=\"https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.law.gwu.edu/dist/a/4/files/2024/02/Browne-v.-Donalds-Original-Complaint-748ad82bd91f88aa.pdf\">alleges</a> that numerous musicians had copied or sampled without permission a rhythm first used in their 1989 song “Fish Market.” The complaint <a href=\"https://theconversation.com/the-lawsuit-that-could-bring-reggaeton-to-its-knees-232779\">names</a> more than 160 individual musicians and record labels as defendants.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjp30\">The plaintiffs <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548.1.2.pdf\">subpoenaed</a> ZPZ in connection with the suit, asking it to turn over editorial materials related to “<a href=\"https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/paramount-plus/shows/de-la-calle/releases/?view=108578-paramount-announces-new-docuseries-de-la-calle-to-premiere-november-7\">De La Calle</a>,” an eight-part docuseries it produced on the evolution of Latin music, including reggaetón.</p><p data-block-key=\"1oenb\">Paramount Global, which oversaw the production of the 2023 series on behalf of its subsidiary New Remote Productions, received a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/paramount-global-subpoenaed-in-music-copyright-suit/\">similar subpoena</a>. Both were issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct8hu\">The subpoena demanded that ZPZ turn over all video and interview footage from “De La Calle,” whether or not it was used in the series, as well as all eight aired episodes and all communications with another reggaeton duo and a singer who appeared in the series and are named as defendants in the copyright suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"71oif\">It also sought to depose ZPZ regarding the authenticity of the documents, its maintenance and recordkeeping practices, the “development and production” of the series and “the creative decisions made regarding subject matter and individuals to involve.”</p><p data-block-key=\"54m5g\">In a Sept. 18 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548.1.0.pdf\">letter</a> regarding Paramount and ZPZ’s motion to quash the subpoenas — filed that day — attorney Jacquelyn Schell of Ballard Spahr argued that the plaintiffs were seeking unpublished footage and editorial materials, including communications with sources, that are “protected against compelled disclosure by the reporter’s privileges under New York and California state law, federal law, and the First Amendment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fgv4i\">Schell also asserted that the subpoenas are “overly broad, unduly burdensome” and “seek irrelevant information.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9ebr1\">The motion to quash was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, as both Paramount and ZPZ’s records are stored in New York City.</p><p data-block-key=\"57b7c\">The plaintiffs argued in an Oct. 25 letter opposing the motion to quash that the information collected in making the docuseries was directly related to their case, that they would be unable to obtain the material elsewhere and that Paramount and ZPZ had not demonstrated that the documentary participants were confidential sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9cnc\">But Schell, in a Nov. 1 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548.14.0.pdf\">letter</a> to presiding Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, called the plaintiffs’ requests an “archetypal fishing expedition,” arguing that they had failed to demonstrate that the “requested materials are of ‘likely relevance to a <i>significant</i> issue’ and not obtainable elsewhere, as required to overcome the reporter’s privilege that protects the information sought from compelled disclosure.”</p><p data-block-key=\"apad\">Schell asked the judge to grant the motion to quash, and award Paramount and ZPZ their costs and attorneys’ fees.</p><p data-block-key=\"f6pnp\">Schell did not reply to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Zero_Point_Zero.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pxtrh\">A portion of a subpoena issued to Zero Point Zero Production on Aug. 8, 2024, for documents and testimony related to a music docuseries it produced.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-02-12 00:00:00+00:00) Subpoena to production company struck down in music copyright suit"
],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Zero Point Zero Production"
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{
"title": "Paramount Global subpoenaed in music copyright suit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/paramount-global-subpoenaed-in-music-copyright-suit/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-22T20:06:53.573190Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-02-14T19:14:49.314089Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-02-14T19:14:49.085772Z",
"date": "2024-08-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"2tn2j\">Media conglomerate Paramount Global was subpoenaed on Aug. 8, 2024, for documents and testimony related to a docuseries it produced, according to court records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"5lm1q\">The subpoena is part of a music copyright suit filed on behalf of Jamaican reggaetón duo Steely & Clevie and their representatives. The suit <a href=\"https://bpb-us-w2.wpmucdn.com/blogs.law.gwu.edu/dist/a/4/files/2024/02/Browne-v.-Donalds-Original-Complaint-748ad82bd91f88aa.pdf\">alleges</a> that numerous musicians had copied or sampled without permission a rhythm first used in their 1989 song “Fish Market.” The complaint <a href=\"https://theconversation.com/the-lawsuit-that-could-bring-reggaeton-to-its-knees-232779\">names</a> more than 160 individual musicians and record labels as defendants.</p><p data-block-key=\"1cfaf\">The plaintiffs <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548.1.1_1.pdf\">subpoenaed</a> Paramount Global in connection with the suit, asking it to turn over editorial materials related to “<a href=\"https://www.paramountpressexpress.com/paramount-plus/shows/de-la-calle/releases/?view=108578-paramount-announces-new-docuseries-de-la-calle-to-premiere-november-7\">De La Calle</a>,” an eight-part docuseries produced by one of its subsidiaries, New Remote Productions. The series chronicles the evolution of Latin music, including reggaetón.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt2di\">Zero Point Zero Production, which produced the 2023 series on behalf of New Remote Productions, received a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/production-company-zero-point-zero-subpoenaed-in-music-copyright-suit/\">similar subpoena</a>. Both were issued by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles.</p><p data-block-key=\"73ldl\">The subpoena demanded that Paramount turn over all video and interview footage from “De La Calle,” whether or not it was used in the series, as well as all eight aired episodes and all communications with another reggaetón duo and a singer who appeared in the series and are named as defendants in the copyright suit.</p><p data-block-key=\"vklf\">It also sought to depose Paramount over the authenticity of the documents, its maintenance and recordkeeping practices, the “development and production” of the series and “the creative decisions made regarding subject matter and individuals to involve.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fd1uj\">In a Sept. 18 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548.1.0.pdf\">letter</a> regarding Paramount and ZPZ’s motion to quash the subpoenas — filed that day — attorney Jacquelyn Schell of Ballard Spahr argued that the plaintiffs were seeking unpublished footage and editorial materials, including communications with sources, that were “protected against compelled disclosure by the reporter’s privileges under New York and California state law, federal law, and the First Amendment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6et5l\">Schell also asserted that the subpoenas are “overly broad, unduly burdensome” and “seek irrelevant information.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cb68n\">The motion to quash was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, as both Paramount and ZPZ’s records are stored in New York City.</p><p data-block-key=\"ddc2q\">The plaintiffs argued in an Oct. 25 letter opposing the motion to quash that the information collected in making the docuseries was directly related to their case, that they would be unable to obtain the material elsewhere and that Paramount and ZPZ had not demonstrated that the documentary participants were confidential sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"dogoo\">But Schell, in a Nov. 1 <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548/gov.uscourts.nysd.628548.14.0.pdf\">letter</a> to presiding Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn, called the plaintiffs’ requests an “archetypal fishing expedition,” arguing that they had failed to demonstrate that the “requested materials are of ‘likely relevance to a <i>significant</i> issue’ and not obtainable elsewhere, as required to overcome the reporter’s privilege that protects the information sought from compelled disclosure.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bkfd4\">Schell asked the judge to grant the motion to quash, and award Paramount and ZPZ their costs and attorneys’ fees.</p><p data-block-key=\"614nn\">Schell did not reply to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Paramount.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tb825\">A portion of a subpoena issued to Paramount Global on Aug. 8, 2024, for documents and testimony related to a music docuseries it produced.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"actor": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
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"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": "Federal",
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [
"(2025-02-12 00:00:00+00:00) Paramount Global subpoena struck down in music copyright suit"
],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Paramount Global"
],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "City of Chicago orders removal of downtown newsracks prior to DNC",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/city-of-chicago-orders-removal-of-downtown-newsracks-prior-to-dnc/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-03T19:20:59.408260Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-09-03T19:20:59.408260Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-09-03T19:20:59.326158Z",
"date": "2024-08-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Chicago",
"longitude": -87.65005,
"latitude": 41.85003,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1ft53\">The Chicago mayor’s office ordered the removal of more than 80 multirack newspaper boxes that dispensed news publications to the downtown area, just prior to the city’s hosting of the Democratic National Convention in August 2024, according to local media.</p><p data-block-key=\"cu134\">The racks, installed per a 1996 city <a href=\"https://chicagonews.wordpress.com/city-of-chicago-newsrack-ordinance/\">ordinance</a> to consolidate and standardize Chicago’s disparate freestanding newspaper distribution boxes, had been used by free alternative and community papers and magazines such as Chicago Reader, South Side Weekly and Newcity to reach their audiences, especially in underserved communities, local <a href=\"https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/if-youre-reading-this-its-not-too-late/\">media</a> <a href=\"https://www.wbez.org/books/2024/08/22/chicago-removes-newsstands-ahead-of-the-democratic-national-convention#:~:text=The%20newsracks%20were%20originally%20installed,mandate%20size%2C%20location%20and%20uniformity\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"9cttr\">With the shift to digital formats, the racks were used less frequently, and some had <a href=\"https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/08/28/downtown-newspaper-racks-removed-by-city-ahead-of-dnc-with-no-plans-to-bring-them-back/\">become</a> filled with trash or covered with graffiti.</p><p data-block-key=\"ah16\">Brian Hieggelke, the editor and publisher of Newcity, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the city did not inform him in advance of the decision, “in spite of decades of regular communications with the city and their vendor,” outdoor advertising company JCDecaux.</p><p data-block-key=\"43vs6\">Hieggelke, who also heads the <a href=\"https://chicagonews.wordpress.com/about/\">Chicago Newsrack Task Force</a> established to facilitate communication between Chicago media outlets and the city about the racks, said he first received a report of a few newsracks being removed Aug. 7.</p><p data-block-key=\"1a0hp\">Then, on Aug. 16, after learning that more had been removed, he contacted JCDecaux. The firm’s representative replied: “City instructed us 2 weeks ago to permanently dismount all 83 newsracks. This is not a JCD decision. We only follow City’s directives. I was under the impression you were made aware by the City, before they instructed us to start with the dismounts.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8ve8e\">Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s spokesperson was <a href=\"https://x.com/jimdaleywrites/status/1824601414313840998\">quoted</a> by South Side Weekly Investigations Editor Jim Daley, in an Aug. 16 post on the social platform X, as saying that the decision to remove the racks was made “based on the public health and safety risks, as well as their deteriorating condition and limited use.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bgfk5\">Daley also quoted the spokesperson as saying that the publications were free to use their own individual newsracks. But an <a href=\"https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/if-youre-reading-this-its-not-too-late/\">account</a> in the <a href=\"https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/if-youre-reading-this-its-not-too-late/\">Chicago Reader</a> said news boxes cost anywhere between $200 and $250.</p><p data-block-key=\"im1p\">Solomon Lieberman, chief executive officer and publisher of the Chicago Reader, said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LiebSolly/status/1825943525050962297\">post</a> on X and in an <a href=\"https://mailchi.mp/chicagoreader/newsracks-removed-without-notice?e=bf7e3f2727\">email</a> newsletter that the removals had a serious impact on the paper and the Chicago community. “Thousands of copies of the Reader have nowhere to go this week—copies that include advertising purchased months in advance by some of the most important arts-and-cultural organizations in the city,” Lieberman wrote.