first_published_at,last_published_at,title,slug,latest_revision_created_at,charges,legal_orders,updates,categories,links,equipment_seized,equipment_broken,targeted_journalists,authors,date,exact_date_unknown,city,state,latitude,longitude,body,introduction,teaser,teaser_image,primary_video,image_caption,arrest_status,arresting_authority,release_date,detention_date,unnecessary_use_of_force,case_number,case_statuses,case_type,status_of_seized_equipment,is_search_warrant_obtained,actor,border_point,target_us_citizenship_status,denial_of_entry,stopped_previously,did_authorities_ask_for_device_access,did_authorities_ask_about_work,assailant,was_journalist_targeted,charged_under_espionage_act,subpoena_type,subpoena_statuses,name_of_business,third_party_business,legal_order_target,legal_order_type,legal_order_venue,status_of_prior_restraint,mistakenly_released_materials,type_of_denial,targeted_institutions,tags,target_nationality,workers_whose_communications_were_obtained,politicians_or_public_figures_involved 2021-04-22 18:32:18.526706+00:00,2021-11-23 19:26:35.777641+00:00,USA Today photojournalist detained during Brooklyn Center protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/usa-today-photojournalist-detained-during-brooklyn-center-protest/,2021-11-23 19:26:35.728548+00:00,,,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Jasper Colt (USA Today),,2021-04-16,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"
At least 15 journalists were detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published in other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Jasper Colt, a photojournalist with the USA Today Network, was one of the journalists detained.
Colt told USA Today that when police issued a dispersal order around 9:30 p.m., he and other journalists did not immediately leave. “We didn’t think we needed to, and we wanted to cover what was happening,” he said.
Then, he told the paper, police rounded up protesters and members of the press in one group and told everyone to lie down on their stomachs. Officers identified people who were members of the media and then brought them to another area, where they took photographs of journalists’ credentials, IDs and their faces.
“They were the ones with the guns, so we were like, ‘OK, well, we have to do this,’” Colt told USA Today.
Colt also detailed the experience in a tweet posted at 12:07 a.m. on April 17. He did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Tracker.
After quickly dispersing protesters in #BrooklynCenterMN tonight, police surrounded members of the media and made us lie flat on our stomachs. They then photographed our faces, credentials and identification before allowing us to leave the perimeter. pic.twitter.com/v3BUHyvWgV
— Jasper Colt (@jaspercolt) April 17, 2021
Video published by USA Today shows Minnesota State Patrol troopers checking journalists’ credentials. Colt told USA Today that the sheriff’s office made the dispersal announcement over the loudspeaker, and state and local police were involved in the detainment.
The journalists were detained hours after a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order barring police from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
“Journalists must be allowed to safely cover protests and civil unrest. I’ve directed our law enforcement partners to make changes that will help ensure journalists do not face barriers to doing their jobs,” the governor posted on Twitter after meeting with representatives of the media.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency said that troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalists were among a group of journalists detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021, according to reports shared with the U.S. Freedom Tracker, or published on social media or other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., according to Minnesota Public Radio, police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. State officials said in a news conference that a coalition of law-enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Minneapolis Star Tribune journalist Renée Jones Schneider told the Tracker she was detained while covering the protest with her colleague, Liz Flores.
Jones Schneider said the journalists were in front of the police department, on the northwest side of Humboldt Avenue. She said they had decided to separate themselves from the crowd of protesters, because they were unsure what the demonstrators planned to do.
Jones Schneider said they heard a dispersal order, which, unlike at protests earlier in the week, didn’t include any specific announcement for members of the media to leave. Suddenly, she said, the crowd ran toward them.
She said she and Flores decided to go up the street to see what was prompting people to run, but when they turned, she said, a large line of police officers was approaching.
Jones Schneider said that they identified themselves as press. They were also wearing large press passes, issued by the Star Tribune, and gas masks, she said.
The police told them they didn’t care that they were press, Jones Schneider said, and directed them to turn and go back up the street. The law enforcement agents then ordered her and people near her to lie on the ground on their stomachs.
Jones Schneider said many other people who were detained near her were also members of the press. She said that police weren’t touching or yelling at anyone in the group, and that she wasn’t worried about getting arrested, but that the situation was surprising.
