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 2023-09-29 13:02:22.586486+00:00,2024-02-15 18:21:23.606509+00:00,"Cameraman hit by village vehicle, municipal employee arrested",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-hit-by-village-vehicle-municipal-employee-arrested/,2024-02-15 18:21:23.393991+00:00,,,(2024-02-07 00:00:00+00:00) Charge dropped for Missouri municipal worker who hit cameraman with vehicle,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Wade Smith (KTVI),,2023-08-11,False,Hillsdale,Missouri (MO),38.68338,-90.284,"
KTVI-TV cameraman Wade Smith was struck and seriously injured by a Hillsdale, Missouri, municipal vehicle on Aug. 11, 2023, with the village’s top official in the passenger seat. The station reported that Smith required emergency surgery and was recovering at home. The vehicle’s driver — an employee of the suburban St. Louis village — was arrested in connection with the incident in early September, it added.
Smith and reporter Mitch McCoy were investigating reports that municipal governments were towing individuals’ vehicles from their driveways due to expired tags or the absence of a village sticker, according to KTVI.
When the pair went to Village Hall to interview Dorothy Moore, the chair of the Board of Trustees who functionally serves as mayor, the chief of police informed the journalists that she wasn’t there. An hour later, Smith saw Moore leaving the hall through the back door.
Smith and McCoy followed as Moore climbed into a public works truck and slid into the passenger seat as the municipal employee got behind the wheel, KTVI reported. As he drove away at the urging of Moore, Smith was run over by the trailer attached to the truck and fell to the ground.
An accident report filed about the incident stated that the Hillsdale worker saw Smith on the ground as they drove away, but told police he didn’t know Smith had been hit, according to KTVI.
Smith also dropped the camera when he was struck, but the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was not immediately able to confirm the extent of the damage to the equipment.
Smith’s attorney Chet Pleban confirmed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Smith’s tibia had been broken and that he was rushed to a hospital for emergency surgery.
“It’s a pretty sad day when a reporter or a cameraman is run over by a vehicle simply because an elected official doesn’t want to talk to them,” Pleban said.
The Associated Press reported on Sept. 8 that the municipal worker had been released pending a prosecutor’s review to decide whether to pursue charges.
Neither Smith’s attorney nor KTVI responded to requests for comment.
In its broadcast about the incident, KTVI-TV reported that photographer Wade Smith (not pictured) was seriously injured in Hillsdale, Missouri, when a public works truck pulling a trailer struck him on Aug. 11, 2023.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,public figure,None,None,False,False,None,None,public figure,unknown,False,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,,,, 2023-07-24 15:22:38.458760+00:00,2023-07-24 15:26:05.678081+00:00,Pennsylvania cameraman struck by pellet gun on assignment,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pennsylvania-cameraman-struck-by-pellet-gun-on-assignment/,2023-07-24 15:26:05.565723+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Unidentified photojournalist 28 (WFMZ-TV),,2023-07-11,False,Allentown,Pennsylvania (PA),40.60843,-75.49018,"A photojournalist for WFMZ-TV in Allentown, Pennsylvania, was hit multiple times by airsoft projectiles while on assignment on July 11, 2023.
One of the objects struck the photojournalist in the corner of the eye, causing an irritation but no lingering injuries and did not require medical attention, WFMZ-TV News Director Brad Rinehart told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email.
A fellow reporter was not hit and no equipment was affected or damaged, Rinehart added. He declined to name the news staffers.
The photojournalist and the reporter were at the scene of a homicide that had occurred a few days earlier inside a home on the 300 block of North 16th Street in Allentown when “a person in a passing car fired shots from an airsoft gun,” lehighvallylive.com reported.
“The photojournalist was taking pictures with his phone, and not a full-fledged television camera, at the time of the attack,” Rinehart said. “He was not wearing station-branded attire, and he was across the street from the branded news vehicle.”
Rinehart said he had no evidence that the attack was aimed at the staffer due to his job. “On the other hand, [the photojournalist] had been shooting with his TV camera earlier in the day and may have been identified by the shooter. Another reporter from our staff reported seeing a car circling the area on the morning of the attack,” Rinehart said.
On the evening of the attack, WFMZ-TV News Anchor Rob Vaughn, with the station for more than 35 years, tweeted: “Awful: Today a @69News crew covering a 16th St, #Allentown homicide was *shot at* by someone w/ a pellet gun (Airsoft?) fired from a passing car. Pellets hit our photographer in the head, including face. He's OK. If you know anything about it, call @AllentownPolice”
Awful:
— Rob Vaughn (@RobVaughnNews) July 12, 2023
Today a @69News crew covering a 16th St, #Allentown homicide was *shot at* by someone w/ a pellet gun (Airsoft?) fired from a passing car. Pellets hit our photographer in the head, including face. He's OK. If you know anything about it, call @AllentownPolice
The incident, which was reported to the Allentown City Police, was confirmed by Capt. Kyle Pammer, who said no suspects had been named, nor any leads, and no arrests had been made as of July 19. Pammer also said the incident does not appear to be targeted and that the investigation is ongoing.
In May, the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker reported the assault of a WTXF-TV FOX29 news crew who was shot at with a pellet gun from a moving vehicle while reporting outside of City Hall in Philadelphia.
A WTXF-TV FOX29 news crew was shot at with a pellet gun from a moving vehicle while reporting outside of City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 17, 2023.
According to FOX29, a news crew was reporting near the intersection of 15th Street and John F. Kennedy Boulevard shortly after 10 p.m. In footage posted to Twitter by an unaffiliated account, reporter Shawnette Wilson can be seen giving a live report when she is suddenly struck in the chest with multiple projectiles.
Fox29 reporter gets shot with a pellet gun during live broadcast 😬
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) May 18, 2023
(via @MarkFusetti) pic.twitter.com/wRdFG3ozpL
“OK, so, somebody just hit me with pellets, obviously,” Wilson says in the clip. She told the anchors that she wasn’t injured.
Neither Wilson nor FOX29 responded to requests for comment; it was not immediately clear whether the photojournalist with her that night was also struck. In a version of the report published to FOX29, the section interrupted by the pellet gun assault is re-recorded.
FOX29 reported that police responded to the scene, and identified the projectiles as gel-like pellets. Police told the news outlet that they have received other reports of individuals being shot with pellets in the area. The Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to a request for additional comment.
Fellow FOX29 reporter Ellen Kolodziej tweeted that the incident was terrifying for both journalists, citing a fatal attack on a Spectrum News 13 news crew in Florida in February.
“They had no idea what was flying at them or what could come next…especially after a TV reporter was shot and killed in Florida a few months ago,” Kolodziej wrote. “Nothing to take lightly people.”
Two Spectrum News 13 journalists were shot while reporting at the scene of a homicide investigation in the Orlando suburb of Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. A reporter was declared dead at a local hospital where a photojournalist remains in critical condition, according to multiple sources.
The reporter and photojournalist were reporting on an Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigation into the shooting of a 20-year-old woman at approximately 11 a.m. that day, Spectrum News 13 reported.
Shortly after 4 p.m., a man believed to be the suspect in that shooting approached the news crew as they were sitting in an unmarked news vehicle and shot them. The man then continued to a nearby home and shot a woman and her 9-year-old daughter.
WFTV Channel 9 News reporter Sabrina Maggiore wrote on Twitter that the shooter walked past a WFTV news crew at the scene before opening fire on the Spectrum News crew. She wrote that the WFTV crew ran up to the journalists to provide aid before emergency crews arrived.
Spectrum News 13 reported that it is not currently releasing the names of the reporter and photojournalist out of respect for their families.
Sheriff John Mina said in a press conference at 7:15 p.m. that a man had been arrested in connection with the shootings.
“We have detained the person believed to be responsible for the murder this morning as well as the shootings this afternoon,” Mina said. “He is being formally charged in the murder from this morning, and we expect additional charges for the shootings of the four people this afternoon.”
Mina added that the shooter’s motives were unclear and they had not yet determined whether the news crew were targeted because they were covering the first shooting.
“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners,” Mina said. “No one in our community — not a mother, not a 9-year-old, and certainly not news professionals — should become the victim of gun violence.”
Charter Communications, Spectrum News 13's parent company, released a statement on Twitter following the shooting: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today. Our thoughts are with our employee’s family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time. We remain hopeful that our other colleague who was injured makes a full recovery. This is a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community.”
WESH 2 News Reporter Luana Munoz tweeted that she and other members of the news media community had gathered at the hospital in solidarity.
“This is every reporter's absolutely worst nightmare. We go home at night afraid that something like this will occur, and that is what happened here,” Munoz said during a report from the hospital.
Since 2017, more than 300 journalists have been shot at or shot, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s database. The Spectrum News 13 reporter is the seventh journalist to be killed in the course of or as the result of their reporting.
Spectrum News 13 reporter Dylan Lyons, 24, was killed in a shooting in the Orlando suburb of Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. His colleague, photojournalist Jesse Walden, 29, was critically injured.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"killed, shot / shot at",,, 2023-02-23 03:59:19.301566+00:00,2023-04-04 20:21:57.934782+00:00,Spectrum News 13 photographer shot while reporting; reporter killed,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spectrum-news-13-photographer-shot-while-reporting-reporter-killed/,2023-04-04 20:21:57.809925+00:00,,,"(2023-02-23 21:17:00+00:00) Spectrum News 13 photojournalist hopes to be released from hospital in coming days, (2023-02-23 08:37:00+00:00) Photojournalist critically injured while reporting identified as Jesse Walden, (2023-02-28 13:15:00+00:00) Man charged with attempted murder in the shooting of Spectrum News photojournalist, (2023-03-10 16:36:00+00:00) Additional charges brought against alleged shooter of Spectrum News photojournalist, (2023-03-30 16:21:00+00:00) Alleged shooter of Spectrum News photojournalist indicted on first-degree murder charges",Assault,,,,Jesse Walden (Spectrum News 13),,2023-02-22,False,Pine Hills,Florida (FL),28.55778,-81.4534,"Two Spectrum News 13 journalists were shot while reporting at the scene of a homicide investigation in the Orlando suburb of Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. A reporter was declared dead at a local hospital where a photojournalist remains in critical condition, according to multiple sources.
The reporter and photojournalist were reporting on an Orange County Sheriff’s Office investigation into the shooting of a 20-year-old woman at approximately 11 a.m. that day, Spectrum News 13 reported.
Shortly after 4 p.m., a man believed to be the suspect in that shooting approached the news crew as they were sitting in an unmarked news vehicle and shot them. The man then continued to a nearby home and shot a woman and her 9-year-old daughter.
WFTV Channel 9 News reporter Sabrina Maggiore wrote on Twitter that the shooter walked past a WFTV news crew at the scene before opening fire on the Spectrum News crew. She wrote that the WFTV crew ran up to the journalists to provide aid before emergency crews arrived.
Spectrum News 13 reported that it is not currently releasing the names of the reporter and photojournalist out of respect for their families.
Sheriff John Mina said in a press conference at 7:15 p.m. that a man had been arrested in connection with the shootings.
“We have detained the person believed to be responsible for the murder this morning as well as the shootings this afternoon,” Mina said. “He is being formally charged in the murder from this morning, and we expect additional charges for the shootings of the four people this afternoon.”
Mina added that the shooter’s motives were unclear and they had not yet determined whether the news crew were targeted because they were covering the first shooting.
“I want to acknowledge what a horrible day this has been for our community and our media partners,” Mina said. “No one in our community — not a mother, not a 9-year-old, and certainly not news professionals — should become the victim of gun violence.”
Charter Communications, Spectrum News 13's parent company, released a statement on Twitter following the shooting: "We are deeply saddened by the loss of our colleague and the other lives senselessly taken today. Our thoughts are with our employee’s family, friends and co-workers during this very difficult time. We remain hopeful that our other colleague who was injured makes a full recovery. This is a terrible tragedy for the Orlando community.”
WESH 2 News Reporter Luana Munoz tweeted that she and other members of the news media community had gathered at the hospital in solidarity.
“This is every reporter's absolutely worst nightmare. We go home at night afraid that something like this will occur, and that is what happened here,” Munoz said during a report from the hospital.
Since 2017, more than 300 journalists have been shot at or shot, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s database. The Spectrum News 13 reporter is the seventh journalist to be killed in the course of or as the result of their reporting.
Spectrum News 13 photographer Jesse Walden speaks from his hospital bed after he and his colleague Dylan Lyons were shot while reporting in Pine Hills, Florida, on Feb. 22, 2023. Walden was critically injured, and Lyons died as a result of his injuries.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,shot / shot at,,, 2023-02-02 21:42:34.868348+00:00,2023-02-08 15:18:16.426239+00:00,Reporter pepper-sprayed while covering ‘Justice for Tyre’ protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-pepper-sprayed-while-covering-justice-for-tyre-protest/,2023-02-08 15:18:16.264002+00:00,,,"(2023-02-02 10:17:00+00:00) Police release statement, body camera footage after reporter pepper-sprayed at protest",Assault,,,,Sarah Eames (Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin),,2023-02-01,False,Johnson City,New York (NY),42.11563,-75.95881,"Sarah Eames, a reporter for the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, was pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while covering a protest in the village of Johnson City, New York, on Feb. 1, 2023, the Press & Sun-Bulletin reported.
The protest was organized on the first day of Black History Month in response to the release of footage from the police beating of Tyre Nichols in Memphis, as well as the New Year’s Day arrest of Hamail Waddell, a resident of nearby Binghamton. Nichols was beaten by multiple officers following a traffic stop on Jan. 7, and died three days later. Waddell was pinned to the ground by an officer with a knee on his neck in the early hours of Jan. 1.
The demonstration began peacefully at approximately 7 p.m., according to WSKG. A Broome County Sheriff’s deputy ordered the crowd to disperse via loudspeaker, stating that they were on private property. Shortly after, law enforcement officers began arresting multiple people and threatening the crowd with pepper spray.
In footage Eames captured on her cellphone, a Johnson City police officer can be heard yelling, “Back up or you’re going to get sprayed!”
Immediately after, he pepper-sprays Eames in the face. The Press & Sun-Bulletin reported Eames had identified herself as press and was holding up her media credentials. In the video, the spray also appears to coat her cellphone. It was not immediately clear whether the equipment was damaged.
Eames did not respond to an email requesting comment. She shared her footage and photos of her face on Twitter after the incident.
Got pepper-sprayed in the face while covering a protest tonight, alongside several demonstrators. Eight others were violently arrested and have since been released.
— Sarah Eames (@sarahsawthat) February 2, 2023
Story to come. pic.twitter.com/cbPT12LMPg
“I had to tap out earlier than I would’ve liked,” Eames wrote in a reply on Twitter.
When reached by telephone, the Johnson City Police Department said that it planned to release an official statement.
Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin reporter Sarah Eames, left, with camera, is seen in law enforcement’s body camera footage released following a protest in Johnson City, New York, on Feb. 1, 2023.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, chemical irritant, protest",,, 2022-10-14 14:04:01.367425+00:00,2023-06-29 17:35:42.863600+00:00,KC photographer shoved to ground by NFL player after game,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-shoved-to-ground-by-nfl-player-after-game-in-kc/,2023-06-29 17:35:42.631182+00:00,,,"(2023-05-02 11:01:00+00:00) Photographer files lawsuit against NFL player, teams following assault, (2023-06-05 12:09:00+00:00) Assault charge dropped against NFL player who shoved photographer",Assault,,,,Park Zebley (Unidentified production company),,2022-10-10,False,Kansas City,Missouri (MO),39.09973,-94.57857,"Photographer Park Zebley was shoved to the ground by Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams after a Monday Night Football game in Kansas City, Missouri, on Oct. 10, 2022.
In footage published by SportsCenter and shared widely, Adams can be seen pushing Zebley with two hands following a 30-29 Raiders loss.
Davante Adams was visibly upset after the Raiders’ loss to the Chiefs. pic.twitter.com/XW2fmx6adJ
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 11, 2022
When reached by email, Zebley declined to comment and referred the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker to his attorney, Dan Curry. Curry said Zebley is a college student who had just started working for a local production company that provides content to ESPN. He did not identify the name of the production company.
In a written statement, Curry said it was the photographer’s first day on the job and he had been given the task of carrying equipment for a camera operator.
After arranging transportation to the hospital, Zebley filed a police report with the Kansas City Police Department. In an emailed statement to the Tracker, a KCPD spokesperson said Zebley’s injuries were thought to be non-life threatening and the incident is being investigated.
Zebley’s attorney confirmed that the photographer suffered a headache, whiplash and was still recovering from a concussion.
After the incident, Adams apologized for his behavior, saying he was frustrated by the loss and was surprised when Zebley “jumped” in front of him, ESPN reported.
A Kansas City Municipal Court public information officer told the Tracker that Adams was charged with assault under a city ordinance on Oct. 12. According to the ordinance, he faces up to six months of jail time or a fine of up to $500. The citation, also shared with the Tracker by KCPD, identifies him as Ryan Zebley. His attorney said Park is his name.
The Raiders receiver is also facing possible suspension from the NFL, according to ESPN. He is scheduled to appear in Kansas City Municipal Court on Nov. 10.
“What happened was egregiously unsportsmanlike and an act of violence that should not be excused by the NFL,” Zebley said in a statement provided by his attorney.
Editor’s note: The article was updated with a clarifying statement from a Kansas City Municipal Court public information officer around the type of assault. Davante Adams was charged under a city ordinance, not a state statute as previously reported.
Independent journalist Jake Lee Green was shot with a crowd-control munition while documenting the clash of protesters and counterprotesters at a National Straight Pride Coalition event in Modesto, California, on Aug. 27, 2022.
Green told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was on assignment for News2Share, a collective that sells footage to news outlets, to document the fourth annual “straight pride” parade outside of a Planned Parenthood. Though the event didn’t take place — because LGBTQ+ rights activists arrived before them to stop it — the demonstrators and counterprotesters began to clash, with some brawling in the street.
