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{
"title": "Photographer arrested, pepper-sprayed and tear-gassed by federal officers",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-arrested-pepper-sprayed-and-tear-gassed-by-federal-officers/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-22T21:14:35.610301Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-03-16T18:24:52.554301Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-03-16T18:24:52.433923Z",
"date": "2026-01-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fort Snelling",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"bxpcx\">Photographer John Abernathy was shot with crowd-control munitions, subjected to intense tear gas and deliberately pepper-sprayed as federal officers detained and ultimately arrested him while he documented protests in the Minneapolis suburb of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Jan. 15, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"dacb6\">Abernathy told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived at the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building at around noon to document a veteran-led protest against the ongoing federal immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities area.</p><p data-block-key=\"eebd1\">The building has been a focal point of protests for its use as a base for the federal officers, and demonstrations escalated after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Renee Good while conducting an operation Jan. 7 in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"akah8\">The protest was initially relatively quiet, Abernathy said, with protesters occasionally walking into the street and chanting while a few federal agents stood near vehicles blocking the entrance to the building’s parking lot.</p><p data-block-key=\"all3a\">“At some point, a whole bunch of agents came out — I wouldn’t doubt if it was 100 or something — in almost a military formation of several rows,” he told the Tracker, adding that the officers included agents from Border Patrol, ICE and the Bureau of Prisons.</p><p data-block-key=\"7p291\">The agents formed a line and, in several quick bursts, pushed back the crowd with batons and crowd-control munition weapons. While the officers’ show of force agitated the crowd, Abernathy said, it was the arrival of “far-right agitators” that triggered the chaos that followed.</p><p data-block-key=\"825lr\">“There were three to five agitators, and they all had pepper spray in their hands,” he told the Tracker. “The agitators were able to stand with their backs near the agents, and the agents didn’t seem to mind it, and they didn’t mind that they had pepper spray either.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5ml79\">Abernathy saw that one of the individuals had a loose hold on a canister, so he snatched it, tossing it under a nearby tree so that it wouldn’t be used against anyone.</p><p data-block-key=\"87bp3\">He said that at some point amid the chaos, agents deployed a disorientation device — either a flash bang or a tear gas canister — into the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"2qscs\">“I went over there to see what was happening, to possibly photograph it, and while I was there, I got shot twice with pepper bullets,” he said, noting that he was not moving toward or facing the agents at the time. “I’m clearly only a photographer, I don’t protest at all. I’m not screaming or chanting or anything, I’m just there observing and photographing.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8t7r3\">Abernathy said the shots “hurt like hell,” and he quickly ran back across the street and away from the main point of skirmish. But with his back to the agents, he was unaware that they were targeting him once again.</p><p data-block-key=\"5p9ip\">“All of a sudden I got hit from behind without warning, and I was lying facedown on the ground, and for a second I didn’t know what was going on,” Abernathy said. “There were at least two agents on top of me, and they’re screaming at me that ‘We got you because we saw you bear-spraying the crowd.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"b1vvd\">He said he denied the accusation and attempted to comply with the officers’ orders, but was unable to put his hands behind his back as his arms were pinned beneath his chest by the agents’ knees on his back.</p><p data-block-key=\"3b4en\">“Then they set off a tear gas canister very close to me. The smoke was so thick that I couldn’t breathe, and I was gagging,” Abernathy said. “At one point, I thought, ‘I’m either going to throw up or I’m going to pass out.’ I yelled my name out, and then I yelled, ‘I can’t breathe.’ And when that came out of my mouth, I realized, ‘This shit is getting real.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"9hcq4\">When he looked up, he saw another photographer — <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DTqQCtYjmrB/\">Pierre Lavie</a> — and freed his hands enough to quickly toss Lavie his camera so it wouldn’t be seized by the agents. Abernathy told the Tracker that he tried to throw his phone as well, but it didn’t go far.</p><p data-block-key=\"crbi7\">“Right when it hit the ground, I saw a green boot step on it,” he said. “It was the most disappointing feeling, almost, that I’ve ever had. And I just thought ‘Fuck,’ and put my head on the ground.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9a980\">Abernathy later learned that Lavie had managed to reach under the agent’s foot to retrieve the cellphone as he attempted to stomp on it.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/20260115-Minneapolis_MN-John_Abernathy_detainm.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"1241\" alt=\"Pierre Lavie/@just1dudewithacamera\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"qoph6\">Photographer Pierre Lavie, not pictured, captured the moment when photographer John Abernathy tossed Lavie his camera so it wouldn’t be seized by the agents arresting him.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — Pierre Lavie/@just1dudewithacamera\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"o69ao\">Agents then reached around and pepper-sprayed Abernathy directly in the face, the photographer told the Tracker, dousing him in the chemical irritant.</p><p data-block-key=\"5b1kk\">“As soon as that hit me, I was 100% defenseless. It was extreme pain. My eyes were burning, my face was burning and that was near my last breath,” Abernathy said. “Then they pulled my arms out and handcuffed me and lifted me up.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6met4\">PetaPixel <a href=\"https://petapixel.com/2026/01/20/photographer-tosses-his-leica-away-from-ice-as-hes-tackled-to-the-ground/\">reported</a> that, using the metadata from Lavie’s photos, from the moment Abernathy was tackled to him being fully restrained took only eight seconds.</p><p data-block-key=\"cr0tc\">Abernathy was taken into the Whipple building and, when he was unable to answer the agents’ questions because of the extreme pain, they took him outside to wipe his face and rinse his eyes.</p><p data-block-key=\"2eh4t\">When back inside and questioned why he was there, Abernathy repeatedly informed the agents that he was only there as a photographer to document the protest.</p><p data-block-key=\"6m5rf\">The agents then informed him that they had video of him using the bear spray — which they refused to show him — but that they would “go easy” on him and only charge him with impeding and obstructing normal access. A hearing on the federal charge has not been set as of publication.</p><p data-block-key=\"8cp9t\">The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"r2bj\">Abernathy said that, following his release, he was able to track down Lavie that evening and retrieve his camera and cellphone, both of which were remarkably undamaged. He then headed to the hospital.</p><p data-block-key=\"76i69\">“They photographed my wounds, and I have two pretty serious — deep and sort of bloody-looking — bruises from the pepper bullets, and then I had chemical burns in my eye and have to put medication in it daily,” he told the Tracker. “I think it’s a pretty clear and horrendous violation of my civil rights, and they had no cause to do that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4f2mj\">He added that, in the wake of his arrest, he’s received thousands of hate messages online, but also an “absolute, overwhelming outpour of love from people thanking me and thanking Pierre for that epic photo.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7a9q1\">“It represents so much more than me. It’s a photo of the struggle against something the whole world is watching.”</p><p data-block-key=\"arl94\"><i>Update: This incident has been revised to include an additional photo of John Abernathy’s arrest.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP26015700522621.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"3qbq6\">Federal agents push photographer John Abernathy to the ground, pepper spray running down his face, during a confrontation with protesters outside the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area on Jan. 15, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": "U.S. Customs and Border Protection",
"arrest_status": "arrested and released",
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": "2026-01-15",
"unnecessary_use_of_force": true,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
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"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Arrest/Criminal Charge",
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"John Abernathy (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth targets news outlets, leakers",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/defense-secretary-pete-hegseth-targets-news-outlets-leakers/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-17T18:03:13.887855Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-17T18:03:13.887855Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-17T18:03:13.730079Z",
"date": "2026-01-15",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9b0q7\">As the second year of President Donald Trump’s second term began, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth continued taking steps to intimidate leakers and news outlets that have covered Trump and his administration unfavorably. We’re documenting Hegseth’s efforts in 2026 in this regularly updated report.</p><p data-block-key=\"thla\">Read about Hegseth’s efforts in 2025 to chill coverage <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pete-hegseth-targets-news-outlets-leakers-as-defense-secretary/\">here</a>, and how Trump’s other appointees and allies in Congress are striving to intimidate reporters, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/trump-allies-pursue-multipronged-campaign-against-the-press/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"4outl\"><i>This article was first published on Feb. 17, 2026.</i></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><p><a id=\"top\" name=\"top\"></a></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9b0q7\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"8jq7u\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#Jan 15\">Jan. 15, 2026 | Defense Department announces overhaul of military newspaper, calling it ‘woke’\r\n</a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9b0q7\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"bm868\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><a id=\"Jan 15\" name=\"Jan 15\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"9b0q7\">Jan. 15, 2026 | Defense Department announces overhaul of military newspaper, calling it ‘woke’</h4><p data-block-key=\"5vfqn\">The Department of Defense announced plans on Jan. 15, 2026, to take over editorial decision-making for the military newspaper Stars and Stripes, in a move that jeopardizes its long-held editorial independence.</p><p data-block-key=\"idmh\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/seanparnellasw/status/2011802849903009991?s=46\">statement</a> posted to social media, Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell defended the move as “returning Stars & Stripes to its original mission: reporting for our warfighters.”</p><p data-block-key=\"140gb\">“We will modernize its operations, refocus its content away from woke distractions that syphon morale, and adapt it to serve a new generation of service members,” he continued. “It will focus on warfighting, weapons systems, fitness, lethality, survivability, and ALL THINGS MILITARY. No more repurposed DC gossip columns; no more Associated Press reprints.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2q9uv\">While the newspaper is partially funded by the Pentagon and its staffers are department employees, the outlet <a href=\"https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2026-01-15/pentagon-refocus-stars-and-stripes-content-20415816.html\">reported</a> that it is directed to emulate the best practices of commercial news organizations and provide a free flow of “news and information to its readership without news management or censorship.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b3d3r\">Stars and Stripes Editor-in-Chief Erik Slavin wrote in a Jan. 15 note to staff that the military deserves independent news.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ih8b\">“The people who risk their lives in defense of the Constitution have earned the right to the press freedoms of the First Amendment,” Slavin wrote. “We will not compromise on serving them with accurate and balanced coverage, holding military officials to account when called for.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1prks\">The Daily Wire <a href=\"https://www.dailywire.com/news/pentagon-refocuses-stars-stripes-on-reporting-for-our-warfighters\">reported</a> that department officials told the outlet that Stars and Stripes’ content will no longer be written by its civilian staff but by active-duty service members. Half the newspaper’s content will be generated by the Pentagon, including materials written by the department and images captured by combat cameras.</p><p data-block-key=\"a8srp\">Stars and Stripes reported that its ombudsman, Jacqueline Smith, said the changes would amount to “unnecessary control and the perception of propaganda.” The ombudsman is a congressionally mandated position tasked with ensuring the outlet’s editorial independence.</p><p data-block-key=\"9q4s1\">“That is public relations, not independent journalism,” she said. “The other ‘fifty percent’ of the content would hold no credibility.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5gce4\">The news came the day after The Washington Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2026/01/14/stars-and-stripes-trump-loyalty-test/\">reported</a> that applicants for positions at the newspaper were being asked, “How would you advance the President’s Executive Orders and policy priorities in this role? Identify one or two relevant Executive Orders or policy initiatives that are significant to you, and explain how you would help implement them if hired.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7ttls\">Leadership at Stars and Stripes wasn’t aware of the questions until asked about them, Smith told the Post, later confirming that they had been added by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management without notifying them.</p><p data-block-key=\"ci8hr\">“Asking prospective employees how they would support the administration’s policies is antithetical to Stripes’ journalistic and federally mandated mission,” Smith told the Post. “Journalistically, it’s against ethics, because reporters or any staff member — editors, photographers — should be impartial.”</p><p data-block-key=\"boqov\">Democrats on the Senate Armed Services Committee told Stars and Stripes that any efforts to infringe on the newspaper’s editorial independence amounted to an attack on the First Amendment, with several voicing support for the newspaper. None of the Republican lawmakers contacted by Stars and Stripes responded to requests for comment.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\">\r\n<i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-07T171026Z_1872362065_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"mi657\">Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks to the media in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 7, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Stars and Stripes"
],
"tags": [
"Department of Defense",
"Donald Trump"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist struck in the head by projectile at Minnesota protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-the-head-by-projectile-at-minnesota-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-23T19:15:06.875888Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-01-23T19:15:06.875888Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-01-23T18:59:09.268296Z",
"date": "2026-01-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"am6cn\">Status Coup photojournalist Zach Roberts was hit in the back of the head by debris from a crowd-control munition while covering an immigration protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 14, 2026.<br/></p><p data-block-key=\"c3d03\">Protests in the state have erupted after a federal immigration enforcement surge and the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Both the city of Minneapolis and the state have since <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/12/us/minneapolis-immigration-officers-mobilizing-protests\">sued the Trump administration</a>, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.</p><p data-block-key=\"ciq5b\">After an ICE officer <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/20/us/ice-shooting-minneapolis-charges.html\">shot and injured a Venezuelan man</a> that evening, nearby residents gathered to protest, and fireworks were being set off near a line of federal law enforcement officers, Roberts told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Minnesota State troopers and Minneapolis police were also present.</p><p data-block-key=\"f8f8r\">Roberts said he had just gone live for Status Coup and was interviewing a woman near the federal officers when the situation abruptly escalated.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt751\">“Flash bangs started going off and tear gas started going off, and all chaos,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"9g4ul\">Status Coup <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/statuscoupnews.bsky.social/post/3mcgmkpcbnk2a\">posted a video</a> to the social platform Bluesky showing a bright explosion, which it said was caused by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, as people suddenly began running. In the video, Roberts can be heard reacting to being struck, saying, “I got hit in the head really bad.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1npd8\">Roberts, who reported that he wasn’t bleeding, said the blow came while he had his back turned to the line of federal officers. He said he is unsure what struck him and believes it may have been debris from a crowd-control munition that bounced or fragmented after being fired.</p><p data-block-key=\"f2mm4\">In the video, Roberts can be heard coughing from tear gas and reacting to the impact from the projectile as he reported that law enforcement officers were moving forward, firing more crowd-control munitions into the area.</p><p data-block-key=\"6uh29\">“They were shooting them amongst the crowd and everywhere,” he told the Tracker. “There was no direction, no order.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4g7it\">While running in the darkness, Roberts ran into a tree and bloodied his nose. Despite that, he continued reporting, though the injury and his glasses prevented him from properly sealing his protective gear, further exposing him to tear gas and making it difficult to work.</p><p data-block-key=\"duj05\">Roberts said he suffered a headache but did not seek medical treatment because he was not experiencing any further concussion symptoms.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahc5u\">“I still have a welt,” he said of the impact of the projectile on the back of his head. “It still hurts to the touch a little bit.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-01-22_at_4.18.36P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ne9rs\">A video frame grab captures the moment just after photographer Zach Roberts was struck with an impact projectile while filming an immigration protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 14, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "no",
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"name": "Minnesota",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Zach Roberts (Status Coup)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
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},
{
"title": "CNN correspondent covering ICE protest hit with crowd-control munition",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-correspondent-covering-ice-protest-hit-with-crowd-control-munition/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-16T22:14:33.557575Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-01-16T22:14:33.557575Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-01-16T22:14:33.469075Z",
"date": "2026-01-14",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oaaup\">CNN correspondent Whitney Wild was struck by a crowd-control munition fired by federal officers while covering a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 14, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"286l7\">Wild and her crew were covering demonstrations that broke out after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/14/us/minneapolis-federal-agent-shooting-immigration.html\">shot</a> a man during a traffic stop, the second shooting by ICE in a week in the city.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ue0s\">Wild <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/14/us/minneapolis-person-shot-federal-agent\">reported</a> that a crowd of demonstrators gathered after the shooting, protesting ICE’s presence in Minneapolis. In response, she said, ICE officers fired multiple tear gas canisters to push back the crowd. “At one point, it became so chaotic that one bounced off my foot and bounced off my side.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8gqma\">Wild also said that she and her crew were hit with flash bangs and tear gas, and that she and her producer got separated from her photographer at one point because it was so foggy from the chemical irritants, as shown in another CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/14/politics/video/cnn-crew-in-minneapolis-hit-with-flashbangs-and-tear-gas-amid-ice-protests\">video</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"7hnvd\">CNN and ICE did not respond to requests for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Wild_CNN.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bbg0n\">CNN correspondent Whitney Wild reports from a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, just after being hit with a crowd-control munition on Jan. 14, 2026.</p>",