After a few minutes, Jones Schneider said, the journalists were allowed to get up. Police told the journalists that they wanted to look at their credentials before they let them go. Jones Schneider said they were told to go up the street, where they encountered another line of officers and a different group of journalists. There, she said, police directed them to take out their press credentials and their state-issued identifications, and took photographs of their faces and documents.
The next day, Jones Schneider retweeted a video of two other Star Tribune journalists having their credentials photographed. She wrote that she was screened twice, because law enforcement checked her credentials when she had been detained and forced to lie on her stomach earlier in the night.
This was also @floresliz12 and my experience. However that was our second screening since we were also previously caught in a police kettling closer to the police station and made to lay on our stomaches for about 10 minutes and processed there too. https://t.co/XwpAsOC2Qs
— Renee JonesSchneider (@reneejon) April 17, 2021
Jones Schneider and the other journalists in the group were detained hours after a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order barring police from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
The Minnesota State Patrol didn’t respond to a request for comment about the specific detainment of the Star Tribune journalists.
When reached for general comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the same category as arrests, but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance photojournalist Tim Evans told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was assaulted by multiple law enforcement officers and detained while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
Evans was one of at least 10 journalists detained that night, according to reports given to the Tracker, noted on social media or published in other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters had marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier. According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, the Minnesota State Patrol, and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Evans, whose work has been published by the European Pressphoto Agency, the Guardian, NPR and other outlets, told the Tracker he arrived to cover the protests earlier in the evening. The demonstration was peaceful, he said, though a few people in the crowd shook the fence around the police station or threw a water bottle at law enforcement. Evans said he heard law enforcement announce an order to disperse at 9:45 p.m. Shortly after 10, he said, law enforcement moved swiftly to form a “kettle,” a crowd-control tactic in which officers block people from leaving.
As law enforcement closed in around the crowd, Evans said, dozens of Hennepin County sheriff’s deputies moved out from behind a fence that surrounded the Brooklyn Center police station, tackling people and spraying them with chemical agents “indiscriminately.”
Evans said that after he’d photographed an officer tackle someone to the ground in front of him, he’d looked to his right, toward a group of other photojournalists. When he turned to look back to his left, he said, he saw a sheriff’s deputy running directly at him. Evans said the officer, about 5 feet away, sprayed him in the face with a chemical agent he believes was mace.
Evans, who was wearing a helmet and goggles, said he dropped to his knees and held up his press credential in one hand and one of his cameras in the other; his credential, he said, is a card he made himself that features his name and photo and states “press” on the top and “photojournalist” on the bottom. In addition to his credential, he said, he had a label fixed to his backpack that identified him as “PRESS.”
Evans said that while he was still kneeling, he took a photograph of another photojournalist being confronted by a law enforcement officer. Right after taking the frame, he said, he heard someone shout, “Get on the ground!”
Evans said he then looked to his left and saw a sheriff charging at him. He said he held out his press credential and shouted to identify himself as press, but the officer proceeded to tackle him onto his back and punch him in the face. Evans said his face was largely protected because the brunt of the blow hit the padded goggles he was wearing.
The officer then ordered him to roll over onto his stomach, Evans said, and told him he was under arrest.
Evans said he complied, continuing to tell the officer he was a journalist. The officer, he said, ignored him and told him to “shut up.” While lying on his stomach, on top of his camera, Evans said he held his press credential over his shoulder. He said the officer grabbed the card, unsnapping the clasp on the lanyard, and threw the pass facedown.
“He rips it off and just, like, throws it into the ground and tells me he doesn’t give a fuck who I am, he doesn’t care if I’m media, and that I should have left when I had a chance,” Evans told the Tracker.
Evans said the officer kneeled on his back and used a shield to push down on him. At that point, Evans said, it seemed clear the officer was not going to release him because he was a journalist, so Evans said he started to try and attract the attention of other law enforcement nearby.
Evans said another officer soon came up to them and asked the deputy if Evans was being arrested. Evans said he tried to tell the new officer that he was press. The new officer told him to “shut the fuck up” and smashed the back of Evans’ helmet, thrusting his face into the dirt. Evans said he could not clearly see this officer, but he believes it was also a sheriff’s deputy.
Evans’ hands were restrained with zip-tie cuffs behind his back, he said. After a few minutes on the ground, he said, he was raised to his feet and brought to sit on a curb.