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨Important <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chicago?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Chicago</a> News: Yesterday, as the DNC celebrated a progressive vision of freedom and democracy, the City of <a href=\"https://twitter.com/chicago?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Chicago</a> began removing at least 83 permanent newsracks across the Loop—newsracks that support free, critical news sources like <a href=\"https://twitter.com/Chicago_Reader?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@Chicago_Reader</a>,… <a href=\"https://t.co/0RkPfFM4U4\">pic.twitter.com/0RkPfFM4U4</a></p>— Solomon Lieberman (@LiebSolly) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LiebSolly/status/1825943525050962297?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 20, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"1ft53\">The Reader’s editor-in-chief, Salem Collo-Julin, <a href=\"https://www.wbez.org/books/2024/08/22/chicago-removes-newsstands-ahead-of-the-democratic-national-convention\">said to WBEZ</a> that she had expected high amounts of foot traffic downtown with the DNC in Chicago and that not being able to distribute the newspapers was going to hurt ad revenue and distribution.</p><p data-block-key=\"niel\">Hieggelke told the Tracker, “The immediate and unplanned loss of major distribution outlets is profoundly disruptive and will take months to rebuild, if not years,” adding that the loss of numerous copies of the magazine – which were not returned – was potentially in the tens of thousands of dollars.</p><p data-block-key=\"4grvr\">He said that while the city had a right to change its mind about the newsrack program, “The manner in which they did was extremely disruptive to small and in many cases BIPOC businesses.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2afrh\">“Distribution of news — through newsboxes or otherwise — is constitutionally protected,” wrote Seth Stern, director of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project. “If reporters’ findings show that the city violated the First Amendment, hopefully it’ll be held accountable in a court of law. Regardless, the city should be judged harshly in the court of public opinion.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3ja27\">Johnson’s office and JCDecaux did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Chicago_newsracks.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"oeb7w\">A multirack newspaper box that dispenses free community and alternative papers in Chicago on Aug. 16, 2024. The city ordered the removal of racks around downtown just prior to hosting the Democratic National Convention.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Illinois",
"abbreviation": "IL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Chicago Reader",
"La Raza",
"Newcity",
"RedEye",
"South Side Weekly"
],
"tags": [],
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"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
"targeted_journalists": [],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Minnesota outlet ordered to delete court memo in murder case",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-outlet-ordered-to-delete-court-memo-in-murder-case/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-30T19:04:56.977928Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-15T20:42:28.098218Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-15T20:42:27.928696Z",
"date": "2024-07-19",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "St. Paul",
"longitude": null,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hmia6\">NBC affiliate KARE was barred from publishing an improperly filed memo in a high-profile murder case in St. Paul, Minnesota, on July 19, 2024. Five days later, the broadcast station filed a petition to overturn the gag order with the state Court of Appeals, the outlet <a href=\"https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/kare-11-investigates-judge-joy-bartschers-gag-order/89-8216e1e1-b764-4e3a-a1d1-a7939eec9e77\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"2tk6k\">Joseph Sandoval was charged with the murders of two men at a St. Paul sober home in 2022, and he pleaded guilty in May 2024. Ahead of Sandoval’s sentencing, his attorney filed a sentencing memorandum with the court detailing the failures of the state and the sober home to provide him the medical care he needed given his history of mental illness and drug-induced psychosis, KARE reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"2jq4c\">KARE has followed the prosecution as part of a <a href=\"https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/kare-11-investigates-the-gap-failure-to-treat-failure-to-protect-mental-health/89-b56dcfba-3016-407f-ba11-72819c671652\">series</a> focusing on the systemic failings in cases involving individuals found incompetent to stand trial who are released without court-ordered mental health treatment and go on to commit new, sometimes more serious, crimes.</p><p data-block-key=\"2sjs8\">The station obtained a publicly available copy of the memo through the court’s website and attempted to film the July 19 sentencing, but Ramsey County District Judge Joy Bartscher <a href=\"https://interactive.kare11.com/pdfs/State-v-Joseph-Sandoval.pdf\">refused</a> to allow the camera in her courtroom.</p><p data-block-key=\"4vbcj\">“I believe that the media coverage would make this case more of a circus than a solemn proceeding in which the Court is making a decision about many people’s lives,” Bartscher said during the hearing. “The purpose of media coverage is supposed to be, supposedly what I have been instructed, is to have transparency about what is going on in a courtroom. I don’t think that that’s what the purpose is of media coverage quite frankly.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4t3et\">Bartscher then granted a protective order for the memo — first orally and then in writing — requiring anyone who had obtained a copy to refrain from publishing and to destroy their copies of the document.</p><p data-block-key=\"b6oav\">“It’s my understanding that at least one media outlet was able to access that information that should have been confidential,” Bartscher said. “That memorandum shall not be used for any purpose other than consideration by the Court and parties for sentencing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"40ujq\">Attorneys representing KARE <a href=\"https://interactive.kare11.com/pdfs/Petition-for-Writ-of-Prohibition.pdf\">filed a petition</a> with the Minnesota Court of Appeals on July 24, arguing that the gag order violates the First Amendment and amounts to an unconstitutional prior restraint. “The Court’s July 19 Orders had immediate and far-reaching consequences on KARE 11’s reporting,” the appeal stated.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ae2\">It added that, without a reversal from the court, the outlet would be “forced to choose between reporting on information it lawfully obtained from the Court’s public docket, and risk being held in contempt, or giving up its constitutionally guaranteed right to freedom of the press and depriving the public of information on matters of significant public interest and concern.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6e5v4\">The appeal is still pending and no hearing dates have been scheduled, according to records reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Attorneys for KARE did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rrbo4\">A portion of the July 19, 2024, district court order instructing KARE and others to destroy any copies of a mistakenly released sentencing memo and not to publish details from the document in connection with a high-profile case in St. Paul, Minnesota.</p>",
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"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
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"(2024-08-13 00:00:00+00:00) Gag order on Minnesota television outlet struck down"
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{
"title": "Former editor subpoenaed in constable’s defamation suit",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/former-editor-subpoenaed-in-constables-defamation-suit/",
"first_published_at": "2024-09-16T18:04:32.756156Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-05T15:43:55.464299Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-05T15:43:55.242255Z",
"date": "2024-07-18",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Monticello",
"longitude": -74.68933,
"latitude": 41.65565,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u2lsj\">The former managing editor of the Sullivan County Democrat, a twice-weekly newspaper in New York’s Catskill Mountains, was subpoenaed on July 18, 2024, to testify and produce documents about a former law enforcement official suing the town of Highland for defamation and discrimination.</p><p data-block-key=\"7rirm\">A motion to quash the subpoena by the editor, Joseph Abraham, was denied in September, but the order was stayed for 60 days pending a possible appeal.</p><p data-block-key=\"519tq\">The Democrat published <a href=\"https://www.scdemocratonline.com/stories/highland-constabulary-internal-turmoil,61848\">an article</a> by reporter Derek Kirk in August 2022 about a Highland Town Board investigation of its law enforcement entity, a team of constables (or “constabulary”). The board had released a redacted report on its investigation and announced its decision to dissolve the constabulary and instead contract with the county sheriffs.</p><p data-block-key=\"mu4g\">The Democrat obtained and confirmed the authenticity of an unredacted version of the board’s report, however, that contained a number of allegations labeled “substantiated” and “unsubstantiated” against one of the constables. The paper’s August 2022 article described the substantiated allegations, which accused Constable Marc Anthony of workplace misconduct.</p><p data-block-key=\"c3l39\">Anthony then sued the town, <a href=\"https://riverreporter.com/stories/highland-constable-lawsuit-partially-dismissed,128578\">alleging</a> that a town official had leaked information from the investigation that damaged his reputation.</p><p data-block-key=\"53dav\">Abraham left the Democrat in April 2023, according to court documents. In March 2024, he received an email from Anthony’s attorney, reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, asking to talk about the 2022 article. Abraham did not respond.</p><p data-block-key=\"48jdc\">The attorney then issued a subpoena demanding Abraham’s testimony and any documents in his possession that referred to Anthony, the constabulary or the article.</p><p data-block-key=\"78h58\">Kirk, the author of the article, confirmed to the Tracker that he was not subpoenaed in the case.</p><p data-block-key=\"n9ah\">The court allowed a motion from Abraham to quash that subpoena due to “improper service” — the subpoena had been sent to a house that Abraham owns but does not live in.</p><p data-block-key=\"6fv6d\">But Anthony’s attorney then issued another subpoena July 18, this time also calling for text messages between Abraham and the town official Anthony had accused of leaking information from the investigation. That official admitted to compiling the board’s report but not to confirming its authenticity to the Democrat.</p><p data-block-key=\"fjk9c\">That the town official authenticated the allegations within the report for the paper is key to Anthony’s defamation claims against her, his attorney argued.</p><p data-block-key=\"e9hsf\">Abraham filed another motion to quash Aug. 19, arguing that Anthony was seeking “a broader swath of information that even more clearly violates Mr. Abraham’s rights under the New York Shield Law and the First Amendment.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fkm8a\">The court denied the motion Sept. 10. Abraham did not respond to a question from the Tracker about whether he plans to appeal the ruling during the 60-day stay.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3g7nm\">A portion of a July 18, 2024, subpoena ordering Joseph Abraham, former managing editor of the Sullivan County Democrat, to testify and produce documents related to an article published in the Democrat about ex-town Constable Marc Anthony.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "New York",
"abbreviation": "NY"
},
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"(2024-10-09 00:00:00+00:00) Ex-editor appeals subpoena order requiring testimony and documents"
],
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"Joseph Abraham (Sullivan County Democrat)"
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{
"title": "LA County sheriffs surveilled, investigated multiple journalists",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-county-sheriffs-surveilled-investigated-multiple-journalists/",
"first_published_at": "2024-08-07T16:50:09.679233Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-07T16:50:09.679233Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-07T16:49:10.674444Z",
