New York Times reporter assaulted, cameras stolen and damaged amid Capitol riot

January 6, 2021
New York Times reporter Erin Schaff wrote that she was assaulted, one of her cameras stolen and the lens of a second broken by rioters as they stormed the Capitol in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021.A riot broke out as supporters of President Donald Trump marched on the Capitol, swarmed the building and broke inside in an attempt to disrupt the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, Reuters reported. At a noon rally held in front of the …

Journalists threatened with assault while covering Olympia protest

January 6, 2021
Sara Gentzler, a reporter for the Olympian, and an unidentified journalist were threatened by an armed protester while covering a demonstration at the Capitol in Olympia, Washington, on Jan. 6, 2021.The protest that day was one of several held by supporters of President Donald Trump at capitols around the country, organized as the U.S. Congress was set to confirm President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. In a piece in the Olympian, Gentzler wrote that “hundreds gathered on the Washington state …

VICE News journalist assaulted, camera damaged during Capitol riots

January 6, 2021
VICE News international correspondent Ben Solomon and cameraman Chris Olson were attacked by several rioters as they covered the assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Demonstrators attempted to smash Olson’s camera, damaging the handle.President Donald Trump spoke at a noon rally that day in front of the White House, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol where lawmakers were certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, reported the …

CNN correspondent says he was pushed by senator’s aide

January 6, 2021
CNN Senior Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju was pushed aside in the Senate chamber by a senator’s aide while covering the insurrection in and around the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.President Donald Trump spoke at a noon rally that day in front of the White House, promoting false claims of election fraud and calling for his supporters to march to the Capitol where lawmakers were certifying the victory of President-elect Joe Biden, reported the New York Times. Following the rally, …

Photojournalist assaulted by rioters while covering Capitol insurrection

January 6, 2021
Photojournalist Chris Jones, who covers right-wing extremism for 100 Days in Appalachia through a partnership with Report for America, was assaulted and had his camera pouch damaged while covering the breach of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.The violent storming of the Capitol came after President Donald Trump had spoken at a rally in front of the White House in which he promoted false claims of election fraud and called for his supporters to march to the legislative seat of …

Journalist assaulted, her phone and finger smashed while covering Portland eviction protest

December 8, 2020
KATU ABC 2 reporter Genevieve Reaume was assaulted and had her phone smashed by individuals participating in an eviction protest in Portland, Oregon, on Dec. 8, 2020.Reaume and KATU ABC 2 photojournalist Ric Peavyhouse were covering a protest against the feared eviction of a Black and Indigenous family from their foreclosed home in North Portland. Activists had been camping out at the property on North Mississippi Avenue — known as the “Red House” — for months when law enforcement came …

Journalists shoved by pro-Trump demonstrators in Salem, Oregon

November 7, 2020
Three journalists were shoved by pro-Donald Trump demonstrators while covering a rally in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 7, 2020.Documentary photographer Joseph Rushmore and two members of the Portland-based press collective 45th Absurdist Brigade, who requested anonymity because they fear harassment from far-right groups, were pushed while covering one of the “Stop the Steal” rallies held around the country to promote President Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him.In the wake of the election being called …

Photojournalist’s camera damaged during arrest in Portland

November 5, 2020
Freelance photojournalist Clementson Supriyadi was assaulted and arrested by Oregon State Police while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 5, 2020.In Portland, protests had been held on almost a nightly basis since late May in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.At around 8 p.m., …

CBS journalist reports ‘minor dust up’ while covering D.C. election protest

November 4, 2020
CBS national reporter Christina Ruffini and her crew were briefly accosted while covering election-related, pro-Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 4, 2020.Ruffini tweeted footage of the incident, which she described as a “minor dust up with protestors outside #blmplaza who didn’t like us filming,” referring to Black Lives Matter Plaza, a two-block section of 16th Street in Washington stretching north from the White House.

Journalists shoved by law enforcement officers while covering overlapping protests

November 4, 2020
Two independent journalists said they were pushed by law enforcement officers in separate incidents while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.Garrison Davis and Bethany Kerley were documenting two protests. One group was calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted, while another expressed a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the …

Four journalists shoved by law enforcement officers while documenting Portland protests

November 4, 2020
Four journalists were pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.The journalists — documentary filmmaker Lance Bangs, independent photojournalists Mason Lake and Maranie Staab, as well as a member of a press collective called the 45th Parallel Absurdist Brigade who asked to remain anonymous — were documenting protests on the day after the election.Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on …

Journalist accosted by person in ‘black bloc’ during Election Day protest in D.C.

November 3, 2020
Freelance journalist Eric Thomas was pursued and threatened by an unidentified individual and had his phone knocked from his hand while he covered election night demonstrations in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 3, 2020.At 10:53 p.m., Thomas posted a video to his Twitter account showing an individual in head-to-toe black — a technique for evading identification known as black bloc — walking toward the journalist as he filmed the interaction with his smartphone.The person was part of a group of about …

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 …

Photojournalist shoved to the ground, equipment damaged during Beverly Hills political protest

October 31, 2020
Los Angeleno photojournalist Jintak Han was assaulted by a law enforcement official dressed in riot gear while reporting on clashes between protest groups in Beverly Hills, California on Oct. 31, 2020, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Han told the Committee to Protect Journalists.Han said that he was taking pictures of a protest staged by supporters of President Donald Trump and a counterprotest when he was pushed to the ground by an officer from the Beverly Hills Police Department. Though Han said …

Independent photojournalist threatened by man with a gun in Portland

October 24, 2020
An unidentified man threatened independent photojournalist Maranie Staab with a gun as she covered protests in downtown Portland, Oregon on Oct. 24, 2020.Staab, whose photos of the protests in Portland have been published by Reuters, The New Yorker and Agence France-Presse, was documenting one of the protests that have been held almost nightly in the city in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black …
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