Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- September 7, 2024
- Location
- Oakland, California
- Assailant
- Private individual
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
- Equipment Broken
- Actor
- Private individual
Equipment Damage
A broadcast news crew with ABC affiliate KGO-TV was robbed at gunpoint while reporting in Oakland, California, on Sept. 7, 2024.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported that at about 5:30 p.m., multiple armed individuals exited a car and “rushed” the station’s reporter, a crew member and a security guard, as the news team reported in North Oakland. A spokesperson for Oakland’s police union told The Mercury News that the robbers took the crew’s television camera and microphone, as well as the security guard’s firearm.
KGO-TV declined to comment on the incident. Police have reported no injuries in connection with the robbery and no arrests have been made, according to the News.
More than a dozen journalists — all either photojournalists or members of broadcast news crews — have been robbed at gunpoint in the Bay Area since 2019. A security guard for KPIX-TV was shot in the leg when he exchanged fire with an armed robber in February 2019, and a security guard with KRON-TV died from injuries he suffered during an attempted robbery of a news crew in November 2021.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].