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"name": "Minnesota",
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"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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"Assault"
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"Whitney Wild (CNN)"
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},
{
"title": "Washington Post subpoenaed as part of DOJ leak investigation",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/washington-post-subpoenaed-as-part-of-doj-leak-investigation/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-15T17:38:43.111646Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-01-15T17:38:43.111646Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-01-15T17:38:40.028290Z",
"date": "2026-01-14",
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"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"hogeh\">The Washington Post was issued a subpoena in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 14, 2026, in connection with an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"211rs\">FBI agents executed a search warrant on the home of Post reporter <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/washington-post-reporters-home-searched-by-fbi-devices-seized/\">Hannah Natanson</a> that morning, seizing her phone, watch and two laptops — one of which was issued by the newsroom.</p><p data-block-key=\"fnvkt\">The Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/14/washington-post-reporter-search/\">reported</a> that the subpoena demanded that it turn over “any communications between the contractor and other employees.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9so41\">According to the newspaper, investigators have identified the focus of the probe as Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a systems administrator in Maryland with top-secret security clearance. He was <a href=\"https://www.baltimoresun.com/2026/01/09/contractor-classified-documents/\">arrested</a> Jan. 8 and <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299.1.1.pdf\">charged</a> with unlawful retention of national defense information after agents found classified materials in his vehicle and home. Perez-Lugones has not been charged with disseminating the materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"824au\">In April 2025, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pam-bondi-targets-journalists-leakers-as-us-attorney-general/\">reversed the Biden-era policies</a> that protected journalists from having their records seized or from being forced to testify in connection with leak investigations. She asserted, however, that such measures would only be used as a last resort.</p><p data-block-key=\"2porc\">Yet the first interactions the Post and Natanson had with investigators were the subpoena, search warrant and device seizures, according to the newspaper.</p><p data-block-key=\"fvi4\">In a statement <a href=\"https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/2011456849711612019\">posted to social media</a>, Bondi alleged that Natanson was “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8cbsu\">“The leaker is currently behind bars,” Bondi continued. “The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country.”</p><p data-block-key=\"38p2s\">The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"enst1\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/maxwelltani/status/2011578007052566764\">note</a> to the Post’s staff that evening, Executive Editor Matt Murray called the FBI’s actions “provocative and aggressive” and said the outlet was “continuing to vigorously defend our journalists and our work.”</p><p data-block-key=\"afpm9\">“It is worth reflecting again on the importance and responsibilities of the work we do as journalists, protected by the constitutional speech rights that all Americans enjoy, and the urgency of exercising those rights by continuing to do our work,” he wrote. “That is the best thing the staff of The Washington Post can do, is in fact what we do.”</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"bekns\">The FBI, its Washington, D.C., headquarters pictured above, subpoenaed The Washington Post on Jan. 14, 2026, as part of a leak investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified materials.</p>",
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"state": {
"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
},
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"The Washington Post"
],
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"Department of Justice"
],
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"Subpoena/Legal Order"
],
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{
"title": "Washington Post reporter’s home searched by FBI, devices seized",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/washington-post-reporters-home-searched-by-fbi-devices-seized/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-14T16:20:29.756629Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-25T22:50:59.000342Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-25T22:50:58.593526Z",
"date": "2026-01-14",
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"city": "Alexandria",
"longitude": -77.04692,
"latitude": 38.80484,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"5262t\">Hannah Natanson, a reporter for The Washington Post, was the target of a federal search warrant on her home in Alexandria, Virginia, the early hours of Jan. 14, 2026, in connection with an investigation into a government contractor accused of illegally retaining classified materials, the Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/01/14/washington-post-reporter-search/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"dpvi3\">Natanson, who covers Trump’s reshaping of the government, was at her home when FBI agents executed the search and seized her phone, Garmin watch and two laptops — one personal and the other issued by the Post. Natanson could not immediately be reached for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"bka6\">According to the Post, investigators told Natanson that the focus of the probe is Aurelio Perez-Lugones, a systems administrator in Maryland with top-secret security clearance. He was <a href=\"https://www.baltimoresun.com/2026/01/09/contractor-classified-documents/\">arrested</a> Jan. 8 and <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299/gov.uscourts.mdd.597299.1.1.pdf\">charged</a> with unlawful retention of national defense information after agents found classified materials in his vehicle. Perez-Lugones has not been charged with disseminating the materials.</p><p data-block-key=\"adt0f\">In April 2025, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pam-bondi-targets-journalists-leakers-as-us-attorney-general/\">reversed the Biden-era policies</a> that protected journalists from having their records seized or from being forced to testify in connection with leak investigations. She asserted, however, that such measures would only be used as a last resort.</p><p data-block-key=\"12cki\">The Post reported that the search warrant and device seizures marked Natanson’s first interaction with investigators.</p><p data-block-key=\"avjdv\">In a statement <a href=\"https://x.com/AGPamBondi/status/2011456849711612019\">posted to social media</a>, Bondi alleged that Natanson was “obtaining and reporting classified and illegally leaked information from a Pentagon contractor.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7fjrk\">“The leaker is currently behind bars,” Bondi continued. “The Trump Administration will not tolerate illegal leaks of classified information that, when reported, pose a grave risk to our Nation’s national security and the brave men and women who are serving our country.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aahrv\">The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"59wh0\">Hannah Natanson, reporter for The Washington Post, pictured above, was the target of a federal search warrant on Jan. 14, 2026. As part of an investigation into a government contractor, FBI agents searched her Virginia home and seized several devices.</p>",
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{
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"equipment": "cellphone"
},
{
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"equipment": "computer"
},
{
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"equipment": "miscellaneous equipment"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "recording equipment"
},
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "storage device"
}
],
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"state": {
"name": "Virginia",
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},
"updates": [
"(2026-01-21 22:03:00+00:00) Judge rules government can’t search reporter’s devices",
"(2026-02-24 22:14:00+00:00) Court says it will search journalist’s seized devices, not federal government"
],
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"tags": [
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"categories": [
"Equipment Search or Seizure",
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],
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"Hannah Natanson (The Washington Post)"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist pushed to the ground, pepper-sprayed at Minneapolis protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-to-the-ground-pepper-sprayed-at-minneapolis-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-20T16:56:06.661613Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-20T16:56:06.661613Z",
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"date": "2026-01-13",
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"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
"latitude": 44.97997,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"mvxhj\">Freelance photojournalist Tim Evans was shoved and pushed to the ground by federal officers while reporting on protests around an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 13, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"bcf1l\">Protests erupted in January in response to a federal immigration crackdown in the state, escalating further after the <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-minneapolis-victim-renee-good-d95e86716eec328a288866108acf78eb\">fatal shooting</a> of Renee Good in her car by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"e4rdb\">Evans told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for Reuters documenting ICE operations that day and had learned of an active house raid in the Central neighborhood of Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"ck3sh\">“I showed up on the scene along with other photographers around 9:40 a.m., as federal agents were knocking on the front door of a house. Observers had started to gather outside, whistling and shouting at agents to leave as they attempted to get the occupants to open the door,” he wrote in an account for the Tracker. “When agents brought out two Hispanic youths, the crowd became more upset, and scuffles broke out between agents and onlookers.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7um24\">Evans wrote that numerous individuals were tackled and detained, prompting him to put on his helmet, which bore labels that read “PRESS” in all caps.</p><p data-block-key=\"dfch8\">Approximately 20 minutes later, federal agents dragged a woman — who said she was trying to reach her doctor’s office — out of her vehicle at an intersection nearby.</p><p data-block-key=\"7cnrp\">“As she was being carried by her arms and legs to a federal vehicle, I was photographing from down low in order to see her face, alongside numerous media,” Evans wrote. “Agents shouted at people to move back, and one of them shoved me hard in the shoulder, knocking me over onto my back.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2lo02\">A couple of fellow journalists helped him back to his feet, and Evans continued to document the scene. The photojournalist said the situation continued to devolve over the next 20 minutes, with agents indiscriminately deploying tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"1hqe0\">When agents began to leave the area, Evans wrote that he saw a federal vehicle begin to drive past him, so he stepped forward to photograph the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"44cec\">“As the vehicle passed, an agent shot pepper spray from out of his window, indiscriminately spraying numerous people,” he said. “I was sprayed directly in the eyes, which immediately blinded me.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5h0or\">Evans said he called out for a colleague, who was able to help him retrieve a decontamination wipe and then led him to a nearby church after a disorientation weapon exploded behind them.</p><p data-block-key=\"8p8f5\">“I was unable to see as we walked. As we crossed the parking lot, tear gas engulfed us. I immediately began coughing and spitting and couldn’t breathe well,” Evans wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"9c3lb\">He was able to rinse most of the chemical irritant from his face and return to his team outside, but said that his face continued to burn throughout the afternoon.</p><p data-block-key=\"3cnoq\">Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor ICE responded to requests for comment or additional information about the protest response that day. In a statement released the previous day, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the agency’s presence in Minnesota but did not address the reported use of force against journalists.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-14T220929Z_1397254565_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"9p8eb\">A woman is pulled from her vehicle and detained by federal agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 13, 2026. Moments after taking the photo, freelance photojournalist Tim Evans was shoved to the ground by federal officers.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
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"assailant": "law enforcement",
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"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
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},
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"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest"
],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
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],
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},
{
"title": "Nevada judge briefly restricts media coverage of high-profile trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nevada-judge-briefly-restricts-media-coverage-of-high-profile-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-16T16:18:42.769719Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-04T14:22:41.664175Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-04T14:22:41.489999Z",
"date": "2026-01-13",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Las Vegas",
"longitude": -115.13722,
"latitude": 36.17497,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"0ht7z\">A Nevada judge imposed restrictions on media coverage in a prominent sexual assault trial in Las Vegas on Jan. 13, 2026, before modifying the order after objections from the Las Vegas Review-Journal.</p><p data-block-key=\"b6tgt\">The initial decision occurred as reporters prepared to cover the high-profile case of Nathan Chasing Horse, an actor who appeared in the 1990 movie “Dances with Wolves.” He is accused of sexually assaulting multiple women in the Native American community under the guise of his role as a self-proclaimed spiritual leader and healer.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bn68\">Clark County District Judge Jessica Peterson issued a decorum order that barred interviews with witnesses or other parties at the courthouse while the trial is underway. It restricted the media from publishing any identifying information about victims without permission and about a police officer who was testifying.</p><p data-block-key=\"9orbk\">Later that day, Review-Journal attorney Benjamin Lipman sent a letter to the court arguing the restrictions violated the First Amendment and amounted to an unconstitutional prior restraint.</p><p data-block-key=\"603h5\">“Attending court proceedings is a constitutional right, not a mere privilege,” the letter said.</p><p data-block-key=\"7thh7\">The next day, Peterson issued a revised decorum order removing the interview prohibition and narrowing the publication restrictions.</p><p data-block-key=\"9eh5n\">In a statement, the judge said her order had been used by the district court previously without issue, but that she decided that provisions challenged by the news organization could be seen as overly broad, <a href=\"https://www.reviewjournal.com/crime/judge-tried-to-restrict-media-coverage-in-trial-for-dances-with-wolves-actor-then-changed-course-3607266/\">the Review-Journal reported.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"eb5ts\">The amended order now allows media interviews so long as jurors cannot overhear them and witnesses do not discuss their testimony.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP26013705259370.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"154eo\">Judge Jessica Peterson, right, briefly imposed restrictions on media coverage of the sexual assault trial of actor Nathan Chasing Horse, left, on Jan. 13, 2026, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She reversed course the next day.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
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"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
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"assailant": null,
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"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": "dropped",
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "Nevada",
"abbreviation": "NV"
},
"updates": [
"(2026-01-21 21:09:00+00:00) Nevada judge demands media not name victim, ejects Review-Journal for not complying",
"(2026-01-28 13:52:00+00:00) Appeals court says judge violated Constitution by ejecting Review-Journal"
],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [],
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"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Prior Restraint"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist shot at with pepper balls amid immigration operation",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-at-with-pepper-balls-amid-immigration-operation/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-20T16:51:58.030543Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-20T16:51:58.030543Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-20T16:45:09.092969Z",
"date": "2026-01-12",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Minneapolis",
"longitude": -93.26384,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"ignbt\">Freelance photojournalist Tim Evans was shot at with pepper balls and subjected to other chemical irritants by federal agents while reporting on an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 12, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"8p2f8\">Protests erupted in January in response to a federal immigration crackdown in the state, escalating further after the <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-minneapolis-victim-renee-good-d95e86716eec328a288866108acf78eb\">fatal shooting</a> of Renee Good in her car by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.</p><p data-block-key=\"b35ub\">Evans told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was on assignment for Reuters covering ICE operations in the city. He arrived to cover an active scene after agents crashed into a Hispanic man’s car and then questioned the man about his immigration status.</p><p data-block-key=\"822r6\">“A crowd of at least a dozen observers and community members had already formed and were whistling and shouting at the agents when my colleagues and I arrived at the scene,” Evans wrote in an account for the Tracker. “A long standoff ensued as the crowd of onlookers, media, and agents grew, with dozens of agents present at the peak.”</p><p data-block-key=\"29kd8\">Over the following 30 minutes, Evans said the situation continued to deteriorate, with federal agents deploying multiple rounds of tear gas and firing pepper balls at those assembled. Amid the chaos, an agent deliberately targeted the photojournalist with crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"33ej4\">“An agent from the Bureau of Prisons shot numerous pepper balls directly at my feet from about a meter away,” Evans wrote. “As the agent shot toward me, I held my camera and hands up, yelling, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, hey, hey, hey! Press, press!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"4jk64\">He told the Tracker it was clear he was targeted, as he was easily identifiable as a journalist, with his press credentials around his neck, large “PRESS” labels in all caps on his helmet and vest, and a large, professional camera in his hands.</p><p data-block-key=\"51a71\">When federal agents prepared to leave the scene, Evans wrote that they deployed additional tear gas, while one agent leaned out of his window and indiscriminately pepper-sprayed everyone standing alongside the road.</p><p data-block-key=\"2580u\">“This included me, at least four other media members, and onlookers,” he told the Tracker. “I was sprayed in the hands, which burned for a couple of hours after. When I incidentally touched my face, it left my eyes and lips burning.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cij7b\">Evans, who <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?targeted_journalists=Tim%20Evans\">has covered protests</a> since at least 2021, said that federal agents in Minneapolis were regularly deploying crowd-control munitions in a way that he felt was completely unnecessary.</p><p data-block-key=\"8a7ra\">“No one there is posing an imminent threat. If people are standing on the sidewalk or even in the street in a situation where a scene is active, and you’re planning to leave, I don’t understand the tactical benefit or logic or justification for casually throwing tear gas canisters out of a car door as you’re driving away,” Evans said. “It feels punitive.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c4sp6\">Neither the Department of Homeland Security nor Bureau of Prisons responded to requests for comment or additional information about the protest response that day.</p><p data-block-key=\"3kdei\">In a statement released Jan. 12, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the agency’s presence in Minnesota but did not address the reported use of munitions against journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"4l4gk\">In a Jan. 16 <a href=\"https://x.com/BOPDirector/status/2012232527126147275\">post on social media</a>, BOP Director William Marshall III wrote that the agency was “proud of our Special Operations Response Teams, who are standing with our @TheJusticeDept and @DHSgov law enforcement partners in Minnesota.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2p5e0\">“You are keeping communities safe and stand as an example of what real service looks like - showing up, holding the line, and protecting public safety,” Marshall continued.</p><p data-block-key=\"fhnkg\">Both the city of Minneapolis and the state <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/12/us/minneapolis-immigration-officers-mobilizing-protests\">sued the Trump administration</a> that day, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"ufb6c\">Federal agents deploy a tear gas canister after an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 12, 2026. Photojournalist Tim Evans was shot at with pepper balls and exposed to chemical irritants while covering the protest.</p>",
