Independent videographer arrested during Los Angeles protest

November 4, 2020
Independent videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel was arrested while filming election-related protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in Los Angeles, California, on Nov. 4, 2020.Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that protesters had planned to march from City Hall downtown to Pershing Square a little less than a mile away. By approximately 7 p.m., most of the crowd had dispersed and Beckner-Carmitchel said he thought he could head out for the night.A few unmarked police cars moved in …

Videographer arrested during election protest in Los Angeles

November 4, 2020
Vishal Singh, a videographer who works on Netflix documentaries and has been covering demonstrations in Los Angeles, was arrested in the city on Nov. 4, 2020, while filming election-related protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.Singh told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he and fellow videographer Sean Beckner-Carmitchel were covering a relatively small demonstration that was winding down near the intersection of West 5th and South Hill streets along Pershing Square after marching from City Hall. CPJ …

Videographer cited for being in roadway during LA protest

November 3, 2020
Sean Beckner-Carmitchel, a Los Angeles-based independent videographer who has been covering local demonstrations for several months, was detained and issued a citation on Nov. 3, 2020.On the evening of the U.S. elections, Beckner-Carmitchel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting an event titled Marathon Party at the Polls, sponsored by Black Lives Matter Los Angeles, at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. An Instagram post by BLMLA advertised the event as from 7 a.m. to 8 …

NYPD arrests, assaults photojournalist during protest

November 1, 2020
New York City police tackled and arrested photojournalist Chae Kihn as she covered protests in the New York borough of Manhattan on Nov. 1, 2020, according to a video of the incident and the general counsel of the National Press Photographers Association.Kihn was covering a Make America Great Again demonstration near 10th Avenue and W. 24th Street when officers in New York City Police Department uniforms tackled Kihn to the ground, handcuffed and then arrested her. Some of the police …

Social media journalist arrested, injured while covering Wisconsin protest

October 8, 2020
Independent social media journalist Brendan Gutenschwager was one of four journalists arrested or detained while covering a protest in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin on Oct. 8, 2020.The protest followed a Milwaukee County prosecutor’s Oct. 7 announcement that his office would not bring charges against a Wauwatosa police officer who shot and killed Black teenager Alvin Cole on Feb. 2. Cole, 17, had refused to put down a gun and ran away from police following a disturbance at a Wauwatosa mall. The Wauwatosa …

Freelance journalist arrested while covering Wauwatosa, Wisconsin protests

October 8, 2020
Freelance journalist Blair Nelson was arrested while covering a protest in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, on Oct. 8, 2020.Demonstrations began after a Milwaukee County prosecutor said on Oct. 7 his office wouldn’t bring charges against a Wauwatosa police officer who shot and killed Black teenager Alvin Cole on Feb. 2. Police said Cole refused orders to put down a gun after he ran away from police following a disturbance at a mall. The protests came as demonstrations against police violence and racial …
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