"date": "2024-07-17",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"76syn\">The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department investigated or surveilled multiple journalists during Alex Villanueva’s tenure as sheriff from 2018 to 2022, according to accounts published in July 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"8a3n0\">The Los Angeles Times <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-07-20/a-times-reporter-got-a-leaked-list-of-problem-deputies-then-the-sheriffs-dept-started-investigating-her\">reported</a> that its former investigative reporter Maya Lau became a subject of an investigation in 2018, when the department revived an inquiry into the disclosure of a list of roughly 300 problem deputies. Lau <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/local/la-me-sheriff-brady-list-20171208-htmlstory.html\">had written</a> about the deputies the previous year, prompting the LASD’s initial attempt to identify the source, which quickly ended without success.</p><p data-block-key=\"5hijj\">The investigation was reopened shortly after Villanueva took office as sheriff and, according to an investigative case file obtained by the Times, officers ultimately alleged that Lau was a “criminal suspect,” having knowingly received stolen materials. The department submitted the case against her to the state’s attorney general in 2021, who formally declined to prosecute her in May 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"gg6r\">Lau told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she only learned of the investigation when her former colleagues at the Times reached out for comment after it was closed.</p><p data-block-key=\"19e9o\">“This investigation is an outrage. They should know better: Journalists shouldn’t be criminally investigated for doing their job,” Lau said. “Whether they want to admit it or not, it is an intimidation tactic.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5kp7s\">She added that her coverage, along with that of her colleagues, helped change state laws to improve public access to police disciplinary records and that the work she did was in the public’s interest.</p><p data-block-key=\"5kmr0\">Lau was not the last journalist investigated under Villanueva’s leadership.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m3kv\">According to a pair of articles published on July 17, 2024, reporter Cerise Castle obtained email records <a href=\"https://lapublicpress.org/2024/07/lasd-surveils-journalist-deputy-gang-press-freedom/\">confirming</a> that the <a href=\"https://lapublicpress.org/2024/07/lasd-surveils-journalist-deputy-gang-reporter/\">LASD began surveilling her</a> almost immediately after she <a href=\"https://knock-la.com/tradition-of-violence-lasd-gang-history/\">published a 15-part series</a> with Knock LA in March and April 2021 exposing a history of gangs within the department.</p><p data-block-key=\"4u2th\">Castle gained access to digital communications containing her name after suing the department for denying a May 2021 public records request. It ultimately agreed to a settlement and began turning over the records two years later.</p><p data-block-key=\"es9nv\">The emails revealed that she was flagged as a suspicious person, that an officer described her reporting as “a potential officer safety concern” and that another described Knock LA as among the “anti-LASD platform(s) we’re tracking,” Castle reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"97and\">“These emails confirm LASD monitored me, a reporter performing her work, protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution, as well as other people they consider to be in my orbit,” Castle <a href=\"https://lapublicpress.org/2024/07/lasd-surveils-journalist-deputy-gang-press-freedom/\">wrote</a>. “It’s not clear the extent of which this is still happening. I have filed similar requests to the original filed in 2021, but have not received any records.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dntn\">Castle told the Tracker that before the series was published, a source warned her that she might be surveilled and she took it seriously: She stayed at a safe house while finishing the reporting and through its publication. After returning home, she said she repeatedly saw department vehicles parked in the driveway outside her apartment — located outside of LASD’s jurisdiction — and has been pulled over multiple times recently while reporting on police misconduct cases.</p><p data-block-key=\"a2ev8\">“It’s impossible for me to relax. I don’t really feel safe anywhere, even at home,” Castle said. “It hasn’t killed my resolve. It has changed me completely as a person, but I’m not going to stop doing this work.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ee058\">David Loy, legal director of the First Amendment Coalition, condemned the surveillance of journalists <a href=\"https://lapublicpress.org/2024/07/lasd-surveils-journalist-deputy-gang-press-freedom/\">in a statement</a>, calling it “truly alarming.”</p><p data-block-key=\"bufa9\">“It creates a significant chill in the fact that journalists should be able to do their jobs without fear that they’re going to be targets, or potential targets, of law enforcement retaliation,” Loy said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6668q\">At a news conference in April 2022, Villanueva targeted another journalist, LA Times reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sheriffs-department-targets-la-times-reporter-in-criminal-leak-investigation-then-backtracks/\">Alene Tchekmedyian</a>, as part of a leak investigation. That followed Tchekmedyian’s reporting on internal documents that detailed an alleged department cover-up around an inmate abuse case.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt5pi\">When pressed at the news conference to say whether Tchekmedyian was under criminal investigation, Villanueva responded that the reporter received information and put it to use. “What she receives legally and puts to her own use and what she receives legally and the L.A. Times uses — I'm sure that's a huge, complex level of law and freedom of the press and all that. However, when it’s stolen materials, at some point, you actually become part of the story.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4388c\">Hours after the news conference, Villanueva went on social media to <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LACoSheriff/status/1519130928915787776\">address</a> the public outcry over his comments.</p><p data-block-key=\"81qp9\">“Resulting from the incredible frenzy of misinformation being circulated, I must clarify at no time today did I state an LA Times reporter was a suspect in a criminal investigation. We have no interest in pursuing, nor are we pursuing, criminal charges against any reporters,” Villanueva wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"ebv44\">At the time of that statement, however, the department’s recommendation that Times reporter Lau be charged was still pending before the attorney general.</p><p data-block-key=\"dn5sk\">Villanueva was later voted out of office and his replacement, Robert Luna, was sworn in as sheriff in December 2022.</p><p data-block-key=\"1h2od\">In an emailed statement to the Tracker in July 2024, the department said: “Under the leadership of Sheriff Luna, we do not monitor journalists and we respect the freedom of the press. Our current administration operates distinctively from its predecessor, and actions taken in prior administrations do not reflect our current policies or practices.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fglh7\">LASD declined to respond to requests for details about when the investigations were opened and closed, and whether Villanueva personally ordered or oversaw them. Villanueva did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"4q1e8\">Police investigating journalists isn’t unusual, Castle told the Tracker. “We’ve seen journalists that have gone through surveillance like this by police departments quite frequently,” she said, citing Lau, Tchekmedyian and the raid on the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/newsroom-personal-equipment-seized-in-kansas-raid/\">Marion County Record</a> last year. “This stuff is happening all over the United States a lot more frequently than I think people are aware of, and it’s something that should be a concern for all of us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dlkk8\">Lau said that while she doesn’t have any reason to believe that egregious investigatory tactics, such as tapping her phone, were used, there are unanswered questions. “I don’t know the full scope of this investigation and that is the danger. It could theoretically put other sources, including those that had nothing to do with this story, at risk.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pn1bl\">Former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva in his office in 2020. During his tenure, the department investigated and surveilled multiple journalists, proposing criminal charges against one of them.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"categories": [
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],
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"Maya Lau (Los Angeles Times)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist forced to the ground, detained at soccer match in Miami",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-forced-to-the-ground-detained-at-soccer-match-in-miami/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-18T20:32:56.316040Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-18T20:32:56.316040Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-18T20:27:01.516272Z",
"date": "2024-07-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami Gardens",
"longitude": -80.20255,
"latitude": 25.97981,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"plfbh\">Hernán González, a producer for the South American broadcaster Torneos, was forced to the ground and handcuffed by multiple law enforcement officers at a stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, while reporting live before a soccer match on July 14, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"5a37q\">The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/us/copa-america-final-miami-world-cup.html\">reported</a> that mayhem broke out at the Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia, when throngs of unticketed fans attempted to enter Hard Rock Stadium in the Miami suburb, delaying kickoff for more than an hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"3psfe\">In <a href=\"https://x.com/jakefenner_/status/1812631749819515175\">footage</a> captured by Mail Sport reporter Jake Fenner, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies can be seen grabbing a man who appears to be holding press credentials and who entered through the media entrance, according to Fenner.</p><p data-block-key=\"23ia2\">The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was able to confirm the man was González, who is the content and production director for Torneos, which produced and was a <a href=\"https://www.torneos.com/en/novedades/0/250/torneos-will-produce-and-participate-as-host-broadcaster-of-the-conmebol-copa-america-2024\">host broadcaster</a> of the event.</p><p data-block-key=\"ffuki\">In the video, González is quickly surrounded by at least six officers, who lift him sideways and place him prone on the ground, with an officer appearing to hold his head against the pavement while others place him in handcuffs. Both of the journalist’s shoes came off and his shirt ripped open in the course of the detention.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A man with credentials who went through the media entrance was taken to the ground and has been cuffed <a href=\"https://t.co/fMfMQF8zv5\">pic.twitter.com/fMfMQF8zv5</a></p>— Jake Fenner (@jakefenner_) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/jakefenner_/status/1812631749819515175?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 14, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"plfbh\">In <a href=\"https://www.clarin.com/deportes/argentina-vs-colombia-detuvieron-gerente-torneos-directv_3_44TModeuHb.html\">additional footage</a> published by Argentine newspaper Clarín, an officer appears to examine González’s credentials before placing them back around his neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ue71\">The officers appeared to be predominantly from the Miami-Dade and Miami Gardens police departments, but the more than 800 law enforcement officers present at the event were from eight different agencies, <a href=\"https://x.com/MiamiDadePD/status/1812949438387904962\">according to the Miami-Dade Police Department</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"8i9p6\">An MDPD spokesperson told the Tracker that many similar detentions and ejections took place throughout the day, but was unable to provide more information about González’s detention.</p><p data-block-key=\"5p85f\">“Given the circumstances regarding that day, many people were detained, ejected, arrested and even unarrested in some cases, meaning that they were detained then — depending on the circumstances in which they were detained — they may have been released,” the public information officer said. “We’re attempting to be as transparent as possible with this incident, but there were a lot of individuals who just lacked judgment that day.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4vd1h\">No charges had been filed against González as of July 18, according to court records reviewed by the Tracker. González did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/RTS1473W4.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"cwx3p\">Fans rush the gates before the Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia outside Miami, Florida, on July 14, 2024. Hernán González, a producer for the broadcaster Torneos, was forced to the ground and handcuffed by officers amid the chaos.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "Miami-Dade Police Department",
"arrest_status": "unknown",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2024-07-14",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Hernán González (Torneos)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "Argentinian photographer shoved by Miami police at soccer match",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/argentinian-photographer-shoved-by-miami-police-at-soccer-match/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-18T20:23:58.600867Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-23T17:18:33.481269Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-23T17:18:33.368862Z",
"date": "2024-07-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami Gardens",
"longitude": -80.20255,