About 10 minutes later, he said, another officer, who Evans believes was a Minnesota State Patrol trooper, came by and offered to make adjustments so he would be more comfortable. He said he told her he shouldn’t be there because he was a member of the press.
The officer looked at his credential and asked him about who he worked for. Evans said she then went to speak to a lieutenant. When she returned, she said they would let him go, “as long as I agreed to leave the area, and not continue to cover,” Evans said.
“I agreed because at that point, you know, I was not in a position to make demands, I suppose,” he told the Tracker.
He said the officer cut the zip-ties and escorted him to the police perimeter, about a block away, where he was allowed to go.
Evans said he does not believe he was targeted by the first officer, who sprayed the chemical agent at him. “But everything from that point on felt targeted,” he told the Tracker.
Evans said he felt the second officer who attacked him “became more aggressive when he realized that I was a member of the media.”
Evans said the spray left him with rashes on his face, though the impact was mitigated because he was wearing personal protective equipment. His helmet and goggles also protected him from the impact of the punch and having his head shoved into the ground, he said. He said he had scratches on his hands, which he thinks were from the scuffle, but he did not require any medical attention.
The body of one of his cameras was scuffed, the screen protector was broken, and a rubber thumb grip was ripped off, he said. He said his equipment, including his lenses, is all still functional.
Evans’ detainment came hours after a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order barring Minnesota State Patrol from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
Evans wrote a declaration about his experience, which the ACLU presented with a letter to the court the following day. He told the Tracker he is planning to file a formal complaint with relevant law enforcement agencies and is considering other action.
A spokesperson for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office told the Tracker that the department is aware of the incident and is investigating whether any of its staff were involved. He declined to comment further, pending the determination of the investigation. Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Photojournalist Tim Evans was detained while covering an April 16, 2021, protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota. Evans said the officer who detained him kneeled on his back and used a shield to push down on him.
",detained and released without being processed,Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department,None,None,True,0:20-cv-01302,"['ONGOING', 'SETTLED']",Class Action,None,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2021, chemical irritant, protest",,, 2021-05-10 20:36:15.972449+00:00,2024-03-10 23:17:30.754839+00:00,Reuters photojournalist detained at Brooklyn Center protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reuters-photojournalist-detained-at-brooklyn-center-protest/,2024-03-10 23:17:30.644158+00:00,,,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Leah Millis (Reuters),,2021-04-16,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Reuters photographer Leah Millis said she was one of a group of journalists detained by law enforcement while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. According to state officials, a coalition of law-enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists were detained by law-enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published in other news outlets. Find documented detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Millis posted on Twitter early on the morning of April 17 that she had been detained. She later tweeted more details, including that she was ordered to get on the ground with her hands out.
“I tried not to run because I didn't want to be tackled, then they shouted at us to get out and then they forced us to the ground with our hands out. I wear a large "PRESS" patch on my helmet.”
This is how it was last night, too. I tried not to run because I didn't want to be tackled, then they shouted at us to get out and then they forced us to the ground with our hands out. I wear a large "PRESS" patch on my helmet. https://t.co/No8FCGbbH5
— Leah Millis (@LeahMillis) April 17, 2021
Millis also posted a photograph on Twitter of Minnesota State Patrol officers taking a photograph of her with a cellphone. She wrote that she and others were photographed with their identifications before they were released.
Got detained, they photographed us with our IDs before eventually letting us go. Some colleagues got pretty roughed up. #BrooklynCenter #pressfreedom pic.twitter.com/vrTr1pfsil
— Leah Millis (@LeahMillis) April 17, 2021
Millis referred the Tracker to a Reuters spokesperson for comment.
“Reuters condemns the actions of police against its journalist in Minneapolis on April 16,” a spokesperson said. “All journalists must be allowed to report the news in the public interest without fear of harassment or harm, wherever they are.”
Millis and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring police from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations, including Reuters, sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said no journalists were arrested, though some had been detained and released during the protests. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category, but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency said troopers would no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but would continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Reuters photographer Leah Millis captured this image of protesters in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021, days after the death of Daunte Wright. Millis was detained and photographed by law enforcement that evening.