The Modesto Police Department told The Modesto Bee it declared the event an “unlawful gathering” after a bush caught fire. MPD officers and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s deputies formed a line pushing the counterprotesters back, according to the Bee.
Green said he and other colleagues asked police officers where to be, and they were told they had to “go with the crowd.”
“We kept constantly trying to let them know that we were press and even when we tried to cross the street to get out of the crowd so we could differentiate ourselves from them, the police ended up taking over the entire street and pushing the entire street out and away,” Green said.
Green told the Tracker he had been photographing a group of young activists at the police line who were being struck with batons and shot with pepper balls during the forced dispersal at around 11:15 a.m. According to Green, that’s when an MPD officer shot him with a pepper ball munition.
“I was focused on that group of people because I saw that [the officer] was shooting at them, I wasn’t actually necessarily paying attention to him although he was in the frame,” Green said. “And while I was focused on them he must have turned to me and shot toward my left pretty indiscriminately.”
Green told the Tracker he was carrying a professional camera and had attached his press credentials to his hat so that they could be easily seen. He said that the officer wasn’t being careful enough to notice that he was a member of the press or did notice and decided to fire at him anyway.
When things calmed down shortly after, Green checked his wound. “I thought, ‘OK, I’m bleeding a little bit but not too bad,’ and I continued to do my work throughout the day.”
MPD did not respond to a call requesting comment.
Independent journalist Jake Lee Green was shot in the leg with a pepper ball, a type of crowd-control munition, while documenting a ‘straight pride’ event and counterprotest in Modesto, California, on Aug. 27, 2022.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"chemical irritant, LGBTQ+ rights, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2022-03-24 20:24:35.224840+00:00,2022-04-04 20:02:23.618488+00:00,Photojournalist assaulted in Denver while reporting on city’s efforts to curb crime,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-assaulted-in-denver-while-reporting-on-citys-efforts-to-curb-crime/,2022-04-04 20:02:23.561831+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Unidentified photojournalist 21 (KCNC-TV),,2022-03-21,False,Denver,Colorado (CO),39.73915,-104.9847,"An unidentified photojournalist for CBS Denver News was assaulted while on assignment in Denver, Colorado, on March 21, 2022, according to the reporter accompanying him at the time.
Kelly Werthmann, a CBS Denver News anchor, was with the photojournalist and witnessed the assault. Werthmann said in a newscast after the assault that the incident occurred as the photojournalist gathered video footage of the Union Station and the Regional Transportation District bus terminal in downtown Denver.
“While we were out there earlier today, our photographer was simply trying to get video of the area, and that’s when a man, unprovoked, came over and hit him upside the head and threatened to kill him,” Werthmann said.
Working on a stay about safety around Union Station & the @RideRTD bus terminal here. Just minutes after setting up his camera, my photographer was assaulted. @DenverPolice here now taking the report. Thankfully my photog is ok, for the most part. pic.twitter.com/CEgQso19KA
— Kelly Werthmann 🌻 (@KellyCBS4) March 21, 2022
Werthmann declined a request for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker but confirmed over email that the photojournalist was not seriously harmed. She also confirmed that no equipment was damaged during the incident, and both continued reporting on their assignments for that day.
According to the outlet, the assault comes after a recent wave of violent incidents surrounding Union Station, including a shooting in the station’s underground bus terminal on March 19.
A CBS Denver News photojournalist was assaulted by an unidentified man on March 21, 2022, at Denver's Union Station, shown in this 2017 file photo.
REUTERS/Rick Wilking
An unidentified San Francisco Chronicle photographer was robbed at gunpoint in West Oakland, California, on Dec. 3, 2021.
The Chronicle reported that the photographer was on assignment when multiple armed assailants stole two cameras before fleeing in a vehicle. An Oakland Police Department spokesperson said in a statement that the robbery was reported just before 3:30pm. Police officials also said the photographer was not injured during the incident. OPD did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
I regret to report that a Chronicle journalist was robbed at gunpoint today while on assignment in West Oakland. We are relieved the photographer was not physically hurt. https://t.co/I9SJdVLq5M
— Demian Bulwa (@demianbulwa) December 4, 2021
“Any incident in which a person is robbed of their possessions at gunpoint is incredibly troubling,” Chronicle Editor in Chief Emilio Garcia-Ruiz said in a statement following the incident. “We are relieved that our colleague was not physically injured. We are a part of this community, and we will not retreat from providing the news and information it needs.”
This incident follows multiple other armed robberies involving news organizations in the Bay Area this year.
Most recently, on Nov. 24, a security guard hired for a KRON-TV news crew in Oakland was fatally shot during an attempted armed robbery. Kevin Nishita was killed after confronting an assailant who tried to steal the crew’s camera equipment.
Independent multimedia journalist Grace Morgan said that she was shoved by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on Nov. 19, 2021.
National protests began after a jury acquitted 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges for killing two men and injuring a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020.
At the time, Kenosha was the site of ongoing Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black resident, nearly three months after George Floyd, a Black man, died at the hands of a white police officer in Minnesota in May.
According to The Associated Press, about 200 protesters gathered in Downtown Portland, near the Multnomah County Justice Center, and blocked streets, broke windows and damaged doors of city facilities. Portland police later tweeted that objects had been thrown at officers and the demonstrations declared a riot.
Press Release: Riot Declared After Violent, Destructive Crowd Gathers Downtown (Photo)
— Portland Police (@PortlandPolice) November 20, 2021
Link: https://t.co/BQKwWdoDyF pic.twitter.com/Fq0KxV0VUQ
Morgan, who was documenting the demonstrations, filmed a group of individuals confronting armed law enforcement officers in a parking garage. She told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was walking on the sidewalk when a Portland police officer pushed her with with the body of his long form gun and told her to “get on the fucking sidewalk.”
The garage doors keep dramatically opening and closing leading to bouts of short rushes and lots of yelling - an officer shoves me with his gun and tells me to “get on the fucking sidewalk”, while I am indeed on the sidewalk, and pushes me more so towards it. pic.twitter.com/glRPcYgsQL
— Grace Morgan (@gravemorgan) November 20, 2021
“He came running out of a parking garage and turned the corner, and sort of ran into me,” Morgan said. “I immediately put my hands up and said very loudly ‘I’m press, I’m press!’ and that’s when he shoved me backwards with his gun.”
Morgan also said she was wearing a ballistic vest with “PRESS” clearly displayed on the front along with a reflective press badge and several other press credentials on a belt loop when the incident occured.
In 2020, the Tracker documented seven assaults of journalists covering protests surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. Find documented aggressions against journalists following the November 2021 Rittenhouse verdict here and at Black Lives Matter protests here.
Independent videographer and photographer Emily Molli was assaulted while gathering footage of an anti-vaccine rally outside Los Angeles City Hall in California on Sept. 18, 2021.
Molli told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was doused with an oily substance and her camera equipment was damaged while covering what organizers called a “fight for medical freedom” rally.
She told the Tracker she had not initially planned on covering the rally because of recent violent eruptions that have occurred at these events but changed her mind and began photographing the speakers several feet away from the crowd. Molli estimated there were close to 50 people at the rally in addition to about two dozen others who were watching from the sidewalk.
Molli said she had not taken her cellphone or her usual press credentials and helmet labeled “PRESS” because her last-minute decision to photograph the event had not given her enough time to prepare.
However, after covering these rallies in the past, Molli said she believed other reporters covering the event would recognize her and at the very least her professional camera would identify her as a reporter.
According to Molli, she was gathering footage of the protest for approximately five minutes when an individual walked up behind her and started hovering over her shoulder.
This was the only shot I got at the park before I was accused of doxxing. Delusional. pic.twitter.com/76oKO7hlDT
— Emily Molli (@emilymolli) September 18, 2021
“I decided at that point I should probably just leave and I started walking away, when more people caught up with me,” Molli said.
The group continued to follow her, accusing her of “doxxing” people in the crowd and being part of the far-left-wing movement antifa.
“In the past, people would sometimes recognize me as a reporter and leave me alone but I knew there was no getting through to these people,” she said.
Molli said she tried to calm the group by telling them she supported freedom of expression and the right to peacefully assemble but by then a man had tried to take her camera out of her hands.
“I was filming just in case something happened — most of the time it does,” Molli said. “As I’m waiting to cross the street someone pumps up a super soaker full of glitter, some kind of oil, and water and shoots me in the back, the back of the head, and my camera.”
Molli managed to get away from the group and walked over to a police officer in a patrol car that had just arrived at the event. She reported the assault and equipment damage to the officer but was directed to file a police report online.
Knowing she wasn’t going to get a name or description of the masked individual who had doused her for the report, Molli said she walked away, but a woman continued to follow her, shoving a sign in front of her camera.
Molli told the Tracker she approached a man across the street from the rally and asked to borrow his cellphone to call her colleague. Molli, who distributes her work through wire services or directly to clients, said she essentially lost a full day of work after her camera was soaked. The substance got onto the camera lens and into the air vents but she will not know the full extent of the damage until she tries to use it again.
Molli said she did not intend to file a police report about the incident.
A man walking around downtown Portland, Oregon, aimed an airsoft gun modeled on an AR-15 rifle at freelance photojournalist Justin Yau on Aug. 8, 2021. The man was later arrested on charges of menacing and disorderly conduct, local NBC affiliate KGW reported.
According to KGW, right- and left-wing demonstrators had clashed earlier that day at a religious gathering in Tom McCall Waterfront Park led by a Christian musician known for his opposition to COVID-19 restrictions. The groups, which had also clashed the previous night, had brawled and used various weapons, including bear spray, airsoft guns and paintball guns, The Oregonian reported.
At about 11 p.m., several journalists including Yau and freelance journalists Nathan Howard and Sergio Olmos photographed a man walking through downtown with what they described as an AR-15 rifle. In footage captured by Olmos, the individual can be seen aiming the weapon directly at Yau as he continues to photograph the encounter. Yau did not respond to messages requesting comment.
A far-right extremist points his rifle at @wweek journalist Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) during a confrontation between anti-fascists and right-wing militia in Portland, Oregon on Sunday Aug. 8, 2021.
— Nathan Howard (@SmileItsNathan) August 9, 2021
For @GettyImages pic.twitter.com/IgMeGEzBra
According to The Oregonian, the man, identified as Mark Lee, called 911 claiming several people were following him and was told to walk to a nearby police precinct. Lee left the station that night, but police launched an investigation into the incident that ultimately led to Lee’s arrest on Aug. 12 on three counts of menacing and one count of second-degree disorderly conduct.
Police confirmed that Lee’s weapon was an airsoft gun, a sports gun designed to shoot plastic projectiles. The weapon was seized, along with a military-style tactical vest, gas mask and seven knives, KGW reported.
Raquel Natalicchio, a freelance photographer, says she was shoved against a wall by a Los Angeles Police Department officer using his baton on July 17, 2021.
Natalicchio was on an assignment for Zuma Press to cover the protests around the Wi Spa. The spa, located in LA’s Koreatown, became a flashpoint for anti-transgender demonstrators as the result of a viral video that police are now treating as a hoax, according to Slate.
She told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that just before she was shoved, the LAPD had declared an unlawful assembly after the two groups of protesters began to clash in front of the spa.
She said that LAPD also showered rubber bullets at trans-rights demonstrators, some even being shot at point blank range — apparently in violation of an April court order banning the use of “less lethal” projectiles against protesters from less than five feet away, and restricting their use to situations in which the targets pose a significant threat of violence.
The LAPD formed several kettles, or tight cordons, around the protesters, telling them to leave the area while pushing them further along the street, so that the protesters were not able to disperse, she said.
Dozens were arrested while attempting to follow police orders to disperse, Natalicchio said.
At around 11 a.m., the photographer was on the sidewalk at Rampart Boulevard and 6th Street, when LAPD officers were pushing back counterprotesters, activists and anyone walking on the street or sidewalk, she said.
“I communicated to the officer that I was press and that I would move back as the crowd behind me moved back. He then pushed me with his baton up against a wall while continuing to scream at me to move. Being I had nowhere to go, I stepped forward to turn around and find another way back and he pushed me from behind again into a crowd of protesters.”
An activist posted a video of the second part of the incident on Twitter.
The photographer said the incident had affected her mental health and she worries about her safety when covering actions in which police are involved. “It seems as if the police had no respect for me as a working journalist and treated me as if I was a protester.”
When contacted for comment, LAPD responded by email that the department had no further information to provide at this time.
This article was updated with comment from the Los Angeles Police Department.
Independent video journalist Mason Lake said a Portland police officer shoved him with a baton and damaged his on-camera microphone while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 25, 2021.
According to The Oregonian, protesters gathered near the Oregon Convention Center after a Portland police officer shot and killed a man outside a Motel 6. Some demonstrators shouted for officers to quit their jobs, while officers stood facing the protesters with shields and batons. The Portland Police Bureau on Twitter said officers throughout the city responded to help with “scene security.” A few days earlier on June 16, all of the officers with the Portland Police Bureau's Rapid Response Team resigned together following news of investigations for excessive force, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.
“The PPB maced & fired 40mm rounds into a crowd of protestors gathered on NE Grand Ave,” Lake wrote on Twitter at 12:04 p.m. on June 25, alongside a video of officers shoving and spraying demonstrators. At the 19-second mark, it appears that an officer physically knocked the camera, cutting the audio for the rest of the clip.
“I was on the front line and I was nearly bear-maced before being physically shoved by & officer with a baton,” Lake wrote the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in a text message. “He hit/shoved me marking my neck & hitting my on-camera microphone damaging it.” He also tweeted a photograph of his neck with a red mark across the middle and said he had multiple “press” markings across his clothes and helmet, as well as a National Press Photographers Association badge on his front strap.
A PPB officer hit/shoved me with a baton, marking the skin on my neck & damaged my on-camera microphone while I was filming them push/mace the crowd of protestors gathered tonight by the Portland Convention Center after a shooting report. #portland #police #assault #press pic.twitter.com/rDlWYPiYSl
— Mason Lake Media (@MasonLakePhoto) June 25, 2021
“The officer issued no orders for press to move or go to designated area,” he added.
PPB didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
A group of police officers surround demonstrators during a protest on Oct. 1, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Journalist Mason Lake was shoved by police and had equipment damaged while documenting protests there in June 2021.
",None,None,None,None,False,3:23-cv-01870,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,protest,,, 2021-07-15 15:05:41.193109+00:00,2021-07-15 15:14:49.748164+00:00,"Photojournalist pushed by NYPD officer, struck with baton while covering protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-pushed-by-nypd-officer-struck-with-baton-while-covering-protest/,2021-07-15 15:14:49.713883+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Gabe Quinones (Independent),,2021-06-05,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Independent photojournalist Gabe Quinones said he was assaulted by a New York City Police Department officer while covering demonstrations in Washington Square Park on June 5, 2021.
The park had been the site of both protests and street parties; Gothamist reported that for several months the NYPD had attempted to enforce the park’s largely ignored midnight curfew.
Riot cops just cleared Washington Square Park, arresting one person because he has a speaker playing Fuck The Police, and swinging batons at a teenager. Because the park closes at midnight pic.twitter.com/nrGDDEQYba
— Jake Offenhartz (@jangelooff) November 7, 2020
At the end of May, the NYPD said that officers, coordinating with the NYC Parks Department, would enforce a 10 p.m. closure of the park on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, according to Gothamist.
Quinones told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that on June 5, officers arrived well before the closure of the park and advanced on the crowds gathered there shortly before 10 p.m.
In a post on Instagram, Quinones wrote: “The officers had instructed us to stay on the sidewalk and that’s exactly where I was when I was attacked. He shoved his baton into my chest causing bruising so I told him ‘I’m press’, before I could pull out the badge he bum rushed me pinning me to a wall and shoving his baton into me further.”
At approximately 12:55 minutes into video footage from news agency FreedomNews.TV and filmed by @scootercasterNY, an NYPD officer appears to push Quinones against a doorframe and then take a baton swipe at him as he runs away.
“After [the officer shoved] me the first time, I sort of fell backward and I instinctively reached out for anything to sort of catch myself and so I grabbed his baton,” Quinones said. “That’s when he shoved me back into the wall.”
Quinones told the Tracker the officer who struck him never spoke to him beyond telling him to get on the sidewalk, where he already was. He said he filed a complaint against the officer and was contacted by the NYPD’s Internal Affairs Office to provide his footage and answer questions about the incident.
On July 6, Quinones said officers arrived at his apartment and arrested him on charges of grand larceny, alleging that he had attempted to steal the officer’s baton during the June 5 incident. Quinones said he was held for three to four hours before being released with a hearing scheduled for July 26. The Tracker has documented that arrest here.
The NYPD didn’t respond to emailed requests for comment.
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.
Agence France-Presse video correspondent Eléonore Sens and two colleagues were pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 16, 2021.
AFP photojournalist Chandan Khanna and reporter Robin Legrand were sprayed at the same time.
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 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.
Sens told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that when lines of law enforcement officers moved in quickly to form a perimeter around the crowd of protesters, she and her AFP colleagues were blocked on a corner of the street.
Khanna said officers rushed toward them. He said one officer sprayed a nearby photographer, Tim Evans, then saw the three AFP journalists and began spraying each of them with the chemical irritant. They continued to shout to identify themselves as journalists, according to Khanna.
“I can say with all confidence that he knew that we were press, and he made sure that he sprayed all of us, not just like one person,” Khanna said.
Sens said she was less certain about whether they were targeted because they were journalists. “I cannot know that,” she said, though she noted that they were clearly marked as press, repeatedly identified themselves verbally to law enforcement, and were not in the officers’ way. Sens said she was displaying a large press credential issued by the New York Police Department and carried a professional video camera, which has “AFP” written on it.
As the officer was spraying them, Khanna said, the dispenser briefly got stuck. The officer shook it and then resumed spraying them, Khanna said.