"latitude": 25.97981,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"d61xr\">Diego Spairani, a photojournalist for the Argentinian TV news channel Todo Noticias, was pushed by police attempting to force him and a colleague from a stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, while reporting live before a soccer match on July 14, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"bu4ts\">The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/us/copa-america-final-miami-world-cup.html\">reported</a> that mayhem broke out at the Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia, when throngs of unticketed fans attempted to enter Hard Rock Stadium in the Miami suburb, delaying kickoff for more than an hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"53rg\">Spairani told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a written statement translated from Spanish that he and reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/argentinian-reporter-shoved-by-miami-police-while-covering-soccer-match/\">Leo Paradizo</a> had arrived at the stadium at around 6 p.m. for an interview with Argentine singer Abel Pintos, who was to perform at the match. When the journalists entered a stadium corridor, security personnel kicked them out without allowing them to explain, forcing them to a stadium exit where crowds of fans had gathered. </p><p data-block-key=\"88kd\">In Todo Noticias’ <a href=\"https://x.com/forofms/status/1812671936708632937\">live footage</a>, Paradizo can be seen walking toward one of the closed entrances when suddenly the gate opens and individuals start rushing in. Law enforcement and event security quickly respond, and a Miami-Dade Police Department officer can be seen pushing Spairani back from the entrance while he says in Spanish that they’re cooperating. </p><p data-block-key=\"fj6cs\">Spairani told the Tracker that police and stadium security attempted to cover the camera with their hands and pull on the transmission cables, before resorting to pushing the journalists to force them to leave.</p><p data-block-key=\"37uml\">In the footage, an officer appears to direct the journalists to stand in a particular location, but a stadium employee approaches and erroneously asserts that the journalists had opened the gate for the crowd, saying that they should be forced to leave.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">¡VERGONZOSO! mientras estaba por arrancar el partido, la policía echaba a los empujones a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/leoparadizo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@leoparadizo</a>, al equipo de <a href=\"https://twitter.com/todonoticias?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@todonoticias</a> y también reprimía con pistolas taser a los hinchas (muchos de ellos con entrada). <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/CopaAmerica?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CopaAmerica</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/CopaAmerica2024?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CopaAmerica2024</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Conmebol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Conmebol</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TN</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TNFinDeSemana?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TNFinDeSemana</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/Ff3yYGvkRL\">pic.twitter.com/Ff3yYGvkRL</a></p>— foromedios (@forofms) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/forofms/status/1812671936708632937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 15, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"d61xr\">Officers can be heard telling the journalists, “Let’s go, vamos.” Paradizo responds in Spanish, asking why they are being removed and telling the officers that they are working. Moments later, an officer can be seen pushing Paradizo toward the opened gate where staff and police are holding back the crowd. Someone then blocks the camera and Paradizo walks out of frame with the officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"6l0rb\">Todos Noticias <a href=\"https://tn.com.ar/deportes/2024/07/14/la-policia-intento-echar-del-estadio-al-equipo-de-tn-en-medio-de-los-incidentes-en-la-final-de-la-copa-america/\">reported</a> that the journalists were ultimately not forced out of the venue and were able to continue their coverage. Spairani told the Tracker that his camera was not damaged, but the live feed was cut off.</p><p data-block-key=\"2reko\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/leoparadizo/status/1812735352345378994\">post</a> on the social platform X, Paradizo wrote that both he and Spairani are fine and that they had only wanted to show the chaos taking place at the stadium entrance, calling it a disaster. Neither Paradizo nor Spairani responded to requests for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"9rcsu\">Another journalist, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-forced-to-the-ground-detained-at-soccer-match-in-miami/\">Hernán González</a> of the South American broadcaster Torneos — which was an official broadcaster of the match — was surrounded by officers, who then lifted and forced him to the ground before handcuffing him.</p><p data-block-key=\"ce6gu\">A spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was unaware of the incident and that no report would have been filed if the journalists had been permitted to remain in the stadium.</p><p data-block-key=\"4is3b\">“Given the circumstances regarding that day, many people were detained, ejected, arrested and even unarrested in some cases,” the public information officer said. “We’re attempting to be as transparent as possible with this incident, but there were a lot of individuals who just lacked judgment that day.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9d5d6\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment from Diego Spairani.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ngv5l\">A Miami-Dade police officer attempting to physically remove Diego Spairani, a photographer for the Argentinian TV news channel Todo Noticias, as he and a colleague covered a throng of soccer fans at a stadium in a Miami, Florida, suburb on July 14, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"state": {
"name": "Florida",
"abbreviation": "FL"
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{
"title": "Argentinian reporter shoved by Miami police while covering soccer match",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/argentinian-reporter-shoved-by-miami-police-while-covering-soccer-match/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-18T20:21:39.902111Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-18T20:38:02.375021Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-18T20:38:02.291561Z",
"date": "2024-07-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Miami Gardens",
"longitude": -80.20255,
"latitude": 25.97981,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"chdoy\">Leo Paradizo, a reporter for the Argentinian TV news channel Todo Noticias, was pushed by police attempting to force him and his photographer from a stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, while reporting live before a soccer match on July 14, 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"fb95q\">The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/15/us/copa-america-final-miami-world-cup.html\">reported</a> that mayhem broke out at the Copa América final between Argentina and Colombia, when throngs of unticketed fans attempted to enter Hard Rock Stadium in the Miami suburb, delaying kickoff for more than an hour.</p><p data-block-key=\"b32oo\">In Todo Noticias’ <a href=\"https://x.com/forofms/status/1812671936708632937\">live footage</a>, Paradizo can be seen walking toward one of the closed entrances when suddenly the gate opens and individuals start rushing in. Law enforcement and event security quickly respond, and a Miami-Dade Police Department officer can be seen pushing photographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/argentinian-photographer-shoved-by-miami-police-at-soccer-match/\">Diego Spairani</a> back from the entrance while he says in Spanish that they’re cooperating.</p><p data-block-key=\"1kl6d\">The officer appears to direct the journalists to stand in a particular location, but a stadium employee approaches and erroneously asserts that the journalists had opened the gate for the crowd, saying that they should be forced to leave.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"es\" dir=\"ltr\">¡VERGONZOSO! mientras estaba por arrancar el partido, la policía echaba a los empujones a <a href=\"https://twitter.com/leoparadizo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@leoparadizo</a>, al equipo de <a href=\"https://twitter.com/todonoticias?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@todonoticias</a> y también reprimía con pistolas taser a los hinchas (muchos de ellos con entrada). <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/CopaAmerica?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CopaAmerica</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/CopaAmerica2024?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#CopaAmerica2024</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/Conmebol?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Conmebol</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TN?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TN</a> <a href=\"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TNFinDeSemana?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#TNFinDeSemana</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/Ff3yYGvkRL\">pic.twitter.com/Ff3yYGvkRL</a></p>— foromedios (@forofms) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/forofms/status/1812671936708632937?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 15, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"chdoy\">Officers can be heard telling the journalists, “Let’s go, vamos.” Paradizo responds in Spanish, asking why they are being removed and telling the officers that they are working. Moments later, an officer can be seen pushing Paradizo toward the opened gate where staff and police are holding back the crowd. Someone then blocks the camera and Paradizo walks out of frame with the officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"bredi\">Todos Noticias <a href=\"https://tn.com.ar/deportes/2024/07/14/la-policia-intento-echar-del-estadio-al-equipo-de-tn-en-medio-de-los-incidentes-en-la-final-de-la-copa-america/\">reported</a> that the journalists were ultimately not forced out of the venue and were able to continue their coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"4pn89\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/leoparadizo/status/1812735352345378994\">post</a> on the social platform X, Paradizo wrote that both he and Spairani are fine and that they had only wanted to show the chaos taking place at the stadium entrance, calling it a disaster. Paradizo did not respond to a request for additional comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"akmtf\">Another journalist, <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-forced-to-the-ground-detained-at-soccer-match-in-miami/\">Hernán González</a> of the South American broadcaster Torneos — which was an official broadcaster of the match — was surrounded by officers, who then lifted and forced him to the ground before handcuffing him.</p><p data-block-key=\"31gfl\">A spokesperson for the Miami-Dade Police Department told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was unaware of the incident and that no report would have been filed if the journalists had been permitted to remain in the stadium.</p><p data-block-key=\"4sqtp\">“Given the circumstances regarding that day, many people were detained, ejected, arrested and even unarrested in some cases,” the public information officer said. “We’re attempting to be as transparent as possible with this incident, but there were a lot of individuals who just lacked judgment that day.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Paradizo_FL_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tp4i7\">Leo Paradizo, a reporter for the Argentinian TV news channel Todo Noticias, is seen at center being pushed by a Miami-Dade police officer attempting to physically remove him from a stadium in a Miami, Florida, suburb on July 14, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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],
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{
"title": "Missouri TV station subpoenaed in lawsuit involving Tyson Foods",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/missouri-tv-station-subpoenaed-in-lawsuit-involving-tyson-foods/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-24T18:00:17.978084Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-01-24T18:00:17.978084Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-01-24T17:57:53.498417Z",
"date": "2024-07-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "New Madrid",
"longitude": -89.52785,
"latitude": 36.58645,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zvd0k\">Broadcast station KFVS-TV was subpoenaed on July 12, 2024, in connection with a lawsuit against Tyson Foods in New Madrid, Missouri. The outlet ignored the subpoena without pushback.</p><p data-block-key=\"9evdt\">Multiple chicken farmers sued the meat company in December 2023 for allegedly breaking its contracts after it shut down a processing plant in nearby Stoddard County, causing the farmers significant financial losses.</p><p data-block-key=\"vn8l\">Attorneys representing the farmers <a href=\"https://investigatemidwest.org/2024/12/17/tyson-foods-cut-contracts-with-poultry-farmers-now-the-company-is-working-to-silence-their-legal-fight/\">told Investigate Midwest</a> that after the suit was filed, Tyson attempted to intimidate the plaintiffs and suppress media coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"cufq0\">KFVS-TV, which <a href=\"https://www.kfvs12.com/2024/01/02/heartland-chicken-farmers-file-lawsuit-against-tyson-foods/\">reported</a> on the lawsuit in January 2024, was subpoenaed by Tyson in July and ordered to turn over copies of its communications with the farmers and all recordings or notes from any interviews with them. The news outlet was also ordered to have someone appear to testify on Aug. 12.</p><p data-block-key=\"98jbj\">Brandon Boulware, an attorney representing the farmers, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that KFVS-TV sent a letter to Tyson objecting to the subpoena, after which the company did not attempt to enforce it.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0hqo\">KFVS-TV did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"7qss3\">Tyson also asked the court to authorize it to issue an identical subpoena to another news outlet — Arkansas-based news website Talk Business & Politics. Circuit Court Judge Joshua Underwood granted the request July 24, but the company did not file paperwork showing it was served.</p><p data-block-key=\"5ea0f\">Roby Brock, the CEO of TBP’s parent company, confirmed to the Tracker in January 2025 that the outlet was not issued the subpoena.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vg3my\">A portion of the subpoena issued to broadcast station KFVS-TV on July 12, 2024, ordering the news outlet to provide copies of communications and interview recordings or notes in connection with a lawsuit against Tyson Foods in New Madrid, Missouri.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"legal_order_venue": "State",
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"state": {
"name": "Missouri",
"abbreviation": "MO"
},
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"KFVS-TV"
],
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"categories": [
"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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},
{