",detained and released without being processed,Minnesota State Patrol,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2021, protest",,, 2021-05-11 17:15:13.044454+00:00,2024-03-10 23:17:38.580116+00:00,WCCO reporter detained while covering protest in Brooklyn Center,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/wcco-reporter-detained-while-covering-protest-in-brooklyn-center/,2024-03-10 23:17:38.484615+00:00,,,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Reg Chapman (WCCO-TV),,2021-04-16,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Reg Chapman, a reporter for Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO, said he was detained by police with multiple other journalists while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published on other news outlets. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Chapman told a WCCO anchor in a segment on the night of April 16 that he and other members of the news team had been detained. He didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The video shows live video, apparently filmed from pavement-level, of multiple Minnesota State Patrol troopers.
Chapman told the anchor they were detained when one group of Minnesota National Guard troops approached protesters from the south while a group of Minnesota State Patrol troopers approached from the north, forming a perimeter around the crowd.
Law enforcement recognized their press credentials but ordered journalists to the ground, Chapman told the anchor in the video. He said officers checked everyone’s IDs and anybody who wasn’t a member of the press was put in handcuffs.
In the video, Chapman said police checked his and others’ IDs and took their photos. He said that they were waiting for the rest of the WCCO crew to be released.
According to a WCCO report, Chapman was detained with other WCCO photojournalists. The Tracker hasn’t been able to verify the identities of the other journalists and WCCO hasn’t responded to requests for more information.
Chapman and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring state law enforcement from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began. CBS signed the letter on behalf of WCCO.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed. MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about the detainment of Chapman and the WCCO crew.
The agency said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance journalist J.D. Duggan said he was detained and shoved to the ground by a law enforcement officer while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters had marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published on other news outlets. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Duggan, who has written for outlets including The Intercept and the Minneapolis Star Tribune, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when lines of law enforcement officers started moving in to surround the crowd, he found himself near a group of other journalists.
Officers surrounded the group and shouted at them to get on the ground, so Duggan said he got down on his knees. Duggan said he shouted out to identify himself as a member of the press.
As he was on his knees, he said, an officer came up behind him, shoved him on his back between his shoulders and yelled at him to lie on the ground.
Duggan said he didn’t see which law enforcement agency the officer who shoved him was with.
Video he posted on Twitter, which appears to be filmed from the ground, shows multiple Minnesota State Patrol troopers standing nearby.
At one point, Duggan says, “I’m press, I’m press. Can I get out of here?”
“Hang tight” a voice can be heard responding.
Minutes later, a voice orders members of the press to stand up, and a trooper checks Duggan’s credential.
Duggan told the Tracker after the journalists were allowed to get up, officers led them across a parking lot and kept the members of the press in a group. He said officers took photographs of his face, his ID and his press credential.
He was allowed to go about 45 minutes after he was first detained, he said.
Duggan said he was displaying his press badge at the time he was detained. His badge is issued by The Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota student newspaper where he was a journalist until he graduated in December.
Duggan and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring state law enforcement from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began. CBS signed the letter on behalf of WCCO.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed. MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about Duggan.
The agency said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Freelance photojournalist Joshua Rashaad McFadden, on assignment for The New York Times, said he was detained and hit by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 16, 2021.
The fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright in Brooklyn Center on April 11 rekindled a wave of racial-justice protests that began almost a year earlier. Wright’s death occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. Protests began outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department the day Wright was killed, and continued daily through mid-April.
McFadden told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and other journalists stuck together as a group as police rushed the crowd.
“We're all literally huddled together in one area, and the police rushed in,” McFadden said. “They rushed the crowd and they detained us.”
The group included other photographers, TV news staff and reporters, McFadden said. He said the journalists were repeating “we’re press, we’re press!” Officers told the journalists “we don’t care” and ordered them to lie on the ground, he said.
McFadden said he was on the ground when one officer came over to him and ordered him to get up, then another officer came over and told him to get back down.
At that point, McFadden said, he was on his knees. He identified himself as a member of the press, he said, and asked the officers, “what do you want me to do?”
Then, McFadden said, another group of officers rushed and trampled over him, knocking him to the ground “like a football tackle.”
He said the officers started hitting him and hitting his camera. He said he was holding his phone in one hand, and felt an officer try to yank the device from him. McFadden said he didn’t want to appear to be confrontational, but he was concerned about losing his phone so he held onto it.
McFadden, who is Black, said a white photographer acquaintance came over and told the officers that McFadden was a journalist and that he worked with the Times.
After the other photographer identified him, he said, the officers allowed him to stand up. He showed them his press pass, which is issued by the National Press Photographers Association. McFadden said the officer told him, “anybody could have made that,” and asked to see his driver’s license, which he had left in his car.