A photograph, taken and posted on Twitter by photojournalist Alex Kent, shows the officer spraying the three AFP journalists, one of whom was wearing a bright yellow vest marked “PRESS.”
Sur cette photo notre équipe #AFP se fait asperger de gaz poivre par la police à Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, alors que nous nous étions clairement identifiés comme journalistes. @robin__legrand #DaunteWright https://t.co/jG5JcDPebm
— Eléonore Sens (@EleonoreSens) April 17, 2021
Once the officer stopped spraying, Sens said, he shouted at them to “get the fuck out.” She said the journalists tried to stay to continue to document, but officers were yelling at them to leave.
One officer escorted them away from the area where law enforcement was arresting all of the protesters. She said officers wouldn’t let them film and threatened to arrest them if they didn’t leave.
After the AFP journalists left the first perimeter of officers, Sens said they came upon another line of officers. She said the officers took photographs of their faces, state IDs, and press credentials.
“To me, that was a very shocking part, is that they took photos, and have a record of who were the journalists that night on site to cover the events,” she said.
Sens said she was wearing goggles, a helmet and a mask, which protected her from the effects of the pepper spray. Some of the chemical got on the back of her hand, which caused a burning feeling so intense that she needed to sleep with her hand in a bag of ice, she said.
Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell told the Tracker that it had been determined that the officer who sprayed the AFP journalists was a member of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. A spokesperson for Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment because the incident was under investigation.
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.
Agence France-Press journalist Robin Legrand and two colleagues were pepper-sprayed by law enforcement while reporting on 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 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.
One of Legrand’s colleagues, Eléonore Sens, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she, Legrand and photojournalist Chandan Khanna were blocked in a corner of the street when lines of law enforcement officers rushed in to form a perimeter around the crowd of protesters.
Legrand told the Tracker in an email that he and his colleagues shouted to identify themselves as journalists, but an officer sprayed them.
“We shouted "PRESS, PRESS, PRESS", but to no avail; the spraying came before and after that,” he said.
Legrand said he believed they were sprayed “in spite” of the fact that they were journalists.
“We were far from any protester, and had clear markings that we were members of the press but the spraying was indiscriminate I'd say,” he said.
According to Khanna, the officer sprayed each one of the AFP journalists with the irritant. As the officer was spraying them, Khanna said, the dispenser briefly got stuck. The officer shook it and then resumed spraying them, Khanna said.
“I can say with all confidence that he knew that we were press, and he made sure that he sprayed all of us, not just like one person,” Khanna said.
A photograph taken and posted on Twitter by photojournalist Alex Kent, shows the officer spraying the three AFP journalists, one of whom was wearing a bright yellow vest marked “PRESS.”
Sur cette photo notre équipe #AFP se fait asperger de gaz poivre par la police à Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, alors que nous nous étions clairement identifiés comme journalistes. @robin__legrand #DaunteWright https://t.co/jG5JcDPebm
— Eléonore Sens (@EleonoreSens) April 17, 2021
Once the officer stopped spraying, Sens said, he shouted at them to “get the fuck out.”
Legrand told the Tracker the AFP journalists were also ordered to "get on the fucking ground," but he said that they didn’t comply. Legrand said officers yelled at them when they tried to stay to document law enforcement arresting protesters.
After the AFP journalists left the first perimeter of officers, Sens said they came upon another line of officers who took photographs of journalists’ faces and press credentials.
Legrand said he was “pretty shocked” by the process. He said he asked law enforcement for contact information for a press liaison, but they ignored his request.
Legrand said he was wearing a bright yellow vest that said “PRESS” in capital letters on the front. He noted that Sens was also carrying a professional video camera.
Legrand said he turned away when the officer sprayed them and was hit with a minimal amount of the chemical. He said that he had a mild burning feeling on his hands for a few hours, despite attempts to scrub the substance off. He occasionally experienced a burning feeling when putting on or taking out his contact lenses for several days, he said.
Minnesota Department of Corrections Commissioner Paul Schnell, who worked with the governor’s office to respond to the concerns about treatment of the media in Brooklyn Center, told the Tracker that it had been determined that the officer who sprayed the AFP journalists was a member of the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. A spokesperson for Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office declined to comment because the incident was under investigation.
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 journalist Justin Yau said he was attacked and shoved to the ground by an unidentified individual while covering a protest at Lents Park in Portland, Oregon, on April 16, 2021.
According to Willamette Week, Portland police fatally shot a man in the park that morning after receiving reports of a man pointing a gun. Demonstrators immediately gathered near the scene, yelling “shame on you," at police, which led police to declare an unlawful assembly shortly before noon, according to the article.
Yau, who has been published in the Los Angeles Times, Portland Mercury, ProPublica and Oregon Public Broadcasting, said at around 2 p.m., he was attacked by an individual while photographing the protest. Yau said he had a press credential issued by Willamette Week, which he was then on assignment for, clipped to his collar.
"I was standing and talking to a colleague, when the attacker shoved me to the ground,” Yau told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “It was an unprovoked surprise attack. The attacker pushed my head while I was on the ground & tried to take my cameras, but was unsuccessful."
Yau said he didn’t know the person, and that accomplices stood by yelling phrases like “Don’t take pictures!” and stopping his colleague from protecting him.
Portland Tribune reporter Zane Sparling tweeted two photographs of the scene, writing that Yau was "bleeding after being shoved to the ground, hit multiple times."
Reporter @PDocumentarians bleeding after being shoved to the ground, hit multiple times while covering a protest in Portland right now pic.twitter.com/F1qVyUL1sa
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) April 16, 2021
Yau said the attacker grabbed his glasses, scratching his face in the process, and broke the hood of his 18-25-millimeter lens during the scuffle. Sparling's photograph also shows a pair of broken glasses on the ground.
“The injuries were minimal, [but] breaking my glasses made work really difficult for the rest of the day,” he told the Tracker.
While documenting protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021, Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter Kim Hyatt said she was grabbed by a law enforcement officer whom she initially identified as a National Guard member and ordered to disperse.
Demonstrators had gathered that night in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11. The Minnesota National Guard had been deployed to the Twin Cities for the trial of former police officer Derek Chauvin — who was charged with killing George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in May 2020 — and arrived in Brooklyn Center in the hours following the shooting of Wright to assist police.
In a video Hyatt posted to Twitter shortly after 9:30 p.m., she reported that officers, whom she described as “the guard,” had come around the backside of an apartment building located across the street from the police department and “ambushed everyone” who’d gathered there.
“I was holding up my badge and they still grabbed me and told me to get out of here,” Hyatt said in the video, while displaying a large yellow “PRESS” badge issued by the Star Tribune. In the video she also tugged at her right shoulder, ostensibly indicating that that's where she'd been grabbed. Hyatt did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
They’re making arrests and physically grabbing press and telling us to leave. pic.twitter.com/t4IT3B9ilN
— Kim Hyatt (@kimvhyatt) April 14, 2021
When reached or comment via email, a Minnesota National Guard spokesperson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that no members of the Guard left the fenced-in area around the police department.
“In other words, they were not in an area with crowds,” Public Affairs Officer Melanie Nelson wrote.
The Brooklyn Center Police Department did not immediately respond to a voicemail requesting comment.
Law enforcement had declared the protest an unlawful assembly before a curfew was due to go into effect at 10 p.m., Hyatt wrote in a subsequent tweet, and officers explicitly ordered members of the press to disperse despite journalists being exempt from the curfew order.
“Still a few dozen people here but most left. Some media remain,” Hyatt tweeted just before 10 p.m. “I’m done for the night after that.”
At a press conference the following day, according to her tweets, Hyatt asked Brooklyn Center Mayor Mike Elliott what he thought about law enforcement ordering the press to leave the area.
“Demanding the media to leave is absolutely, unequivocally unacceptable. I issued the curfew order and my curfew order permits the media to be there past the 10 o’clock hour. The curfew does not apply to the media,” Elliott said.
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.
CNN producer Carolyn Sung was thrown to the ground and arrested by Minnesota State Patrol troopers while documenting protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11.
According to a letter sent by attorneys to Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and other local officials and signed by more than two dozen news and advocacy organizations, Sung had been attempting to comply with a dispersal order when “troopers grabbed Sung by her backpack and threw her to the ground, zip-tying her hands behind her back.”
“Sung did not resist and repeatedly identified herself as a journalist working for CNN and showed her credentials,” the letter continued. Troopers also reportedly ignored her complaints that the zip ties were too tight on her wrists.
At one point, the letter alleges, a trooper yelled at Sung, “Do you speak English?”
“Sung, whose primary language is English, was placed in a prisoner-transport bus and sent to the Hennepin County Jail, where she was patted down and searched by a female officer who put her hands down Sung’s pants and in her bra, fingerprinted, electronically body-scanned, and ordered to strip and put on an orange uniform before attorneys working on her behalf were able to locate her and secure her release, a process that took more than two hours,” the letter said.
The letter also stated that a security guard accompanying Sung was briefly detained, but was released upon showing his credentials.
CNN’s public relations office declined to make Sung available for comment, and the Minnesota State Patrol did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s emailed request for comment as of press time. The status of her arrest and any charges remain unknown.
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.
Law enforcement at a protest on April 13, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, after the killing of Daunte Wright by a police officer. CNN producer Carolyn Sung was violently arrested while documenting the protest.
",detained and released without being processed,Minnesota State Patrol,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2021, protest",,, 2021-05-03 15:05:36.198603+00:00,2022-05-11 18:44:28.251169+00:00,Journalist cited while reporting on Brooklyn Center protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-cited-while-reporting-on-brooklyn-center-protest/,2022-05-11 18:44:28.177270+00:00,failure to obey: failure to obey a lawful order (charges pending as of 2021-04-13),,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Naasir Akailvi (The Neighborhood Reporter),,2021-04-13,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Independent journalist Naasir Akailvi, who reports on social media as the Neighborhood Reporter, said he was detained and cited while reporting on a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 13, 2021.
Demonstrations had been held for several days outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department in response to the fatal shooting of Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, during a traffic stop on April 11. Wright’s death 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.
Akailvi told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that late on the night of April 13 he was reporting as police pushed protesters away from the police station up Humboldt Avenue. He told the Tracker that he believed police had issued dispersal orders earlier in the night, but he hadn’t considered leaving because of them. There was a curfew in effect starting at 10 p.m., according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune; it exempt members of the media.
Shortly before 11 p.m., Akailvi said, police had started to form a crowd-control technique called a “kettle,” which blocks people from leaving, in a gas station.
At one point, Akailvi said, he noticed that police were using batons to smash a car’s windows, and he moved closer to film the scene. Within seconds, he said, he felt someone grab him from behind. He said he was taken down to the ground and his wrists were constrained with zip ties.
Akailvi said that he repeated, “I’m press, I’m press,” and told police he had a press pass; he said he wears a self-made card that has his photograph and identifies him as a journalist. According to Akailvi, police responded by saying that a dispersal order had been issued for media.
Akailvi said police took his camera, mic and tripod. He was put in the back of a police car, he said, and told that he would be charged.
The journalist said that while a Minnesota State Patrol trooper who was in the car with him started writing up his paperwork, he heard over the police radio that law enforcement would not be taking members of the press to jail but would issue citations.
He said he was handed a citation for “failure to obey a lawful order” and that his equipment was returned when he was released. As he was leaving, he said, he again heard an announcement over the police radio directing law enforcement not to cite journalists. However, he said, the trooper told him he would need to fight his citation later.
“I still got my citation, and the cops who gave it to me, they said, you’re just going to have to go fight it in court,” Akailvi said.
Akailvi told the Tracker he has not yet taken steps to fight the charge. His citation says that he is required to appear in court, but no date has been set.
The Minnesota State Patrol did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Akailvi was detained again the following night along with a reporting partner while they were documenting continuing Brooklyn Center protests. The Tracker has documented that April 14 incident here.
On April 16, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring Minnesota State Patrol from arresting or threatening to arrest journalists and stating that journalists are not required to leave when there is a dispersal order.
In a statement in response to the court order, the MSP acknowledged that the agency was prohibited from enforcing dispersal orders against journalists.
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.
Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist Mark Vancleave was struck in the hand with a rubber bullet while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 12, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11.
Vancleave told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he’d arrived at the police department at around 3 p.m. to document the second day of protests. The scheduled protest ended shortly before a curfew went into effect, at 7 p.m.
“A lot of people left at that time. A lot of other protesters showed up. And things got more tense, more confrontational, more aggressive between the cops and protesters,” Vancleave said. “There was a lot of back and forth between protesters — with people throwing water bottles, fireworks, those kinds of things — and the police, responding with tear gas, concussion or flash-bang grenades, and mace.”
At approximately 9 p.m., Vancleave said, he was struck in the hand with a rubber bullet.
“I was holding my camera in front of me, and was wearing a Kevlar vest and gas mask with a large polycarbonate plastic visor when the rubber bullet struck the hand I was holding the camera with,” Vancleave said. “I had some lacerations on my middle finger and then two broken bones in my ring finger.”
Vancleave told the Tracker he was also identifiable as press by his press ID and a large yellow rectangular “PRESS” card — which the Star Tribune issued all of its journalists last year — though they were partially obscured by his coat at the moment he was struck.
Vancleave said he was working alongside a freelance videojournalist on assignment for PBS Frontline, who was able to help him receive initial aid from field medics. He said that once he was able to locate other staff from the Star Tribune, they transported him to a local hospital, where he was held overnight until he could receive surgery the following day.
On Monday night I was shot in the hand by a rubber bullet fired by police in Brooklyn Center while covering a protest. The impact broke my ring finger in two places requiring surgery. I won’t be able to pick up my camera again for at least six weeks. pic.twitter.com/IcPfjbVug4
— Mark Vancleave (@MDVancleave) April 17, 2021
“I won’t be able to hold any weight in my hand for weeks at least, and I have no idea when I’ll be able to work again,” Vancleave said. “I’m just grateful that I had some colleagues that I had paired up with for just this reason, watching each other’s backs, and had a good enough exit strategy.”
Two other Star Tribune journalists were assaulted during protests that day. 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.
A few days after he was injured, Vancleave tweeted, “I remain deeply concerned for my fellow journalists working to fairly and accurately report on the crisis unfolding in our communities — particularly as Minnesota law enforcement continues to target journalists with force and disregard [their] constitutionally protected role.”
CNN reported on April 13 that City Manager Curt Boganey was fired over the city’s response to the protest.
The Brooklyn Center Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment as of press time.
Two bones were broken in the ring finger of Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist Mark Vancleave, who was struck with a rubber bullet while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 12, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2021, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2021-04-22 13:50:58.961581+00:00,2022-03-10 21:44:25.046504+00:00,Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist pepper-sprayed while documenting protests in Brooklyn Center,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/minneapolis-star-tribune-photojournalist-pepper-sprayed-while-documenting-protests-in-brooklyn-center/,2022-03-10 21:44:24.985404+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Carlos Gonzalez (Minneapolis Star Tribune),,2021-04-12,False,Brooklyn Center,Minnesota (MN),45.07608,-93.33273,"Minneapolis Star Tribune photojournalist Carlos Gonzalez was pepper-sprayed while covering protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 12, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered in front of the Brooklyn Center Police Department to demand justice in the killing of Daunte Wright, a Black man, who was fatally shot by a white police officer on April 11.
Gonzalez told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he’d arrived in the afternoon to document the second night of protests in front of the police department. At around 7:50 p.m., he said, he noticed an agitated woman confronting the police and being held back by others at the demonstration.
In footage Gonzalez posted to Twitter shortly after the incident, the woman can be seen confronting a line of officers in front of the department. Moments later, an officer can be seen shooting a burst of pepper spray at an individual out of frame, then turning and spraying Gonzalez.
I was pepper sprayed in the eye while photographing the scene at the Brooklyn Center Police Department. I had cameras & my press credentials clearly in view. It came from the side w/o warning I was shooting so I didn’t even see it coming. This is a GoPro version of the incident. pic.twitter.com/TIhzsnG1Ri
— Carlos Gonzalez (@CarlosGphoto) April 13, 2021
“I felt the spray come into my eye from my right side, so I didn’t even see it coming,” Gonzalez said. “It was obvious that I wasn’t agitating anyone, that I was documenting and not part of the protest.”
Gonzalez said he didn’t want to speculate on what the officer was thinking but noted that he was clearly identifiable as a member of the press; Gonzalez said he was not only carrying his professional camera but had both his standard press pass and a large yellow “PRESS” card — which the Star Tribune issued all of its journalists last year — around his neck in plain view.
“I walked away almost immediately and was trying to retrieve some pepper-spray wipes that I had in my pack, but my hands were all wet and I couldn’t get them,” Gonzalez said. “Some medics must’ve seen what happened and came over to me quickly and were able to help.
“At that point I was in significant pain for some time, so after I was able to open my eyes again, I went back to my car to collect myself. While there, I started editing some of my pictures and talked to my editor to tell them what happened and that I might have captured it on my GoPro.”
Gonzalez told the Tracker he doesn’t remember whether he returned to document the rest of the protest that night or not, as the days have blurred together.
“Obviously it was a protest and a bunch of things were going on,” Gonzalez said. “But the main point is that myself, my colleagues, all the other press out there — we’re out there working, being professionals. We’re not chanting and yelling and getting in cops’ faces, or anything like that. I think it’s pretty obvious to distinguish who we are.”
Two other Star Tribune journalists were assaulted during protests that day. 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.
CNN reported the following day that City Manager Curt Boganey was fired over the city’s response to the protest.
The Brooklyn Center Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment as of press time.
Independent photojournalist Tim Evans was hit in the hand with a crowd-control projectile while covering a protest in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, for the European Pressphoto Agency on April 12, 2021.
Demonstrators gathered outside the Brooklyn Center Police Department one day after Daunte Wright, a 20-year-old Black man, was shot and killed by a white police officer during a traffic stop in the city, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported.