"title": "Las Vegas police deny local outlet access to email press release list",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/las-vegas-police-deny-local-outlet-access-to-email-press-release-list/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-31T20:09:00.828693Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-08-01T16:51:12.539339Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-08-01T16:51:12.416873Z",
"date": "2024-07-10",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Las Vegas",
"longitude": -115.13722,
"latitude": 36.17497,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"kp14a\">The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department refused on July 10, 2024, to include a freelance journalist and a local video news outlet that relies on stringers on its email list for notifications of press conferences.</p><p data-block-key=\"6gndt\">Doug Roberts, a freelance video journalist for Las Vegas Live, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he has been trying for two years to get on the email list and has been barred from attending three press conferences.</p><p data-block-key=\"f0226\">The email list is primarily used to alert journalists about news briefings on developing crime stories, often held near the crime scenes, Roberts explained to the Tracker. He has missed some events, he said, but has been getting by with help from other journalists who share the information with him. Some have even taken his camera into the news conferences when he has been barred from entering.</p><p data-block-key=\"bd744\">“We’ve basically been getting by without being added to that list just because of the relationships that we’ve built with other people in the industry,” Roberts said. “Luckily they’re seeing us little guys being discriminated against so they’re helping us.”</p><p data-block-key=\"mj2f\">In one instance, which Roberts recorded on a body cam and shared with the Tracker, a police public information officer denied him access to a June 26, 2024, press conference on the sidewalk. When he said it was a public space, she moved the press conference inside the police tape, excluding him.</p><p data-block-key=\"1pksv\">Roberts wrote police a letter on June 27 seeking inclusion on the email distribution list, explaining that he is affiliated with both <a href=\"https://lasvegaslive.news/\">Las Vegas Live</a> and <a href=\"http://onscene.tv/\">OnScene.tv</a>, a video distribution company. He wrote his request on letterhead from Live Core Productions, the company that he created for his freelance work. He sought inclusion on the list for Las Vegas Live, OnScene.tv and Live Core Productions.</p><p data-block-key=\"8i1v2\">In a response written by a lawyer for the department on July 10, Las Vegas police denied Roberts’ request, citing a <a href=\"https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-179a.html#NRS179ASec070\">Nevada statute</a> that says criminal history information must be provided to “any reporter or editorial employee who is employed or affiliated with a newspaper, press association or commercially operated, federally licensed radio or television station.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8btk1\">The letter stated that Roberts’ Live Core was not “a ‘press association’ or any other type of news media.” It didn’t address Las Vegas Live or OnScene.tv, but police didn’t add them to the list.</p><p data-block-key=\"9efvn\">In the letter, the police argued that a press association had a limited definition, such as The Associated Press, which is a worldwide news cooperative.</p><p data-block-key=\"7tdh0\">“As such, LVMPD may not disseminate criminal history information to Live Core therefore and must exclude Live Core from media briefings,” the letter said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4m86k\">The police department’s public information office didn’t respond to the Tracker’s repeated phone calls and emails requesting comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbpus\">The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press <a href=\"https://www.rcfp.org/briefs-comments/lvmpd-freelancer-restrictions-letter/\">wrote a letter</a> to the police department on behalf of freelance reporters on July 22.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs5r\">“The protections of the First Amendment apply equally to traditional and non-traditional journalists and news organizations, including freelance reporters and stringers,” the letter said.</p><p data-block-key=\"a0qi\">It pointed out that the Nevada Supreme Court, in interpreting the state’s reporter shield law, “clarified that courts ‘are not required to make a fortress out of the dictionary,’ and explained that these protections extend to journalists, including bloggers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2iupd\">Roberts filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the police department and received the email distribution list in redacted form. It includes more than 100 email addresses, some for online-only publications, such as tabloid entertainment news TMZ.</p><p data-block-key=\"70ija\">Roberts said that his exclusion from the email list and briefings has a chilling effect, because other journalists see that police could restrict access to them, too.</p><p data-block-key=\"4r9du\">“I think that the media in Las Vegas is not being critical of the police, or they’re not doing their job in terms of holding the police accountable because they become reliant upon the police for information and for leads and for stories,” Roberts told the Tracker. “And if they become critical of police, they might end up in the same boat that we are.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"tj5es\">A Las Vegas police officer is seen preventing freelance reporter Doug Roberts from attending a news conference in body camera footage from June 26, 2024. Police on July 10 also denied Roberts access to the department’s email press release list.</p>",
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"name": "Nevada",
"abbreviation": "NV"
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"OnScene.TV"
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"Law enforcement: Local"
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"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
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},
{
"title": "City of Cleveland subpoenas newsroom, judge quashes request",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/city-of-cleveland-subpoenas-newsroom-judge-quashes-request/",
"first_published_at": "2024-11-01T20:49:32.484266Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-11-01T20:49:32.484266Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-11-01T20:49:32.404957Z",
"date": "2024-06-26",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Cleveland",
"longitude": -81.69541,
"latitude": 41.4995,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"if14z\">The Marshall Project was served a subpoena by the City of Cleveland on June 26, 2024, in connection with a wrongful termination lawsuit against the Ohio city. A federal judge quashed the request Oct. 28.</p><p data-block-key=\"9b120\">Marshall Project staff reporter Wilbert Cooper <a href=\"https://www.themarshallproject.org/2024/05/23/black-police-officers-cleveland-black-shield\">authored an article</a> in May about Vincent Montague, a Black former police sergeant in the Cleveland Division of Police who filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ohnd.291838/gov.uscourts.ohnd.291838.1.0.pdf\">lawsuit</a> against multiple high-ranking officers and the city after he was fired in December 2021. The article included Montague’s allegation that he was dismissed because of his connection to the Black Lives Matter movement.</p><p data-block-key=\"bodjn\">According to <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.624525/gov.uscourts.nysd.624525.3.0.pdf\">court filings</a> reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, an attorney representing the city contacted Cooper in May 2024 seeking “copies of any recordings of [his] conversations with Mr. Montague, either audio filed or written notes.” Marshall Project attorney Jason Criss responded on the journalist’s behalf, stating that neither Cooper nor the newsroom would provide the work product.</p><p data-block-key=\"59c3i\">The city’s attorney subpoenaed The Marshall Project on June 26, after first improperly emailing the subpoena to Criss on June 13. The <a href=\"https://ecf.nysd.uscourts.gov/doc1/127135778198\">subpoena</a> ordered the outlet to turn over unpublished work product, interview notes and communications with Montague concerning his interactions with the former chief of police and any employees of the division, as well as a bar owner convicted of bribing police.</p><p data-block-key=\"52q1g\">The Marshall Project filed a motion to quash the subpoena July 9 in U.S. District Court in New York, where the news organization is headquartered. Criss argued that the requests are a clear violation of the state’s well-established journalist’s privilege and a clear attempt to leverage the outlet’s reporting against Montague in the civil case.</p><p data-block-key=\"2oric\">“By issuing the Subpoena to TMP, Cleveland seeks to do exactly what federal law prohibits,” Criss wrote. “Journalists cannot foster and maintain trust with sources if the public perceives them to be the unwitting accomplices of civil litigants.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7trcj\">District Judge Valerie Caproni <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.624525/gov.uscourts.nysd.624525.29.0.pdf\">granted</a> the motion to quash Oct. 28, ruling that the materials were protected under the state’s shield law and rejecting the city’s argument that it couldn’t obtain comparable statements from Montague during a deposition because it is not “a relaxed neutral setting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"10gdf\">“If the Court were to accept Cleveland’s argument, it would eviscerate the protection accorded by the journalist’s privilege,” Caproni wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"e00tc\">Criss told the Tracker that while his law firm was representing The Marshall Project pro bono, the legal fees from fighting such subpoenas can cripple newsrooms. He also noted that the city fought for the case to be heard in Ohio under the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where journalists have far weaker protections, rather than in New York, covered by the 2nd Circuit.</p><p data-block-key=\"eg9rc\">“Unfortunately, what it shows is the variation in protections for journalists around the country,” he said. “If there was a federal shield law that sort of leveled up the law around the country to be what we enjoy in the 2nd Circuit, that would be a very welcome development.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"x37mz\">A portion of a subpoena served to The Marshall Project on June 26, 2024, ordering the outlet to turn over all interviews and communications with a former Cleveland, Ohio, police sergeant who is suing the department for wrongful termination.</p>",
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"name": "Ohio",
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{
"title": "Reporter sprayed with chemical irritant while covering clashing LA protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-sprayed-with-chemical-irritant-while-covering-clashing-la-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-01T13:21:12.160496Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-02T21:28:51.887816Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-02T21:28:51.757944Z",
"date": "2024-06-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9p05c\">Reporter Cam Higby was pepper-sprayed while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\">nine journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the violence that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"29gqr\">The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dActZyjiI/\">called</a> for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-23/pro-palestinian-protesters-and-supporters-of-israel-engage-in-violent-clash-outside-a-west-l-a-synagogue\">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cm5ov\">Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"6t4gg\">Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/us/los-angeles-synagogue-palestinian-israeli-protest-violence/index.html\">reported</a> that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.</p><p data-block-key=\"11vf\">Higby told the Tracker that he arrived at the synagogue at approximately 11:30 a.m. and found police and private security hired by the congregation staging around the entrance. He said he filmed from behind the perimeter law enforcement established for nearly an hour before crossing into the street where protesters and counterprotesters were brawling.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ao3c\">“I had been on the street for probably about 60 seconds before I saw bear spray flying through the air. And my first instinct when I see a scuffle is to run over so I can get it on camera, and that’s when I was bear-Maced,” Higby said.</p><p data-block-key=\"dsv7i\">In <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TodayisAmerica/status/1805004231885340767\">footage</a> captured by Higby’s body-worn camera, a woman wearing a kaffiyeh can be seen spraying first at men who had just pushed her, before turning and spraying a second time directly at Higby.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🚨INSANE FOOTAGE: Protestor stops, looks at our on-the-scene reporter <a href=\"https://twitter.com/camhigby?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@camhigby</a> and bear sprays him directly in eyes only feet away. <br><br>Members of the community immediately rush to his aid. Cam is now recovering at home. <a href=\"https://t.co/FnHmUvoo6b\">pic.twitter.com/FnHmUvoo6b</a></p>— Today is America (@TodayisAmerica) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TodayisAmerica/status/1805004231885340767?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9p05c\">Immediately after being sprayed, Higby can be heard crying out in pain and multiple journalists — including independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel and Left Coast Right Watch reporter Kate Burns — are seen coming to his aid. (Both journalists were assaulted by individuals they identified as people at the pro-Israeli demonstration later that day.)</p><p data-block-key=\"dje14\">“Hey, look at me. Get your heart rate down. Breathe through your nose. I know it’s awful. Somebody will get water soon, OK? We’re going to flush it, all right,” Beckner-Carmitchel instructs.</p><p data-block-key=\"cbtjn\">One of the rabbis working to prevent fights then escorts Higby to a nearby sidewalk and has him sit while someone goes to bring a medic over to treat him.</p><p data-block-key=\"4cqpq\">Higby told the Tracker that he was wearing a press credential from Today Is America, which he described as a digital news media and commentary site. He also had both a camera and body camera recording, and believes he was deliberately targeted because he was filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"4i70t\">He added that the LAPD officers didn’t appear to be doing anything to mitigate the scuffles between the demonstrators, and that he and a friend left the area not long after 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\">For those asking, I’ve mostly recovered. Just burning pain all over my body. Stay tuned/follow for updates. <a href=\"https://t.co/DwRwTHM9kT\">pic.twitter.com/DwRwTHM9kT</a></p>— Cam Higby 🇺🇸 (@camhigby) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/camhigby/status/1805011302211084426?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9p05c\">The LAPD said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1805244711114059803/photo/1\">news release</a> that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/NS_BH_06232024_-4.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"czbau\">Reporter Cam Higby, center, recovers after being sprayed with a chemical irritant while covering clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters outside a synagogue in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Cam Higby (Today Is America)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Reporter’s phone knocked to the ground, later stolen at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-phone-knocked-to-the-ground-later-stolen-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-06-28T17:06:18.025835Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-03T19:42:49.181286Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-03T19:42:49.081541Z",