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{
"title": "Photographer struck with crowd-control munition by federal officer in Minnesota",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-struck-with-crowd-control-munition-by-federal-officer-in-minnesota/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-15T19:13:32.779280Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"qn0nb\">Photojournalist Jon Farina was shot with a crowd-control munition by Department of Homeland Security agents while reporting on immigration-related protests outside a federal building in the Minneapolis suburb of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Jan. 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"e3hgc\">The Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building has been a focal point of protests for its use as a base for the federal immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities area. Demonstrations escalated after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/minneapolis-ice-shooting-immigration-crackdown-01-10-26\">fatally shot Renee Good</a> Jan. 7 while officers were conducting a raid in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"ahkst\">Farina and reporter JT Cestkowski were reporting for the news outlet Status Coup, <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/statuscoupnews.bsky.social/post/3mc6uwecf322y\">livestreaming</a> as protesters gathered outside the facility following reports that federal officers had deployed tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"e1650\">Cestkowski told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that things were calm when they first arrived.</p><p data-block-key=\"55nf7\">“But agents were sort of in this pattern of, every 30-45 minutes or so, they would come out into the crowd and deploy tear gas, flash bangs, pepper balls, pepper spray,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"c1f7a\">Several hours into their reporting, the journalists were interviewing a demonstrator who had been detained for seven hours in the Whipple building and had just been released. They were across the street, where agents had directed the crowd to stand.</p><p data-block-key=\"ftpu7\">“We were hearing her story when the agent started firing off flash-bang grenades and tear gas canisters and the like,” Cestkowski said.</p><p data-block-key=\"da668\">Shortly after, in the livestream footage, Farina is heard telling Cestkowski, “I got hit with something, my leg is hurting.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1ijcr\">Cestkowski told the Tracker that, at the time, they believed Farina had been struck by a stun grenade. Afterward, Farina said he thought it was more likely to have been a pepper ball, based on the size of the red welt it left.</p><p data-block-key=\"4t34s\">Approximately two minutes later, while Cestkowski was interviewing a 16-year-old demonstrator, federal officers launched a second volley at the crowd and the reporter was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shot-twice-with-pepper-balls-by-federal-officer-in-minnesota\">shot with pepper balls</a> in the buttocks and back of his arm. Cestkowski told the Tracker that he did not suffer any injury or bruising as a result, crediting his thick winter clothing layers.</p><p data-block-key=\"14mts\">Cestkowski said that throughout the day, both he and Farina were also repeatedly caught in the clouds of tear gas and impacted by the deployment of stun grenades.</p><p data-block-key=\"45vm8\">“No distinction was made between press and protesters,” he added. “Those weapons aren’t precise. And certainly in the way they were used that night, there was no precision as to who they were targeting. They were just blanket firing into the whole crowd.”</p><p data-block-key=\"27l7d\">In the livestream footage of the news crew’s coverage, Cestkowski can be seen wearing large press credentials around his neck and carrying a mic bearing the Status Coup logo. Farina was also wearing credentials and was carrying a professional camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"3vub1\">Cestkowski said they left the protest shortly after because they were both “fried.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dut8f\">“When you go running away from that stuff, you don’t need to run very far, but it feels like the longest sprint of your life because you’re not only worried about being in the line of fire or taking the stuff in,” he said. “You have to be aware of your surroundings — I’m trying to look out for Jon, Jon’s trying to look out for me — and just keeping yourself safe. It’s very mentally and physically taxing to go through that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cvu06\">Neither DHS nor ICE responded to requests for comment or additional information about the protest response that day. In a statement released Jan. 12, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the agency’s presence in Minnesota but did not address the reported use of munitions against journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"3megl\">Both the city of Minneapolis and the state have since <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/12/us/minneapolis-immigration-officers-mobilizing-protests\">sued the Trump administration</a>, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"74w8a\">Status Coup photojournalist Jon Farina filmed the scene above as federal agents deployed tear gas at protesters outside the Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Jan. 11, 2026. Moments later, he was struck with a crowd-control munition.</p>",
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{
"title": "Reporter shot twice with pepper balls by federal officer in Minnesota",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shot-twice-with-pepper-balls-by-federal-officer-in-minnesota/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-15T19:10:49.057933Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"azcz3\">JT Cestkowski, a reporter for the news outlet Status Coup, was shot in the arm and buttocks with pepper balls by Department of Homeland Security agents while reporting on protests outside a federal building in the Minneapolis suburb of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Jan. 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"6kmbp\">The Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building has been a focal point of protests for its use as a base for the federal immigration crackdown in the Twin Cities area. Demonstrations escalated after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/minneapolis-ice-shooting-immigration-crackdown-01-10-26\">fatally shot Renee Good</a> while officers were conducting an operation Jan. 7 in Minneapolis.</p><p data-block-key=\"8lmg6\">Cestkowski told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was reporting alongside photojournalist Jon Farina, livestreaming as protesters gathered outside the facility following reports that federal officers had deployed tear gas.</p><p data-block-key=\"9v13s\">“When we first walked up, things were calm,” he said. “But agents were sort of in this pattern of, every 30-45 minutes or so, they would come out into the crowd and deploy tear gas, flash bangs, pepper balls, pepper spray.”</p><p data-block-key=\"dla12\">Several hours into their reporting, the journalists were interviewing a demonstrator who had been detained for seven hours in the Whipple building and had just been released. They were across the street, where agents had directed the crowd to stand.</p><p data-block-key=\"8e1ma\">“We were hearing her story when the agent started firing off flash-bang grenades and tear gas canisters and the like,” Cestkowski said. He added that, at the time, he and Farina believed <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-struck-with-crowd-control-munition-by-federal-officer-in-minnesota\">Farina had been struck</a> by one of those munitions, but later determined, based on the bruising, that it was more likely a pepper ball.</p><p data-block-key=\"7r0cv\">Approximately two minutes later, while Cestkowski was interviewing a 16-year-old demonstrator, federal officers launched a second volley at the crowd.</p><p data-block-key=\"aier0\">“Again, we were standing on the side of the street where people had been directed to stand, and yet the girl we were interviewing got hit in the foot and I myself got hit in my behind and in the back of my arm,” he told the Tracker. He said that he did not suffer any injury or bruising as a result, crediting his thick winter clothing layers.</p><p data-block-key=\"bt6uq\">Cestkowski said that throughout the day, both he and Farina were also repeatedly caught in the clouds of tear gas and impacted by the deployment of stun grenades.</p><p data-block-key=\"a7l89\">“No distinction was made between press and protesters,” he added. “Those weapons aren’t precise. And certainly in the way they were used that night, there was no precision as to who they were targeting. They were just blanket firing into the whole crowd.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aj8e6\">In the <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/statuscoupnews.bsky.social/post/3mc6uwecf322y\">livestream footage</a> of the news crew’s coverage, Cestkowski can be seen wearing large press credentials around his neck and carrying a mic bearing the Status Coup logo. Farina was also wearing credentials and was carrying a professional camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"58o0d\">Cestkowski said they left the protest shortly after because they were both “fried.”</p><p data-block-key=\"b2301\">“When you go running away from that stuff, you don’t need to run very far, but it feels like the longest sprint of your life because you’re not only worried about being in the line of fire or taking the stuff in,” he said. “You have to be aware of your surroundings — I’m trying to look out for Jon, Jon’s trying to look out for me — and just keeping yourself safe. It’s very mentally and physically taxing to go through that.”</p><p data-block-key=\"84hr\">Neither DHS nor ICE responded to requests for comment or additional information about the protest response that day. In a statement released Jan. 12, Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin defended the agency’s presence in Minnesota but did not address the reported use of munitions against journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"777c3\">Both the city of Minneapolis and the state have since <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/12/us/minneapolis-immigration-officers-mobilizing-protests\">sued the Trump administration</a>, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Cestkowski_-_MN_assault.5ead1a17.fill-1330x880.png",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2ans7\">Status Coup reporter JT Cestkowski, center, livestreamed his coverage of immigration-related protests outside a federal building in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Jan. 11, 2026. He was shot with two pepper balls by federal officers later that evening.</p>",
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"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
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{
"title": "Reporter hospitalized after hit by stun grenade at Minnesota protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-hospitalized-after-hit-by-stun-grenade-at-minnesota-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-15T20:18:38.078630Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-01-16T19:47:07.937362Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"oyoqn\">MintPress News reporter Jalyssa Dugrot suffered a concussion after she was struck in the face and legs by crowd-control munitions while reporting on an immigration protest in the Minneapolis suburb of Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Jan. 11, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"bmdu2\">Protests in the state have erupted after a federal immigration enforcement surge and the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. Both the city of Minneapolis and the state have since <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/12/us/minneapolis-immigration-officers-mobilizing-protests\">sued the Trump administration</a>, arguing the unprecedented deployment of federal agents violates constitutional rights.</p><p data-block-key=\"92la6\">Dugrot told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was reporting outside the Whipple Federal Building, which houses ICE in a complex in Fort Snelling, bordering Minneapolis, when law enforcement declared the protest unlawful. They began deploying stun grenades, tear gas, pepper balls and rubber pellets into the crowd of journalists and demonstrators.</p><p data-block-key=\"310s0\">“When they deployed these munitions, they were targeting everyone,” Dugrot said. “It didn’t matter if you were press or a demonstrator, because we were kind of mixed in with the crowd.”</p><p data-block-key=\"2noul\">Dugrot said that as law enforcement surged forward, she was struggling to record on her phone with her gloved hand when a flash-bang grenade landed at her feet.</p><p data-block-key=\"8stsv\">“I just looked right at it, and it detonated,” she said. “Having one detonate practically in my face was so surreal. My vision went completely white, and my ears immediately rang.”</p><p data-block-key=\"411tt\">The munition scattered shrapnel into Dugrot’s face near her eyes and made her dizzy and nauseous.</p><p data-block-key=\"6c1vv\">Dugrot said the blast also tore off her lavalier microphone, which was lost in the chaos, shattered her phone’s camera and cracked the phone’s screen.</p><p data-block-key=\"ba4n7\">Immediately after, however, while still in shock, Dugrot reported from the scene one more time.</p><p data-block-key=\"30fjc\">“As you can see, I was flash-banged in my face. I have safety goggles on right now for my safety. And I was shot in the legs,” Dugrot reported in a video <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DTZFTj2kbmN/\">posted to Instagram</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"30n6q\">She later lost consciousness and had to be taken to a hospital. Dugrot said she is taking the rest of the month off to recover, after being diagnosed with a concussion and suffering bruised legs, ongoing vision blurriness in her left eye and a painful ringing in her ears.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Last night, Minneapolis Police and Federal officers of Prisons unleashed flash bangs, tear gas, and pellets at protesters and journalists during an anti-ICE demonstration in front of the Whipple Federal Building—the official headquarters of ICE in Minnesota.<br><br>While covering this… <a href=\"https://t.co/kR0zKmO0at\">pic.twitter.com/kR0zKmO0at</a></p>— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/MintPressNews/status/2010744007421571478?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 12, 2026</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=\"oyoqn\">“This kind of shook me up a bit,” Dugrot said. “With my logical mind, I understand that it’s a job, so I will go back out again. But with my emotional mind, I’m worried that it could get worse.”</p><p data-block-key=\"147eh\">In <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DTaqZIRCAlu/\">an update</a> the next day, MintPress reported that federal officers and the Minneapolis Police Department were deploying the munitions (a police spokesman denied involvement to the Tracker).</p><p data-block-key=\"906r9\">ICE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p><p data-block-key=\"eec9t\">Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, in a statement released Jan. 12, defended the agency’s presence in Minnesota but did not address the reported use of munitions against journalists.</p><p data-block-key=\"emj8p\"><i>Correction: A photo used previously in this report was edited in a way that introduced inaccuracies and has been replaced.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"oe7e1\">MintPress News journalist Jalyssa Dugrot reports, at left, and shows an injury to her face, at right, after she was struck with crowd-control munitions while covering an immigration protest in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area on Jan. 11, 2026.</p>",
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"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jalyssa Dugrot (MintPress News)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Reporters affected by chemical irritants, coverage impeded at LA protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporters-affected-by-chemical-irritants-coverage-impeded-at-la-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-20T20:28:46.715545Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-20T20:28:46.715545Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-20T20:28:46.543486Z",
"date": "2026-01-10",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Los Angeles",
"longitude": -118.24368,
"latitude": 34.05223,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"781qa\"><i>Demonstrations broke out in January 2026 in Los Angeles, California, against escalating federal immigration raids, along with similar protests nationwide, including in</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/press-exposed-to-tear-gas-other-chemical-irritants-at-minnesota-protests/\"><i>Minnesota</i></a><i>, where federal officers shot and killed two U.S. citizens.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"e6j9\"><i>In LA, sweeping immigration enforcement began</i> <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/08/us/la-protests-national-guard-trump.html\"><i>in June</i></a><i>, and many demonstrations since then have centered around the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown, where immigrants are being held. Police and federal officers have deployed tear gas, pepper spray and impact projectiles to disperse the crowds.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"c27l7\"><i>Reporters on the ground described being exposed to the various chemical irritants, as well as being impeded from doing their work, much like what occurred</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/at-la-area-protests-in-june-press-denied-access-exposed-to-chemical-irritants-more/\"><i>during June protest coverage</i></a><i>. Although these January incidents do not constitute official press freedom violations under the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s criteria, we’ve provided a roundup of them below, organized by date (our reporting on the formal press freedom violations we cataloged in LA during January is</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_lower=2026-01-01&date_upper=2026-01-31&city=Los+Angeles&tags=protest\"><i>here</i></a><i>, and see our coverage of the lawsuits filed against the</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-struck-with-baton-finger-injured-amid-protests-in-downtown-la/\"><i>LA Police Department</i></a><i> and</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-with-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-immigration-protest/\"><i>Department of Homeland Security</i></a><i> over its treatment of journalists).</i></p><p data-block-key=\"coggi\"><i>This roundup will be updated as additional incidents are verified. To date, law enforcement agencies have not responded to multiple requests for comment.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"eu7rk\"><i>To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit our</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\"><i>FAQ page.</i></a></p><h3 data-block-key=\"7jfj9\">Jan. 10, 2026</h3><ul><li data-block-key=\"bmqvh\">After the LA Police Department issued a dispersal order for protesters near the detention center, officers directed independent journalist <b>Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</b> and other media to move to a designated “safe zone,” instead of letting them continue reporting from their location. In a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3mc4j4wlnmk2w\">video</a> Beckner-Carmitchel shared on the social media platform Bluesky, an officer can be heard making the announcement over a megaphone: “Any member of the media, you have been warned, a dispersal order has been given. If you have ‘press’ on your helmet, ‘press’ on your vest, you have been issued a dispersal order. There is a safe zone for you here if you are a member of the press.”</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"ascqc\">Jan. 27, 2026</h3><ul><li data-block-key=\"d5cs3\">California Post reporter <b>Jamie Paige</b> was peppered with insults by individuals who disrupted a police commission meeting, <a href=\"https://nypost.com/2026/01/27/us-news/lefties-hijack-lapd-meeting-try-to-silence-california-post/\">the outlet</a> reported. People attending the meeting at LAPD headquarters tried to physically block her camera from filming, refused to answer questions and yelled at her.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"e576m\">Jan. 30, 2026</h3><ul><li data-block-key=\"6qlip\"><b>Moon Mandel</b>, a freelance photojournalist, was exposed to chemical irritants by federal officers while documenting protests in downtown LA. “When the Department of Homeland Security started utilizing pepper bullets and tear gas, I lost the ability to see and vomited at least four times,” Mandel told the Tracker. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-twice-with-baton-amid-la-immigration-protests/\">Also that day</a>, they were hit twice with a baton by an LA police officer.</li><li data-block-key=\"8g52k\">CNN correspondent <b>Veronica Miracle</b> was affected by pepper spray as she covered downtown protests. “There’s so much of the pepper spray still in the air and so, so many people around us coughing and gagging, including us,” she said in a <a href=\"https://www.mediaite.com/media/news/i-just-got-hit-cnn-reporter-chokes-live-on-camera-as-trump-ice-agents-fire-irritants-at-protesters/\">segment</a> for CNN’s “OutFront.” And while reporting live from protests that day, she was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-correspondent-shot-with-pepper-ball-amid-live-report-on-la-protest/\">shot in the leg</a> with a pepper ball fired by a federal agent.</li><li data-block-key=\"5kg4u\">Photographer <b>Anna Moltke</b> told the Tracker she was affected when police fired chemical irritants while she was reporting from a downtown protest. The residue seeped into her clothes and caused her to cough, even after she left the area. Also that day, she was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shoved-to-the-ground-by-police-at-la-immigration-protest/\">pushed to the ground</a> by an officer.