After a 7 p.m. curfew took effect, tensions escalated between protesters and law enforcement, and law enforcement later issued dispersal orders and began using rubber bullets, flash-bang grenades and tear gas to disperse the crowd, according to the Star Tribune.
Evans told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the protest as it continued after dark. He said law enforcement agents were deploying crowd-control munitions, including marker rounds, a type of projectile that leaves a colored mark where it hits.
Evans said he was photographing demonstrators as he stood with his back to the police station, about 20 feet from a gate in the fence that surrounded the building.
He said he was holding his camera to his face with his right hand to take photographs when a marker round hit the back of that hand.
Evans said the painful impact made him let go of his camera, which hung from a strap around his neck. He said he retreated from the area for a few minutes to make sure that he wasn’t seriously injured. The marker round left a green chalky substance on Evans’ skin, which he said he wiped off. Evans said he spoke with another photographer who has medical training to check whether the projectile had broken any bones in his hand.
“It hurt, but it was clear that no bones were broken,” Evans said.
Evans said he was able to continue photographing the protest that night. He had a bruise on his hand for more than a week after he was hit, he said. None of his equipment was damaged.
Evans told the Tracker he did not see which law enforcement agency fired the round that hit him. Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in the response to the protests in Brooklyn Center, including Minnesota State Patrol and the National Guard, according to the Star Tribune.
Evans said he did not know if he was targeted, and believed the munition may have ricocheted off of something before hitting him, because he thought a direct hit would likely have injured him more seriously.
He had a “PRESS” label attached to his backpack, he told the Tracker.
Minnesota State Patrol and the state Department of Public Safety, which were part of a coalition of law enforcement agencies responding to protests in Minnesota, did not answer requests for comment. A spokesperson for the National Guard said the agency “has not used a single less than lethal munition in any of its responses to civil unrest within the last year.”
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.
Freelance journalist Tim Speier was struck in the chest with a flash-bang grenade that detonated while he covered protests in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, on April 11, 2021.
Protests outside the police department began after the fatal police shooting of 20-year-old Daunte Wright earlier that day, which occurred as a former police officer in nearby Minneapolis was on trial in the death of George Floyd. The events rekindled a nationwide wave of racial justice protests that began almost a year earlier after Floyd’s death.
Speier is a former marine who is now a student at St. Cloud State University and has written for the student publication the University Chronicle. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived to cover the protests alongside freelance journalist J.D. Duggan at approximately 9:30 p.m.
“About 30 minutes later, I was trying to get some footage of a smoke grenade going off and there were protesters throwing stuff over me and another reporter who was standing right next to me,” Speier said. “In the footage it looks like an officer lobbed a grenade and when it came down it basically popped on my chest.”
In footage Speier shared from Mercado Media, he can be seen standing at the intersection of 67th and North Humboldt Avenues at the north side of the police department, next to Unicorn Riot reporter Niko Georgiades, while a line of law enforcement officers stand in the background.
Approximately 30 seconds into the clip, a projectile which Speier identified as a flash-bang grenade can be seen striking him directly in the chest and detonating.
Last night, while covering the protest with @JDugganMN at the Brooklyn Center Police Dept., I had a flashbang grenade detonate on my chest. I didn't think it was that bad till I saw the footage from Mercado Media.
— Tim Speier (@timmy2thyme) April 12, 2021
I'm ok, btw. pic.twitter.com/6SIiVvVKO0
Immediately following the impact, the journalist filming the incident approaches Speier and Georgiades to ask whether they were alright, and both appeared to indicate that they were.
“I didn’t think it was that bad till I saw the footage from Mercado Media,” Speier wrote. “I’m OK.”
Speier told the Tracker that his shoulder was a bit sore following the incident, but he was protected from the worst of the impact by the ballistic vest he was wearing. In the footage, Speier can be seen wearing a protective vest labeled “PRESS” and press credentials around his neck, in addition to a helmet and respirator mask.
Speier said he wasn’t sure whether the officer had targeted him and Georgiades, but noted that no protesters were standing near them when the grenade was thrown.
The Brooklyn Center Police Department didn’t respond to requests for comment.
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 Tim Speier said he was filming a smoke grenade on April 11, 2021, in Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, moments before he was hit in the chest with a flash-bang grenade.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2021, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2021-05-26 18:49:00.469927+00:00,2023-11-01 14:40:57.023277+00:00,"San Francisco reporter pepper-sprayed during attempted robbery, the second in as many months",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/san-francisco-reporter-pepper-sprayed-during-attempted-robbery-the-second-in-as-many-months/,2023-11-01 14:40:56.929715+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Don Ford (KPIX-TV),,2021-04-07,False,San Francisco,California (CA),37.77493,-122.41942,"Reporter Don Ford, of KPIX 5, a CBS affiliate station based in San Francisco, California, and his security guard were blinded for “almost an hour” after being sprayed with chemicals while working on a story in Golden Gate Park on April 7, 2021, the journalist told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The KPIX 5 crew had been recording a segment at around 1:20 p.m. near Stow Lake when they were approached by the suspect, who attempted to steal the crew’s camera. The assailant then sprayed Ford and his security guard with a chemical Ford believed to be pepper spray, before running away. The security guard gave chase, and the assailant dropped the camera, after being hit by his own getaway car. The suspect was then driven off by a second man in a car with Nevada plates.
Ford shared with the Tracker documentation he’d made of the incident just after it happened: “Assignment: Coyotes roaming around Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park. Beautiful sunny warm day with lots of people around. Just me and my guard when we were jumped and pepper sprayed. The attacker used a large canister style Pepper Spray, not the small kind sold in Drug Stores. We weren’t really sprayed, we were doused at close range, directly into our faces.”
He added: “Bad guy grabbed the camera. Guard pulled his weapon and we gave chase before the full force of the Pepper Spray had time to take us down. The bad guy had trouble getting the camera into the car. Camera was still attached to the Tripod. We closed in. Seeing the gun, bad boy dropped the camera, jumped into the car and sped away. Seconds later, we were totally incapacitated with the burning pain.
“SFPD and ambulance arrives and spent the next hour helping us get our sight back. Eventually, we were able to see again.
“I made it home, showered for almost another hour but the pepper is delivered in an oily base that soaks into the skin’s pores. Cops said it may take couple days to fully rid myself of the effects.”
Ford said that the assault happened on his second day back to work, after taking a two-week-long break following a separate assault in March. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
The video camera, a Sony HD professional, was severely damaged, Ford said.
When reached for comment by the Tracker, a San Francisco Police Department spokesperson relayed the following details: “As the suspect was fleeing with the camera, he dropped the camera and entered the getaway vehicle, which fled the scene. Officers rendered aid and summoned medics to the scene, who treated the victims’ non-life-threatening injuries.”
A veteran TV reporter who has been working in the Bay Area since 1981, Ford said that during the course of his career he has chased Sandinistas, documented numerous forest fires and multiple accounts of civil unrest, and was once even rescued from a life raft in the Pacific by the U.S. Coast Guard.
“I've seen a lot,” Ford said, “but I've never seen so many attacks on TV news crews as now.”
"I'm now taking time off work to ‘process’ the attacks,” he added.
According to the SFPD, the “incident remains under active investigation and no arrests have been made.”
While attempting to steal the station video camera, an assailant pepper-sprayed KPIX 5 reporter Don Ford and security guard.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,private individual,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"chemical irritant, robbery",,, 2021-03-26 19:22:15.691865+00:00,2022-01-03 14:59:18.213113+00:00,L.A. Taco reporter detained while covering Echo Park protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/la-taco-reporter-detained-while-covering-echo-park-protest/,2022-01-03 14:59:18.148662+00:00,,,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Lexis-Olivier Ray (L.A. Taco),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"At least 13 journalists, and likely more, were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Los Angeles Times reporter James Queally tweeted that he and reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, who writes for the digital news site L.A. Taco, were standing next to each other inside the “kettle” as police faced off with protesters. Queally noted that just a week earlier, he had written a story for the Times about the “failure to disperse” charges brought against Ray by the LAPD months after he was covering another incident in downtown L.A.
Ray tweeted that he and Queally were trying to stick together after the crowd was boxed in, and he posted footage he took as Queally was led away by officers and placed in zip-tie cuffs.
Ray confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he continued filming as officers arrested more individuals in the kettle — sometimes violently. In the footage, Ray can be heard saying, “Why are you pointing this [weapon] at me? I’m with the media,” as an officer trains his weapon on Ray’s chest and face.
LAPD violently arresting a protestor earlier near Lemoyne and Park Ave. Dozens of protestors and media have been boxed in. Nobody is able to leave. @LATACO pic.twitter.com/3hh6kOLERi
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) March 26, 2021
Queally tweeted that after his arrest and release 30 minutes later, Ray called him and said that he was still detained in the kettle.
“I managed to get hold of an officer in media relations who rushed to do something about it,” Queally wrote. “I’m still worried he might have gotten arrested otherwise.”
Ray tweeted at around 10:30 p.m. that he had been released, along with other members of the press, without being formally arrested.
LAPD has let me and a group of press go without detaining us. They made us all show our press passes to avoid arrest. I'm safe 🙏🏾 @LATACO pic.twitter.com/z1nuIuyUxI
— Lexis-Olivier Ray (@ShotOn35mm) March 26, 2021
“They held us there for more than an hour and then let people go if they had a press pass,” Ray told the Tracker. “Last year they said press could self-ID but I think they only let people go [that night] if they approved their press pass.”
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area 350 feet away from the crowd.
About the media area, Queally tweeted, “Media pens are deliberately setup to keep reporters AWAY from news. Tonight was no different. It was nowhere near the protests or action in the park.”
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
Los Angeles Police Department officers detain protesters demonstrating against the closure of a homeless encampment at Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021. More than a dozen journalists were also arrested or detained.
",detained and released without being processed,Los Angeles Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"encampment, kettle, protest",,, 2021-03-30 14:06:34.009849+00:00,2022-01-03 15:00:32.302423+00:00,Independent photojournalist detained while covering Echo Park protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photojournalist-detained-while-covering-echo-park-protest/,2022-01-03 15:00:32.247585+00:00,,,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Ashley Balderrama (Independent),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., the Washington Post reported.
According to the Post, before anyone could exit, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest, and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Independent photojournalist Ashley Balderrama said she was caught in the police kettle while she was live on her Instagram and taking photographs. “I was hit on the back with an officer’s baton,” she told the Tracker in an email. She said she was repeatedly shoved by an officer and asked to leave the area, but “there was literally no where to go” because she was stuck between the officers and the protesters. She said she had her National Press Photographers Association credentials, but the officer kept shoving her until some protesters pulled her away.
“We were first told that we were no longer free to leave and that we would be arrested. After explaining to some officers that we were press, they initially said, ‘It’s too late,’” Balderrama said. “At one point as they went to arrest a protester right next to me, they tackled him and he fell into me, [and] when I looked up, an LAPD officer was pointing a less than lethal weapon directly at my face at point blank range.”
Balderrama tweeted a video of this arrest, in which she can be heard yelling, “We can’t go anywhere. There’s another line of you guys right there.”
Balderrama said that even though her credentials were around her neck, she was told multiple times that she would be arrested. “They then moved us all and made press mix with protesters, which worried me greatly, that they would not even take the time to check my credentials.”
She told the Tracker that after being detained for two hours, she was allowed to leave. “As we walked out, they told us where the press viewing was, which was on the next block over, with absolutely no visibility of [the] incident,” she added.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that read, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement, specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement said. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which could “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement said members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement noted that as individuals were being detained inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which accepts requests for comment only via email, did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all arrests and detainments from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
Los Angeles police arrive on March 24, 2021, to begin the eviction of homeless encampments at Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles. At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained the following day while covering protests against the evictions.
",detained and released without being processed,Los Angeles Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"encampment, kettle, protest",,, 2021-03-30 14:59:32.018716+00:00,2022-03-09 22:37:20.485846+00:00,Independent photojournalist hit with rubber bullets while covering Echo Park protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-photojournalist-hit-with-rubber-bullets-while-covering-echo-park-protest/,2022-03-09 22:37:20.428245+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Christian Monterrosa (Independent),,2021-03-25,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Independent photojournalist Christian Monterrosa told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was hit with rubber bullets fired by Los Angeles law enforcement while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March, 25, 2021.
Crowds had gathered at Echo Park Lake to demonstrate against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, the Washington Post reported. According to the Post, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., but before anyone could exit, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest, and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Monterrosa told the Tracker he got caught in the police kettle. “I thought it was weird [that we were asked to leave] because press and National Lawyers Guild are the ones that stay until the end once the crowd has been dispersed and it’s how we’re able to report on these arrests,” he said. He said police cut off the alleyway where protesters were exiting and created a line of officers to rush the crowd. He said officers shoved demonstrators who were standing in front of him, pushing them into him.
“I was able to get out, from luck,” Monterrosa said. He showed his LAPD-issued and National Press Photographers Association credentials to an officer, who let him and two other journalists leave the area after the commanding officer looked at the press badges.
He told the Tracker he then moved one block north of the area to cover another skirmish between police and protesters. “There was a huge, huge presence of incoming police,” Monterrosa added. “I’ve never seen so many cops at any of the demonstrations I’ve been to in LA.”
He said the protesters started retreating after they saw the police coming, but the officers “heavily enforced dispersal [with] less than lethal weapons” and fired indiscriminately into the crowd.
That was when he was hit by rubber bullets in the abdomen and right forearm, according to Monterrosa. “I was well aware of my rights and where I can and cannot be in these situations. I wasn’t engaging verbally,” Monterrosa, who also chair’s the NPPA’s west region, said. “All I had were my camera and helmet [and] was walking backwards.” He said he retreated to a safe area to apply bandages from his first aid kit.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that read, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement, specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement read. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which could “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement said members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement noted that as individuals inside the kettle were detained, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which accepts requests for comment only via email, did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment.
At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained and several assaulted while covering the protest, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protest here.
At least 17 journalists were arrested or detained in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., the Washington Post reported.
According to the Post, before anyone could exit, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Freelance photojournalist Joey Scott told the Tracker via email that he’d heard police give an order to disperse that night, telling legal observers and members of the press in particular to leave the area, but that he “stayed to do my job and document what was happening.”
Soon, though, he was trapped with protesters in the kettle. “I was shoved by a police officer who was setting up the skirmish line, pushing me back into the kettled group and not allowing me to leave,” he said.
Scott told the Tracker that he and other members of the media identified themselves as press to the police but were told that in order to leave the kettled area officers would need to speak to their supervisor, an effort that, according to Scott, “never happened.”
“We were detained for over two hours as they arrested people one by one,” Scott said. He posted multiple videos on Twitter showing police making arrests. Find all documented press freedom violations, including arrests, from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
“Police used force arresting people and pointed shotguns with bean bag rounds at members of the press and protesters,” he told the Tracker.
After roughly two hours, Scott said the press were told to show their credentials in order to leave the area. “I was told to leave the area and not to return unless I wanted to be arrested,” he said.
After being released from the area, Scott said, members of the press were not able to talk to any police officials and requests for information were ignored.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that read, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement, specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement read. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which could “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement said members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement noted that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which accepts requests for comment only via email, did not respond to the Tracker’s request for further comment.
At least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Independent journalist Jeremy Lindenfeld, whose website says his work has been published in the Chicago Sun-Times, Knock LA and other platforms, told the Tracker that he was among the many journalists trapped in the police kettle while covering the protest that night.
Lindenfeld said when he initially told the police that he was a member of the National Press Photographers Association, he was told that it was too late to leave and was shoved with a baton.
According to Lindenfeld, he and other members of the press caught inside the “kettle” watched as police arrested protesters.
“Press were again harassed by being told to move to one side of the street then 10 minutes later to the other side of the street for no reason at all, but to scare us,” Lindenfeld told the Tracker.
After some time the police began releasing members of the press with press credentials, according to Lindenfeld. ”I was able to show them my membership to the NPPA and they released me from the kettle,” he said.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
At least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted in Los Angeles, California, while documenting demonstrations near Echo Park Lake on March 25, 2021, as reported to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, on social media and in other news outlets.
As crowds demonstrated against the city’s plan to clear a large homeless encampment, Los Angeles Police Department officers declared the gathering at the park’s northern entrance unlawful shortly after 8 p.m., The Washington Post reported.
Before anyone could exit, according to The Post, a supervising officer announced that everyone was under arrest and officers surrounded the group using a police tactic called “kettling.”
Freelance journalist Austin Baffa, who said his videos have been used by CNN, Fox News and the Los Angeles Times, told the Tracker that he was covering the protest that night when police declared the assembly unlawful and gave orders to the protesters and the press to disperse and leave.
“With about a minute left before they started making arrests, the protesters began to move back and leave the area,” he said. “That’s when LAPD kettled them from an alley and declared that everyone was under arrest including press.”
Baffa told the Tracker that over the next hour, the police arrested a number of individuals in the kettle, including some members of the press.
“We all thought that we were going to get arrested and sent to jail,” he said. But eventually police told the media and remaining protesters to move to one side of the street, and members of the press were asked to show their press credentials in order to leave, according to Baffa.
Baffa said that he was released after he showed his press credentials, issued by the National Press Photographers Association, to the police.
The journalist also said that he experienced multiple moments of excessive force by law enforcement, including having less-lethal weapons pointed at his chest and head.
Around the time it was making arrests, LAPD issued a statement on Twitter that reads, in part, “As a reminder, members of the media are also to obey the dispersal orders. Members of the media are to use the designated media viewing area.”
At around 1 a.m. on March 26, the LAPD posted another statement specifically addressing the detainments of members of the press.
“An unlawful assembly was declared by the Incident Commander after the unlawful activity of individuals threatened the safety of the officers and all those present,” the statement reads. According to the statement, police declared the gathering unlawful in part because protesters were shining strobe lights at police, which can “cause significant injury to the eyes.”