"date": "2024-06-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"boco1\">Sergio Olmos, an investigative reporter for the nonprofit news site CalMatters, reported that his phone was knocked to the ground and subsequently stolen while he was documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\">nine journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the violence that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"2q7om\">The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dActZyjiI/\">called</a> for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-23/pro-palestinian-protesters-and-supporters-of-israel-engage-in-violent-clash-outside-a-west-l-a-synagogue\">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"aa987\">Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"eqkt8\">Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/us/los-angeles-synagogue-palestinian-israeli-protest-violence/index.html\">reported</a> that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.</p><p data-block-key=\"3d8qh\">Olmos <a href=\"https://x.com/MrOlmos/status/1805078097198448764\">wrote</a> on the social media platform X that he was filming an attack on a pro-Palestinian protester when a man drove a truck toward the crowd, nearly ramming people. “At that moment a pro-israeli demonstrator knocked my phone out of my hands to stop me from filming it,” Olmos wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"509tk\">Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that the phone was later returned. Olmos declined to comment further when reached by the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2sri\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/MrOlmos/status/1805072157485228384\">second post</a>, Olmos wrote that in a separate incident later that day a different demonstrator stole his phone and, when he held up his press credentials, the man told him, “You shouldn’t be there.” The robbery can be seen at 0:47 in <a href=\"https://x.com/ACatWithNews/status/1805029920944669114\">footage</a> captured by Beckner-Carmitchel. Of the phone, Olmos wrote: “its gone.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">At :47 seconds you can see the moment a demonstrator snatches my phone to stop me from filming. I told him I was press and showed him my press creds, he told me "you shouldn't be there" and took my phone, its gone. <a href=\"https://t.co/RIvFUixqjm\">https://t.co/RIvFUixqjm</a></p>— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MrOlmos/status/1805072157485228384?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 24, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"boco1\">The LAPD said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1805244711114059803/photo/1\">news release</a> that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Olmos_assault__ED.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"5hkfa\">CalMatters reporter Sergio Olmos, in black shirt at center right, is seen wearing a press credential and filming as pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters clash in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. Seconds later, his phone was stolen.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "private individual",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "cellphone"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"robbery"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sergio Olmos (CalMatters)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Photojournalist’s camera snatched, smashed during clashes at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-camera-snatched-smashed-during-clashes-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-01T16:18:32.176382Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-08T19:39:30.546963Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-08T19:39:30.441868Z",
"date": "2024-06-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8gruh\">Independent photojournalist Nick Stern’s video camera was stolen and broken while he was documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\">nine journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the violence that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"2l5ni\">The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dActZyjiI/\">called</a> for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-23/pro-palestinian-protesters-and-supporters-of-israel-engage-in-violent-clash-outside-a-west-l-a-synagogue\">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"5kmt7\">Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"55oio\">Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/us/los-angeles-synagogue-palestinian-israeli-protest-violence/index.html\">reported</a> that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.</p><p data-block-key=\"mvu6\">Stern, whose work is largely published in British outlets, told the Tracker that he was wearing press credentials on a lanyard and was easily identifiable as a journalist by the two cameras strapped around his neck.</p><p data-block-key=\"8f7k8\">But that may have put him more at risk, he said, as the attacks appeared to be targeting journalists. “I think it would have been safer if I hadn’t,” he told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"fqlu8\">Stern said he and journalist Tina-Desiree Berg were standing on a grassy embankment when a pro-Israeli protester carrying a large yellow flag came up to them and tried to block his shot.</p><p data-block-key=\"6q43s\">Another pro-Israeli protester shoved Berg off the embankment, then grabbed Stern’s video camera as he was recording. Stern shared the video of the snatch with the Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Photojournalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NickSternPhotos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@nicksternphotos</a> said that the press credentials around his neck may have made him more of a target: someone grabbed the video camera out of his hands and then threw it on the ground, breaking it.<a href=\"https://t.co/IgxGVQsjjf\">https://t.co/IgxGVQsjjf</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/9DZ51TJpB3\">pic.twitter.com/9DZ51TJpB3</a></p>— U.S. Press Freedom Tracker (@uspresstracker) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/uspresstracker/status/1808610620121534780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 3, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"dwtku\">Stern said he chased the protester, who threw the camera down on the ground. Stern retrieved it, but the camera, a DJI Osmo Pocket 3 worth about $600, had a broken lens and battery pack, rendering it unusable.</p><p data-block-key=\"f83p8\">Stern told the Tracker that as of June 28 he hadn’t yet reported his broken camera to police.</p><p data-block-key=\"b9r8f\">The LAPD said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1805244711114059803/photo/1\">news release</a> that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.</p><p data-block-key=\"ai14r\">Stern told the Tracker that he plans to continue covering protests, but after witnessing the assaults on journalists on June 23, he expects to carry a Taser with him for protection.</p><p data-block-key=\"c95e6\">“I think we’ve got to a point now where a journalist will get significantly injured or even possibly killed at a protest event,” he told the Tracker. “This needs to stop. As journalists, we need to do what we’re out there doing.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"1lupb\">A protester blocks the camera of photojournalist Nick Stern at a pro-Palestinian protest in Los Angeles on June 23, 2024. Later, a pro-Israeli protester snatched the video camera away and threw it on the ground, breaking it.</p>",
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{
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"name": "California",
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"robbery"
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"categories": [
"Equipment Damage"
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{
"title": "Independent videographer attacked at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-attacked-by-demonstrators-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-01T17:38:31.381695Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-10T13:13:45.060155Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-10T13:13:44.971736Z",
"date": "2024-06-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n0wq7\">Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was surrounded and attacked by multiple individuals while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\">nine journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the violence that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"aqafg\">The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dActZyjiI/\">called</a> for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-23/pro-palestinian-protesters-and-supporters-of-israel-engage-in-violent-clash-outside-a-west-l-a-synagogue\">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7lh9n\">Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"6drpu\">Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/us/los-angeles-synagogue-palestinian-israeli-protest-violence/index.html\">reported</a> that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.</p><p data-block-key=\"77k0u\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that tensions were high from the start, and that while covering the clashing demonstrations for several hours he observed an “intense” amount of security, tit-for-tat assaults and lots of bear spray in use.</p><p data-block-key=\"bas98\">After police cleared the area surrounding the synagogue, Beckner-Carmitchel said, the pro-Palestinian demonstrators began to move back and the pro-Israeli protesters followed and chased them through the neighborhood. When the groups looped back to Adas Torah, he said it was like a switch flipped.</p><p data-block-key=\"ecspf\">“I’ve been doing this a long time, and I know when things are about to turn from violent to even more violent, and I could feel it,” he told the Tracker. “That was the moment where I was like, ‘Oh boy, I need to start figuring out a way to get out of here because this is not good.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"7o6bd\">Beckner-Carmitchel said journalists were being deliberately targeted, so when he saw a large group following independent journalist <a href=\"/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-by-la-protesters-has-camera-damaged-and-iphone-stolen/\">Kate Burns</a> and another photojournalist, he approached them to film in case something happened and to plead with the crowd. That’s when he <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1805045228635861005/video/1\">became the target</a> of the crowd’s aggression.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Video and a still taken before I was hit several times by several in the pro-Israel crowd.<br><br>By the way, I’m alright and have filed a police report. <a href=\"https://t.co/2iffHL5p7E\">pic.twitter.com/2iffHL5p7E</a></p>— acatwithnews (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1805045228635861005?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 24, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n0wq7\">At 0:28 in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/johnschreiber/status/1805038380079808748\">footage</a> captured from a helicopter by <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dOKwts4J-0\">KCAL-TV</a> photojournalist John Schreiber, a man can be seen kicking the phone from Beckner-Carmitchel’s hand. The phone was caught by videographer <a href=\"/all-incidents/photographer-pulled-struck-while-covering-la-protests/\">Justin Jun</a>, but when Jun attempted to return it the pair of journalists were swarmed by individuals Beckner-Carmitchel identified as pro-Israeli demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"am4aj\">“The crowd surrounded us, so I grabbed him (Jun) really close and gave him a bear hug to try to make sure that nobody can get us down on the ground and to protect my face and stomach and to protect my gear,” Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Multiple fights broke out between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrators today near a synagogue in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of LA. Looks like some live-streamers/journalists were also attacked as a phone was kicked out of one man's hand. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kcalnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kcalnews</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/JApVUC180U\">pic.twitter.com/JApVUC180U</a></p>— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/johnschreiber/status/1805038380079808748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 24, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"n0wq7\">Schreiber’s footage shows two men pulling Jun back while a third attempts to kick his video camera. As Beckner-Carmitchel holds onto Jun, the third man grabs onto his shoulder and punches him twice in the back of the head.</p><p data-block-key=\"8j7gb\">Independent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-camera-snatched-smashed-during-clashes-at-la-protest/\">Nick Stern</a> steps in to attempt to stop the attack, but as the journalists move away from the crowd one of the men nearly rips the shirt off Beckner-Carmitchel’s back and another kicks the videographer in the groin.</p><p data-block-key=\"clit3\">Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker that he went up to the police line and was eventually allowed through to file a police report. He said that he had a large bump on his head and that, while there were some light scratches on one of the phone’s camera lenses, it was otherwise undamaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"3a2pg\">The LAPD said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1805244711114059803/photo/1\">news release</a> that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. Beckner-Carmitchel said he believes his report is one of those cited. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2024-06-28_at_10.17.02.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"pcaj4\">Independent videographers Sean Beckner-Carmitchel and Justin Jun, shown in circle added at center, were assaulted by multiple individuals while reporting on clashing protests outside a synagogue in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024.</p>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (Independent)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Journalist shoved, phone briefly stolen during clashes at LA protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-shoved-phone-briefly-stolen-during-clashes-at-la-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-02T13:15:08.017820Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-10T20:28:28.178770Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-10T20:28:28.049996Z",
