Independent journalist arrested, held for eight hours by Richmond police

July 26, 2020
Independent reporter Madeleine “Molly” Conger was arrested when she arrived at Monroe Park to cover a protest against police brutality in Richmond, Virginia, on July 26, 2020.Conger — whose work has appeared in local Charlottesville outlet C-Ville Weekly and The Guardian — told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when she arrived shortly after 10 p.m. no more than 15 people were present.“There was no active protest at that point,” Conger said. Instead, those assembled were discussing where to go …

Student reporter detained while covering Richmond protest

July 26, 2020
Andrew Ringle, the executive editor of the Commonwealth Times, the independent student newspaper of Virginia Commonwealth University, was detained by police while covering a protest against police violence in Richmond, Virginia, on July 26, 2020.Ringle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a phone interview that he and his news editor, Eduardo Acevedo, had heard about the protest in Richmond’s Monroe Park after seeing a flyer online. Richmond Police Chief Gerald Smith would later describe the flyer as using the …

Sacramento reporter’s charging cable cut while covering solidarity march

July 26, 2020
Capital Public Radio state government reporter Scott Rodd was consistently blocked while covering protests against police violence in Sacramento, California, on July 25, 2020. In the early hours of the next morning, he tweeted that an individual in the crowd had cut his charging cable. Rodd eventually removed himself from the scene to report from afar.Rodd was documenting a solidarity march in downtown Sacramento in support of the protesters in Portland and the Black Lives Matter movement following the death …

Independent journalist says federal agents used targeted crowd control weapons during Portland protests

July 26, 2020
Freelance journalist Laura Jedeed said she was hit by pepper balls fired by federal law enforcement while they were covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 26, 2020. Jedeed was one of many covering protests that broke out in Portland 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 …

Portland journalist struck in the arm with a projectile while covering protest

July 26, 2020
Lesley McLam, co-host of a KBOO podcast and contributor to Village Portland, said she was struck by a crowd-control munition fired by federal officers and covered in a “toxic white powder” while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 26, 2020.McLam was documenting one of the many protests that broke out in Portland 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 …

Journalist says he was tear-gassed by police while covering Oregon protest

July 26, 2020
Journalist Janusz Malo said he was tear-gassed by police in the early hours of July 26, 2020, while covering a protest in Eugene, Oregon.Malo, a writer for Double Sided Media, an independent media collective, was covering one of the protests that broke out in Eugene 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 …

Journalist’s camera lens broken after he’s shoved to the ground by Portland police

July 26, 2020
Journalist Tuan St. Patrick’s camera lens was broken after he was repeatedly shoved to the ground by Portland, Oregon police in the early morning hours of July 26, 2020, just hours after he and other journalists covering demonstrations say they were hit with crowd-control munitions.St. Patrick is a national correspondent for Berlin, Germany-based video news service Ruptly, whose sole shareholder is funded by the Russian government. St. Patrick was covering one of the many protests that broke out in Portland …

Photojournalist struck in the face with munitions while covering Portland protest

July 26, 2020
Independent photojournalist Trip Jennings was struck in his eye with a pepper ball that pierced one of the plastic lenses on his gas mask on July 26, 2020 in Portland, Oregon, while he covered civil unrest in the city.Jennings was covering one of the many protests that broke out in Portland 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 …
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