</li><li data-block-key=\"dtalg\">Student photojournalist<b> Griffin O’Rourke</b> told the Tracker he was engulfed in tear gas fired by federal officers at a protest. The irritant seeped behind his goggles and forced him to wash out his eyes. “I was practically blind from the tear gas,” he said. Also that day, he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-pelted-with-projectiles-at-la-immigration-protest/\">struck in the knees</a> with crowd-control munitions.</li><li data-block-key=\"evfs9\"><b>Dexter Thomas,</b> an independent journalist, said he was affected after federal agents doused a crowd of protesters with pepper spray. “I came home with my skin burning,” Thomas told the Tracker.</li><li data-block-key=\"79jhb\">L.A. Taco reporter <b>Lexis-Olivier Ray</b> was tear-gassed by federal officers while covering a protest. He also felt the effects of chemical irritants in his throat and lungs, and a lingering fiery sensation on his arms. “It was certainly a very chaotic scene,” he told the Tracker. “I got hit with a significant amount of pepper spray, so I do question whether or not they were just aiming at me directly.” Also that day, he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pepper-sprayed-shoved-at-la-immigration-protest/\">shoved by police.</a></li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"bpm4l\">Jan. 31, 2026</h3><ul><li data-block-key=\"dvpfn\">Reporter <b>Alexandra Datig</b> was heckled by people at a protest who called her a “propaganda journalist” and accused her of being a right-wing influencer<b>.</b> “We don’t want you here,” someone can be heard saying <a href=\"https://x.com/anthonycabassa/status/2017834633686396996?s=20\">in a video posted to X</a>, while another yells, “Just leave!” Datig later <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DUNPpmfDX5b/?hl=en\">posted on Instagram</a> about the experience, saying, “I’m really, really disgusted and outraged that these people would target me as a journalist. To target anybody who is out there taking video of a protest and target them for being on the ‘left’ or the ‘right’ is ridiculous.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">🛑 STOP TARGETING AND PROFILING JOURNALISTS!! Stopped at LAPD HQ to see what is going around about my encounter with protesters on social media. Here’s what I have to say: Targeting me as a journalist is a violation of my CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS as an American Citizen!! People who… <a href=\"https://t.co/Ep0CmyOWq6\">pic.twitter.com/Ep0CmyOWq6</a></p>— Alexandra Datig | Front Page Index 🇺🇸 (@alexdatig) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/alexdatig/status/2017861857911197886?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 1, 2026</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\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"781qa\">Freelance photojournalist<b> Moon Mandel</b> told the Tracker they were exposed to tear gas while documenting a protest. They were also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-pepper-balls-detained-amid-la-youth-protest/\">struck with multiple pepper balls</a> fired by federal officers that day and detained by police. “Multiple shots to the body, hand, and then they hit me in the ear, which hurt a lot,” Mandel said.</li><li data-block-key=\"dqtek\"><b>Lexis-Olivier Ray</b>, a reporter with L.A. Taco, told the Tracker he was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pelted-with-projectiles-kettled-at-la-protest/\">pelted in the legs</a> with pepper balls fired by police at a protest. Also that day, he was threatened with arrest while detained in a police kettle.</li></ul></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-31T001627Z_2064271684_RC2.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"0w762\">Federal officers respond to a protest against immigration raids in Los Angeles, California, on Jan. 30, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
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"targeted_institutions": [
"Media"
],
"tags": [
"chemical irritant",
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"student journalism"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Other Incident"
],
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist covering Minnesota ICE protest hit with crowd-control projectile",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-covering-minnesota-ice-protest-hit-with-crowd-control-projectile/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-16T16:34:50.837437Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-01-16T16:34:50.837437Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-01-16T16:34:50.738803Z",
"date": "2026-01-09",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fort Snelling",
"longitude": null,
"latitude": null,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"475kd\">Photojournalist KingDemetrius Pendleton was shot in the foot with a crowd-control munition round fired by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer while covering a protest outside a federal building near Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 9, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"7dqsr\">Protests erupted after the <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/ice-shooting-minneapolis-victim-renee-good-d95e86716eec328a288866108acf78eb\">fatal shooting</a> Jan. 7 of Renee Good in her car by an ICE officer, amid a federal immigration enforcement surge in the state.</p><p data-block-key=\"blddo\">Pendleton, the founder of <a href=\"https://listenmedia.org/meet-the-team/\">Listen Media</a>, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a protest taking place in front of the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in Fort Snelling, bordering Minneapolis, where the area’s ICE operations are based.</p><p data-block-key=\"5oid2\">Pendleton, who posted a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/reel/639717369198447\">video</a> of the incident and its aftermath on Facebook, said he was photographing and taking video of protesters, as well as of several pro-ICE, pro-Trump administration counterprotesters.</p><p data-block-key=\"1jq\">“I was wearing my press credentials, including my PRESS black vest, and holding my cameras and live streaming on my phone with my tripod,” he <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/demetrius.pendleton.5/posts/pfbid0Zmr3gZZy8gXJGaTj51HyDKK2FCy22mX295XjJJjL77yYxPshfP5QHP38DwSAb1MMl?rdid=e3CgGiIIXgBXNvFp#\">wrote</a> on Facebook.</p><p data-block-key=\"9ah0g\">He went on to write that ICE officers were telling protesters to back up as they were bringing in barricades. “I was following their directives and backing up when an ICE agent targeted me and hit me in my right foot with a canister round.”</p><p data-block-key=\"8odik\">“I was doing exactly what I was told to do. I was visibly identifiable as press. And still, I was shot,” Pendleton wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vmls\">He wrote that he was rushed to the emergency room by another person at the protest because he was in a lot of pain. “Thankfully, nothing is broken,” he said, adding that he was told the injury would take four to six weeks to heal.</p><p data-block-key=\"bo9k6\">Pendleton told the Tracker that his tripod was also broken in the incident. He said he dropped everything when his foot was hit, due to the pain, and that he was saved from further injury by the sturdy work boots he was wearing.</p><p data-block-key=\"2mf0p\">“Journalists shouldn’t have to worry about being shot at while doing their job. This is another reason why protecting local, independent media is so important,” he wrote on Facebook.</p><p data-block-key=\"bk8b5\">ICE did not respond to a request for comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Pendleton_-_MN_assault.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vqsxd\">Photojournalist KingDemetrius Pendleton, behind the camera at left and following his injury at right, was shot in the foot with a crowd-control munition fired by a federal officer while covering a protest near Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 9, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": "law enforcement",
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
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"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": "law enforcement",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [
{
"quantity": 1,
"equipment": "camera equipment"
}
],
"state": {
"name": "Minnesota",
"abbreviation": "MN"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration",
"protest",
"shot / shot at"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault",
"Equipment Damage"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"KingDemetrius Pendleton (Listen Media)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "TV photojournalist struck by car while covering California protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-photojournalist-struck-by-car-while-covering-california-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2026-02-23T20:32:19.505128Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-23T20:32:19.505128Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-23T19:24:00.747337Z",
"date": "2026-01-08",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Fresno",
"longitude": -119.77237,
"latitude": 36.74773,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"uaey1\">A KGPE/KSEE photographer was hit by a car while covering a protest against immigration raids in Fresno, California, on Jan. 8, 2026.</p><p data-block-key=\"u67d\">The demonstration followed similar protests in Minnesota after federal officers shot and killed U.S. citizen <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000010631041/minneapolis-ice-shooting-video.html\">Renee Good</a> during an immigration operation.</p><p data-block-key=\"be9lj\">As protesters marched through downtown Fresno, chanting and expressing their frustrations, the photographer was struck by a sedan. His camera was still recording when the collision happened.</p><p data-block-key=\"5tmqh\">“We all heard the very distinct sound of a car coming to an abrupt stop,” reporter Katherine Phillips <a href=\"https://www.yourcentralvalley.com/news/local-news/cameraman-hit-by-car-fresno/\">said in a TV segment</a> that night, adding that she heard the impact and saw protesters gathering around the scene.</p><p data-block-key=\"5f1g7\">“I started filming to see what was going on,” she said in the program, which did not identify the photographer. “I see the camera in the road, and my heart sunk. I just knew it was him.”</p><p data-block-key=\"248eq\">After the collision, the photographer was attended by paramedics and, after being checked at a hospital, was discharged with only minor injuries and returned to the newsroom that same night, the TV station reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"164b5\">Police told the news outlet that the crash was not intentional and was not believed to be connected to the protest; the driver was not arrested.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/Screenshot_2026-02-17_at_4.59.07P.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.png",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"2ge6b\">Video shot by a KGPE/KSEE photographer just before he was hit by a car while covering a protest in Fresno, California, on Jan. 8, 2026.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
"release_date": null,
"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
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"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
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"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": "no",
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
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"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
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"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"immigration",
"protest"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Assault"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Unidentified photojournalist 46 (KGPE/KSEE)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": []
},
{
"title": "Rep. Anna Paulina Luna targets press while on House Oversight Committee",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rep-anna-paulina-luna-targets-press-while-on-house-oversight-committee/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-16T19:14:33.078685Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-01-16T19:14:33.078685Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-01-16T19:14:29.857474Z",
"date": "2026-01-07",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Washington",
"longitude": -77.03637,
"latitude": 38.89511,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9b23w\">Nearly a year into President Donald Trump’s second term, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, a Republican member of Congress from Florida, joined Trump and others in his administration to punish and intimidate journalists that have covered them critically. We’re documenting her efforts in this regularly updated report.</p><p data-block-key=\"6l7qu\">Read about how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, crack down on leaks, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/blog/trump-allies-pursue-multipronged-campaign-against-the-press/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cadau\"><i>This article was first published on Jan. 16, 2026.</i></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><p><a id=\"top\" name=\"top\"></a></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9b23w\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"ah654\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#Jan 7\">Jan. 7, 2026 | U.S. representative moves to subpoena journalist, recommends criminal probe</a>\r\n</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"9b23w\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"7aa4p\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><a id=\"Jan 7\" name=\"Jan 7\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"9b23w\">Jan. 7, 2026 | U.S. representative moves to subpoena journalist, recommends criminal probe</h4><p data-block-key=\"38hqp\">On Jan. 7, 2026, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna <a href=\"https://x.com/RepLuna/status/2008999921257730428\">introduced a motion</a> for the House Oversight Committee to subpoena journalist Seth Harp after he reported on the identity of an Army commander allegedly involved in the abduction of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.</p><p data-block-key=\"8jan8\">“I have made a motion to subpoena Seth Harp before Congress to face accountability for leaking classified intel about Operation Absolute Resolve, including doxxing a Delta Force commander,” Luna wrote on social media alongside a clip of her making the motion. “The media has gotten away with too much for too long and I’m sick of it. Bring him in.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fl5ub\">In a <a href=\"https://x.com/sethharpesq/status/2008305916048011296\">statement</a> about his Jan. 4 post, Harp said he had shared a photo and publicly available biography of an officer he identified as the commander of Delta Force, which was central to the Venezuelan operation the previous day. Administrators for the social platform X locked his account and required him to delete the post and others before permitting him to log back in.</p><p data-block-key=\"1jhje\">He also denied the allegations that he had doxxed the officer, calling them “ludicrous.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cr91b\">“I had posted the publicly available, online bio of a Delta Force commander, a full-bird colonel, whose identity is not classified and which anyone skilled at FOIA can ascertain. In no way did I ‘doxx’ the officer,” he wrote, specifying that his post contained no personally identifying information about the officer or his family. “What I posted is still online on Duke University’s website for all the world to see."</p><p data-block-key=\"bv9bs\">In a Jan. 7 <a href=\"https://x.com/RepLuna/status/2009048734441546173\">post on social media</a>, Luna — who chairs the Task Force on the Declassification of Federal Secrets — accused Harp of not only doxxing the commander but also leaking classified information about the Venezuela mission, Operation Absolute Resolve.</p><p data-block-key=\"49lgc\">“Putting a service member and their family in danger is dishonorable and feckless,” she wrote. She also announced that her motion to subpoena Harp passed unanimously.</p><p data-block-key=\"5idid\">“Leaking classified information demands explanation and a criminal investigation. Seth Harp will be held accountable for his actions,” Luna added.</p><p data-block-key=\"fgdgr\">Harp could not be reached as of publication. He <a href=\"https://www.cjr.org/the-interview/seth-harp-didnt-dox-delta-force-colonel-maga-subpoena.php\">told the Columbia Journalism Review</a> in an interview published Jan. 14 that the subpoena has not been issued.</p><p data-block-key=\"d0u5v\">“Subpoenas for journalists are extremely rare and often walked back,” he said. “The committee still has the opportunity to do the right thing and either not serve the subpoena, not enforce it, or vote to rescind it.</p><p data-block-key=\"7d56u\">“If instead they insist on hauling me before Congress, I will use the forum to defend the freedom of the press, condemn the entitled culture of secrecy around extralegal military units like Delta Force, and call attention to the systemic problems in the Special Forces at Fort Bragg.”</p><p data-block-key=\"286o2\">Luna also <a href=\"https://x.com/RepLuna/status/2009374535569887529\">announced</a> Jan. 8 that she had referred Harp to the Justice Department for investigation and potential criminal charges. “I look forward to the results of a very thorough investigation and the potential filing of charges for violations of multiple U.S. codes,” she wrote.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP26014811607397.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"jaour\">Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida departs the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., after a vote on Jan. 14, 2026.</p>",
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"name": "District of Columbia",
"abbreviation": "DC"
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"categories": [
"Chilling Statement"
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{
"title": "Reporter assaulted at city council meeting in Maine",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-assaulted-at-city-council-meeting-in-maine/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-20T20:04:28.210090Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-01-22T17:40:51.869182Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-01-22T17:35:50.695535Z",
"date": "2026-01-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Lewiston",
"longitude": -70.21478,
"latitude": 44.10035,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"zf1xn\">Maine reporter Jon Fetherston was assaulted by a member of the public while questioning a Lewiston City Council member at a public meeting on Jan. 5, 2026, the outlet reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"732ln\">Fetherston, a journalist for the Maine Wire, a <a href=\"http://themainewire.com/\">digital media outlet</a> and project of the nonprofit think tank Maine Policy Institute, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he attended the meeting to question Councilor Iman Osman. Osman <a href=\"https://www.themainewire.com/2026/01/sworn-in-under-fire-lewiston-council-moves-to-probe-iman-osmans-qualifications-as-legal-residency-questions-mount/\">faces gun charges and scrutiny</a> over whether he lives in the ward he was elected to represent. He has <a href=\"https://www.themainewire.com/2026/01/after-osman-resigns-lewiston-moves-to-bury-residency-scandal-and-dodge-accountability/\">since stepped down.</a></p><p data-block-key=\"37td2\">Before the meeting, where Osman was to be sworn in, Fetherston said he approached the councilor and asked, “Are you really going to do this?”</p><p data-block-key=\"9s2j9\">A woman, who Fetherston said is a community activist, then came up behind Fetherston, shoving him against the desk and telling him not to speak to the politician.</p><p data-block-key=\"2g9pt\">“I wasn’t physically hurt, but I was kind of shocked and angry that had happened,” Fetherston told the Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"bih9u\">Police asked Fetherston if he wanted to press charges, but he declined.</p><p data-block-key=\"b32v\">“I was there to do my job. I wasn’t there to become part of the story,” he said. “I just thought it was best to do my job and let it go.”</p><p data-block-key=\"30l05\">Later, the woman again disrupted the City Council meeting, prompting the mayor to ask her to sit down and be quiet, Fetherston said. Police subsequently escorted her out of City Hall, an encounter <a href=\"https://x.com/LocalPoliticsis/status/2008355325116637294?s=20\">partially captured in a video</a> Fetherston posted on the social platform X.</p><p data-block-key=\"64haq\">Fetherston said the woman tried to approach him again in the hallway but was stopped by officers.</p><p data-block-key=\"79bkk\">In a written statement <a href=\"https://x.com/TheMaineWire/status/2008365394742886697?s=20\">posted on social media</a>, Maine Wire Editor-in-Chief Steve Robinson condemned the assault and called on Maine officials to protect journalists doing their job.</p><p data-block-key=\"8pdgd\">“It wasn’t just Mr. Fetherston, city reporter for the award-winning Maine Wire, who was assaulted tonight,” he wrote. “Journalism itself was assaulted. The First Amendment was assaulted.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7jg0r\"><i>Update: This article was revised to include comments by Jon Fetherston.</i></p></div>",
"introduction": "",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"rqtmj\">The city seal for Lewiston, Maine, displayed during a 2023 news conference at City Hall. Reporter Jon Fetherston was assaulted there while questioning a City Council member on Jan. 5, 2026.</p>",
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"assailant": "private individual",
"was_journalist_targeted": "yes",
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"name": "Maine",
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"Jon Fetherston (Maine Wire)"
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{
"title": "Press exposed to tear gas, other chemical irritants at Minnesota protests",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/press-exposed-to-tear-gas-other-chemical-irritants-at-minnesota-protests/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-27T15:00:54.968290Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-02-20T17:13:19.452812Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-02-20T17:13:19.332102Z",
"date": "2026-01-01",
"exact_date_unknown": true,
"city": "Multiple",