"date": "2024-06-23",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q2vhr\">Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved multiple times and her phone briefly stolen while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\">nine journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the violence that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"8uo19\">The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dActZyjiI/\">called</a> for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-23/pro-palestinian-protesters-and-supporters-of-israel-engage-in-violent-clash-outside-a-west-l-a-synagogue\">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4h5cm\">Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"7vl6u\">Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/us/los-angeles-synagogue-palestinian-israeli-protest-violence/index.html\">reported</a> that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.</p><p data-block-key=\"28d17\">Berg told the Tracker she was targeted with aggressions multiple times throughout the day. “The one thing that really disturbed me the most about that day was the rage. You just could feel the insane amount of rage from these individuals, like nothing I’ve seen,” she said.</p><p data-block-key=\"f64ao\">Investigative journalist Kate Burns, who was <a href=\"https://x.com/LCRWnews/status/1804952319441965087\">covering the protest</a> for Left Coast Right Watch, <a href=\"https://x.com/LCRWnews/status/1804986225088163928\">captured footage</a> shortly after 2 p.m. of multiple men watching Berg film the protests. At 0:11 in the clip, one man appears to lightly push a second toward Berg. The second man then crashes into her with his shoulder and raised arms, toppling her several feet over and sending her phone flying.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">More attack's on press <a href=\"https://twitter.com/TinaDesireeBerg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@TinaDesireeBerg</a> has been trageted a couple of times today <a href=\"https://t.co/fh5XbDT2nx\">pic.twitter.com/fh5XbDT2nx</a></p>— LEFT COAST RIGHT WATCH (@LCRWnews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/LCRWnews/status/1804986225088163928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"q2vhr\">When Burns confronts the man about what happened, he responds simply with, “I got pushed.” Later in the clip, the same man appears to attempt to block multiple journalists from filming.</p><p data-block-key=\"16hiv\">After police cleared the area surrounding the synagogue, the pro-Palestinian demonstrators began to move back and the pro-Israeli protesters followed and chased them through the neighborhood, according to reports to the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"dbels\">Berg said that a group of individuals she identified as pro-Israeli demonstrators surrounded her, shouting at her to leave and threatening, “We’ll get you later.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9ko7o\">At 2:04 in <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAAG5tOuTC0\">footage</a> captured by Berg, she can be heard asking a woman wearing an Israeli flag around her shoulders, “Why is being a journalist being a loser?” A man standing between them shouts over the woman’s response: “Because you lie! We don’t need you here!”</p><p data-block-key=\"5am72\">The man then repeatedly attempts to block Berg’s camera until photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-camera-snatched-smashed-during-clashes-at-la-protest/\">Nick Stern</a> intervenes, as more and more people begin to surround them. “A rabbi got in between them and me and had to calm them down,” Berg said.</p><p data-block-key=\"n8op\">Berg told the Tracker that after protesters had moved into another part of the surrounding neighborhood, she was standing at the top of a small set of stairs to film as they marched around the corner. “I walked up there and was filming this shot when this guy came up around me and pushed me off the top of the staircase,” Berg said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6jmck\">Stern, who was standing next to her, <a href=\"https://twitter.com/uspresstracker/status/1808610620121534780\">filmed</a> the incident but seconds later the same man grabbed the camera from his hands and threw it on the ground, damaging it.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Photojournalist <a href=\"https://twitter.com/NickSternPhotos?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@nicksternphotos</a> said that the press credentials around his neck may have made him more of a target: someone grabbed the video camera out of his hands and then threw it on the ground, breaking it.<a href=\"https://t.co/IgxGVQsjjf\">https://t.co/IgxGVQsjjf</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/9DZ51TJpB3\">pic.twitter.com/9DZ51TJpB3</a></p>— U.S. Press Freedom Tracker (@uspresstracker) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/uspresstracker/status/1808610620121534780?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 3, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"u4hus\">Berg added that shortly after that encounter she was pepper-sprayed by an individual who ran up and then quickly away, but said she wasn’t certain whether she had been deliberately targeted.</p><p data-block-key=\"5i8ji\">The protests eventually looped back to Adas Torah, which is when independent videographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-attacked-by-demonstrators-at-la-protest/\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a> said a switch flipped and violence escalated, particularly with the targeting of journalists. Berg told the Tracker she saw Beckner-Carmitchel being attacked and so ran over to intervene.</p><p data-block-key=\"aovi8\">Shortly after, Berg was targeted again: An individual she described as “a kid” ripped the phone from her hands and ran down the street. “I start chasing him as fast as I could and somehow caught up to him,” she said. “I said, ‘Give me my phone. That is theft.’ And he looked at me and just chucked it as far and as hard as he could and it went all the way across the street.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cebj6\">Beginning at 1:20 in <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dOKwts4J-0\">footage</a> captured by KCAL-TV, Berg is visible running toward the right side of the street; when the camera zooms in, she can be seen grabbing what looks to be a cellphone from the hands of an individual who appears to be wearing a skullcap. Berg said the individual picked up her phone and returned it when she said she would press charges if he didn’t. She said that aside from scratches on the case, it was undamaged.</p><p data-block-key=\"2h6ra\">Around that same time, another demonstrator <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-by-la-protesters-has-camera-damaged-and-iphone-stolen/\">grabbed the phone from Burns’ hands</a> and ran off, dropping it on the sidewalk when he noticed police nearby, the reporter told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"fk6hq\">The LAPD said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1805244711114059803/photo/1\">news release</a> that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.</p><p data-block-key=\"b8tln\"><i>Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include comment and additional details about the incident from Tina-Desiree Berg.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"09jwt\">Journalist Tina-Desiree Berg, center, in black, holds a cellphone behind her back, having retrieved it after an individual threw it across the road. She was covering clashing protests outside a synagogue in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024.</p>",
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{
"quantity": 1,
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}
],
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest",
"robbery"
],
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"categories": [
"Assault",
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],
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},
{
"title": "Freelance photojournalist’s camera struck while covering LA protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalists-camera-struck-while-covering-la-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-10T14:44:14.479452Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-10T14:44:14.479452Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-10T14:36:44.147804Z",
"date": "2024-06-23",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nt8tt\">Freelance photojournalist Jon Putman had his camera struck while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\">nine journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the violence that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"5968v\">The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dActZyjiI/\">called</a> for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-23/pro-palestinian-protesters-and-supporters-of-israel-engage-in-violent-clash-outside-a-west-l-a-synagogue\">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"d9fnn\">Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"5mv5k\">Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/us/los-angeles-synagogue-palestinian-israeli-protest-violence/index.html\">reported</a> that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.</p><p data-block-key=\"c6khg\">In <a href=\"https://x.com/ACatWithNews/status/1805000908654416033\">footage</a> captured by independent videographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-attacked-by-demonstrators-at-la-protest/\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a>, Putman is visible in a black T-shirt and baseball cap <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8lTn9JRtBv/?img_index=1\">photographing</a> from the street as dozens of people mill around. At 0:23 in the clip, a man with a face bloodied after a fight can be seen knocking Putman’s camera aside with his hand. The same individual similarly attempted to prevent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-multiple-times-at-protest-outside-la-synagogue/\">David Swanson</a> from photographing him earlier.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Things continuing, both crowds now walking through Pico-Robertson exchanging the occasional fight and lots of taunts. Pro-Palestinian protesters appear to be attempting to walk away or through the neighborhood. Pro-Israel demonstrators following them. <a href=\"https://t.co/csRakK3ylU\">pic.twitter.com/csRakK3ylU</a></p>— Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1805000908654416033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nt8tt\">Putman did not respond to requests for additional comment about the incident.</p><p data-block-key=\"999mn\">The LAPD said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1805244711114059803/photo/1\">news release</a> that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Jon_Putman_-_CA_assault_623.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"duckd\">Freelance photojournalist Jon Putman, far left, can be seen documenting clashing protests outside the Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles on June 23, 2024, as an individual grabs his camera and pushes it away.</p>",
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"protest"
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{
"title": "Photojournalist pushed, camera lens broken during LA protest clashes",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-camera-lens-broken-during-la-protest-clashes/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-08T19:21:43.957787Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-08T19:21:43.957787Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-08T19:21:43.875476Z",