The statement says members of the press were directed to identify themselves and relocate to a media area about 350 feet away from the crowd.
The LAPD statement notes that as individual arrests were made of those inside the kettle, police officers “learned that several credentialed and non-credentialed members of the media were part of the group. Members from the Department’s Media Relations Division were summoned to assist in identifying these individuals and they were released at scene without being arrested.”
The Los Angeles Police Department, which only accepts requests for comment via email, did not respond to a request for further comment.
The Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was shoved by a police officer while reporting on a protest near Echo Park Lake in Los Angeles, California on March 24, 2021, Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Protesters gathered near Echo Park Lake to demonstrate against the city’s plan to clear a homeless encampment, blocking Los Angeles Police Department officers from the park, LAist reported.
In the evening protesters were trying to block police from putting up a barrier around the park, Berg told the Tracker.
Berg, who reports for Status Coup, which describes itself as a progressive, independent news outlet, said she was one of about a half dozen journalists between a line of police officers and protesters. She said she asked if she could move through to the other side of the police line, but an officer refused, telling her, “you’ve made your choice.”
Berg, who was filming using a video camera with a light attachment, said that police were objecting to journalists’ use of camera lights, saying that they were trying to blind the officers.
In a video published by Status Coup on YouTube, officers multiple times ask people, including Berg, to turn off their camera lights. Berg can be heard refusing, at times confrontationally.
In one clip multiple people with cameras can be seen near an officer, who says, “Turn off that light please.”
“I’m not turning off my light, dude, it is necessary for my job,” Berg can be heard saying.
In another clip, an officer can be heard saying “Leave the area, ma’am.”
The video then shows the top of another officer’s helmet, abruptly shakes, and Berg can be heard saying “no!”
Berg told the Tracker that’s when an officer hit her camera lens with a baton, then jabbed her in the abdomen with the baton.
Berg told the Tracker she was wearing a Kevlar vest and was not hurt by the baton. The blow to her camera lens cracked the outer casing of the lens, she said. The interior of the lens was not damaged and it is still usable, she said, though she has not gotten the casing repaired.
Berg said she was wearing multiple press credentials on a lanyard around her neck, including one issued by the Los Angeles Press Club and another that identified her as a journalist for Status Coup.
LAPD spokesperson Raul Jovel said the department opened an investigation into the incident after the Tracker reached out to the department for comment.
At a protest in Echo Lake Park the following day, March 25, at least 20 journalists were arrested, detained or assaulted. Find all documented press freedom violations from the Echo Park Lake protests here.
Don Ford, a reporter with California TV station KPIX 5, was robbed at gunpoint while reporting on a story about car break-ins around San Francisco landmark Twin Peaks on March 3, 2021.
Ford had been talking to a local resident when a white luxury sedan with four men inside drove up, according to KPIX. “Three guys jumped out, one had a gun, put it up to my face and said, ‘We’re taking the camera,’” Ford told the station in a later interview. “My whole thought at the moment was: ‘Let’s be calm. Let’s not get this guy excited. He’s got the gun. I don’t.’”
KPIX reported that Ford was not injured in the robbery.
Responding to a Tweet posted later that evening, the journalist wrote: “When someone points a Glock into your face you definitely let the camera go.”
When someone points a Glock into your face you definitely let the camera go
— Don Ford (@DonKPIX) March 4, 2021
Ford told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the station had offered reporters a security guard to accompany them, but on this occasion he didn’t take one: “I was in an upscale neighborhood in the middle of the day. I felt safe. I was wrong,” he said.
The San Francisco Police Department Park Station, which covers the Twin Peaks area, tweeted about the incident the following day, writing: “The camera was recovered. This incident remains an active and ongoing investigation.”
When reached for comment by the Tracker in May, SFPD spokesperson Adam Lobsinger said that one person had been arrested in March in connection with the incident and that “investigators are still searching for additional suspects for this armed robbery.”
“We do not have information to suggest that the victims [of recent attacks] were targeted because of their status as journalists. The information suggests that the victims were targeted because of the high-dollar value of their electronic equipment,” Lobsinger added, referencing a series of incidents targeting TV crews in the city, including one in February and one in April.
According to news reports, Getty photojournalist Spencer Platt was assaulted by a man while covering New York mayoral candidate Andrew Yang’s campaign on Feb. 26, 2021.
The New York Post reported that the alleged assault occurred as Yang and company traveled by ferry from Manhattan to Staten Island. Platt was reportedly on the ferry’s upper deck and talking to a friend over the phone when a man approached him. “I said something like, ‘What’s up?’” Platt told the Post. “He immediately shoves me, I kind of tumble down. I get back up, and he raises a steel bar — a broomstick handle — over his head…. He looks like he’s ready to strike me.”
Platt did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
Yang reportedly noticed the commotion and ran to help the photojournalist. The Staten Island Advance reported that “the [assailant] recognized Yang, who engaged and calmed him, speaking with him briefly and allowing the photographer to get away from the tense situation.”
“I’m really grateful that he became less aggressive upon seeing me,” Yang told the City. “I had no certainty that he would know who I was, I just thought of myself as a bystander trying to defuse the situation”
According to the City, Platt reported the incident to New York Police Department officers on the ferry, who escorted the attacker away.
The photojournalist thanked Yang for the intervention, telling the City: “I’m not trying to plug the Yang campaign, but he did run up and confront the guy and led the charge. And when the guy turned around, I just bolted.”
New York Daily News photojournalist Sam Costanza was assaulted by a crowd of individuals while documenting protests in New York City on Feb. 12, 2021, according to multiple news sources.
Costanza was covering a “Defund the Police” protest in Manhattan’s Times Square at Sixth Avenue and West 54th Street in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. According to the Daily News, at around 9 p.m. a demonstrator was arrested and a “melee” ensued, resulting in two officers being injured and the arrests of multiple more individuals.
Costanza told the outlet he was surrounded by 10 or 15 individuals who began beating him. The New York Post reported that the individuals mistakenly believed that Costanza was a police officer.
According to the Daily News, Costanza believed he suffered a broken nose in the attack. Costanza could not be reached for comment, and the Daily News did not respond to emailed requests.
A San Francisco TV crew was robbed of its video camera while reporting on a story near the city’s I-80 Bay Bridge ramp, the San Francisco Police Department confirmed.
The attack happened around 6:50 p.m. on Feb. 6, 2021, when the news crew was filming in the South of Market neighborhood, according to a report from San Francisco CBS affiliate KPIX. KPIX said the journalists were from a local NBC station, NBC Bay Area. The report said the journalists were stopped by two men who jumped out of a four-door Lexus; the men claimed to be carrying firearms under their clothing and demanded the journalists hand over their camera equipment.
“The victims surrendered the news camera, and the suspects fled the scene in the Lexus, traveling eastbound on I-80. The Lexus was driven by another suspect that remained in the car. The victims were not injured,” a spokesman for San Francisco police said.
Moments later the journalists flagged down San Francisco police officers passing on their motorbikes, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper said the journalists gave police a license plate number and descriptions of the robbers.
San Francisco police confirmed details of the robbery to the Tracker and said they have arrested two men who were found in possession of the camera. Police said they returned the camera, a Panasonic AJ-PX, to the news crew.
NBC Bay Area did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.
There have been two other recent attacks on TV news crews in San Francisco, with attempts to steal camera equipment, one in March and the other in April.
San Francisco police said in a statement that there was nothing to show this attack was connected to an attack on another TV news crew in San Francisco in Golden Gate Park on April 7 : “We do not have information to suggest that the victims were targeted because of their status as journalists. The information suggests that the victims were targeted because of the high-dollar value of their electronic equipment.”
Independent journalist Alissa Azar was hit with crowd-control munitions by federal officers while covering a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in southern Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.
According to news reports, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and caging of migrant children. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.
Azar, who was live-tweeting during the protest, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was standing on the sidewalk across the street from the facility with a row of journalists when federal officers suddenly rushed outside from the ICE building. She said they deployed crowd-control munitions including pepper balls and tear gas for "almost 20 minutes straight" to push the crowd back.
Teargas currently flooding the neighborhood. Almost 20 minutes straight of teargas and munitions. pic.twitter.com/yQItLq5Gar
— Alissa Azar (@AlissaAzar) January 21, 2021
Azar said she left the ICE facility with a reporter with Full Revolution Media, John, who declined to provide his last name due to safety concerns. She heard of a different gathering happening two blocks away, but she said that when they arrived, there were no protesters, only a line of federal officers.
Those officers pushed Azar and the other reporter “back to the ICE building even though [officers at the ICE building were] asking people to leave," Azar told the Tracker. When she got back with the other members of the press, the officers "were just fumigating [us] directly in the face.” Azar said she did not know what the officers were spraying at the crowd.
“What’s scary about that machine is that you can’t look at the spent munitions to see what they’re deploying,” John added. The officers used what John described as a pesticide gun, similar in shape to a leaf blower, to release an unknown gas.
In a tweet posted at 11:46 p.m., Azar wrote that she "lost count of pushes" and her chest hurt, making it hard to breath. She told the Tracker she was wearing visible press markings on her clothes and helmet, as well as a National Press Photographers Association credential. John said he wore a helmet with press markings across the front and back.
"I had a flash bang thrown right at my ear," Azar told the Tracker. "I ended up passing out because I was trapped in the tear gas and it went through my gas mask." She said her friends then took her to Providence Portland Medical Center’s emergency room, where she was diagnosed with a concussion and torn muscle.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The ICE protest was one of many social justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Freelance journalist Michael Elliott said he was struck in the face with a pepper ball fired by federal officers while he covered a protest in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 20, 2021.
According to news reports, an estimated 100 people marched to the ICE facility around 9 p.m. and began chanting to protest the detention and caging of migrant children. At 9:30 p.m., federal officers declared the gathering an unlawful assembly.
Elliott, who says his work has been published by VICE, Oregon Public Broadcasting and Willamette Week, among others, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing a protester from approximately 10 to 15 feet away shortly after 11 p.m. as they attempted to extinguish a tear gas canister using a Super Soaker water gun.
“Federal Officers began firing on the protester with the Super Soaker repeatedly hitting him with pepper balls,” Elliott said. Both he and the protester were ultimately pinned down, he said, as additional officers began firing rounds of tear gas, pepper balls and Skat Shells — a type of munition that produces fire and disperses chemical irritants — toward them. Elliott said one of the pepper ball rounds struck him during this volley.
Immediately, Elliott said, his eyes swelled shut and felt like they were on fire.
“Medics responded after witnessing the impact and noted a substantial cake of white dust on each of my eyelids,” Elliot told the Tracker
Elliott said that while he typically wears a gas mask, he had forgotten it that day as he left to document the protest.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.
The ICE protest was one of many social-justice demonstrations in Portland that have been ongoing since protests first broke out in May 2020 following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Freelance photojournalist Amanda Andrade-Rhoades said she was hit by crowd control munitions fired by law enforcement officers four times while covering riots at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 6, 2021.
Andrade-Rhoades told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was on assignment for The Washington Post covering protesters as they marched toward the west side of the Capitol from the National Mall. The protesters, spurred by a speech by President Donald Trump earlier that day, aimed to disrupt the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
At approximately 2:45 p.m., Andrade-Rhoades said she was photographing as the protest became a riot, with the pro-Trump crowd — some armed with clubs or other weapons — clashing with Capitol Police officers in front of the Capitol.
There's more! pic.twitter.com/RzoPm9InIz
— Amanda Andrade-Rhoades (@Moxie_Manda) January 7, 2021
Andrade-Rhoades said she had covered previous pro-Trump demonstrations where protesters were far less aggressive towards law enforcement. “This time [the rioters] were fighting the officers and breaking apart barricades to hit the police with,” she said. “I had just put on my gas mask because things seemed to be getting very much worse.”
Andrade-Rhoades said her right leg was struck multiple times as she documented Capitol Police and rioters scuffling over a barrier.
“There was a bit of a gap between the police and the rioters, and that’s when I felt myself get hit four times,” Andrade-Rhoades said. She added that she believes she was hit by rubber bullets based on the rounds she saw on the ground around her after she was struck.
After the incident, she posted a photo of her leg showing several large bruises. “Since someone asked,” she wrote on her Twitter account, “I’m pretty sure these were rubber bullets but not 100% sure.”
Since someone asked, I’m pretty sure these were rubber bullets but not 100% sure. The one on the top of my thigh is very swollen, but it looks worse than it feels. That may not be the case tomorrow though ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ pic.twitter.com/kWJerA3pOV
— Amanda Andrade-Rhoades (@Moxie_Manda) January 7, 2021
Andrade-Rhoades said she was wearing a press credential issued by The Post, and the word “PRESS” was written on a piece of painters’ tape stuck to her gas mask. But she noted that when she was hit, law enforcement officers were overwhelmed by the number of violent rioters and were fighting back indiscriminately. She said she retreated from the violence briefly, then returned to photographing as the rioters climbed up scaffolding and stormed the Capitol.
About two days after the incident Andrade-Rhoades said some of her wounds were still swollen and tender to the touch and that she would seek medical attention if the swelling on her hip did not go down soon.
Andrade-Rhoades said that over the course of the afternoon, multiple rioters threatened to kill her, and that she was caught in pepper spray fired indiscriminately by police. The Tracker has documented all election-related incidents here.
Neither the Capitol Police nor the Metropolitan Police Department of D.C. responded to emails requesting comment.
Photojournalist Amanda Andrade-Rhoades was hit with multiple crowd-control munitions while covering the Capitol riots for The Washington Post on Jan 6, 2021.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Donald Trump, election, Election 2020, protest",,, 2021-03-23 20:19:15.632133+00:00,2024-02-28 18:58:52.214441+00:00,"Independent journalist struck with munitions while covering Olympia protest, press pass damaged",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-struck-with-munitions-while-covering-olympia-protest-press-pass-damaged/,2024-02-28 18:58:52.125966+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,press identification: count of 1,Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (Independent),,2020-12-20,False,Olympia,Washington (WA),47.03787,-122.9007,"Independent videographer Melissa Lewis was hit multiple times by crowd-control munitions while covering dueling demonstrations in downtown Olympia, Washington, on Dec. 12, 2020. One of the rounds struck and damaged her press pass.
Lewis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was covering a “Stop the Steal” protest organized by the far-right group Patriot around the state Capitol, where counterprotesters had also gathered.
“There was a much larger ‘Stop the Steal’ presence than anti-fascist presence, so the anti-fascists were beat back by the far-right very quickly,” Lewis said.
The Olympian reported that the two groups began to clash around 12:30 p.m., and soon after Olympia police declared a riot and issued orders to disperse.
Around 2:30 p.m., Olympian reporter Rolf Boone tweeted that police pushed back antifa protesters using flash-bang grenades.
Lewis told the Tracker the Olympia Police Department officers were using small, round flash-bang grenades, some of which contained OC “pepper” capsaicin dust, an irritant also used in some tear gas and pepper sprays.
As the officers pushed the antifascist counterprotesters away from downtown, Lewis said officers blocked the north and south sides of the street, forcing protesters to choose between facing them or entering a private parking garage.
“It was pretty overwhelming,” Lewis said, adding that police were using so many chemical irritants that residue built up in her eyes.
“[It got] to the point that it was gritty and I had to have my eyes washed out,” Lewis said, “and I was afraid that it might scratch my corneas.”
Lewis said she was physically struck twice in the thigh and once in the chest with the plastic flash-bang grenades. The one that struck her in the chest damaged the press pass from the Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union that she was wearing on a lanyard.
I was hit in the chest with a flash bang fragment. It blew my press pass apart. pic.twitter.com/oz4K4CPd82
— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) December 13, 2020
“If they had been the [flash-bang grenade] canisters, I would have been incredibly injured and I’m honestly very glad they were the plastic kind,” Lewis said. She added that the multiple layers she was wearing because of the cold also prevented her from being harmed more extensively.
Lewis said that in addition to the press pass around her neck, she had “PRESS” markings on her backpack. Lewis said she believed police were deliberately targeting her because the incident took place in broad daylight and because of her identifying markings.
The Olympia Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Journalist Ross Mosier was hit with a pepper ball and an unidentified crowd-control spray used by police officers while covering a protest in Omaha, Nebraska, on Nov. 22, 2020.
On the night of Nov. 22, protesters had gathered outside the central headquarters of the Omaha Police Department in downtown Omaha. The demonstrators were protesting against the Nov. 19 killing of a Nebraska man, Kenneth Jones, by a police officer, and demanding that authorities release body cam footage of the incident.
Mosier is a photojournalist working with Kualdom Creations, an independent media company based in Lincoln, Nebraska, that frequently livestreams protests in the state. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that shortly after 9 p.m. that night he got caught in the middle of a clash between police officers and a small group of counterprotesters. At one point, he was able to find a clearing in the crowd and began walking away from the skirmish, he said.
As he approached a street corner, he saw a group of police officers walking toward him, and one of them shot a pepper ball at his foot, Mosier told the Tracker. Mosier said the police officer yelled at him to get out of the way, so he turned to walk in another direction — but then felt what appeared to be tear gas or another irritant hit him in the face.
“I was out of the way and the police officers were behind me,” Mosier told the Tracker. “I was ten feet away in the opposite direction.” In footage of the incident reviewed by the Tracker, a police officer is shown firing a chemical irritant into a crowd and in Mosier’s direction. It’s not clear in the video whether the officer meant to deliberately target Mosier.
Mosier said he was carrying a camera and wearing a press badge but did not have an opportunity to identify himself to police as a member of the press. However, he said that he and the other journalists working with Kualdom Creations have had frequent run-ins with police officers. In July, Kualdom Creations founder Jazari Kual was detained and held for over an hour by Omaha police officers who doubted his professional status. He eventually was released without charge.
An officer with the Public Information Office of the Omaha Police Department told the Tracker in an email that the department was unaware of the incident and had not received any related incident reports or complaints.
