Reporter assaulted while filming looting in Philadelphia

October 27, 2020
Following protests in western Philadelphia, TheBlaze reporter Elijah Schaffer was assaulted while filming looting inside a discount store on Oct. 27, 2020.Schaffer, who reports for TheBlaze, which was founded by conservative political commentator Glenn Beck and is a part of Blaze Media, was covering protests that broke out in response to the death of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year old Black man who was fatally shot one day earlier by two Philadelphia police officers.According to news reports, protests that had …

Photojournalist assaulted, threatened with firearm while covering Pittsburgh protests

September 22, 2020
Freelance photojournalist Ed Thompson said he was assaulted and threatened with a firearm by an individual while covering a protest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 22, 2020.Thompson was covering one of the many protests that broke out across the U.S. in 2020 in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.On Sept. 22, protesters demonstrating against …

Judge bars Pennsylvania reporters from court proceeding

September 9, 2020
A district judge in Pennsylvania barred reporters from two local newspapers from observing a preliminary arraignment at the York County District Court on Sept. 9, 2020.Dylan Segelbaum, a reporter for the daily newspaper the York Daily Record/Sunday News, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and Logan Hullinger, a reporter for the morning newspaper York Dispatch, were prevented from entering the courtroom to observe the arraignment of Mike Cleveland. Cleveland is accused of embezzling almost $23,000 while serving as …

Pennsylvania reporter assaulted while covering picket line

August 23, 2020
Michael Roknick, a reporter for The Sharon Herald, was assaulted while covering a steel union picket in Farrell, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 23, 2020, according to his.The Herald reported that approximately a dozen union members were protesting outside NLMK Pennsylvania’s steel plant and told the outlet that they had been instructed not to speak to the press.When Roknick attempted to photograph the picket line using his cell phone, members blocked their faces with signs, the outlet reported. Two of the picketers …

Philadelphia Inquirer reporter arrested during ‘defund the police’ protest

June 23, 2020
Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Samantha Melamed was briefly detained by police while covering a protest inside the Philadelphia Municipal Services Building on June 23, 2020.Protesters had gathered inside the building to demand a meeting with Philadelphia’s mayor and managing director to lobby for defunding and demilitarizing the local police department. The protest was part of a national movement against police brutality that began at the end of May following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in …

Unicorn Riot reporter assaulted by crowd defending Columbus statue in Philadelphia

June 14, 2020
A reporter for nonprofit media outlet Unicorn Riot was hit repeatedly while he filmed protesters who said they were defending a statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 14, 2020.The night before, on June 13, a group of vigilantes had gathered at South Philadelphia’s Marconi Plaza to defend its Columbus statue. Monuments of the Italian explorer and other figures across the country had been toppled or vandalized during continuing protests sparked by the May 25 police killing of …

Unicorn Riot reporter assaulted, his bike damaged in Philadelphia

June 13, 2020
On June 13, 2020, Unicorn Riot reporter Chris Schiano was physically assaulted and saw his bike’s tires slashed while filming protesters who claimed to be protecting a statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.After statues — including some depicting Christopher Columbus — were toppled or vandalized in cities across the country during protests over the police killing of George Floyd, a group of individuals stationed themselves at South Philadelphia’s Marconi Plaza on June 13 saying they were protecting the Columbus …
More Incidents