McFadden said it was clear that the officers weren’t going to allow him to go, but they were going to let the other photographer go. He said officers only allowed him to leave when the other photographer volunteered to escort him to his car.
He said he previously had similar experiences, including three days earlier in Brooklyn Center.
“I do know it's because Black members of the press are treated differently,” he said. “And I have to acknowledge that.”
McFadden said the other photographer walked with him so she could help him navigate interaction with law enforcement.
“It's because she knew that at every kind of checkpoint they set up, they were going to either try to hold me or arrest or detain me, or I'll get a million questions if my credentials are real,” McFadden said. He said there was also a risk he could be shot at with rubber bullets while approaching officers from a distance. “If I'm with her I'm able to walk up to the group.”
As they were trying to leave the area, McFadden said, they came upon a checkpoint at a gas station where police had stopped a large number of journalists and were taking photographs of their credentials, IDs and faces. He said officers told the journalists the photographs would be entered into a database.
McFadden said law enforcement again asked him to see his license, and he told them it was in his car. He said that they were stopped at the gas station for about an hour.
McFadden said his shoulder was injured when he was tackled and hit. He also had bruises on his legs, adding to bruises he had gotten earlier in the week when he was hit with crowd-control munitions, and hit with sticks by law enforcement officers while in a car. McFadden said he sought medical attention for the injuries he accumulated through the week. He said he was told to take ibuprofen after he declined other medication, he said.
McFadden’s camera was damaged when he was tackled, he said. The body of the camera was scratched up and he said he needed to get some parts replaced. As a result of the two assaults, he also needed to get the lens repaired.
McFadden told the Tracker he believed he was targeted because he was a journalist.
He said Minnesota State Patrol troopers were involved in the incident. MSP didn’t respond requests for comment by email and phone
McFadden was detained the same evening a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring MSP from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations, including the New York Times, sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
In response to the court order, MSP released a statement on April 17 that acknowledged troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said no journalists were arrested, though some had been detained and released during the protests. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category, but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Multiple journalists for Minneapolis CBS affiliate WCCO were detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021.
WCCO reporter Reg Chapman told an anchor in a segment that night that he and other members of the news team had been detained as several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published on other news outlets. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
In the live news segment on the 16th, Chapman said the entire news crew was among those detained and released after showing press credentials. The video played live footagevideo, apparently filmed from pavement-level, of multiple Minnesota State Patrol troopers. In a story on its website the following day, WCCO noted that Champman and “other WCCO photojournalists'' were told to get on the ground. The Tracker has documented Chapman’s detention here.
Chapman and WCCO did not return requests for comment, and the Tracker has not been able to verify the identity of the WCCO photojournalists.
Chapman told the anchor they were detained when one group of Minnesota National Guard troops approached protesters from the south while a group of Minnesota State Patrol troopers approached from the north, forming a perimeter around the crowd.
Law enforcement recognized their press credentials but ordered journalists to the ground, Chapman told the anchor in the video. He said officers checked everyone’s IDs and anybody who wasn’t a member of the press was put in handcuffs.
In the video, Chapman said police checked his and others’ IDs and took their photos. He said that they were waiting for the rest of the WCCO crew to be released.
Chapman and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring state law enforcement from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began. CBS signed the letter on behalf of WCCO.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed. MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about the detainment of Chapman and the WCCO crew.
The agency said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Babs Santos, a reporter for Minneapolis-based Fox 9 KMSP, reported live that he was detained while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m. Some time after that, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempted to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
A group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, as well as reports in news outlets and on social media. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Santos described his detainment in a live Fox 9 broadcast.
The video posted on Fox 9’s website shows Santos reporting at 10:04 p.m. that law enforcement had made a dispersal order. Santos says that people are moving around him and away from an approaching group of law enforcement.
The broadcast switches to another reporter in a different location, showing multiple law enforcement vehicles pulling up and officers in state trooper uniforms getting out. A line of police on bicycles can be seen riding up the sidewalk
At 10:08 p.m., the video shows a view from the ground of someone lying on their stomach with Minnesota State Patrol troopers visible standing over them.
At 10:14, the broadcast returns to Santos, who says his team, including photographers and security, had been detained as law enforcement moved in and surrounded the crowd.
“We were really caught right in the middle,” Santos said.