"longitude": null,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"foz9k\"><i>Protests erupted across the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area in January 2026, after a sweeping federal immigration enforcement surge heightened tensions between residents and federal agents. Many demonstrations centered around the Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building in nearby Fort Snelling, where Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were operating. More unrest followed after Department of Homeland Security agents fatally shot Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and shot and wounded another man.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"ntji\"><i>As demonstrations unfolded, some journalists covering them were threatened with arrest, while others were repeatedly exposed to chemical irritants such as tear gas and pepper spray. At times, the exposure forced reporters to pause their coverage, retreat to other areas or wash out their eyes — echoing the types of disruptions seen at similar immigration protests in</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/at-chicago-area-protests-in-september-journalists-caught-in-tear-gas-more/\"><i>Illinois</i></a> <i>and</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/at-la-area-protests-in-june-press-denied-access-exposed-to-chemical-irritants-more/\"><i>California</i></a><i> last year.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"92fu3\"><i>DHS has not responded to requests for comment about journalists affected by its use of the munitions.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"854gq\"><i>While these January incidents are not formally classified as press freedom violations under the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s 11 established categories, we’ve provided a roundup of them below, organized by date and location. This roundup will be updated as additional incidents are verified.</i></p><p data-block-key=\"4hag3\"><i>To learn more about how the Tracker documents and categorizes violations of press freedom, visit our</i> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/frequently-asked-questions/\"><i>FAQ page.</i></a></p><hr/><h3 data-block-key=\"fn577\">Jan. 6, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"9m6f5\">In Minneapolis</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"2d75t\">Freelance photojournalist <b>Tim Evans</b> was on assignment for Reuters covering ICE operations in the city, when he parked and exited his vehicle to photograph agents “socializing” at an intersection. Evans told the Tracker that he was approximately 30 feet away, and that multiple agents shouted at and taunted him as he approached, saying things like “Photograph my good side.” Another agent pointed at Evans while speaking to a colleague. As the agents returned to their vehicles, Evans said he noticed another ICE vehicle parked behind his car. He added that the agents inside “appeared to be documenting my license plate before driving away.”</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"feg62\">Jan. 7, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"7to57\">In Minneapolis</h4><p data-block-key=\"c1t6h\"><i>Protests erupted in the Central neighborhood of Minneapolis after an ICE officer shot and killed</i> <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/live-blog/minnesota-ice-shooting-live-updates-rcna252852\"><i>Minneapolis resident Renee Goo</i></a><i>d. Good and her partner were among a number of residents</i> <a href=\"https://abcnews.com/US/minneapolis-ice-shooting-minute-minute-timeline-renee-nicole/story?id=129021809\"><i>standing watch</i></a><i> as students were dropped off at a nearby elementary school, given heightened ICE activity in the neighborhood.</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"b1the\">Photojournalist <b>Tim Evans</b> and a <b>second photojournalist</b> were documenting ICE agents as they detained a delivery driver, when Evans said multiple federal agents took photos of them using their cellphones. Evans said that not long after, a group of agents a few blocks away were engaged in a separate operation that ultimately resulted in Good’s shooting. When Evans arrived to cover the immediate aftermath, he was tear-gassed alongside other media, community members and protesters. “Tear gas, pepper spray, and other munitions were deployed by federal agents when people would not clear the adjacent street and alleyway to let federal vehicles out, and some people threw snowballs at agents,” Evans wrote to the Tracker. “The gas was deployed indiscriminately, as many people in the vicinity were impacted.” He added that while he was wearing a gas mask at the time, he removed it after the agents departed, and the lingering gas continued to affect him for about an hour, causing him to cough and spit.</li><li data-block-key=\"4n7rp\">Videographer <b>Oliya Scootercaster</b>, founder of <a href=\"http://freedomnews.tv/\">FreedomNews.TV</a>, was exposed to tear gas while <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBCROLil4P4&t=226s\">capturing video</a> of protests following the shooting.</li><li data-block-key=\"cjduh\">KMSP-TV reporter <b>Karen Scullin</b> and other media were affected by chemical irritants after ICE officers pepper-sprayed protesters <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGEOfxB_d-s&t=49s\">blocking the road.</a> “Got hit just being near. That stuff hurts bad,” Scullin <a href=\"https://x.com/kscullinfox9/status/2008954165247266951\">wrote on social media</a>. “Skin, eyes, lungs. Waiting it out.”</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-tweet\"><div class=\"tweet-embed\">\n <div>\n <blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Protesters wouldn't let ICE leave. Throwing things at ICE agents. Chemical spray deployed. Got hit just being near. That stuff hurts bad. Skin, eyes, lungs. Waiting it out. <a href=\"https://t.co/UbRbORI6OO\">pic.twitter.com/UbRbORI6OO</a></p>— Karen Scullin FOX9 (@kscullinfox9) <a href=\"https://twitter.com/kscullinfox9/status/2008954165247266951?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 7, 2026</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\"><h3 data-block-key=\"drla2\">Jan. 8, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"rh0l\">In Fort Snelling</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"c2ulh\">Photojournalist <b>Tim Evans</b> was covering protests at the Whipple Building when federal agents deployed tear gas, pepper spray and other crowd-control munitions to disperse those blocking the building’s parking lot. “The gas was deployed indiscriminately, as many people in the vicinity were impacted, not just those blocking the street,” Evans wrote to the Tracker. “I was not wearing my mask when gas was first deployed, as I wasn’t expecting it to be used just then, but quickly moved away from the crowd and put my mask on afterward.” A federal agent, who had previously unholstered his firearm and aimed it at the demonstrators, aimed a pepper ball gun at Evans’ face and others. The photojournalist said he didn’t think he was targeted as a member of the press, as he was amid the crowd and the only things identifying him as such were his camera and press credentials around his neck.</li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-10T174421Z_709278719_RC22XIA2OUC1_RTRM.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"REUTERS/TIM EVANS\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"j2dnr\">A federal agent aims a pepper ball gun at freelance photojournalist Tim Evans and others while he was documenting anti-deportation protests outside the Whipple Building in Fort Snelling, Minnesota, on Jan. 8, 2026.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — REUTERS/TIM EVANS\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><ul><li data-block-key=\"foz9k\">During a <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/08/us/video/protesters-clash-minnesota-ice-shooting-digvid\">video report</a> outside the Whipple Building, CNN correspondent<b> Ryan Young</b> can be heard coughing as he says, “The pepper ball spray is very strong. They use that to make sure that the crowd stays back.” Later in the video, smoke is seen filling the air. “They have deployed an agent, folks,” Young said.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"8b1e3\">Jan. 9, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"9aduo\">In Minneapolis</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"49p87\">Photojournalist<b> Tim Evans</b> told the Tracker he spotted a group of around five or six Customs and Border Protection agents stop a young man who appeared to be of East African descent in the Ventura Village neighborhood of Minneapolis, which has a large foreign-born population. Evans quickly exited his vehicle and walked toward the scene on the sidewalk, wearing his press credentials, as well as a vest marked with “PRESS” in all caps, and carrying a professional camera. He began photographing as he approached, positioning himself about 15 feet away on a snow mound to the right of the sidewalk, confirming with an agent in front of him that it was all right that he stand there. “As an unmasked agent interacted with the stopped man, he turned his attention to me, asking how I’m doing and if I’m a United States citizen. I initially didn’t respond and continued to photograph,” Evans wrote. “The agent then approached me, stood a couple of feet away, and introduced himself and a CBP agent, at which point I told him I’m a U.S. citizen. The agent then asked if I was born in the U.S. or am naturalized; I told him I was born here.” The agent then turned away and returned to the detained man, ultimately releasing him.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"1jfmq\">Jan. 11, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"9dkk3\">In Fort Snelling</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"3td06\">Status Coup journalists <b>JT Cestkowski</b> and <b>Jon Farina</b> told the Tracker they were repeatedly caught in the clouds of tear gas and impacted by federal agents’ deployment of stun grenades. “No distinction was made between press and protesters,” said Cestkowski, who was also shot in the arm and buttocks <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-shot-twice-with-pepper-balls-by-federal-officer-in-minnesota/\">with pepper balls that day.</a> Farina was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-struck-with-crowd-control-munition-by-federal-officer-in-minnesota/\">struck by a crowd-control munition</a> during the coverage.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"ecjj6\">Jan. 12, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"83p0t\">In Minneapolis</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"b4dsp\">Photojournalist <b>Tim Evans</b> told the Tracker he was covering an active scene after ICE agents crashed into a Hispanic man’s car and proceeded to question him about his immigration status. When Evans and a colleague arrived, a crowd of observers and community members had already formed. “A long standoff ensued, as the crowd of onlookers, media, and agents grew, with dozens of agents present at the peak,” Evans wrote. “The situation continued to deteriorate over the next 30 minutes, with agents deploying multiple tear gas canisters and shooting pepper balls at people.” Evans was among those targeted with the pepper ball munitions, with a federal agent <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-at-with-pepper-balls-amid-immigration-operation/\">shooting directly at his feet</a>. Later, as the agents drove away, they deployed more tear gas, and one leaned out of his window and pepper-sprayed everyone standing along the side of the road. Evans said he and at least four other members of the press were affected. “I was sprayed in the hands, which burned for a couple of hours after. When I incidentally touched my face, it left my eyes and lips burning,” he wrote. Of the agents’ tactics, Evans said, “In a situation where a scene is active, and you’re planning to leave, I don’t understand the tactical benefit or logic or justification for casually throwing tear gas canisters out of a car door as you’re driving away. It feels punitive.” </li></ul></div>\n<div class=\"block-aligned_image\"><figure class=\"inline-media full-width\">\n \n\n\n<img src=\"https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2026-01-12T194706Z_569237629_RC2UZIAXK2Y2_RTRM.width-828.jpg\" width=\"828\" height=\"552\" alt=\"REUTERS/TIM EVANS\">\n\n \n <figcaption class=\"inline-media__caption\">\n\t\t\t<p data-block-key=\"j2dnr\">A federal agent pepper-sprays a crowd of demonstrators and members of the press, including photojournalist Tim Evans, as officers depart following an incident where a civilian’s car was hit by ICE agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 12, 2026.</p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<span\n\t\t\t\t\tclass=\"media-attribution\"\n\t\t\t\t> — REUTERS/TIM EVANS\n\t\t\t\t</span>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t</figcaption>\n \n</figure>\n</div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h3 data-block-key=\"drla2\">Jan. 13, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"dgbs7\">In Minneapolis</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"epflq\">Photojournalist <b>Tim Evans </b>told the Tracker he arrived to cover an ICE raid at a home in the racially diverse Central neighborhood of Minneapolis at around 9:40 a.m., documenting as two young Hispanic individuals were brought out of the home by federal officers. At approximately 10 a.m., a woman driving through a nearby intersection was detained by officers, who broke her window, cut her seat belt and carried her by her arms and legs to a federal vehicle. As Evans crouched to photograph her face between the agents’ legs, one <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-to-the-ground-pepper-sprayed-at-minneapolis-protest/\">shoved him to the ground</a>. A short while later, he noticed a federal law enforcement vehicle driving past demonstrators and stepped forward to photograph it. “As the vehicle passed, an agent shot pepper spray from out of his window, indiscriminately spraying numerous people,” Evans wrote. “I was sprayed directly in the eyes, which immediately blinded me.” The photojournalist called out to a colleague who began to assist him, as a disorientation device detonated behind them. The pair made their way to a nearby church, where Evans was able to wash the irritants from his face.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"1pgqu\">Jan. 14, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"6fapg\">In Minneapolis</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"pq34\">Reporter <b>Wali Khan</b> said <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reels/DTij8gcidTr/\">in an Instagram post</a> that an ICE officer threatened him with arrest while he was filming the aftermath of protesters flattening the tire of an unmarked ICE vehicle. “Just press,” Khan said in the Instagram video. “I don’t give a fuck if you’re the press,” the officer responded. “We’re giving everybody a fucking warning: If they fuck around, they’re going to get arrested.”</li><li data-block-key=\"cfhbs\">Status Coup journalist <b>Zach Roberts</b> and photographer <b>Jon Farina</b> were exposed to tear gas fired by various law enforcement agencies. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-the-head-by-projectile-at-minnesota-protest/\">Also that day,</a> Roberts was hit in the head with debris from a crowd-control munition.</li><li data-block-key=\"dbtk0\">CNN correspondent <b>Whitney Wild</b> <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/14/us/minneapolis-person-shot-federal-agent\">said</a> on air that she and her crew were hit with chemical irritants. “It’s a little hard to breathe because they just let off several flash bangs, multiple tear gas canisters.” She added that she and her producer, <b>Meridith Edwards</b>, got separated from photographer <b>Jonathan Schaer</b> at one point because it was so foggy from the tear gas, as shown in another CNN <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2026/01/14/politics/video/cnn-crew-in-minneapolis-hit-with-flashbangs-and-tear-gas-amid-ice-protests\">video</a>.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"86mgs\">Jan. 15, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"6eepa\">In Fort Snelling</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"bn6jf\">Photographer <b>John Abernathy</b> was subjected to intense tear gas and deliberately pepper-sprayed as federal officers <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-arrested-pepper-sprayed-and-tear-gassed-by-federal-officers/\">detained and arrested him</a> outside the Whipple Building. “As soon as that hit me, I was 100% defenseless. It was extreme pain. My eyes were burning, my face was burning and that was near my last breath,” Abernathy told the Tracker of the pepper spray.</li><li data-block-key=\"3cvvl\">Photojournalist<b> Tim Evans</b> told the Tracker that he was also tear-gassed by federal agents, most of whom were from Customs and Border Protection. “They deployed tear gas as they charged forward, tackled a local independent photographer to the ground, maced him heavily at point-blank range, and detained him,” Evans wrote, referring to Abernathy. “I was wearing a mask at the time. I experienced light coughing and spitting after removing my mask.”</li><li data-block-key=\"9p5rm\"><b>Martha Kelner,</b> a reporter for Sky News, <a href=\"https://www.independent.co.uk/tv/news/ice-shooting-minneapolis-protests-sky-journalist-video-b2901832.html\">struggled to report</a> after federal officers fired chemical irritants into the air. “As you can see, the police, with their weapons drawn, they’re firing tear gas, pepper bullets, too,” she said before she was overwhelmed. “Apologies, as you can hear that tear gas is really catching in the throat of everyone here.”</li><li data-block-key=\"3319l\">Reporter <b>Wali Khan</b> can be heard reacting in pain and coughing as he is exposed to tear gas fired by federal agents <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reels/DTuAWNAAcO6/\">in an Instagram video</a> taken outside the Whipple Building.</li></ul><h4 data-block-key=\"a04i5\">In Minneapolis</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"jc3r\">CNN correspondent <b>Julia Vargas Jones</b> told the Tracker that she, her producer <b>Sarah Moon</b> and photojournalist <b>Orlando Ruiz</b> were <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/minneapolis-ice-shooting-protests-01-15-26?post-id=cmkfulrqr0005356peu5bh6qi\">affected by pepper ball residue.</a> “We were in the crowd where federal officers were shooting to disperse the crowd,” Jones said. Ruiz’s eyes were especially irritated by the gust of the chemical irritant, and he needed to stop filming to clean them before continuing to report.</li><li data-block-key=\"dkbrr\">In a <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/minneapolis-ice-shooting-protests-01-15-26?post-id=cmkgg67jl000h3b6pwi2ah00y\">CNN video</a>, reporter <b>Shimon Prokupecz</b> retreated, coughing, from the area of a protest as law enforcement deployed tear gas and percussion grenades. “Wow. This is nasty,” Prokupecz said as he continued to choke through his report.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"7mtfq\">Jan. 16, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"dhomo\">In Fort Snelling</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"19hlg\">Photojournalist<b> Tim Evans </b>was reporting on protests outside the Whipple Building when dozens of agents rushed into the street to chase an individual. The agents then formed a line in the roadway, threatening all those present with arrest if they did not move off the main roadway. An agent with CBP’s Special Response Team also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minnesota-photojournalist-shot-at-with-pepper-balls-during-immigration-protest/\">shot pepper balls at Evans</a> while he was crouched to photograph the line of agents.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"e6l6m\">Jan. 21, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"fg0j8\">In Fort Snelling</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"r1sq\"><b>Daniel Knowles</b>, a Midwest correspondent for The Economist, told the Tracker he had RSVP’d to a DHS news conference but was denied entry for security reasons. “Pretty much all the foreign press there were excluded from what I could tell,” he wrote in an email.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"e2kgt\">Jan. 23, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"b5omk\"><b>In Minneapolis</b></h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"8tdt6\">Independent journalists <b>Margaret Killjoy</b> and <b>James Stout</b> were repeatedly threatened with arrest while trapped between a line of Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies and a wall near the Whipple Building. Stout told the Tracker that they were documenting protests near the building that day, but had gone to their vehicle for additional clothing layers and hand warmers to defrost Stout’s equipment, which had stopped working in the -30˚F weather. After they returned to the scene, they found that sheriff’s deputies had pushed protesters back from the building and were blocking the journalists’ way out of the area. The officers then informed them they had only five minutes to disperse or else face arrest, directing them to head east toward a road, but no one around them knew where that was. “On one side of us is a military installation, so we’re not going that way. On the other side of us is fenced off. Then there’s the pathway that goes around the side of the federal building, kind of behind us. And then where we are standing is directly next to a light rail station.” Stout said he tried to approach the deputies, but they started advancing toward them and gesturing for them to leave. He added that he was clearly identifiable as a journalist — wearing a bright red helmet labeled “PRESS” in all caps and carrying a professional microphone. Killjoy was also wearing a helmet with similar markings. At what Stout said felt like the last possible moment, a light rail train happened to pull into the station, and they were able to board, bypassing the deputies’ skirmish line.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"3rub4\">Jan. 24, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"ac4hj\"><b>In Minneapolis</b></h4><p data-block-key=\"dgakt\"><i>Protests erupted in Minneapolis’ Whittier neighborhood after local resident</i> <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/immigration-enforcement-minnesota-protester-alex-pretti-15ade7de6e19cb0291734e85dac763dc\"><i>Alex Pretti was fatally shot by Border Patrol agents</i></a><i>. Pretti had been filming agents in the street when he attempted to help a woman who had been shoved to the ground by federal officers.</i></p><ul><li data-block-key=\"aalga\">Independent journalist <b>Sean Beckner-Carmitchel</b> was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-doused-with-pepper-spray-by-federal-officers-in-minnesota/\">deliberately drenched</a> in pepper spray by federal officers while documenting an impromptu protest in the hours after the shooting. He <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3md6vxcefnc2g\">wrote on social media</a> that protesters were gathered less than a block from where the shooting took place, and federal agents targeted them with large volumes of chemical irritants. “I got absolutely covered in spray,” he added in a <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/acatwithnews.bsky.social/post/3md6vxd6ud22g\">subsequent post</a>. “Really grateful to some protesters who have helped remove the dousing all over one of my jackets, face and camera.”