Mosier said the irritant gas or spray left him unable to see for roughly half an hour as he tried to flush his eyes, so he left the protest and went home to continue treating his eyes.
A member of @Kualdom team got a pepperball to the foot and maced earlier - despite being a clearly credentialed journalist
— Mel Buer (@coldbrewedtool) November 23, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Wall Street Journal reporter Katie Honan was pushed by New York City police who used bicycles as moving barricades to corral journalists as she covered a Nov. 5, 2020, march in Manhattan, according to video and social media posts.
Protests erupted in New York and other cities on Nov. 3, Election Day in the U.S., and continued for days as results for the presidential election trickled in.
Honan covered the demonstration and said in a Twitter post that New York Police Department officers used bicycles to push her and other reporters back, even though they had department-issued credentials.
In a video accompanying Honan’s tweet, police officers wearing full protective gear can be seen repeatedly lifting bicycles in the air as they advanced toward protesters while shouting “Move back!” almost in unison.
NYPD officers on bikes continue pushing people here including (credentialed) members of the press and @JumaaneWilliams @nycpa pic.twitter.com/eey36K66qr
— katie honan (@katie_honan) November 6, 2020
Demonstrations were held weekly at the Stonewall Inn throughout the summer, but the Nov. 5 march drew a stepped-up police presence because the results of the presidential election were still uncertain. The rallies were intended to call attention to the rights of Black transgender people.
The NYPD didn’t respond to a request for comment. Officers arrested 18 people in the demonstration, Gothamist reported.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was at the scene and also was shoved by officers, according to reports. Williams said in a Twitter post that police were trying to aggressively clear the street to make an arrest.
“Officers then appeared to begin setting up for mass arrests— we intervened to try and de-escalate and prevent that,” Williams tweeted. “Most importantly, there seems to be a lack of leadership when the City needs it the most.”
The NYPD said in a Twitter post around 9 p.m. that night that a suspect attacked a police officer at Broadway and Bond Street in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood, a few blocks away from Union Square. The suspect tried to strangle the officer with a chain, police alleged.
New York Police Department officers use bicycles as a mobile barricade during a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Manhattan on Nov. 5, 2020. At least two journalists were shoved, one of whom was knocked to the ground.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, election, Election 2020, protest",,, 2021-10-14 18:25:43.049089+00:00,2022-08-04 21:39:00.091911+00:00,Police shove 1010 WINS reporter during post-election protest in New York,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-shove-1010-wins-reporter-during-post-election-protest-in-new-york/,2022-08-04 21:39:00.031815+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Roger Stern (WINS-AM),,2020-11-05,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Radio journalist Roger Stern was pushed to the ground by New York City police who used bicycles as moving barricades to corral journalists as they covered a Nov. 5, 2020, march in Manhattan according to the journalist’s social media posts.
Protests erupted in New York and other cities on Nov. 3, Election Day in the U.S., and continued for days as results for the presidential election trickled in.
Stern, a reporter for radio station 1010 WINS, covered the “We Choose Freedom” march in which hundreds gathered at the historic Stonewall Inn in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village and marched north and east through Washington Square Park to Union Square.
Demonstrations were held weekly at the Stonewall throughout the summer, but the Nov. 5 march drew a stepped-up police presence because the results of the presidential election were still uncertain. The rallies were intended to call attention to the rights of Black transgender people.
“NYPD knocks me to the ground as they use bicycles to push protesters further into Union Sq Park after getting them off the street,” Stern posted on his Twitter account on Nov. 5. “Not clear why officers continued pushing peaceful protesters after [the] street was clear.”
https://t.co/M2QOKNmAVc #NYPD knocks me to the ground as they use bicycles to push protesters further into Union Sq Park after getting them off the street. Not clear why officers continued pushing peaceful protesters after street was clear. #1010WINS
— Roger Stern (@NYRogerStern) November 6, 2020
Video journalist Oliya Fedun tweeted and posted video of NYPD officers using bicycles to shove protesters and others, including Stern. “Crowd was first told to get off the roadway and then to get off the sidewalk as police pushed people further into the park,” Fedun wrote on Twitter.
1010 WINS declined to comment or make Stern available for an interview.
The NYPD didn’t respond to a request for comment. Officers arrested 18 people in the demonstration, Gothamist reported.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams was at the scene and also was shoved by officers, according to reports. Williams said in a Twitter post that police were trying to aggressively clear the street to make an arrest.
“Officers then appeared to begin setting up for mass arrests— we intervened to try and de-escalate and prevent that,” Williams tweeted. “Most importantly, there seems to be a lack of leadership when the City needs it the most.”
The NYPD said in a Twitter post around 9 p.m. that night that a suspect attacked a police officer at Broadway and Bond Street in Manhattan’s NoHo neighborhood, a few blocks away from Union Square. The suspect tried to strangle the officer with a chain, police alleged.
Documentary filmmaker Lance Bangs was pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020, according to videos posted on social media.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
The initial round of shoving incidents occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protesters from the area.
Bangs was shoved by an officer while taking footage for Vice News. Video posted at 11:18 p.m on Twitter by Tess Owen, a senior reporter for Vice who was covering the protests with Bangs, captures law enforcement officers yelling “Move!” at protesters. Bangs was “repeatedly jabbed in back by an officer assigned to unified command, who then dragged him to the ground,” Owen tweeted.
In a follow-up tweet, Owen posted a video that she said shows Bangs being “dragged to the ground by an officer with the Unified Command.” The video appears to capture a law enforcement officer pushing as the camera goes askew. People can be heard saying, “You’re dragging him,” and, “He got pushed down.”
Video 2/2 that shows when @lancebangs was dragged to the ground by an officer with the Unified Command pic.twitter.com/ldIV0XvVyc
— Tess Owen (@misstessowen) November 5, 2020
Bangs, Owen and Vice News didn’t return requests for comment from the Tracker.
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.
Independent photojournalist Mason Lake said he was pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
The initial round of shoving incidents reported occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protesters from the area.
Lake was documenting law enforcement officers arresting someone on the ground when he got shoved, he told the Tracker. A video of the incident published on Twitter by freelance journalist Sergio Olmos shows police and state officers pushing multiple protesters and apprehending someone on the ground. The footage captures a state trooper pushing Lake, wearing a helmet marked “press” on the back and sides, several times before finally pushing him to the ground about 25 seconds into the video.
“I was shoved to the ground,” Lake told the Tracker. “My hand and knuckle had a bruise on it, so I think a baton hit me.”
In response to the Tracker’s inquiries on this incident, Stephan Bomar, public affairs director of the Oregon Military Department, which oversees the National Guard, said in a statement: “It appears as though during this chaotic situation that all remained safe and secure.”
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.
Police stand in front of protesters the day after Election Day in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020. Journalist Mason Lake was shoved by police while documenting protests there that day.
",None,None,None,None,False,3:23-cv-01870,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, election, Election 2020, protest",,, 2021-10-14 17:09:27.425086+00:00,2023-07-17 16:21:57.424142+00:00,Journalist documenting Portland protest shoved by law enforcement officers,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-documenting-portland-protest-shoved-by-law-enforcement-officers/,2023-07-17 16:21:57.301545+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Maranie Staab (Freelance),,2020-11-04,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Freelance journalist Maranie Staab said she was pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
The initial round of shoving incidents reportedly occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protesters from the area.
In footage of the incident posted on Twitter, Staab — wearing a black T-shirt and vest marked “press” — can be seen getting shoved about 18 seconds into the video.
“I was filming the same arrest everyone else was,” Staab told the Tracker. “It was an aggressive arrest. I was standing out of the way, not interfering, with a press vest on. But that did not stop officers from turning around and shoving me out of the way.”
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.
A member of a press collective called the 45th Parallel Absurdist Brigade said they were pushed by law enforcement officers while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on Nov. 4, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
There were two main demonstrations in Portland on Nov. 4, with one group calling for every vote cast in the U.S. presidential election to be counted and another expressing a combination of dismay with the electoral system and support for the Black Lives Matter movement. While the protests were organized separately, the two groups converged briefly at one point in the night. After some protesters smashed windows of downtown businesses, law enforcement officers declared the protests a “riot” at around 6:45 p.m.
Several law enforcement agencies were involved in policing the protests, with the Portland Police Bureau, Multnomah County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police all working together after Oregon Gov. Kate Brown ordered a “unified command” to respond to protests. The Oregon National Guard was also activated to help with enforcement.
The initial round of shoving incidents reportedly occurred a little after 8 p.m. near the corner of Southwest Park Ave. and Southwest Washington Street, where a group of journalists got caught up in a push by law enforcement officers to clear protesters from the area.
The member of the 45th Parallel Absurdist Brigade, who asked to remain anonymous, was pushed by a police officer several times upon arrival at the scene. A video posted on Twitter shows law enforcement officers running down the street as protesters back away. A Portland police officer then pushes the journalist several times.
The journalist told the Tracker that there was a crush of people around the arrest. “They were pushing and I couldn’t back up,” the journalist said. “They were shoving us into a wall of bodies.”
About three hours later, the journalist was pushed again by what appears to be a member of the National Guard. A video posted on Twitter a little after 11 p.m. shows members of the National Guard and the police walking down Southwest Taylor Street and shouting, “Keep moving!”
“I was walking on the sidewalk with other media and was filming the line [of officers],” said the journalist. “All of a sudden I heard, ‘You’re going too slow,’ and felt this yank.”
In another video tweeted a few minutes later, the journalist wrote, “Being on the heels of the people in front of me was not fast enough, they begin grabbing me and others by the backpacks and shoving us back through the line.”
In response to the Tracker’s inquiries on this incident, Stephan Bomar, public affairs director of the Oregon Military Department, which oversees the National Guard, said in a statement: “It appears as though during this chaotic situation that all remained safe and secure.”
Since July, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon didn’t include the state police or National Guard when it filed the cases.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The Oregon State Police didn’t respond to a request for comment on the shoving incidents.
New York City police tackled and arrested photojournalist Chae Kihn as she covered protests in the New York borough of Manhattan on Nov. 1, 2020, according to a video of the incident and the general counsel of the National Press Photographers Association.
Kihn was covering a Make America Great Again demonstration near 10th Avenue and W. 24th Street when officers in New York City Police Department uniforms tackled Kihn to the ground, handcuffed and then arrested her. Some of the police action can be seen in a video of the incident that was posted to Twitter, and additional details were confirmed by Mickey Ostrreicher, general counsel of the NPPA, who said he had corresponded with Kihn after her arrest.
In the video, a man in plainclothes who was carrying a camera can be seen taking Kihn’s camera from the journalist as she was being handcuffed. A voice heard in the video tells police “She’s a reporter.”
Kihn was issued a Criminal Appearance Ticket for a violation of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1156A “Pedestrians on roadways” for disregarding sidewalks, according to Ostrreicher. Her court appearance is scheduled for Jan. 29, 2021, the NPPA general counsel told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
After reports of Kihn’s arrest appeared on Twitter, stating that police had arrested a journalist, the NYPD tweeted that “these reports are false” and that “all arrested individuals from today’s protests have been verified to not be NYPD credentialed members of the press.”
“I don’t have an NYPD [credential] but I have other news accreditations and have been working as a photographer for over 20 years,” Kihn told the news site Gothamist. “Just because I don’t have an NYPD badge doesn’t make me less of a journalist,” she added. “Why do the police get to decide who is a journalist and who isn’t?”
Kihn’s work has appeared in the New York Times, the art magazine Bomb, and the New York City news website The Village Sun, according to the online art publication Hyperallergic.
The NYPD did not immediately respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Tomas Murawski, a reporter for The Alamance News, was arrested while covering a march to the polls in Graham, North Carolina, on Oct. 31, 2020.
The “I Am Change” march and rally was organized to encourage people to vote in the 2020 general election and included calls for accountability echoing recent protests against racial injustice. The News & Observer reported that approximately 200 demonstrators marched from the Wayman Chapel AME Church to Court Square, where the Alamance County Courthouse and a Confederate monument are located.
The Washington Post reported that once there, participants took part in a moment of silence for George Floyd, a Black man, who died during an arrest in Minneapolis in May.
Moments later, the Graham Police Department ordered the protesters to disperse and began pepper spraying the crowd. Reports compiled by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker details 11 journalists affected by the chemical irritant.
A police officer also grabbed the camera of News & Observer photojournalist Julia Wall to push her back while she filmed a march, which the Tracker documented here.
The Graham Police Department said in a statement that it issued multiple orders to relocate or disperse before using crowd control measures.
At least 12 individuals were arrested during the march, The News & Observer reported, including Murawski.
Alamance News Publisher Tom Boney Jr. told The News & Observer that Murawski was photographing the scene from the street when he was suddenly placed under arrest.
ALAMANCE NEWS REPORTER ARRESTED AMID THE PROTEST – Tomas Murawski, a staff writer for The Alamance News, was arrested at Saturday's protest. Murawski had taken a photo of the day's first arrest when he himself was arrested. See News & Observer video here: https://t.co/8L2P13QaZD pic.twitter.com/wYnLb8Ofug
— The Alamance News (@AlamanceNews) October 31, 2020
“When I spoke to him on the street, while he was in police custody, he said they ordered them to move out of the roadway,” Boney said. “He was doing so, while still taking photos, but apparently not fast enough for [the police].”
In footage of the arrest published by The News & Observer, four officers can be seen taking Murawski’s camera and camera bag and leading him away from the crowd before placing him in handcuffs. Video from a second angle published by Triad City Beat shows that officers bent his left arm far behind his back and toward his head while leading him away, causing Murawski to double over.
Boney told the Tracker that Murawski was held in police custody for approximately three hours before he was released, and that all of his equipment was returned to him.
According to a Facebook post published by the Alamance News, Murawski was charged with resisting, delaying or obstructing a public officer — a Class 2 misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days of community service, supervised probation or imprisonment.
Murawski has a hearing scheduled for Dec. 14, Boney told the Tracker, but they hope to have the charge dismissed before then.
Boney expressed his concerns over Murawski’s arrest in a statement to the newspaper: “Tomas has been an outstanding reporter and photographer for many years, and has always demonstrated a high standard of professionalism in all his work,” Boney said. “I cannot imagine that he did anything warranting his treatment at the Graham rally.”
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper condemned the police response in a tweet that evening.
“Peaceful demonstrators should be able to have their voices heard and voter intimidation in any form cannot be tolerated,” Cooper wrote.
The Graham Police Department immediately responded to requests for comment.
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include additional comment from Alamance News publisher Tom Boney Jr. and to reflect the reporting of an additional journalist affected by tear gas.
While covering a march to the polls in Graham, North Carolina, Alamance News reporter Tomas Murawski was arrested by a Graham police officer on Oct. 31, 2020.
",arrested and released,Graham Police Department,None,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, election, Election 2020, protest",,, 2021-02-11 21:54:02.678442+00:00,2022-03-09 22:46:07.062510+00:00,Reporter struck with crowd-control munitions amid Dodgers World Series celebrations,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/two-reporters-struck-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-dodgers-world-series-celebrations/,2022-03-09 22:46:07.001357+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Samuel Braslow (Beverly Hills Courier),,2020-10-27,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Two journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions fired by law enforcement while documenting celebrations in Los Angeles, California, after the Dodgers won the World Series on Oct. 27, 2020.
Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. experienced protests against police brutality throughout the summer, and crowds in L.A. had clashed with police earlier in October during celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship win. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow told the Tracker he was covering the downtown celebration with Emily Holshouser, a reporter for California State University Northridge’s student newspaper, The Daily Sundial. Holshouser declined to comment.
The Los Angeles Times reported that celebrations devolved into looting and vandalism in downtown L.A. and the neighborhood of Echo Park.
Holshouser reported on Twitter that one policeman told her there were “not enough” officers to deal with the crowd.
Braslow told the Tracker, “Police were trying to respond to things, but again, they were spread thin.”
On her Twitter feed, Holshouser said that the LAPD issued a dispersal order shortly after 10 p.m., and that a line of officers in riot gear and mounted police were preparing to advance.
Braslow said he and Holshouser were standing with a group of 10-15 people at a street corner when police began advancing toward them. Shortly before midnight, Holshouser posted a clip of nearly a dozen individuals wearing Dodgers-branded apparel posing for Braslow to take a photo.
“These guys made @SamBraslow photograph them and then we got shot at with foam baton rounds,” Holshouser wrote. “I got shot in my hip. I’m fine just mega pissed.”
The Tracker has documented Holshouser’s assault here.
Braslow tweeted an image of a canister for a foam baton round — a crowd-control munition similar to a rubber bullet — at 11:54 p.m., and wrote that he had been hit in the arm by a “less-lethal” round. He told the Tracker he was not certain what type of munition struck him.
“I’m fine, just noting it,” Braslow wrote. “As per usual, camera around my neck, carrying camera bag, and wearing press credentials.”
Whelp, hit by a less lethal in the arm. I’m fine, just noting it. As per usual, camera around my neck, carrying camera bag, and wearing press credentials. pic.twitter.com/sy81UGBe7x
— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) October 28, 2020
Braslow told the Tracker he was also wearing a bulletproof vest and ballistic goggles. Holshouser can be seen in clips from that night wearing a bright yellow vest and press pass.
Braslow said he had some bruising and soreness on his arm, but both he and Holshouser were able to continue reporting that night.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to emailed requests for comment as of press time.
A third journalist, L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, was tackled to the ground and struck with batons while filming the celebrations shortly after midnight. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that assault here.
People celebrate the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series victory in Los Angeles, California, on Oct. 27, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,shot / shot at,,, 2022-02-04 15:55:11.916265+00:00,2022-03-09 22:46:29.366774+00:00,Student journalist struck with crowd control munitions amid Dodgers celebrations,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalist-struck-with-crowd-control-munitions-amid-dodgers-celebrations/,2022-03-09 22:46:29.310971+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Emily Holshouser (The Daily Sundial),,2020-10-27,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Two journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions fired by law enforcement while documenting celebrations in Los Angeles, California, after the Dodgers won the World Series on Oct. 27, 2020.
Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. experienced protests against police brutality throughout the summer, and crowds in L.A. had clashed with police earlier in October during celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship win. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Beverly Hills Courier reporter Samuel Braslow told the Tracker he was covering the downtown celebration with Emily Holshouser, a reporter for California State University Northridge’s student newspaper, The Daily Sundial. Holshouser declined to comment.
The Los Angeles Times reported that celebrations devolved into looting and vandalism in downtown L.A. and the neighborhood of Echo Park.
Holshouser reported on Twitter that one policeman told her there were “not enough” officers to deal with the crowd.
Braslow told the Tracker, “Police were trying to respond to things, but again, they were spread thin.”
On her Twitter feed, Holshouser said that the LAPD issued a dispersal order shortly after 10 p.m., and that a line of officers in riot gear and mounted police were preparing to advance.
Braslow said he and Holshouser were standing with a group of 10-15 people at a street corner when police began advancing toward them. Shortly before midnight, Holshouser posted a clip of nearly a dozen individuals wearing Dodgers-branded apparel posing for Braslow to take a photo.
“These guys made @SamBraslow photograph them and then we got shot at with foam baton rounds,” Holshouser wrote. “I got shot in my hip. I’m fine just mega pissed.”
These guys made @SamBraslow photograph them and then we got shot at with foam baton rounds ✨ I got shot in my hip. I’m fine just mega pissed pic.twitter.com/OPH0By53bU
— Emily Holshouser (@emilyytayylor) October 28, 2020
Braslow tweeted an image of a canister for a foam baton round — a crowd-control munition similar to a rubber bullet — at 11:54 p.m., and wrote that he had been hit in the arm by a “less-lethal” round. He told the Tracker he was not certain what type of munition struck him. The Tracker has documented Braslow’s assault here.
“I’m fine, just noting it,” Braslow wrote. “As per usual, camera around my neck, carrying camera bag, and wearing press credentials.”
Braslow told the Tracker he was also wearing a bulletproof vest and ballistic goggles. Holshouser can be seen in clips from that night wearing a bright yellow vest and press pass.
Braslow said he had some bruising and soreness on his arm, but both he and Holshouser were able to continue reporting that night.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to emailed requests for comment as of press time.
A third journalist, L.A. Taco reporter Lexis-Olivier Ray, was tackled to the ground and struck with batons while filming the celebrations shortly after midnight. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that assault here.
An unidentified man threatened independent photojournalist Maranie Staab with a gun as she covered protests in downtown Portland, Oregon on Oct. 24, 2020.
Staab, whose photos of the protests in Portland have been published by Reuters, The New Yorker and Agence France-Presse, was documenting one of the protests that have been held almost nightly in the city in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
On the night of Oct. 24, Staab was covering demonstrations near the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building, which has increasingly become a focus of the demonstrations, in South Portland.
At around 11 p.m., two men drove by in an unmarked vehicle, said Staab. She was filming at the time because there had been “suspicious vehicles driving around” and “a lot of intimidation happening,” she told the Tracker.
In a video she tweeted, the driver of the car can be seen pointing the gun through his passenger side window and calling her a “bitch.”
“I had my phone up making video and happened to catch him pointing a handgun directly at me,” Staab recalled.
After threatening Staab. the men got out of their car a few hundred feet away and then started to threaten protesters, yelling phrases like “All lives matter!” and “Back the blue!” One of the men said he was military, but there is no evidence to verify that claim, according to Staab. In a different video Staab tweeted, protesters can be heard chanting “Black lives matter!” in response.
The men continued to aggravate protesters until members of the crowd helped de-escalate the situation, she said.
Freelance photojournalist Cole Howard tweeted several photographs of the situation. “The man in the green sweatshirt though not affiliated with the protest de-escalated the situation,” he wrote.
While Staab didn’t file a police report, she said she has been actively working to identify the individuals and is speaking to an attorney to discuss potential legal action.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab said she was hit with crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on the early morning of Oct. 18, 2020, despite a court order banning federal agents from targeting press.
Protests had been held In Portland on almost a nightly basis since late May in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. A temporary restraining order in early July barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents later that month. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
A number of protests in Portland have targeted federal government buildings, and on the evening of Oct. 17, protesters marched on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, in a demonstration that stretched into the early hours of Oct. 18.
Staab told the Tracker that around midnight she was on an adjacent street outside the ICE building, documenting a standoff between protesters and officers in an alleyway. Staab said she was behind the first row of protesters when officers started to rush at the group, shooting pepper balls while running.
“I was shot numerous times. I took one to the knee that put me on the ground,” she said. “They continued to shoot at me while I was on the ground. I was pretty messed up because they got my finger too.”
Staab added that she was clearly marked as press, yet officers continued to fire at her. She posted images of her injuries on Twitter, including welts on her lower back and knees and a splint on her right middle finger. She later told the Tracker that the finger had been severely sprained.
Additionally, her new camera stopped working out of the blue and was in repair for more than two weeks, Staab said. When she received the $700 repair bill, it stated that damage was caused by “corrosion due to paint and chemical substances.”
“It’s whatever they’ve been gassing us with. It’s getting into equipment and literally causing corrosion to camera,” Staab said. “I was not OK there for a little while, but the reality is I’m tough, because I realize that anything that I’m going through is nothing compared to what people have and continue to go through at the hands of the police. I have every intention to continue doing this work.”
The Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents. ICE, which operates under the DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
Two journalists for local TV station WSMV News 4 in Nashville, Tennessee, were attacked by an unidentified man on Oct. 12, 2020, as they were doing field reporting for a feature story.
Caresse Jackman, a consumer news investigative reporter for WSMV, and a cameraman were recording B-roll outside of an elementary school for a segment about two women who made COVID-19 masks for students. During the shoot they were approached by a man they did not know, according to social media posts and Mediaite.
“While shooting video for a feature story-a man from across the street kept looking [at] our crew. We never said a word to him,” Jackman posted on her Twitter account. “I got out of the car to record. He started to approach me. My photog tried to get his attention so he wouldn't come my way. The man then attacked us.”
Jackman posted a video of the man, who was wearing a red shirt and gray shorts, walking toward the videographer, who is not identified in Jackman’s social media posts about the incident.
“I told you,” the man can be heard saying before attacking the videographer and his camera equipment.
Jackman also posted a video that she recorded with her phone, showing the man grappling with the cameraman, tearing at his shirt and punching him once in the face. During the scuffle, the assailant falls to the ground.
“Get back or I am calling the police,” Jackman warns the assailant as he struggles to get to his feet. “You assaulted my partner. We could press charges.”
Jackman and her colleague get in their vehicle without any further physical contact with the assailant.
On Oct. 16, Jackman shared on her Facebook account a message from the colleague who was attacked, in which he wrote that police were able to find the assailant. According to the Facebook post, the attacker said he wanted to apologize to the journalists, and they agreed to meet with him personally with a detective present.
“Contrary to what many concluded, this was not an ‘attack on the media’ or ‘politically motivated,’” the photojournalist wrote after that meeting. “I accepted his apology and decided not to press charges.”
Jackman did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment.
Two journalists for local TV station WSMV News 4 in Nashville, Tennessee, were attacked by an unidentified man on Oct. 12, 2020, as they were doing field reporting for a feature story.
Caresse Jackman, a consumer news investigative reporter for WSMV, and a cameraman were recording B-roll outside of an elementary school for a segment about two women who made COVID-19 masks for students. During the shoot they were approached by a man they did not know, according to social media posts and Mediaite.
“While shooting video for a feature story-a man from across the street kept looking [at] our crew. We never said a word to him,” Jackman posted on her Twitter account. “I got out of the car to record. He started to approach me. My photog tried to get his attention so he wouldn't come my way. The man then attacked us.”
Jackman posted a video of the man, who was wearing a red shirt and gray shorts, walking toward the videographer, who is not identified in Jackman’s social media posts about the incident.
“I told you,” the man can be heard saying before attacking the videographer and his camera equipment.
Jackman also posted a video that she recorded with her phone, showing the man grappling with the cameraman, tearing at his shirt and punching him once in the face. During the scuffle, the assailant falls to the ground.
“Get back or I am calling the police,” Jackman warns the assailant as he struggles to get to his feet. “You assaulted my partner. We could press charges.”
Jackman and her colleague get in their vehicle without any further physical contact with the assailant.
On Oct. 16, Jackman shared on her Facebook account a message from the colleague who was attacked, in which he wrote that police were able to find the assailant. According to the Facebook post, the attacker said he wanted to apologize to the journalists, and they agreed to meet with him personally with a detective present.
“Contrary to what many concluded, this was not an ‘attack on the media’ or ‘politically motivated,’” the photojournalist wrote after that meeting. “I accepted his apology and decided not to press charges.”
Jackman did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s requests for comment.
Samuel Braslow, a journalist for the Beverly Hills Courier, said Los Angeles Police Department officers hit him with crowd-control munition amid fanfare in downtown Los Angeles, California, on the night of Oct. 11, 2020.
Earlier in the evening, the Los Angeles Lakers had won the NBA championship, drawing thousands of celebrants outside the Staples Center. According to the Los Angeles Times, the festivities “quickly soured,” though, and “the scene devolved into another roving standoff between police in riot gear and throngs of people on the street.” Throughout the summer, Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. saw similar scenes, as thousands took to the streets to protest police brutality. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Braslow told the Tracker he arrived in downtown LA after LAPD officers had already started forming a skirmish line with officers in riot gear on foot and mounted police behind them.
“Even as people were complying and moving backward, LAPD officers continued firing less-lethal munitions at the crowd,” Braslow said.
At 9:43 p.m. on Oct. 11, Braslow posted footage of the advancing police line. Approximately 4 seconds into the clip, an officer on the left side of the frame appears to notice Braslow, aims his crowd-control firearm at the journalist and fires.
“Police aimed at me. Less lethal round literally hits my phone out of my hands (credit to apple, it kept recording),” Braslow wrote on Twitter.
Police aimed at me. Less lethal round literally hits my phone out of my hands (credit to apple, it kept recording) pic.twitter.com/TguhhlZXs7
— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) October 12, 2020
Braslow told the Tracker he was holding his phone in front of the face when it was shot out of his hands, and said that it was clear officers were not following directives to aim crowd-control munitions at the ground or waist-level.
Braslow said he was wearing a Courier press badge and was carrying a large, professional camera around his neck. He said he was not injured and his phone was not damaged from the incident. He was able to continue posting live reports and footage until about 1:20 a.m.
“I was less surprised than I maybe should have been,” Braslow said, “and I just took it in stride.”
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment.
Los Angeles Police Department officers line up in front of the Staples Center as Lakers fans celebrate their team winning the 2020 NBA Championship on Oct. 11, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,shot / shot at,,, 2021-11-02 16:02:07.281556+00:00,2024-02-29 19:32:02.213901+00:00,Photojournalist threatened with weapon while covering Lakers championship celebrations,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-threatened-with-weapon-while-covering-lakers-championship-celebrations/,2024-02-29 19:32:02.134958+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Christian Monterrosa (The Associated Press),,2020-10-11,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Freelance photojournalist Christian Monterrosa, who was on assignment for The Associated Press, posted on social media that Los Angeles Police Department officers pointed a firearm at him in downtown Los Angeles, California, on the night of Oct. 11, 2020.
Earlier in the evening, the Los Angeles Lakers had won the NBA championship, drawing thousands of celebrants outside the Staples Center. According to the Los Angeles Times, the festivities “quickly soured,” though, and “the scene devolved into another roving standoff between police in riot gear and throngs of people on the street.”
Throughout the summer, Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. saw similar scenes, as thousands took to the streets to protest police brutality. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Monterrosa, who did not respond to requests for comment, captioned a photo posted to Instagram, “An LAPD officer points his firearm at Laker fans on the street including a TV news cameraman, and myself, who were documenting it.”
Some more here after the night devolved into a police vs. crowd situation.
— Christian Monterrosa (@chrismatography) October 12, 2020
For @AP pic.twitter.com/SEobeQPnME
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
Los Angeles Police Department officers threatened an unidentified videojournalist with a firearm amid fanfare in downtown Los Angeles, California, on the night of Oct. 11, 2020, according to social media posts.
Earlier in the evening, the Los Angeles Lakers had won the NBA championship, drawing thousands of celebrants outside the Staples Center. According to the Los Angeles Times, the festivities “quickly soured,” though, and “the scene devolved into another roving standoff between police in riot gear and throngs of people on the street.”
Throughout the summer, Los Angeles and cities across the U.S. saw similar scenes, as thousands took to the streets to protest police brutality. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Photographer Ricardo Salvador Miranda posted footage on Instagram the following day that captured the scene, which he captioned, “LAPD pulls gun on Lakers fans and the Press.”
In the clip, the LAPD officer can be seen jumping out of a cruiser with his pistol drawn, pointing behind the vehicle as multiple objects appear to be thrown in his direction.
The officer quickly gets back into the vehicle just as an object — which appears to be a beer bottle — strikes the passenger side of the cruiser and shatters. The officer once again jumps out of the vehicle with his firearm drawn, aiming at the crowd, when he notices the broadcast cameraman.
The officer, lowering his weapon, approaches the videojournalist and appears to indicate that he should move back or out of the area as other projectiles crash around them. The officer then returns to the vehicle.
Freelance photojournalist Christian Monterrosa, who was on assignment for The Associated Press, also posted the encounter on social media. Monterrosa, who did not respond to requests for comment, captioned a photo on Instagram, “An LAPD officer points his firearm at Laker fans on the street including a TV news cameraman, and myself, who were documenting it.”
Some more here after the night devolved into a police vs. crowd situation.
— Christian Monterrosa (@chrismatography) October 12, 2020
For @AP pic.twitter.com/SEobeQPnME
The Tracker was unable to identify the videojournalist.
LAPD did not respond to a request for comment as of press time.
Independent photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland’s hearing was damaged when a federal officer threw a flash-bang grenade at him while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon on Oct. 6, 2020.
Lewis-Rolland, whose work has been published by Reuters, Agence France-Presse and other news outlets, was covering one of the many Portland Black Lives Matter protests that had been ongoing for months following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. A temporary restraining order in early July, barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, was expanded to include federal agents later that month. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit.
On the evening of Oct. 6, protesters marched to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement building on South Macadam Avenue in south Portland, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting. Federal Protective Service officers, who were guarding the building, declared an unlawful assembly, according to a statement from the Portland Police Bureau. When a protester threw a smoke bomb onto the roof of the building, agents began using flash bang grenades and tear gas to disperse demonstrators, OPB reported.
Lewis-Rolland told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was standing in front of the ICE building around 11 p.m. when the federal officers opened the door and rolled a flash-bang grenade toward him.
In one video posted on Twitter by photographer Clementson Supriyadi, Lewis-Rolland can be seen in a fluorescent yellow vest. He moves to the side of a walkway leading to the entrance of the building as law enforcement officers emerge through the door. One agent throws a metal canister toward Lewis-Rolland, who does not appear to be standing near any protesters or other people. The flash-bang grenade explodes a few feet from the photographer, spewing white fog.
Lewis-Rolland told the Tracker the agents gave no warning.
“I couldn't even react,” he said. “It happened so fast.”
In another video from a different angle, posted on Twitter by Garrison Davis at 10:57 p.m., Lewis-Rolland can be seen in the very first seconds, jumping as the device explodes. He staggers a few steps, before falling to the ground.
Federal Agents have stormed out of the ICE building. Stun Grenades and Teargas being used. #blacklivesmatter #ICE #AbolishICE #portland #PortlandProtests pic.twitter.com/kofM8IUQaj
— Garrison Davis (@hungrybowtie) October 7, 2020
Lewis-Rolland told the Tracker that after the explosion, he was dizzy for the rest of the night. He said he sought medical help for the damage to his hearing in his left ear and was treated with prednisone.
They prescribed me prednisone. Hoping it gets better 🤞
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) October 10, 2020
Lewis said he didn’t return to news coverage for a month after the incident. Nearly six months later, he said he still has very loud tinnitus in his left ear because of the blast, and loud noises cause his hearing to crackle.
In addition to the bright yellow vest, Lewis-Rolland told the Tracker he was wearing a black helmet marked “PRESS” and carrying two large cameras.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent videographer Scott Keeler wrote on social media that he was hit with a chemical irritant sprayed by a police officer while covering a Seattle protest on Oct. 3, 2020.
The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests held in Seattle since late May in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Oct. 3 protest began at night around 7 p.m. in Cal Anderson Park, in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. Demonstrators marched on Broadway, with some protesters vandalizing buildings with graffiti. In response, Seattle Police officers used pepper spray and arrested 16 people, according to the Seattle Times.
At 9:27 p.m., Keeler tweeted a photo of a camera covered in a substance, writing that he and Lewis had taken “a direct hit of mace while filming an arrest.”
.@PhrenologyPhun and I just took a direct hit of mace while filming an arrest pic.twitter.com/4MV09FT35c
— Soundtrack to the End (@_WhatRiot) October 4, 2020
Keeler, who did not respond to a request for comment, posted a video of the incident on Twitter about an hour later, showing Seattle police in riot gear arresting a number of people on East Denny Way, on the north end of Cal Anderson Park. About 10 seconds in, a police officer is seen firing pepper spray at a group of people, and the spray hits Keeler’s phone.
The Seattle Police Department didn’t respond to a request for comment.
WCCO photojournalist Dymanh Chhoun was assaulted ahead of a rally held by President Donald Trump on Sept. 30, 2020, following a confrontation between a Trump supporter and supporters of Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
The outlet reported that Chhoun was on assignment to get reactions in advance of the president’s rally in Duluth, Minnesota. While gathering footage, Chhoun noticed a Trump supporter confronting a group of counterprotesters.