The Tracker has not been able to identify other KMSP journalists detained with Santos. Multiple requests for comment from KMSP and FOX were not returned.
When the team was detained, Santos says in the video, they laid down on the ground with their hands in front of them. He says they identified themselves as press to law enforcement and were allowed to leave.
In the video, Santos is wearing a large, bright yellow card on a lanyard around his neck that says “PRESS” and “FOX9.”
At 10:16 p.m., Santos tweeted a video showing a view apparently from ground level in which multiple Minnesota State Patrol troopers were visible. A voice can be heard identifying themselves as press.
In a second video Santos tweeted about half an hour later, voices can be heard shouting “get on the ground” and state troopers and police lights can be seen.
“Moments ago.. briefly detained with our security detail before being released,” Santos wrote.
We are safe. @FOX9 pic.twitter.com/HAV6D1yTCO
— Babs Santos (@TundeTV) April 17, 2021
Santos was also one of many journalists whose credentials and faces were photographed by law enforcement.
Santos and other journalists were detained hours after a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring state law enforcement from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations, including Fox, sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. (The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.)
MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about the detainment of Santos. The agency’s earlier statement said that state troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Two Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalists were among a group of journalists detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021, according to reports shared with the U.S. Freedom Tracker, or published on social media or other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. Minnesota Public Radio reported that around 10 p.m. police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Star Tribune photojournalist Liz Flores told the Tracker she was detained with her colleague Renée Jones Schneider. The Tracker has documented Jones Schneider’s detainment here.
Flores told the Tracker that the journalists had been standing near the fence that surrounded the police station when members of the crowd started to shout, “Run!” Flores said that she and Jones Schneider started to move away from the area but that she stopped to take photographs of the scene.
“All of a sudden I saw police everywhere, all around us,” she said.
Flores said she and Jones Schneider soon came across a line of law enforcement officers, holding long sticks, who moved to corral the group of people near them.
Flores said she and Jones Schneider held out their press passes — large cards issued by the Star Tribune — to identify themselves as journalists, but police shouted at them to get down on the ground. Flores said she kneeled and continued to show her press pass. Police directed them to “get on your stomachs,” she said.
While lying on her stomach, she said, she continued to display her press credentials. According to Jones Schneider, many of the people detained with them were also journalists. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Flores posted an image she took for the Star Tribune on Instagram. After about 10 minutes, Flores said, police let the journalists get up but not leave. She said that police moved the journalists up the street, where they waited in line as officers photographed journalists’ faces, press credentials and identity cards.
Suki Dardarian, senior managing editor of the Star Tribune, told the Tracker in a statement that in 2020 and 2021, the publication’s journalists have been subject to crowd-control munitions and chemical agents, detained, and photographed by law enforcement despite showing ID. She said authorities sometimes ignored the credentials they instructed journalists to wear. “And to make matters worse, it was unclear in some cases what agency the officer represented,” she said.
She said that the publication and other media organizations have spoken with authorities, who have “pledged to improve their treatment of the media.”
Flores and Jones Schneider were detained hours after a federal judge had issued a temporary restraining order barring police from arresting or using force against journalists, in response to a motion filed earlier in the week by the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
The Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to a request for comment about the detainment of the Star Tribune journalists. When reached for general comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the MSP, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” The MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency said that troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
At least 15 journalists were detained by police while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on the night of April 16, 2021, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published in other news outlets.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray. According to state officials, a coalition of law enforcement agencies, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office and the Brooklyn Center Police Department, was involved in enforcement that night.
Aaron Nesheim, a Minneapolis-based freelance photojournalist on assignment for The New York Times, was one of the journalists detained.
Nesheim told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting the protest in the center of the intersection of Humboldt and 67th Avenues just after 9 p.m. when officers advanced on the crowd and ordered everyone to lie down on their stomachs.
“I did not get down. I kept photographing until finally an officer pepper sprayed me,” Nesheim said. “I was wearing a bulletproof vest, and eventually a State Patrol officer grabbed me by the front of the vest and used that to throw me on the ground.”
Nesheim said in addition to his body armor vest, which was labeled with “PRESS” on the front and back, he was wearing a helmet similarly labeled and press credentials issued by the Times and the National Press Photographers Association.