</li><li data-block-key=\"4o1a7\">KSTP-TV photojournalist <b>Joe Caffrey</b> and reporter <b>Eric Rasmussen</b> were <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Efj9_tzC8QA\">tear-gassed on live TV</a> while covering an impromptu protest in the hours after Pretti’s death. “They’re moving us back,” Rasmussen reported while violently coughing and catching his breath. “There was no warning. I got to get to safety, I’m sorry, guys.” Caffrey was also <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-in-thigh-with-sponge-tipped-round-at-minneapolis-protest/\">struck in the thigh</a> with a crowd-control munition by federal agents as the pair attempted to move back from the growing cloud of chemical irritant.</li><li data-block-key=\"6tmv\">Status Coup journalists <b>JT Cestkowski</b> and <b>Jon Farina</b> were caught in tear gas while documenting the protests. In a video posted to <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DT5sFP0iM06/\">Instagram</a>, both journalists move back from gas and pepper spray, as Cestkowski is heard coughing. Later, he reported that residents offered water to him and those affected by the chemical irritant. “The tear gas that’s being fired there is not being fired by the local law enforcement; it’s being fired by the federal government,” he said of the continuous barrage.</li><li data-block-key=\"alrdo\">Photojournalist<b> Tim Evans</b> told the Tracker that as agents set up a caution tape perimeter around where Pretti had been killed, a federal agent was walking up and down the line photographing those present, including Evans and other members of the press. The photojournalist was also repeatedly tear-gassed by federal agents, Minnesota State Patrol troopers and Minneapolis Police Department officers while covering the impromptu demonstrations that followed. He told the Tracker that when he returned to his vehicle, he found two spent tear gas canisters — one under the engine block and one under the rear passenger-side door. “My car was covered in smoke residue and smelled strongly of gas inside for two days,” he wrote.</li><li data-block-key=\"2a8kr\">KARE reporter <b>Joe McCoy</b> and anchor <b>Jana Shortal</b>, <a href=\"https://www.kare11.com/video/news/local/ice-in-minnesota/reports-of-shooting-involving-federal-agents-kare-reporter-pepper-sprayed/89-d6d51c50-b077-4b8c-a2a7-295f7d12178b\">while on air</a> covering the demonstrations, were driven from the scene with others in the crowd after several loud bangs were heard. McCoy told the studio anchor that law enforcement had launched tear gas into the gathering, but that he and Shortal were unharmed. The incident occurred shortly after Shortal was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/anchor-shoved-pepper-sprayed-by-federal-agents-after-minnesota-killing/\">shoved</a> by federal agents and sprayed in the eye with a chemical irritant.</li><li data-block-key=\"8hfur\">CNN reporter<b> Sara Sidner</b> and photographer<b> Jerry Simonson</b> were also inundated by a cloud of tear gas while reporting from the scene. In a video posted to <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reels/DT7HLTDjoHO/\">Instagram</a>, Sidner chokes violently after federal agents deploy the gas. “I can’t breathe,” she said, as the sound cuts on and off. Later, in another <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT56fgjDgbe/\">Instagram video</a>, she said, “There was no physical reaction from protesters; the only thing they were doing was speaking their minds, and suddenly we were all gassed and munitions fired toward us.”</li><li data-block-key=\"92spk\">KARE television reporter <b>Samie Solina</b> <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/reporter-describes-throwing-up-from-tear-gas-near-the-scene-of-minneapolis-shooting-256525893686\">reported that she was sprayed</a> with tear gas as crowds gathered. “I was kind of coughing up and throwing up a little bit earlier in the day because of that chemical irritant,” Solina said.</li><li data-block-key=\"27tqi\">Wall Street Journal reporter <b>Mariah Timms</b> reported that federal agents deployed tear gas near where she was reporting, causing people around her to start wretching from the exposure. “It was getting cloudier down in that intersection,” she said <a href=\"https://www.wsj.com/video/what-a-wsj-reporter-saw-on-the-ground-following-minneapolis-shooting/331663C8-51AF-4E64-9A69-EB6210F2CB9F\">in a video,</a> adding that she quickly got her mask on, though it was not properly secured in the frenzy. “It was that sort of spicy, back-of-your-throat, difficult-to-catch-your-breath feeling,” she said.</li><li data-block-key=\"3fi2s\">Independent journalist <b>Nick Valencia</b> was repeatedly exposed to chemical irritants launched by federal officers. In <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/reel/1383398282939110\">a Facebook video</a>, his eyes begin watering as he visibly reacts to the barrage. “This stuff is like pepper spray on steroids,” he told the Tracker. “I was basically left blinded for about 90 seconds.” Also that day, Valencia was <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/border-patrol-agent-shoves-journalist-into-protesters-in-minnesota/\">pushed by a Border Patrol agent</a> and struck with <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-clipped-by-tear-gas-canisters-at-minnesota-protest/\">tear gas canisters</a>.</li></ul><h3 data-block-key=\"b2sq6\">Jan. 25, 2026</h3><h4 data-block-key=\"b2k7v\">In Minneapolis</h4><ul><li data-block-key=\"1onkn\">Status Coup reporter <b>Tina-Desiree Berg</b> and photojournalist <b>Jon Farina</b> <a href=\"https://bsky.app/profile/statuscoupnews.bsky.social/post/3mde26o7bj22t\">reported</a> that they were covering a “noise demonstration” outside a hotel where federal officers were believed to be staying when officers deployed tear gas and disorientation weapons to disperse a gaggle of journalists who were already complying with orders to move back from the hotel. Both journalists were caught in the growing cloud of chemical gas. In footage of the incident, Berg can be heard saying “I can’t breathe” multiple times as explosions continue in the background. Farina tells her to cover her face and reassures her, “I got you.” As Berg struggles to continue moving, Farina says, “We have to keep going. Come here, we’re almost safe.” Both journalists needed to rinse off the irritant before they could continue reporting, according to Status Coup. The incident occurred shortly after a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-grabbed-thrown-to-the-ground-by-federal-officer-in-minnesota/\">federal officer seized Berg</a> from behind and shoved her to the ground.</li><li data-block-key=\"4m6vc\">The day after <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-clipped-by-tear-gas-canisters-at-minnesota-protest/\">previous</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/border-patrol-agent-shoves-journalist-into-protesters-in-minnesota/\">incidents</a>, independent journalist <b>Nick Valencia</b> was exposed to chemical irritants and ordered to leave while documenting federal agents making at least two arrests, he told the Tracker. In a <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/share/r/19WoDp3ys5/\">video Valencia posted to Facebook</a>, he identifies himself as a journalist. An agent responds, “Don’t care,” before shining a light in his face. Valencia later <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DT-gk6VET4a/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==\">posted an Instagram</a> photo showing an agent pointing a gun at him, which he told the Tracker was likely loaded with crowd-control munitions. “You show up with a camera, they show up with a gun and point it at you,” he wrote on the post. “I repeatedly identified myself as a journalist and was repeatedly told by the feds they didn’t care who I was. They would shoot me.” Valencia told the Tracker the encounter was brief and did not feel like an imminent threat at the time.</li></ul></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"4c4xz\">Federal officers and other law enforcement stand guard at the Whipple Federal Building amid immigration protests in the Minneapolis, Minnesota, area on Jan. 17, 2026.</p>",
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{
"title": "TV videographer punched in head by woman while filming in Texas",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tv-videographer-punched-in-head-by-woman-while-filming-in-texas/",
"first_published_at": "2026-01-08T20:44:38.122876Z",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"8v09i\">KRIS-TV videographer Andrew Bishop was hit in the back of the head by a woman while reporting on homeless issues in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Dec. 17, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"9bv5g\">Bishop, then a news producer at the station undergoing reporter training, said he set up a small tripod a few hundred yards away from a homeless encampment near City Hall when a woman began pointing and yelling at him.</p><p data-block-key=\"fn9v\">“I just kept shooting,” he said. “And she walked up around the car, and she basically just came behind me, and she just punched me in the back of my head and neck.”</p><p data-block-key=\"aapv2\">In a <a href=\"https://www.kristv.com/news/local-news/in-your-neighborhood/corpus-christi/kris-6-crew-attacked-while-investigating-northside-business-struggles-with-homelessness-issues\">broadcast a few days later</a>, reporter Jeydah Jenkins, who was with Bishop at the time, detailed how the city is tackling homelessness for a report on dine-and-dash incidents at an area restaurant.</p><p data-block-key=\"ea33m\">“I saw firsthand how tense it can get,” she said. “While gathering video for this story near City Hall, a homeless person physically attacked my photographer, showing how unpredictable these situations can be for everyone involved.”</p><p data-block-key=\"f94ev\">Although the broadcast did not identify the photographer, Bishop later told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was the one assaulted. He said he was not injured and avoided further confrontation by packing up his equipment and later filing a police report.</p><p data-block-key=\"6cgce\">Bishop said the assault highlighted safety concerns, as newsrooms face shrinking resources and increasingly rely on journalists to work alone in the field.</p><p data-block-key=\"c5v8g\">“With news, we’re losing resources by the day,” he said. “It’s riskier today as the industry moves more to one-man-show journalists.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"b7ghc\">A KRIS-TV web article reporting on the assault of its news photographer Andrew Bishop, who was struck in the head while covering the homeless issue in Corpus Christi, Texas, on Dec. 17, 2025.</p>",
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{
"title": "Colorado judge lifts gag order in teen murder trial",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/colorado-judge-lifts-gag-order-in-teen-murder-trial/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-19T16:37:32.543077Z",
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"date": "2025-12-16",
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"city": "Eagle",
"longitude": -106.82865,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"rhpci\">An Eagle, Colorado, judge issued a gag order on Dec. 16, 2025, prohibiting the media from reporting information disclosed in open court during a murder case involving a teenager.</p><p data-block-key=\"69h8s\">The Vail Daily filed a motion to vacate the publishing gag, and it was lifted the next day, according to the <a href=\"https://www.vaildaily.com/news/judge-lifts-gag-order-testimony-continues-in-teen-murder-case/\">outlet</a> and court filings reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.</p><p data-block-key=\"crvvs\">The newspaper <a href=\"https://www.vaildaily.com/news/eagle-county-judge-issues-gag-order-in-teen-murder-case-preventing-further-reporting/\">reported</a> that Judge Rachel Olguin-Fresquez imposed the order orally during a preliminary hearing in the case of a 17-year-old accused of killing a younger teenage boy during a fight in 2024.</p><p data-block-key=\"f1kh5\">On the first day of hearings on Dec. 15, the defense moved to restrict public access to the proceedings, which were being livestreamed, arguing that it could jeopardize the defendant’s ability to receive a fair trial.</p><p data-block-key=\"3d6ht\">The defense also asked the judge to impose a gag order limiting future media coverage. It alleged that the Vail Daily’s stories — which included photos of the victim and his family — were “highly inflammatory.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eic34\">At that point, Olguin-Fresquez halted the livestream but did not limit media coverage.</p><p data-block-key=\"84o8n\">However, the next day she imposed the gag order, citing the Vail Daily’s story about the Dec. 15 hearing.</p><p data-block-key=\"1d4oh\">“Looking at today’s paper, the court is concerned that the ability to obtain a conviction or the ability to obtain a not-guilty verdict is being compromised by evidence reported in the newspaper,” Olguin-Fresquez said.</p><p data-block-key=\"6hmj6\">Olguin-Fresquez also alleged that the Vail Daily printed “things that didn’t happen in trial.” The paper denied that claim.</p><p data-block-key=\"5369k\">In a motion filed later Dec. 16, Steve Zansberg, the attorney for the Vail Daily, argued that the judge’s order was an unconstitutional prior restraint because it prohibited the outlet from publishing “information on a matter of legitimate public concern that was lawfully obtained by its reporter in open court proceedings.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4kssm\">“Supreme Court precedent makes it unmistakably clear that a court cannot order a newspaper not to publish information that has been disclosed in open court,” Zansberg wrote, also citing rulings by the Colorado Supreme Court.</p><p data-block-key=\"2p8ju\">Olguin-Fresquez, in lifting the gag order Dec. 17, “warned the media against using the names of the juveniles involved in the case,” the Vail Daily <a href=\"https://www.vaildaily.com/news/judge-lifts-gag-order-testimony-continues-in-teen-murder-case/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"fpjqs\">The paper noted that it used the teen’s name because he was charged as an adult — though his attorneys were seeking to have his case transferred back to juvenile court — and that the victim’s family had granted permission for the media to use the victim’s name.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"vnpro\">Colorado’s Eagle County Justice Center, where a judge issued a gag order on media coverage of a murder trial on Dec. 16, 2025; the order was lifted the next day. Licensed under <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/\">Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International</a>.</p>",
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},
{
"title": "Trump, his administration move to punish outlets during second term",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/",
"first_published_at": "2025-01-30T20:43:36.335430Z",
"last_published_at": "2026-03-11T13:43:48.520865Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2026-03-11T13:27:59.431314Z",
"date": "2025-12-09",
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"city": "Washington",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"63pix\">From the first weeks of President Donald Trump’s second term, he and his administration have taken steps to punish and intimidate news outlets that have covered them unfavorably. We’re documenting Trump’s direct actions in this regularly updated report.</p><p data-block-key=\"coqi2\">Read about how Trump’s appointees and allies in Congress are striving to chill reporting, revoke funding, censor critical coverage and more <a href=\"/blog/trump-allies-pursue-multipronged-campaign-against-the-press/\">here</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"cv9ql\"><i>This article was first published on March 14, 2025.</i></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><p><a id=\"top\" name=\"top\"></a></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"m8ln1\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"4vmk2\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#Dec. 9\">Dec. 9, 2025 | Trump accuses NYT of treason, labels it the ‘enemy of the people’</a>\r\n<p><a href=\"#Aug. 1\">Aug. 1, 2025 | Corporation for Public Broadcasting to shutter following Trump funding cuts</a>\r\n<p><a href=\"#July 15\">July 15, 2025 | Trump administration, Congress target public broadcasting</a>\r\n<p><a href=\"#June 29\">June 29, 2025 | Trump says journalists will be forced to reveal sources in pursuit of Iran report leakers</a>\r\n<p><a href=\"#June 3\">June 3, 2025 | White House asks Congress to repeal $1.1 billion in funding to public media</a>\r\n<p><a href=\"#May 1\">May 1, 2025 | Trump signs executive order eliminating funding to NPR, PBS</a>\r\n<p><a href=\"#April 14\">April 14, 2025 | White House plans to formally ask Congress to cut PBS, NPR funding</a> \r\n<p><a href=\"#March 14-2\">March 14, 2025 | Trump signs executive order gutting government-funded news outlets <i>(updated March 2026)</i></a> \r\n<p><a href=\"#March 14-1\">March 14, 2025 | Trump says negative press coverage ‘illegal’ during speech at DOJ</a></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"3ocum\"></p><hr/><p data-block-key=\"a5gu5\"></p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><a id=\"Dec. 9\" name=\"Dec. 9\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"px9kc\">Dec. 9, 2025 | Trump accuses NYT of treason, labels it the ‘enemy of the people’</h4><p data-block-key=\"25u5n\">President Donald Trump posted on his Truth Social platform on Dec. 9, 2025, that The New York Times and unnamed others were seditious and “true Enemies of the People,” adding that “we should do something about it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"7goc5\">Trump’s ire appears to have been triggered by <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/01/health/trump-mri-results.html\">recent</a> <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/us/politics/trump-age-health.html\">Times</a> <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/27/us/politics/trump-mri-third-term.html\">reporting</a> about medical examinations the president underwent in October, and signs of growing fatigue and possible health conditions connected to his age.</p><p data-block-key=\"6um0g\">In his <a href=\"https://taps.pressfreedomtracker.us/post/03b4acd25e88/\">post</a>, Trump asserted that he works longer hours and harder than his predecessors and went out of his way to have medical examinations, accusing the Times and others of liking to “pretend that I am ‘slowing up,’ am maybe not as sharp as I once was, or am in poor physical health.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4k9kt\">“I actually believe it’s seditious, perhaps even treasonous, for The New York Times, and others, to consistently do FAKE reports in order to libel and demean ‘THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES,’” Trump continued. “They are true Enemies of the People, and we should do something about it.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4bbfv\">He reposted the attack almost two hours later, bringing the comments back to the top of his profile — where, as of this writing, they remain.</p><p data-block-key=\"a5n1h\">Trump’s post and repost mark the third and fourth time, respectively, that he referred to the newspaper as the “enemy of the people,” a <a href=\"https://taps.pressfreedomtracker.us/?tag=Enemy+of+the+people\">moniker</a> that he first deployed against the press in February 2017, shortly after he took office.</p><p data-block-key=\"5pp5q\">The Times defended its reporting in a <a href=\"https://x.com/NYTimesPR/status/1998756664691114046\">statement</a> the following day.</p><p data-block-key=\"b5mu\">“Mr. Trump welcomed our reporting on the age and fitness of his predecessors; we’re applying the same journalistic scrutiny to his vitality,” spokesperson Nicole Taylor said. “Our reporting is heavily sourced, based on interviews with people close to the president and with medical experts. We won’t be deterred by false and inflammatory language that distorts the role of a free press.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"Aug. 1\" name=\"Aug. 1\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"ztgt6\">Aug. 1, 2025 | Corporation for Public Broadcasting to shutter following Trump funding cuts</h4><p data-block-key=\"dj7ua\">The Corporation for Public Broadcasting announced Aug. 1, 2025, that it would cease its operations after Congress passed President Donald Trump’s request to cancel the $1.1 billion in funding earmarked for the organization for the next two years.</p><p data-block-key=\"4ekj1\">CPB and the public broadcasters it supports have been a target of Trump’s second administration since its earliest days. In a <a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/04/the-npr-pbs-grift-has-ripped-us-off-for-too-long/\">statement</a> published April 14, the White House asserted that NPR and PBS “spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news’” and that funding them is a waste of taxpayer money.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ldkv\">Trump <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/#June%203\">attempted to fire</a> three CPB board members in April, despite lacking the authority to do so under the law that established the private, nonprofit corporation. Just days later, on May 1, he signed an executive order instructing the CPB to cease federal funding for the public media outlets. In June, Trump filed the <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/#June%203\">rescission request</a> to Congress that would cancel already approved funding for the corporation.</p><p data-block-key=\"63ctp\">CPB President and CEO Patricia Harrison said in a <a href=\"https://cpb.org/pressroom/Corporation-Public-Broadcasting-Addresses-Operations-Following-Loss-Federal-Funding\">statement</a> Aug. 1 that, after more than 60 years, the corporation had begun winding down its operations, “despite the extraordinary efforts of millions of Americans who called, wrote, and petitioned Congress to preserve federal funding for CPB.”</p><p data-block-key=\"118s0\">“Public media has been one of the most trusted institutions in American life, providing educational opportunity, emergency alerts, civil discourse, and cultural connection to every corner of the country,” Harrison said. “We are deeply grateful to our partners across the system for their resilience, leadership, and unwavering dedication to serving the American people.”</p><p data-block-key=\"652ff\">While CPB and the three board members targeted by Trump sued to protect them from being fired, two have since withdrawn their claims and resigned their positions on CPB’s board of directors.