Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- August 12, 2018
- Location
- Washington, District of Columbia
- Targets
- Christina Ruffini (CBS News)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- No
Assault
A screengrab from a video uploaded to Twitter shows Metropolitan Police Department officers shoving CBS producer Christina Ruffini on August 12, 2018.
CBS News producer Christina Ruffini was shoved by police officers while reporting on a far-right protest in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 12, 2018.
Metropolitan Police Department officers "kettled" a group of protesters and journalists, including Ruffini, forcing them into a small, contained area with no exits. As lines of MPD officers continued to shove them backwards, the group found themselves pushed up against the side of an MPD police car.
Ruffini later tweeted a video showing the kettle.
"Guys, there's a car here," Ruffini can be heard yelling in the video. "Stop pushing! Stop pushing, you're hurting people!"
Officers then grab Ruffini and shove her next to the MPD car.
Ruffini said that she showed the officers her press badge, which identifies her as a journalist, but that did not stop them from manhandling her.
In which @DCPoliceDept shoved us up against a police car, trapping and crushing people, then I showed them my press badge (which you can see in my hand) and they shoved me anyway. Most officers did a great job today. This was not great. pic.twitter.com/qNOADlzzF2
— Christina Ruffini (@EenaRuffini) August 13, 2018
Daily Beast reporter Kelly Weill tweeted a similar video of MPD officers shoving journalists and protesters in the kettle.
Here’s where police unnecessarily kettled media and shoved everyone on their way out. Nbd, but if we’re getting righteous about this from afar, the only people to push me were cops. pic.twitter.com/zcPWof3XuT
— Kelly Weill (@KELLYWEILL) August 13, 2018
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