“The [trooper] definitely understood I was a member of the press and was — I guess I would use the word ‘exasperated,’ with the fact I hadn’t just complied and gotten on the ground immediately before he threw me,” Nesheim said.
The force of his fall damaged the 70-200mm lens on one of his cameras, Nesheim said, causing the autofocus not to work properly and requiring repair. The officer ordered Nesheim to stay on his stomach, he said, which he did while continuing to take photos from that vantage point.
“I did stay on the ground, kind of on my side. I didn’t make any moves after that until another officer came in and got me up and started escorting me back to where they were processing the journalists,” Nesheim said.
Law enforcement had established a “media checkpoint” at a nearby Pump n’ Munch gas station, where members of the press had their faces, press credentials and IDs photographed before they were permitted to leave the area. Nesheim confirmed to the Tracker that he had to pass through the checkpoint before he could leave the area.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
“Journalists must be allowed to safely cover protests and civil unrest. I’ve directed our law enforcement partners to make changes that will help ensure journalists do not face barriers to doing their jobs,” the governor posted on Twitter after meeting with representatives of the media.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed.
The agency’s statement said troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
Independent photojournalist Alex Kent told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was detained while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota on April 16, 2021.
Several hundred protesters marched to the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright, a Black man, by a white police officer during a traffic stop. Wright’s death, on April 11, occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd, rekindling a wave of protests against racial injustice and police brutality that had started nearly a year earlier.
According to the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the protest had been peaceful until around 9 p.m., when, authorities told the outlet, some in the crowd began to throw objects and attempt to break through a barrier around the police station, prompting the declaration of an unlawful assembly and orders for dispersal. At around 10 p.m., Minnesota Public Radio reported that police moved swiftly to corral the protesters and members of the press, deploying flash-bang grenades and pepper spray.
Amid the unrest, a group of journalists was detained by law enforcement officers in Brooklyn Center and ordered to lie on the ground, according to reports given to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, noted on social media or published on other news outlets. Find reports on the detainments from the night of April 16 in Brooklyn Center here.
Kent told the Tracker in an email that as law enforcement closed in around protesters, he was near an apartment building across from the Brooklyn Center Police Department. Kent said he files images for Shutterstock’s editorial branch.
As he was about to leave the area, he said, he noticed a cloud of pepper spray and saw an officer, who state officials determined was with the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, spraying the chemical irritant on three Agence France-Press journalists, Eléonore Sens, Chandan Khanna and Robin Legrand.
Kent said the deputy threatened another couple, then turned toward Kent. He held out his National Press Photographers Association credentials and told the officer he was press, he said, and the officer told him to leave.
Kent said he moved about a half block away when he came upon a line of law enforcement officers blocking the street and “just over a dozen” journalists lying on the ground.
Kent said he held up his hands, holding out his press credential, and told the officers he was a member of the press as he approached. He said they directed him to lie down.
On Twitter, Kent shared photographs posted by USA Today photojournalist Jasper Colt and identified himself in the second photo. The image shows a person lying on the ground, a camera with a long lens visible at their side, a few yards away from a line of Minnesota State Patrol troopers holding sticks.
This is me in the second photo. https://t.co/mM55uYn60r
— Alex Kent (@AlexKentTN) April 17, 2021
After about 10 minutes, Kent told the Tracker, an officer came to check the journalists’ credentials and they were directed to walk to the end of the block.
There, a state trooper asked each journalist to remove their masks and took photographs of their faces, press credentials and IDs.
“I was uncomfortable with the situation, but I didn't dare refuse for the fear of being arrested,” Kent told the Tracker.
Kent posted an image on Instagram, taken by photojournalist Christian Monterrosa, showing an officer in a Minnesota State Patrol uniform taking Kent’s photograph with a cellphone.
The next day, April 17, more than two dozen media and advocacy organizations sent a letter to Gov. Tim Walz expressing concern about the detainments and other police treatment of journalists since the protests began.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety referred the Tracker to a statement from the Minnesota State Patrol, which acknowledged that troopers had photographed journalists, their media credentials and their identification “during recent enforcement actions in Brooklyn Center.” MSP said that though journalists had been detained and released during the protests, no journalists were arrested. The Tracker documents detainments in the arrest category but notes that the journalists were released without being processed. MSP didn’t respond to a request for comment specifically about the detainment of Kent.
The agency said in the statement troopers will no longer photograph journalists and their credentials, but will continue to check media credentials.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.