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"July 15\" name=\"July 15\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"vjjz1\">July 15, 2025 | Trump administration, Congress, target public broadcasting</h4><p data-block-key=\"6m6j0\">The Trump administration filed a federal lawsuit on July 15, 2025, against the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which provides funding to NPR, PBS and their local affiliates — in an attempt to oust the three Democratic board members.</p><p data-block-key=\"d8ipg\">Trump had <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/#June%203\">attempted to fire</a> the board members in April, and just days later, on May 1, signed an executive order instructing the private nonprofit corporation to cease federal funding for the public media outlets.</p><p data-block-key=\"85dld\">NPR<a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2025/05/27/npr-lawsuit-trump-executive-order-funding-cuts/\"> sued</a> to halt the order, calling it “textbook retaliation.” NPR CEO Katherine Maher<a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/27/g-s1-69017/npr-and-katherine-maher-ceo-of-npr-statement\"> wrote</a>, “The intent could not be more clear — the Executive Order aims to punish NPR for the content of news and other programming the President dislikes.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4lmog\">The following month, Trump further targeted government support for the public broadcasters through a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/#June%203\">rescission request</a>, asking Congress to cancel $1.1 billion in already-approved funding.</p><p data-block-key=\"571tq\">The House approved the package in a close vote — <a href=\"https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2025168\">214-212</a> on June 12.</p><p data-block-key=\"ot3j\">In a <a href=\"https://taps.pressfreedomtracker.us/post/cfa69aeac4dd/\">July 10 post</a> on the social platform Truth Social, Trump called on Senate Republicans to grant the request, especially as it pertains to the broadcasters.</p><p data-block-key=\"79ts2\">“It is very important that all Republicans adhere to my Recissions Bill and, in particular, DEFUND THE CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING (PBS and NPR), which is worse than CNN & MSDNC put together,” Trump wrote. “Any Republican that votes to allow this monstrosity to continue broadcasting will not have my support or Endorsement.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c6lpn\">The Senate approved the request in a 51-48 vote early morning July 17, despite concerns from members of Congress that it surrendered the legislative branch’s power of the purse, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/17/us/politics/senate-vote-trump-bill-pbs-npr-foreign-aid.html\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"61miv\">One holdout, Sen. Mike Rounds of South Dakota, voted in favor after he was assured by Trump officials that unspent funds would be used “to continue grants to tribal radio stations without interruption” for next year, according to the Times.</p><p data-block-key=\"foith\">The House gave final approval for the White House’s request early July 18, The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/pbs-npr-budget-cuts-trump-republicans-b0044285659ab708e23eb2dc2f3eabfa\">reported</a>, making it the first successful rescissions request to Congress in decades.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"June 29\" name=\"June 29\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"0wuzj\">June 29, 2025 | Trump says journalists will be forced to reveal sources in pursuit of Iran report leakers</h4><p data-block-key=\"497pl\">In an interview with Fox News aired on June 29, 2025, President Donald Trump said that journalists could and should be forced to reveal their sources so that those behind the leaks of classified intelligence on U.S. strikes on Iran could be prosecuted.</p><p data-block-key=\"d03h3\">Following the airstrikes earlier in June, several news outlets — including <a href=\"https://www.cnn.com/2025/06/24/politics/intel-assessment-us-strikes-iran-nuclear-sites\">CNN</a>, <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/24/us/politics/iran-nuclear-sites.html\">The New York Times</a> and <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/06/24/us-iran-bomb-assessment-nuclear-sites-not-destroyed/\">The Washington Post</a> — reported that a preliminary assessment found that the bombings had set Iran’s nuclear program back by months, not “obliterated” it as Trump had been asserting.</p><p data-block-key=\"dt7k9\">Trump doubled down on the claim <a href=\"https://youtu.be/YdqKZDJQoDw\">during his interview</a> with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo on June 27, lamenting the coverage the strikes had received.</p><p data-block-key=\"bve19\">“They did obliterate it, it turned out. Then we had to suffer the fake news, where the fake news in CNN and The New York Times was saying, ‘Well, maybe it wasn’t as good as Trump said. Maybe it wasn’t totally obliterated, but it was destroyed,’” Trump said. “You know, just horrible. And I could see it happening and they tried to build that into a story.”</p><p data-block-key=\"avqub\">Trump added that those behind the leak should be prosecuted and, when asked whether his administration would be able to identify them, indicated that he has no issue forcing journalists to identify their sources.</p><p data-block-key=\"837as\">“We can find out. If they wanted, they could find out easily. You know, you go up and tell the reporter, ‘National security: Who gave it?’ You have to do that. And I suspect we’ll be doing things like that,” Trump said.</p><p data-block-key=\"4g10a\">White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt discredited CNN’s reporting on the assessment in a <a href=\"https://x.com/PressSec/status/1937599769544982577\">post on the social platform X</a>, writing “FAKE NEWS CNN STRIKES AGAIN.”</p><p data-block-key=\"c8s10\">“This alleged ‘assessment’ is flat-out wrong and was classified as ‘top secret’ but was still leaked to CNN by an anonymous, low-level loser in the intelligence community,” Leavitt continued.</p><p data-block-key=\"e5e4o\">In a <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/07/02/trump-journalists-source-leaked-iran-intelligence/\">statement to the Post</a>, Leavitt accused the newspaper of “helping people commit felonies by publishing out-of-context leaks.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9hfr8\">Trump’s <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_upper=2021-01-19&tags=Department+of+Justice&categories=Leak+Case\">administrations</a> have <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tulsi-gabbard-targets-press-leakers-as-national-intelligence-director/#March%2014\">routinely</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pete-hegseth-targets-news-outlets-leakers-as-defense-secretary/\">sought</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kash-patel-targets-press-leakers-as-fbi-director/\">to punish</a> <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/kristi-noem-targets-press-leakers-as-homeland-security-secretary/\">leakers</a> and have <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pam-bondi-targets-journalists-leakers-as-us-attorney-general/\">demonstrated</a> a <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/?date_upper=2021-01-19&tags=Department+of+Justice&categories=Subpoena%2FLegal+Order\">willingness</a> to disregard journalists’ First Amendment protections in order to do so.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"June 3\" name=\"June 3\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"mev26\">June 3, 2025 | White House asks Congress to repeal $1.1 billion in funding to public media</h4><p data-block-key=\"1a7qc\">The Trump White House budget office asked Congress on June 3, 2025, to cancel $1.1 billion in funding already approved for public broadcasting, multiple media outlets reported.</p><p data-block-key=\"cmc15\">The request, <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/#April%2014\">drafted in April</a>, calls for the elimination of two years’ worth of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn partially funds NPR and PBS. Only a simple majority vote is needed to approve the request.</p><p data-block-key=\"7tu6a\">The Washington Post <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2025/06/03/trump-asks-congress-repeal-9-billion-npr-pbs-global-aid/\">reported</a> that Russell Vought, head of the Office of Management and Budget, proposed the cuts in a letter to Trump, writing, “federal spending on CPB subsidizes a public media system that is politically biased and is an unnecessary expense to the taxpayer.”</p><p data-block-key=\"fvecm\">Trump, individuals in his administration and allies in Congress have repeatedly targeted public broadcasters since his return to office in January.</p><p data-block-key=\"3j4la\">Trump <a href=\"https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1904610620659687944\">said</a> during a March 25 meeting with U.S. ambassadors that he would “love” to eliminate funding for the public broadcasters. In April, he <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114264549657133828\">called on Republicans in Congress</a> to defund and disassociate themselves from “THE RADICAL LEFT ‘MONSTERS’ THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR COUNTRY,” and the White House <a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/04/the-npr-pbs-grift-has-ripped-us-off-for-too-long/\">asserted in an official statement</a> that NPR and PBS are publishing “trash” and have engaged in a “grift.”</p><p data-block-key=\"e3e7g\">In April, Trump attempted to illegally fire three CPB board members and just days later, on May 1, signed an executive order instructing the private nonprofit corporation to cease federal funding for the outlets.</p><p data-block-key=\"dve0t\">NPR <a href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2025/05/27/npr-lawsuit-trump-executive-order-funding-cuts/\">sued</a> to halt the order, calling it “textbook retaliation.” NPR CEO Katherine Maher <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/05/27/g-s1-69017/npr-and-katherine-maher-ceo-of-npr-statement\">wrote</a>, “The intent could not be more clear — the Executive Order aims to punish NPR for the content of news and other programming the President dislikes.”</p><p data-block-key=\"43olm\">Within Congress, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-targets-press-as-doge-subcommittee-chair/\">has led a campaign</a> against the broadcasters and Rep. Ronny Jackson <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rep-ronny-jackson-targets-press-as-member-of-congress/#March%2027\">introduced a bill</a> to eliminate all direct and indirect government funding for NPR and PBS.</p><p data-block-key=\"6dfi1\">In a <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5352827/npr-pbs-public-media-trump-rescission-funding\">statement</a> published when the draft recision request became public, NPR said eliminating funding for CPB would have a devastating impact on communities that rely on public broadcasting each day.</p><p data-block-key=\"7hho\">“We serve the public interest,” the outlet wrote. “It’s not just in our name — it’s our mission.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"May 1\" name=\"May 1\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"8udpj\">May 1, 2025 | Trump signs executive order eliminating funding to NPR, PBS</h4><p data-block-key=\"4s8m1\">President Donald Trump signed an <a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/05/ending-taxpayer-subsidization-of-biased-media/\">executive order</a> on May 1, 2025, instructing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease federal funding for NPR and PBS, citing their alleged “biased and partisan news coverage.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3limi\">In a <a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/05/president-trump-finally-ends-the-madness-of-npr-pbs/\">news release</a> the following day, the White House accused the news outlets of using “millions of dollars in taxpayer funds each year to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news.’”</p><p data-block-key=\"a70ca\">Patricia Harrison, president and CEO of CPB, issued a <a href=\"https://cpb.org/pressroom/Corporation-Public-Broadcasting-Statement-Regarding-Executive-Order-Public-Media\">statement</a> pushing back against the executive order, citing provisions expressly forbidding government actors from attempting to direct the corporation’s work.</p><p data-block-key=\"d2077\">“CPB is not a federal executive agency subject to the President’s authority,” Harrison wrote. “Congress directly authorized and funded CPB to be a private nonprofit corporation wholly independent of the federal government.”</p><p data-block-key=\"eoev4\">Trump’s executive order came just days after he directed a staff member to email three of CPB’s five board members to alert them that they had been removed from their positions. The board as a whole and the targeted members — Diane Kaplan, Laura Ross and Thomas Rothman — <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.279991/gov.uscourts.dcd.279991.1.0.pdf\">sued</a> Trump on April 29, seeking a judicial declaration that the order is unenforceable, as the president has no power to remove them.</p><p data-block-key=\"edl4d\">“Put simply, Congress conceived CPB as a vehicle for infusing federal money into public broadcasting without the introduction of government direction or control,” the suit states. “Moreover, Congress protected the CPB from the executive branch by withholding from CPB any form, pure or quasi, of legislative, judicial, or regulatory power.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9mfat\">White House spokesperson Taylor Rogers dismissed CPB’s assertions in a <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/29/nx-s1-5381045/cpb-board-members-trump-lawsuit-npr-pbs\">statement to NPR</a>. “As numerous courts have repeatedly affirmed, the Constitution gives President Trump the power to remove personnel who exercise his executive authority,” Rogers said. “The Trump Administration looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”</p><p data-block-key=\"73dcs\">District Judge Randolph Moss has <a href=\"https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69966304/corporation-for-public-broadcasting-v-trump/\">ordered</a> both sides to file arguments on CPB’s motion, which seeks a temporary restraining order to prevent Trump’s order from taking effect.</p><p data-block-key=\"aqc9u\">Trump’s executive order and attempt to remove CPB board members were the latest attacks on public broadcasting by his administration or allies in Congress. Earlier, the White House <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-administration-allies-move-to-punish-outlets-during-first-weeks-in-office/#April%2014\">drafted a recision request</a> to revoke $1.1 billion in approved funding for the corporation, FCC Chair Brendan Carr <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/brendan-carr-targets-news-outlets-as-chair-of-the-fcc/#Jan%2029\">launched investigations</a> into PBS and NPR over their advertising and sponsorship practices, and Reps. <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rep-ronny-jackson-targets-press-as-member-of-congress/#March%2027\">Ronny Jackson</a> and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-targets-press-as-doge-subcommittee-chair/\">Marjorie Taylor Greene</a> have demeaned the outlets and threatened their funding.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"April 14\" name=\"April 14\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"qezxr\">April 14, 2025 | White House plans to formally ask Congress to cut PBS, NPR funding</h4><p data-block-key=\"bfp4o\">The Trump White House plans to formally ask Congress to cancel $1.1 billion in funding already approved for public broadcasting, multiple news outlets reported on April 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"94l7i\"><a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/04/15/nx-s1-5352827/npr-pbs-public-media-trump-rescission-funding\">According to NPR</a>, the White House has drafted a rescission request that calls for the elimination of two years’ worth of funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which in turn partially funds NPR and PBS.</p><p data-block-key=\"fnilc\">The administration intends to send it to Congress when lawmakers return from a two-week recess on April 28. Only a simple majority vote is needed to approve the request.</p><p data-block-key=\"2oum8\">In a <a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/04/the-npr-pbs-grift-has-ripped-us-off-for-too-long/\">statement</a> published April 14, which did not mention the draft request, the White House asserted that NPR and PBS are publishing “trash” and have engaged in a “grift.”</p><p data-block-key=\"79mab\">“For years, American taxpayers have been on the hook for subsidizing National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS), which spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as ‘news,’” the statement said. “As President Trump has stated, taxpayer funding of NPR’s and PBS’s biased content is a waste.”</p><p data-block-key=\"di1s6\">Trump <a href=\"https://x.com/RapidResponse47/status/1904610620659687944\">said</a> during a March 25 meeting with U.S. ambassadors that he would “love” to eliminate funding for the public broadcasters, and in an April 1 <a href=\"https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/114264549657133828\">social media post</a> called on Republicans in Congress to “DEFUND AND TOTALLY DISASSOCIATE THEMSELVES FROM NPR & PBS, THE RADICAL LEFT ‘MONSTERS’ THAT SO BADLY HURT OUR COUNTRY.”</p><p data-block-key=\"a2fle\">In a statement published by NPR, the outlet said, “Eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting would have a devastating impact on American communities across the nation that rely on public radio for trusted local and national news, culture, lifesaving emergency alerts, and public safety information.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ri6t\">“We serve the public interest. It’s not just in our name — it’s our mission.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"March 14-2\" name=\"March 14-2\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"3ocum\">March 14, 2025 | Trump signs executive order gutting government-funded news outlets <i>(updated March 2026)</i></h4><p data-block-key=\"8bsve\">In a late-night executive order, President Donald Trump eliminated all functions not required by law for the United States Agency for Global Media, along with a half-dozen other federal agencies, referring to them as “unnecessary governmental entities.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1cbav\">The USAGM oversees Voice of America and the office that manages Radio and TV Martí, as well as provides funding for private international broadcasters Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks.</p><p data-block-key=\"2frfm\">Michael Abramowitz, director of Voice of America, confirmed in a March 15 <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/abramowitzmj/posts/pfbid02ocNQehfifbHeAAv5qDWW55BSkwEhB9L91UyxfsJBApKw38j2fzY4DdLkc7SorUJUl\">statement</a> on his personal Facebook page that he and nearly the entire staff of the news organization — more than 1,300 journalists, producers and support staff — had been suspended.</p><p data-block-key=\"fn0a6\">“I am deeply saddened that for the first time in 83 years, the storied Voice of America is being silenced,” Abramowitz wrote. “VOA needs thoughtful reform, and we have made progress in that regard. But today’s action will leave Voice of America unable to carry out its vital mission.”</p><p data-block-key=\"9ji7j\">No articles have been published on the VOA website since around 2 p.m. on March 15. The Independent <a href=\"https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-media-voice-america-bloody-saturday-b2716583.html\">reported</a> that by the following night, many of the employees placed on leave had been fired, including <a href=\"https://x.com/liamjscott/status/1901416015352811693\">press freedom reporter Liam Scott</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"e5i1s\">NPR <a href=\"https://www.npr.org/2025/03/15/nx-s1-5329244/bloody-saturday-voiceofamerica-radio-free-asia-europe-trump-kari-lake\">reported</a> that USAGM also severed its contracts with the private international broadcasters it funds.</p><p data-block-key=\"8n9hf\">In a March 15 <a href=\"https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/the-voice-of-radical-america/\">news release</a>, the White House railed against “The Voice of Radical America,” and said Trump’s executive order “will ensure that taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4pou4\">Elon Musk, head of the new Department of Government Efficiency, had <a href=\"https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1888574212316582230?lang=en\">called</a> for the USAGM news outlets to be shut down in early February, writing, “It’s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves while torching $1B/year of US taxpayer money.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5f0g7\">Grant Turner, a former senior executive at USAGM, called the cuts “Bloody Saturday” and told NPR, “It took decades to build this goodwill and an audience of hundreds of millions every week. Seeing arsonists just set fire to it all is awful.”</p><p data-block-key=\"cmu5k\">Steve Capus, the president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, said in a statement shared with NPR, “The cancellation of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s grant agreement would be a massive gift to America’s enemies.”</p><p data-block-key=\"gruq\">Several VOA staff members filed a <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.279211/gov.uscourts.dcd.279211.1.0_1.pdf\">lawsuit</a> against USAGM, its acting CEO Victor Morales and its de facto head, Kari Lake, in the weeks that followed. The suit alleges viewpoint discrimination, violations of the statutory firewall protecting the outlet’s journalistic independence and violations of administrative policies and procedures.</p><p data-block-key=\"86ni\">A federal judge <a href=\"https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.dcd.279211/gov.uscourts.dcd.279211.219.0_1.pdf\">ruled</a> March 7, 2026, that Trump’s appointment of Lake and Morales’ delegation of nearly all his responsibilities to her were invalid. As a result, U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth wrote, all actions Lake undertook — including the mass suspensions of VOA’s staff nearly a year prior and subsequent firings at her direction in August 2025 — were void.</p><p data-block-key=\"2ile1\">The VOA staff who filed the suit praised the decision in a statement shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, saying they feel “vindicated and deeply grateful.”</p><p data-block-key=\"crb8a\">“The judge’s ruling that Kari Lake’s actions shall have no force or effect is a powerful step toward undoing the damage she has inflicted on this American institution that we love,” wrote Patsy Widakuswara, Kate Neeper and Jessica Jerreat. “Even as we work through what this ruling means for colleagues harmed by her actions, it brings renewed hope and momentum to the next phase of our fight: restoring VOA’s global operations and ensuring we continue to produce journalism, not propaganda.”</p><p data-block-key=\"39brt\">Lake has said she intends to appeal the decision, The New York Times <a href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/us/politics/judge-kari-lake-voa-layoffs.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share\">reported</a>.</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div>\r\n<a id=\"March 14-1\" name=\"March 14-1\"></a></div>\n<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><h4 data-block-key=\"3ocum\">March 14, 2025 | Trump says negative press coverage ‘illegal’ during speech at DOJ</h4><p data-block-key=\"5mqt4\">President Donald Trump called the critical news coverage of his administration “illegal” and “corrupt” during a speech at the Department of Justice on March 14, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"5d8fd\">Amid his <a href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i41Av4eYO8\">nearly hourlong remarks</a>, Trump said that many judges, including those on the Supreme Court, “take tremendous abuse” from news outlets, including The New York Times, The Washington Post and broadcast networks, likening the coverage to judicial interference. “It’s truly interference in my opinion and it should be illegal and it probably is illegal in some form,” Trump said.</p><p data-block-key=\"ecl8u\">He went on to claim that CNN and MSNBC are “political arms of the Democrat Party.”</p><p data-block-key=\"vpnv\">“These networks and these newspapers are really no different than a highly paid political operative and it has to stop, it has to be illegal,” Trump said.</p><p data-block-key=\"d5tm7\">As Trump decried his perceived enemies in the media, justice system and nonprofit sector, he advanced the DOJ as a tool to exact his personal vengeance. He asserted that he is the chief law enforcement officer — which The Associated Press <a href=\"https://apnews.com/article/trump-bondi-patel-justice-fbi-retribution-ec275e730c6e75f2d6ee29eeec30fa07\">reported</a> is technically Attorney General Pam Bondi — and as such will demand “full and complete accountability for the wrongs and abuses that have occurred.”</p></div>\n<div class=\"block-raw_html\"><div class=\"article-content__block rich-text\"><p data-block-key=\"258po\">\r\n<p><a href=\"#top\"><i>Back to Top</i></a></p></div></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/2025-03-15T003457Z_176944555_RC29.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"7bspe\">President Donald Trump speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force One as he departs from Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on March 14, 2025.</p>",
