Incident details
- Date of incident
- January 24, 2026
- Location
- Minneapolis, Minnesota
- Targets
- Jana Shortal (KARE)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
KARE anchor Jana Shortal, at left, tells reporter Joe McCoy about being pushed and targeted with a chemical irritant while covering the aftermath of a fatal shooting by Border Patrol agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026.
KARE television anchor Jana Shortal was shoved multiple times and sprayed in the eye with a chemical irritant by federal agents while covering the aftermath of a fatal shooting by Border Patrol in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Jan. 24, 2026.
Demonstrators began to gather in the city’s Whittier neighborhood shortly after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, KARE reported.
Shortal, who went to the scene after hearing reports of the shooting, told KARE that two agents abruptly began to move the press line back. “An agent probably twice my size pushed me pretty hard. And I said, ‘Don’t push me, I’m press.’ I was wearing my press credential. And he did it again. And I said, ‘Do not push me, I’m press.’”
Shortal went on to say, “At that time, the irritant went almost directly into my left eye. I didn’t see where it came from.”
The journalist then described how a woman who lived on the block invited her into her apartment to help her recover, giving her towels, a new shirt and water. Shortal said it took about 30 minutes to recuperate, including with attention from medics.
Shortal also recounted additional details of the assault in an Instagram video and in an interview with KARE reporter Joe McCoy recorded at the scene shortly after the incident, while the demonstration was still taking place.
“I played by the rules doing my job. They did not,” Shortal wrote on Instagram.
Toward the end of the interview with McCoy, several loud bangs can be heard, and the two journalists begin to run with others in the crowd. McCoy tells the studio anchor that law enforcement is launching tear gas into the gathering, but that they were unharmed.
Shortal and the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
