Weapons aimed at Free Press journalists covering Detroit protests

May 30, 2020
Two journalists who’d been reporting for the Detroit Free Press had weapons brandished at them by law enforcement officials while covering protests in the city on May 30, 2020, they told the Committee to Protect Journalists.The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality …

Free Press journalists say they were targeted with chemical irritants while covering Detroit protests

May 30, 2020
Two journalists from the Detroit Free Press say they were assaulted by law enforcement while covering protests in the city on May 30, 2020.In an interview with the Committee to Protect Journalists, Free Press reporter J.C. Reindl said he was pepper-sprayed by a law enforcement official at around 10:30 that evening as he covered protests in downtown Detroit.The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black …

Independent photographer stopped for secondary screening, devices seized

June 28, 2019
Independent photographer Tim Stegmaier was stopped for secondary screening and had his electronic devices confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on June 28, 2019.Stegmaier was flying in from Shanghai, China, to Detroit, Michigan, after a photojournalism trip to the Philippines when CBP officers pulled him aside for additional screening. In an account published by the ACLU of Ohio titled, “Photographs and the First Amendment. My Harrowing Journey Through U.S. Customs,” Stegmaier wrote that the officers didn’t provide any explanation …
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