"date": "2024-06-23",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8tzq1\">An independent photojournalist was shoved and his camera was kicked, breaking the lens, while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\">nine journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the violence that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"6jcft\">The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dActZyjiI/\">called</a> for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-23/pro-palestinian-protesters-and-supporters-of-israel-engage-in-violent-clash-outside-a-west-l-a-synagogue\">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"bdk27\">Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"ct0hc\">Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/us/los-angeles-synagogue-palestinian-israeli-protest-violence/index.html\">reported</a> that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.</p><p data-block-key=\"7d9rk\">The photographer, who asked not to be identified because he fears harassment, told the Tracker that he arrived at the protest with another photojournalist and verbally identified himself to protesters as a journalist, although he didn’t wear a press pass.</p><p data-block-key=\"93ijc\">As the protest came to an end, he was attacked when someone in the crowd falsely said he worked for Al Jazeera, the Qatari-based international TV news network that the Israeli government has barred from operating in the country amid the Israel-Gaza war. The photographer denied that he worked for the news organization, but said no one could hear him in the chaos.</p><p data-block-key=\"cqucc\">A large man then walked up to him and, standing chest to chest, pushed the journalist into the street with his torso, he recounted to the Tracker. Another person at the protest pulled the large man away.</p><p data-block-key=\"2jcdo\">The crowd around the photojournalist grew to at least a dozen people, he said. They were walking toward him and he was slowly walking backward.</p><p data-block-key=\"820nk\">“I felt my camera get kicked,” he told the Tracker. “It was in my hand. I sort of wrapped my strap around my hand, so it didn’t fly away.”</p><p data-block-key=\"402au\">The lens, a Sigma 20 mm F1.4 Canon mount worth about $900, was broken in the encounter. He said he has since sent the lens to be repaired, which he expects to cost hundreds of dollars.</p><p data-block-key=\"fm05c\">After the kick, the photographer’s friend and fellow journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-attacked-by-demonstrators-at-la-protest/\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a> got between him and the crowd and told him to get away, which he did, despite several people grabbing at his backpack. Meanwhile, Beckner-Carmitchel and journalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pulled-struck-while-covering-la-protests/\">Justin Jun</a> were beaten.</p><p data-block-key=\"6lqrg\">The photojournalist returned to try to help the journalists who were being assaulted, but someone else walked him away. He returned one more time and when Beckner-Carmitchel shouted at him to get away, he did.</p><p data-block-key=\"dcgtc\">After the event, the photojournalist said he was particularly worried about people from the protest tracking him down and so now sleeps with a baseball bat by his bed.</p><p data-block-key=\"9n7hl\">“I still would happily do photojournalism,” he told the Tracker. “I’m just really disheartened that police didn’t even bother to stop any violence that was happening right in front of their eyes.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7omn\">He continued: “I’m scared for my safety at protests now. And I’m worried that I’m going to get targeted for no reason other than having a camera.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b7ns6\">The LAPD said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1805244711114059803/photo/1\">news release</a> that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
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"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0zkx6\">A confrontation at a June 23, 2024, protest in Los Angeles. A photojournalist at the event was shoved and his camera lens was broken.</p>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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{
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}
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"name": "California",
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},
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
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"categories": [
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist pushed multiple times at protest outside LA synagogue",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-multiple-times-at-protest-outside-la-synagogue/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-09T16:02:53.064663Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-12T14:26:26.818984Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-12T14:26:26.714848Z",
"date": "2024-06-23",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"t1lrh\">Freelance photojournalist David Swanson was pushed multiple times while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\">nine journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the violence that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"fe6dv\">The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dActZyjiI/\">called</a> for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-23/pro-palestinian-protesters-and-supporters-of-israel-engage-in-violent-clash-outside-a-west-l-a-synagogue\">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dm2li\">Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"36ice\">Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/us/los-angeles-synagogue-palestinian-israeli-protest-violence/index.html\">reported</a> that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.</p><p data-block-key=\"9qt0j\">Swanson told the Tracker that he was on assignment for Agence France-Presse and documented various skirmishes that broke out in the street. He said he was wearing a lanyard with a press pass issued by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and had his LAPD-issued credentials in his bag.</p><p data-block-key=\"4f3s\">In <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8oQZfguXkJ/?hl=en&img_index=4\">footage</a> captured by photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pepper-sprayed-camera-smacked-at-clashing-la-protests/\">Shay Horse</a>, Swanson, in a gray shirt, can be seen moving in to photograph a young man whose face is covered in blood following a brawl. The man then grabs Swanson’s lens and shoves it into his face and to the side.</p><p data-block-key=\"7asms\">“That gentleman was there in support of the Jewish neighborhood and he got into a scuffle and he was bloodied when he got up,” Swanson said. “I got close with my camera. He saw me and I think he reached forward a couple of times, grabbed my lens and pushed it away from my face.”</p><p data-block-key=\"59si7\">He said he had almost forgotten about the incident, as he had been so focused on getting the photo, though he added that others attempted to interfere as well. “There was a person — who I think we all had trouble with — that was pushing me and didn’t want me to photograph the bloodied person,” Swanson said.</p><p data-block-key=\"darjf\">Swanson told the Tracker that he was shoved by individuals at the demonstration at least once or twice more that day, but that he was uninjured. He said that anyone who was documenting the day’s event was being targeted with violence.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Things continuing, both crowds now walking through Pico-Robertson exchanging the occasional fight and lots of taunts. Pro-Palestinian protesters appear to be attempting to walk away or through the neighborhood. Pro-Israel demonstrators following them. <a href=\"https://t.co/csRakK3ylU\">pic.twitter.com/csRakK3ylU</a></p>— Sean Beckner-Carmitchel (@ACatWithNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/ACatWithNews/status/1805000908654416033?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 23, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"wj1vk\">“The gist of it is that in the current climate, we’re getting attacked more by protesters,” he said. “Nobody tried to take my camera, but I know some of the reporters who use their cellphones for video had their cameras stolen.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9jd15\">The Tracker has documented the theft of at least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=robbery%2Cprotest%2CIsrael-Gaza+war\">four journalists’ devices</a> at the demonstrations that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"1q60\">The LAPD said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1805244711114059803/photo/1\">news release</a> that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"e8xb4\">Protesters and counterprotesters gathered outside Los Angeles’ Adas Torah synagogue on June 23, 2024. Freelance photojournalist David Swanson was on assignment covering clashes between demonstrators when he was shoved multiple times.</p>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
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"state": {
"name": "California",
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"tags": [
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],
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"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"David Swanson (Agence France-Presse)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photographer pulled, struck while covering LA protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-pulled-struck-while-covering-la-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2024-07-01T18:41:28.614253Z",
"last_published_at": "2024-07-01T18:41:28.614253Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2024-07-01T18:39:21.697853Z",
"date": "2024-06-23",
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"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5rgtk\">Independent videographer Justin Jun was pulled by multiple individuals and smacked in the head while documenting clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024. At least <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2024-06-23&date_upper=2024-06-23&city=Los+Angeles&tags=Israel-Gaza+war%2Cprotest\">nine journalists</a> were assaulted while covering the violence that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"6110h\">The conflict began after the Southern California chapter of the Palestinian Youth Movement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/C8dActZyjiI/\">called</a> for demonstrators to meet at noon outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood in west LA to protest the alleged sale of occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, <a href=\"https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2024-06-23/pro-palestinian-protesters-and-supporters-of-israel-engage-in-violent-clash-outside-a-west-l-a-synagogue\">according to the Los Angeles Times</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"fs7do\">Multiple journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that scuffles, brawls and exchanges of pepper spray broke out in the streets nearby between the protesters and counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"ejtkf\">Individuals from both sides — including a rabbi and security volunteers from the Jewish community — attempted to intervene and prevent the violence from escalating. CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/24/us/los-angeles-synagogue-palestinian-israeli-protest-violence/index.html\">reported</a> that Los Angeles Police Department officers established a perimeter around the synagogue.</p><p data-block-key=\"etl1t\">At 0:28 in <a href=\"https://twitter.com/johnschreiber/status/1805038380079808748\">footage</a> captured from a helicopter by <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dOKwts4J-0\">KCAL-TV</a> photojournalist John Schreiber, a man can be seen kicking independent videographer <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-videographer-attacked-by-demonstrators-at-la-protest/\">Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</a>’s phone out of his hand. Jun caught the phone, but when he attempted to return it the pair of journalists were swarmed by individuals Beckner-Carmitchel identified as pro-Israeli demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"afg5b\">“The crowd surrounded us, so I grabbed him (Jun) really close and gave him a bear hug to try to make sure that nobody can get us down on the ground and to protect my face and stomach and to protect my gear,” Beckner-Carmitchel told the Tracker.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Multiple fights broke out between pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrators today near a synagogue in the Pico-Robertson neighborhood of LA. Looks like some live-streamers/journalists were also attacked as a phone was kicked out of one man's hand. <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kcalnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@kcalnews</a> <a href=\"https://t.co/JApVUC180U\">pic.twitter.com/JApVUC180U</a></p>— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/johnschreiber/status/1805038380079808748?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 24, 2024</a></blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"></script>\n\n\n</div>\n\n</div>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5rgtk\">Schreiber’s footage shows two men pulling Jun back while a third attempts to kick his video camera. One of the men who had pulled him into the street then strikes him in the back of the head with an open hand. Beckner-Carmitchel is also seen being punched multiple times while holding onto Jun.</p><p data-block-key=\"cdlrp\">Independent photojournalist <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-camera-snatched-smashed-during-clashes-at-la-protest/\">Nick Stern</a> steps in to attempt to stop the attack, but as the journalists move away from the crowd Jun helps keep Beckner-Carmitchel upright after an assailant kicks him in the groin.</p><p data-block-key=\"br6c9\">The LAPD said in a <a href=\"https://x.com/LAPDPIO/status/1805244711114059803/photo/1\">news release</a> that officers were investigating two reports of battery at the protest and that one individual had been arrested for having a spiked post. A spokesperson for the department told the Tracker via email June 27 that they have no further information.</p></div>",
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"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2024-06-28_at_10.17.21.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"kq962\">Independent videographers Justin Jun and Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, shown in circle added at center, were assaulted by multiple individuals while reporting on clashing protests outside a synagogue in Los Angeles, California, on June 23, 2024.</p>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
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"tags": [
"Israel-Gaza war",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Justin Jun (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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}
]