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"CNN",
"Media",
"Middle East Broadcasting Networks",
"National Public Radio",
"PBS News",
"Radio Free Asia",
"Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty",
"Radio y Televisión Martí",
"The New York Times",
"Voice of America"
],
"tags": [
"Donald Trump"
],
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"categories": [
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},
{
"title": "Photojournalist denied entry to federal building in San Diego",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-denied-entry-to-federal-building-in-san-diego/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-16T17:27:28.006023Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-16T17:27:28.006023Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-16T17:27:27.828050Z",
"date": "2025-12-05",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "San Diego",
"longitude": -117.16472,
"latitude": 32.71571,
"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"fgmb9\">Independent photojournalist Jonathan Chang was barred from bringing his professional camera into a federal building in San Diego, California, on Dec. 5, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"brlb4\">In an <a href=\"https://latenfour.com/2025/12/10/guest-column-san-diego-federal-building-is-barring-journalists-from-entry/\">account</a> for digital news outlet The LA Ten Four, Chang wrote that he had previously visited the Edward J. Schwartz Federal Building multiple times without issue as part of his ongoing efforts to cover the immigration court housed there.</p><p data-block-key=\"93es4\">“I would state my purpose with security guards at the entrance, they would scan my camera. I would walk through a metal detector and make my way into the building,” he wrote.</p><p data-block-key=\"5jio6\">His experience when visiting Dec. 5, he added, was far different.</p><p data-block-key=\"ah494\">Two private security guards contracted with the federal building pulled him aside, informing him that he couldn’t enter with his camera but that he could take pictures with his cellphone. Chang wrote that he then spoke with a Department of Homeland Security police officer, who confirmed the restrictions.</p><p data-block-key=\"72rvg\">“I affirmed to her I understand I could not take photos inside the courtroom. I was not going to the courtroom; I was going into the building,” he wrote. “I told her I’d be staying in the hallways to document the story of the volunteers inside the building to capture any detentions that may happen while I was there.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ck3ck\">The officer referred Chang to a <a href=\"https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-6/chapter-I/part-139/subpart-B/section-139.65\">DHS policy</a> that took effect in November, asserting that the photojournalist needed permission from one of the federal building’s tenants to bring in his camera.</p><p data-block-key=\"cm1fh\">The policy only speaks to active use of a camera, not simply carrying one, and also provides exceptions for members of the media filming in publicly accessible areas in and around the federal building.</p><p data-block-key=\"3uu4q\">A <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/eoir/media/1416861/dl?inline\">fact sheet</a> from the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review, however, specifies that immigration court hearings are generally open to the public with limited exceptions.</p><p data-block-key=\"8mbk2\">“Access to observe immigration court hearings necessarily entails access to EOIR space, which includes courtrooms, interior entrances, exits, corridors, conference rooms, and the waiting areas that are in direct view or control of security, the immigration court, or are otherwise part of EOIR’s daily operations,” it continues.</p><p data-block-key=\"fkipb\">Chang told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the officers didn’t seem to understand the rules governing their own buildings, and he was frustrated by their apparent unwillingness to engage with him.</p><p data-block-key=\"26j5\">“It’s another data point of the government’s censorship of the press,” he said.</p><p data-block-key=\"38akh\">Adam Rose, deputy director of advocacy for Freedom of the Press Foundation, of which the Tracker is a project, said in a statement, “There’s no excuse for obstructing photography in public hallways of a federal building.</p><p data-block-key=\"6vetg\">“Violations should be alarming to federal courts, which depend on public participation and trust,” he continued. “The press contributes to both by serving as the eyes and ears of the public.”</p><p data-block-key=\"1u9es\">Neither the Executive Office for Immigration Review nor official contacts for the federal building responded to requests for additional information or comment.</p></div>",
"introduction": "",
"teaser": "",
"teaser_image": "https://media.pressfreedomtracker.us/media/images/AP25171734397319.2e16d0ba.fill-1330x880.jpg",
"primary_video": null,
"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"89h1b\">An interfaith group entering a federal building during immigration hearings on June 20, 2025, in San Diego, California. Photojournalist Jonathan Chang was prevented from bringing his camera into the same building on Dec. 5.</p>",
"arresting_authority": null,
"arrest_status": null,
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"detention_date": null,
"unnecessary_use_of_force": false,
"case_number": null,
"case_type": null,
"status_of_seized_equipment": null,
"is_search_warrant_obtained": false,
"actor": null,
"border_point": null,
"target_us_citizenship_status": null,
"denial_of_entry": false,
"stopped_previously": false,
"did_authorities_ask_for_device_access": null,
"did_authorities_ask_about_work": null,
"assailant": null,
"was_journalist_targeted": null,
"charged_under_espionage_act": false,
"subpoena_type": null,
"name_of_business": null,
"third_party_business": null,
"legal_order_venue": null,
"status_of_prior_restraint": null,
"mistakenly_released_materials": false,
"links": [],
"equipment_seized": [],
"equipment_broken": [],
"state": {
"name": "California",
"abbreviation": "CA"
},
"updates": [],
"case_statuses": [],
"workers_whose_communications_were_obtained": [],
"target_nationality": [],
"targeted_institutions": [],
"tags": [
"Department of Homeland Security",
"immigration"
],
"politicians_or_public_figures_involved": [
"Federal government: Agency"
],
"authors": [],
"categories": [
"Denial of Access"
],
"targeted_journalists": [
"Jonathan Chang (Independent)"
],
"subpoena_statuses": null,
"type_of_denial": [
"Change in policy or practice"
]
},
{
"title": "University of Alabama shutters 2 student magazines, citing federal DEI guidance",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/university-of-alabama-shutters-2-student-magazines-citing-federal-dei-guidance/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-17T18:51:15.154074Z",
"last_published_at": "2025-12-17T18:51:15.154074Z",
"latest_revision_created_at": "2025-12-17T18:51:15.066835Z",
"date": "2025-12-01",
"exact_date_unknown": false,
"city": "Tuscaloosa",
"longitude": -87.56917,
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"j24y8\">Two student magazines were shut down on Dec. 1, 2025, by the state-run University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, which said they violated guidance from the Justice Department about funding for diversity, equity and inclusion programs.</p><p data-block-key=\"e160g\"><a href=\"https://1956magazine.ua.edu/about/\">Nineteen Fifty-Six</a> covers Black student life and culture, while <a href=\"https://alice.ua.edu/about/\">Alice</a> focuses primarily on women’s fashion and wellness. Both publish print editions in the spring and fall semesters, as well as online content.</p><p data-block-key=\"bo16b\">The closures came in the wake of a July 29 <a href=\"https://www.justice.gov/ag/media/1409486/dl\">memo</a> issued by Attorney General Pam Bondi to recipients of federal funding, with guidance on how to comply with antidiscrimination laws, part of the Trump administration’s <a href=\"https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-doj-memo-dei-ban-federal-fund-recipients-rcna222105\">larger effort</a> to reverse policies promoting DEI.</p><p data-block-key=\"3ghn8\">One section of the memo cautioned against “unlawful proxy discrimination,” explaining, “Unlawful proxies occur when a federally funded entity intentionally uses ostensibly neutral criteria that function as substitutes for explicit consideration of race, sex, or other protected characteristics.”</p><p data-block-key=\"5ci3n\">According to <a href=\"https://thecrimsonwhite.com/125358/news/university-suspends-alice-nineteen-fifty-six-student-magazines/\">The Crimson White</a>, the university’s student newspaper that first reported the suspensions, Vice President for Student Life Steven Hood told the staff of the two magazines that because their audiences are specific groups, they are considered “unlawful proxies.”</p><p data-block-key=\"3spjb\">University spokesperson Alex House said in a statement the closures allow the school to “ensure all members of our community feel welcome to participate in programs that receive university funding from the Office of Student Media,” the Alabama Reflector <a href=\"https://alabamareflector.com/2025/12/02/university-of-alabama-suspends-student-magazines-citing-federal-memo/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"6i1lo\">Neither magazine limited participation based on racial or gender identity.</p><p data-block-key=\"8sqot\">“I was under the impression that we were protected from being affected by any anti-DEI legislation and rulings because of our First Amendment right to freedom of press, but it appears I was wrong,” Alice Magazine Editor-in-Chief Gabrielle Gunter told the Reflector.</p><p data-block-key=\"ei6rh\">In a statement <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DRx5WP1ATe7/\">posted</a> on social media, Kendal Wright, Nineteen Fifty-Six editor-in-chief, said she was “devastated but, regrettably, not surprised” by the decision. She added, “Regardless of our suspension, there will continue to be a need on campus for the stories of the university’s Black community to be told.”</p><p data-block-key=\"4anvj\">The move drew national attention and sparked anger among students and alumni. One group started a <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/DSGOyyrEufY/\">fundraiser</a> for the magazines, raising more than $25,000 in just three days. Those funds will <a href=\"https://www.alabamamasthead.org/faq\">cover</a> the costs for the two spring editions of the magazine, the Media Alumni Seeking to Highlight Equity and Diversity group said.</p><p data-block-key=\"et6c3\">U.S. Reps. Terri Sewell and Shomari Figures, both Alabama representatives, wrote a Dec. 16 <a href=\"https://sewell.house.gov/press-releases?ID=71506183-2707-42FD-85B0-0FE2680C87B3\">letter</a> to University of Alabama President Peter Mohler to call on the school to reinstate the magazines, saying the decision has “profound implications for free speech, academic freedom, and the University’s stated commitment to fostering an inclusive campus environment.”</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"hmi3e\">The Tuscaloosa campus of the University of Alabama, above. The state institution closed two student magazines on Dec. 1, 2025, citing Trump administration guidance on unlawful discrimination by recipients of federal funding. Licensed under <a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Malone_Hood_Plaza_University_of_Alabama_northeast_view.jpg\">public domain</a>.</p>",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist slammed against wall, arrested amid NYC protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-slammed-against-wall-arrested-amid-nyc-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-04T22:06:50.829041Z",
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"date": "2025-11-29",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"nkjdt\">Independent photojournalist and documentarian Avery Craig was assaulted and arrested by police while documenting immigration protests in New York, New York, on Nov. 29, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"b7fer\">Demonstrators had gathered near a General Services Administration parking lot in lower Manhattan in an attempt to physically block federal authorities who began staging there at around 11 a.m., The City <a href=\"https://www.thecity.nyc/2025/11/29/nypd-ice-homeland-security-canal/\">reported</a>.</p><p data-block-key=\"49q4h\">New York City Police Department officers were called in to support the agents, helping to push protesters back and erect metal barricades around the parking garage. Shortly after 1 p.m., agents abruptly exited in their vehicles, and protesters chased them down the street.</p><p data-block-key=\"1bcn\">Amid this chaotic scene, NYPD officers continued to clash with demonstrators. Craig told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he somehow became caught up in it.</p><p data-block-key=\"q0k0\">“As I was getting to the sidewalk, a cop was running up the block to arrest a protester. At the same moment, I was running up the block to document what was happening,” he said. “As I’m running up, a cop slams me to the wall and then yells, ‘You’re next! You’re next!’”</p><p data-block-key=\"4vr1f\">Craig said he asked why he was being detained and identified himself as press multiple times.</p><p data-block-key=\"1u70c\">“He says, ‘We don’t give a shit.’ And then I’m pointing to the journal and the book that I had in my hand, and he slams them on the concrete, and the journal actually broke from the spine,” he recounted.</p><p data-block-key=\"8ap6l\">In <a href=\"https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRs3JFIjHyi/\">footage of the incident</a> captured by independent journalist Wali Khan for Status Coup, a baffled Craig is seen wearing city-issued press credentials around his neck as two officers turn and push him face-first into a wall. Multiple voices can be heard shouting out, “He’s press!”</p><p data-block-key=\"f5s51\">Craig told the Tracker that, luckily, a protester retrieved his book and journal, the latter of which contains notes and reporting materials for a documentary project he’s working on in the Bronx.</p><p data-block-key=\"1r4c\">He was then loaded into a police van and transported to a precinct, where he waited for approximately three hours before officers notified him that they had voided the charge against him.</p><p data-block-key=\"5bg28\">“The charge that they were going to place upon me was obstruction, and which the supervisor to the arresting officer clearly stated, as I was in the van, that they had it all on body camera,” Craig said. “While I was in the cell, and they were telling me that I was good to go, I asked them if they checked the body camera, and they obviously said that nothing happened. And that was how it was settled.”</p><p data-block-key=\"467er\">In a statement to The City, an NYPD spokesperson said the officers were responding to a call for a “disorderly group.”</p><p data-block-key=\"ek0b4\">“Upon arrival, officers observed multiple individuals who were blocking the street and exits at different locations. The individuals were also observed throwing debris,” the statement said. “They were instructed multiple times to disperse, and they did not comply. As a result, multiple individuals were taken into custody.”</p><p data-block-key=\"6nj6n\">The department did not respond to an additional request for comment on Craig’s arrest.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"740vb\">Police officers make an arrest after protesters tried to prevent federal agents from leaving for an immigration raid in New York, New York, on Nov. 29, 2025. Independent photojournalist Avery Craig was also detained that day.</p>",
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{
"title": "Photojournalist struck in stomach with pepper ball at Minnesota protest",
"url": "https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-stomach-with-pepper-ball-at-minnesota-protest/",
"first_published_at": "2025-12-01T18:30:40.664651Z",
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"date": "2025-11-25",
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"city": "St. Paul",
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"body": "<div class=\"block-rich_text\"><p data-block-key=\"6s1aw\">Freelance photojournalist Tim Evans was shot with a crowd-control munition by law enforcement while reporting on protests in response to a federal immigration enforcement raid in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Nov. 25, 2025.</p><p data-block-key=\"5j1dm\">The Minnesota Star Tribune <a href=\"https://www.startribune.com/protesters-clash-with-agents-police-during-apparent-federal-raid-in-st-paul/601533779\">reported</a> that while federal authorities — including agents from Homeland Security Investigations — conducted a raid at a home, St. Paul Police Department officers formed a perimeter to keep the mounting protest at bay.</p><p data-block-key=\"50phf\">Evans, who was not immediately available for comment, <a href=\"https://www.mprnews.org/story/2025/11/26/st-paul-police-use-of-force-during-ice-protests-raises-press-freedom-concerns\">told the Minnesota Public Radio</a> that he was on assignment that day for Reuters and was wearing a vest marked with “Press.” He was also working near two fellow photojournalists — <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-shot-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-minnesota-protest\">Kerem Yücel</a> of MPR and <a href=\"https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-in-head-with-pepper-ball-amid-minnesota-protest\">Aaron Nesheim</a> of Sahan Journal — most of the day.</p><p data-block-key=\"3kq9h\">As federal officers prepared to leave, police tried to clear the area, but the scene devolved into chaos.</p><p data-block-key=\"12jq9\">Evans told the outlet that police began shooting pepper balls at the feet of protesters, who in turn threw objects toward the officers. Amid the protest response, all three photojournalists were shot with crowd-control munitions.</p><p data-block-key=\"5h85a\">“One of the guys looks at me and shoots me in the stomach as I’m photographing,” Evans told MPR. The pepper ball left a black-and-blue welt, he added.</p><p data-block-key=\"ip1l\">Nesheim said he saw Yücel struck in the shoulder with a crowd-control munition. Shortly after, a pepper ball grazed Nesheim’s head.</p><p data-block-key=\"4spfe\">All three photojournalists told MPR that they were clearly identifiable as press and believe police deliberately targeted them for doing their jobs. None of them reported hearing any verbal warnings before officers opened fire.</p><p data-block-key=\"71sip\">In an emailed statement to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, police Chief Axel Henry said that a full review of the department’s response Nov. 25 is underway.</p><p data-block-key=\"39eq6\">“We are committed to a thorough review. This consists of viewing hundreds of hours of body camera footage, as well as footage being shared by community members,” Henry wrote. “We are also actively seeking to arrange meetings with local law enforcement leaders and federal law enforcement to create sustainable prevention strategies for our city and the rest of the state.”</p><p data-block-key=\"21d9h\">The Minnesota Society of Professional Journalists <a href=\"https://www.mnspj.org/2025/11/26/mnspj-condemns-st-paul-police-attacks-on-journalists/\">condemned</a> the attacks, noting that, “Attacking journalists sends a message to both journalists and everyday citizens that their First Amendment rights will not be respected.</p><p data-block-key=\"cuhtg\">“Photojournalists are on the frontlines of documenting history and it is imperative that they are kept safe and their First Amendment rights are protected,” it added.</p></div>",
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"image_caption": "<p data-block-key=\"j8f2c\">Federal authorities stand guard at a federal immigration enforcement action in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Nov. 25, 2025. Freelance photojournalist Tim Evans was shot with pepper balls while covering protests in opposition to the raid.</p>",
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