According to the Star Tribune, the Trump supporter — identified as 70-year-old Duane Waldriff — said he was driving near the airport a few hours before the president was scheduled to arrive when a group of Biden supporters started pushing his truck, which had multiple pro-Trump stickers and signs visible.
Waldriff said he got out of his vehicle to confront the protesters and tell them to stop hitting the truck.
In the cellphone footage captured by Chhoun, Waldriff can be heard telling the protesters, “You guys want to be peaceful? Be peaceful. You want to be violent? Come to me.”
He then seems to notice Chhoun and punches at him, knocking the phone out of Chhoun’s hands. Chhoun was not injured and his phone was undamaged.
“I was scared,” Chhoun told the Tribune. “I’m used to people verbally attacking me but not physically. I was just doing my job.”
Chhoun was caught in tear gas at the end of May while covering a protest against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Waldriff told the Tribune that he did not realize until after the altercation that Chhoun was a journalist. Chhoun said he was wearing a press badge and a WCCO jacket, according to the Tribune.
Multiple journalists at WCCO spoke out online condemning the attack and in support of Chhoun and his professionalism.
I am outraged by this violent attack on my @wcco colleague,friend &photojournalist @Dymanh in Duluth- I am so thankful he was not hurt. The venom must stop, our photojournalists are our truest storytellers &this video tells an important,sad & terrifying one. Thx Dymanh pic.twitter.com/9caREau3HS
— esme murphy (@esmemurphy) October 1, 2020
The Duluth News Tribune reported that Chhoun filed a police report and planned to press charges. Waldriff has since been issued a citation for misdemeanor assault and disorderly conduct. If convicted, he faces up to 90 days in jail, fines totaling $1,000 or both.
While documenting reactions in advance of a rally held by President Donald Trump in Duluth, Minnesota, WCCO photojournalist Dymanh Chhoun filmed a Trump supporter striking at him and knocking his phone to the ground.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,Donald Trump rally,,, 2021-03-03 16:42:06.786864+00:00,2023-11-01 14:51:31.282443+00:00,"Journalist hit with batons, shoved to the ground by law enforcement officers while covering a Portland protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-with-batons-and-shoved-to-the-ground-by-law-enforcement-officers-while-she-was-covering-a-portland-protest/,2023-11-01 14:51:31.165547+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,cellphone: count of 1,Alissa Azar (Freelance),,2020-09-27,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent journalist Alissa Azar was shoved and hit with batons by law enforcement officers while she was covering a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, during the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2020.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
On the night of Sept. 26, several hundred protesters gathered in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center for a demonstration that lasted into the early morning hours, according to local news station KGW8. After an unlawful assembly was declared around 11:30 p.m., law enforcement officers “began bull-rushing and pushing protesters, press, and legal observers,” the article said.
A little after midnight, Azar was pushed around, hit with batons and shoved to the ground by officers while covering the demonstration, she told the Tracker.
“Before we knew it, a few riot vans came in and arrested three people just for standing in the street,” she said, noting that officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office were working together under a unified command.
“They pushed us SO far. And by pushed I mean literally sprinting as fast as they could after us...I saw countless people get pushed and hit,” Azar tweeted at 12:25 a.m.
In a follow-up tweet, she wrote, “I got told to move and to ‘use my brain’ and ‘self accountability’ for saying I’m moving. I then got pushed to the ground, picked up by my backpack strap & pushed again then told to ‘stop flopping around.’ Wrist is already bruising and swelling & hurt my ankle.”
I got told to move and to “use my brain” and “self accountability” for saying I’m moving. I then got pushed to the ground, picked up by my backpack strap & pushed again then told to “stop flopping around.” Wrist is already bruising and swelling & hurt my ankle 😎
— Alissa Azar (@AlissaAzar) September 27, 2020
Azar sustained a minor concussion, numerous bruises, a thumb injury that required medical attention and a cracked phone screen, she said.
She had been wearing a vest and helmet, both labeled with press markings, she said, as well as a National Press Photographers Association press pass.
In a joint statement on that day’s demonstrations, MCSO Sheriff Mike Reese and OSP Superintendent Travis Hampton praised officers for maintaining safety and order while allowing people to exercise their rights.
When reached by email about this incident, the PPB declined to comment, citing pending litigation. MCSO didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
OSP spokesperson Timothy Fox told the Tracker that “if someone feels that excessive or improper force was used against them,” they may report it to the Office of Professional Standards for investigation.
Independent journalist Rodrigo Melgarejo was shoved by Portland police while covering a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, during the early morning hours of Sept. 27, 2020.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
On the night of Sept. 26, several hundred protesters gathered in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center for a demonstration that lasted into the early morning hours, according to local news station KGW8. After an unlawful assembly was declared around 11:30 p.m., law enforcement officers “began bull-rushing and pushing protesters, press, and legal observers,” the article said.
“Police push tonight was one of the most brutal show of force by the Portland Police,” Melgarejo tweeted at 3:57 a.m. “Pushing and shoving press members on the ground.”
Police push tonight was one of the most brutal show of force by the Portland Police. Pushing and shoving press members on the ground. in this video, Brent Taylor is seen making an arrest in the midst of the chaos. @NLG_Portland @uspresstracker pic.twitter.com/gT7ioazVI4
— Rodrigo Melgarejo (@Mestizo43) September 27, 2020
In the video, officers in riot gear can be seen aggressively pushing people and repeatedly shouting, “Move!” Melgarejo gets shoved about seven seconds into the video, though it's unclear if the officer directly hits the camera with a baton or uses the baton to push someone into the camera. About 10 seconds later, an officer can be seen grabbing someone from behind and slamming them to the ground.
Melgarejo was wearing a ballistic vest and black helmet, both marked as “press,” he told the Tracker.
In a different video, Melgarejo is walking alongside other members of the press when one officer yells at a person wearing a large “press” sign on their chest, "Do you know how many projectiles we take from people wearing press?” the officer asks. “Police your own.”
When reached by email about this incident, the Portland Police Bureau declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Independent photojournalist John Rudoff was shoved to the ground by police while he was photographing an arrest during a protest in Portland, Oregon, late on Sept. 26, 2020.
Rudoff, whose work has been published in The New York Times, The Nation and Rolling Stone, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he hit the ground “so hard that my teeth hurt” and that his camera lens was significantly damaged.
Rudoff was documenting one of the many protests that had been ongoing for months in downtown Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists. Rudoff is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit.
Earlier in the day on Sept. 26, a rally organized by the Proud Boys far-right extremist group drew some 800 people to Portland, while at least 1,000 counterprotesters gathered nearby, The Oregonian reported. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown had declared a state of emergency ahead of the rally, putting officers from the Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police and the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office under a unified command. After those protests ended, left-leaning demonstrators gathered downtown later that night, according to The Oregonian, and police declared an “unlawful assembly” around 11:40 p.m.
Rudoff told the Tracker that he was following a crowd of protesters around 11:45 p.m. when several police officers ran up the sidewalk and tackled a demonstrator. Rudoff crossed the street and ran to document the arrest, along with several other journalists and photographers.
When Rudoff started taking photographs, standing at least 10 feet back, two officers put their hands on him and pushed him backwards, he said. He didn’t have time to put a foot back to catch his balance, and he landed on his right hip and the right side of his back. The right side of his head got slammed to the ground, he said.
“All the teeth in my mouth hurt from the impact of my helmet on the sidewalk,” he said.
Video posted on Twitter at midnight by Mike Baker of The New York Times shows officers running alongside a wall and tackling an individual to the ground. About 20 seconds into the video, Rudoff, wearing a bright yellow backpack, can be seen standing several yards back from the arrest, holding a camera up to take a photograph. Then two officers approach him, put their hands on his shoulder, and push him to the ground.
Aggressive arrests, baton jabbing and knocking a photographer to the ground. pic.twitter.com/OXdGhfOs3k
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) September 27, 2020
Rudoff said he was protected from the impact because he was wearing a helmet and body armor. He continued to work for about 20 more minutes before going home. He didn’t require any medical attention, he said, but was sore for the next few days.
His 24-70mm Canon lens, the shorter of two lenses he had with him that night, was significantly damaged and had to be repaired, he said.
Rudoff said he believes PPB officers pushed him, but that it’s possible it was a state trooper.
He doesn’t know whether he was targeted because he was a member of the press, saying it’s possible he was pushed because he was a civilian approaching a police action. However, he believes it’s more likely he was shoved because he was a clearly marked journalist photographing a violent arrest. “That would be the argument, that I was targeted because I was able to record what they were doing,” he said.
Rudoff noted that he had “press” written on his helmet and body armor, press identification around his neck, and professional-grade cameras.
Attorneys involved with the ACLU suit are aware of the incident on Sept. 26, he said.
The ACLU called for the appointment of a special prosecutor to investigate police treatment of journalists that night, The Oregonian reported. Matt Borden, a lawyer on the ACLU case, was quoted as saying the incident involving Rudoff “violates basic human decency in addition to the Court’s injunction.”
Brown tweeted on Sept. 27 that she asked the individual law enforcement agencies to investigate any allegations about the use of force against members of the press or public. In a statement on behalf of the three agencies, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said it was aware that video had been taken of several incidents involving force, which would be reviewed to determine whether any officers violated law enforcement policies, according to The Oregonian.
A spokesperson for the PPB declined to comment, citing ongoing litigation. A spokesperson for the OSP said they weren’t aware of the incidents.
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 police violence and the arrest of a prominent activist marched on the home of Pittsburgh mayor Bill Peduto in the city’s Point Breeze neighborhood.
Thompson told the Tracker in an interview that as protesters were leaving Peduto’s home, he ran ahead to get better shots of them. As he did, he said, a resident of the neighborhood about a block down from the mayor’s residence began to spray him with a hose. Speaking to the Tracker, Thompson said the man then threw a handful of small rocks at him before charging him and punching his hand. Thompson said the assault pushed his camera into his face but left him uninjured.
Following that altercation, Thompson said the man retreated into his residence before reemerging on his balcony, where he threatened to shoot Thompson and others in the crowd before briefly producing what appeared to be a handgun in a holster.
Covering a protest tonight in Pittsburgh when a older man first punched me and threw a hand full of rocks at me. Then, continued to his porch and said he’ll shoot me if I don’t get off his property. Subsequently pulls a handgun on me and points it at me. This world in messed up. pic.twitter.com/Jb25iSk4jz
— Ed Thompson (@ThompsonFoto12) September 23, 2020
In video Thompson recorded of the incident, the man can be seen standing on a balcony that had signs hanging from it reading “VOTE TRUMP ALLRED,” “NO DEM COMIE CHAOS” and “ALL USA LIVES MATTER.” Apparently speaking to Thompson, the man says, “Get off my property.” Thompson informs him he is on the sidewalk. Seconds later, the man says, “Get off my grass right now. I’ll shoot you.”
“He’s got a gun! He’s got a handgun!” Thompson can be heard shouting as he backs up.
A video shot by photographer and videographer Dan Lampmann showed the man flash what appears to be a holstered weapon more clearly.
Here is some video of the man pulling out a hand gun briefly after he says he’s going to shoot me. Video via @danlampmann. Thank you for having my back tonight. You could have been injured too if he had carried out his threats https://t.co/F3QIJqJcLr
— Ed Thompson (@ThompsonFoto12) September 23, 2020
The incident had Thompson scared for the safety of himself and those around him, he told the Tracker.
“If he would have shot, he probably would have hit me,” he said. “I was 20 feet away. Even if he was a bad shot, if he pulled off five or six rounds he probably would have got me. But I was worried about the crowd, too.”
While police officers were nearby, Thompson described their response as “nonchalant” and “real chill.”
Thompson said that the man involved in the incidents had previously harassed protesters on other marches to the mayor’s residence. He said the man, who is white, had at times turned to racial taunts.
A video recorded by independent journalist Christian Snyder and uploaded to Twitter at 9:36 p.m. shows the man standing on the balcony shouting, “I’ll shoot you, you fucking cocksuckers!”
Another video shot by Snyder shows the man being confronted by police while holding a hose and yelling at protesters. He eventually drops the hose and walks away while shouting at the protesters, “If it was up to me, you’d all be dead!”
Thompson is unsure whether he was targeted for being press. Part of him thinks that he was just the closest of the crowd to the man. But given the pro-Donald Trump signs on the man’s balcony, he said he worries that the president’s anti-media rhetoric played a role.
“Who knows, maybe it was because I had a camera. I had three cameras and a badge saying I was a journalist. I can’t say either. You can probably assume both,” he said.
Speaking to WTAE-TV the following day, the man, whom the station identified, claimed he “slipped” and hit Thompson’s camera and did not punch him. A video later posted by Thompson that he says was filmed by Snyder showed the man approaching the photographer and appearing to reach up toward him before Thompson stumbles backward.
In the interview with WTAE-TV, the man said he had a microphone in his hand, not a gun, but did say he had threatened to shoot protesters to “protect myself.” He said he may have “accidentally squirted” protesters with his hose or “maybe the hose had a mind of its own.” He added: “They needed a bath anyway.” During the interview, he wore a “Make America Great Again” hat.
Thompson said police took his information down at the scene and said they would be in touch with him regarding the incident. He said at the time they noted that he had video of the incident.
But “to the date, I haven’t been called by a detective or a police officer yet regarding that case,” he told the Tracker in mid-December, nearly three months after the march.
On Sept. 23, the Pittsburgh Current, where Thompson is a contributing photojournalist, reported that police told the paper that they were “aware of the incident and are investigating.”
Responding to a request for comment from the Tracker, Cara Cruz, a spokesperson for Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Safety said the incident had been investigated by detectives but “after a review of available video, it was determined that no charges would be filed.”
According to a claim filed against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, deputies “pushed, struck and threatened” independent photojournalist Nash Baker while he was covering officers making an arrest on the evening of Sept. 12, 2020.
Baker, who works for the video wire service OnScene.TV, filed the claim for damages in January 2021 alleging the assault. When reached by the Tracker on April 28, 2021, Baker declined to comment, citing an upcoming press conference.
According to the complaint, which was reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Baker was covering the scene outside the St. Francis Medical Center, where two deputies had been taken after being shot in their patrol car, according to NPR, and where a crowd of demonstrators had gathered.
According to the claim, at approximately 10:30 p.m., Baker captured footage of “deputies using excessive force and threatening the use of deadly force” against a group of retreating protesters. When he attempted to document the arrest of one protester he was prevented from doing so and assaulted by a deputy: “In order to prevent Mr. Baker from making a photographic record of the arrest, a deputy pushed, struck and threatened Mr. Baker,” the complaint reads. “The deputy can be heard stating, ‘Get out of here or I’ll break your f--king camera.’”
In footage Baker captured of the incident, the photojournalist can be heard repeatedly identifying himself as press as a deputy yells at him to leave the area and shoves him backward.
At a press conference the day after the incident, he stated: “I feel that [the sheriff administration] should take notice that when we’re out there, when we’re filming these events, that all of us are safe.”
Moments after he was pushed down the street, Baker’s footage captured a second journalist, Josie Huang, being tackled and arrested, a case the Tracker has documented here. Huang, who is a reporter for National Public Radio member station KPCC and local news website LAist, shared footage captured by Baker on Twitter the following day.
Thank you https://t.co/5ajOiRV1m6 for what is the clearest footage of my arrest by @LASDHQ.
— Josie Huang (@josie_huang) September 14, 2020
It’s how I remember it — like being tossed around in the ocean and then slammed into rock pic.twitter.com/G3rfCR1NiI
Baker’s claim for damages, which is the precursor to filing a lawsuit, asks for at least $500,000 in restitution.
“The attack on Mr. Baker was unprovoked,” the complaint states. “The actions of the LASD served to stifle press coverage, to suppress and chill free speech, and to prevent accurate dissemination of news reports regarding the LASD’s treatment of citizens engaged in constitutionally protected, non-violent protest.”
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment as of press time.
Freelance journalist and National Press Photographers Association member Julianna Lacoste was struck with crowd-control munitions, assaulted by law enforcement and arrested while documenting protests in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 8, 2020.
Lacoste told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an email that at around 7:30 p.m. she’d arrived at the intersection of Normandie Avenue and West Imperial Highway, where protesters had gathered outside the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department following the fatal shooting of Dijon Kizzee, a Black man, by deputies on Aug. 31.
According to Lacoste, at approximately 8:30 p.m., the deputies declared the protest unlawful and ordered the crowd to disperse. Shortly thereafter, she said, they began to advance on the crowd and fire crowd-control munitions.
“I began to run down Normandie trying to escape the clouds of tear gas, rubber/foam bullets, pepper balls, stinger grenades and sand bags being fired,” Lacoste said. “I kept running, but it seemed like I couldn’t get away from the action.”
Lacoste said that as things began to calm down, about an hour later, she saw some people walking to their cars and that no deputies were in sight. Lacoste said she continued to move and had just passed a group of individuals when she felt a crowd-control munition strike her hand and knock her phone away.
“Then my head was shot, but I was luckily wearing a helmet,” she said. “Then my shoulder was shot as well. At that point I was only looking to find shelter because I was simply getting pelted with shots.”
Lacoste said she was eventually able to crouch behind a nearby car, but almost immediately after hunching down, two deputies appeared beside her. Lacoste said one aimed a weapon at her as the other forced her onto her stomach.
“I said, ‘I’m not resisting. I’m press. OK, OK, I’m not resisting,’” Lacoste recounted. She said she had a press badge in her bag and her helmet featured a “PRESS” label.
Lacoste said that the camera she was wearing around her neck broke from the weight of the deputies during the course of the arrest. “Their knee was on my back and neck as they wrestled for the cuffs,” she said.
Lacoste said the deputies secured the handcuffs incredibly tight, which worsened the pain in her injured hand.
She said they refused to pick up her cellphone from where it had fallen and escorted her to an LASD vehicle, where she waited as others were loaded in “like sardines.” The detainees were taken to a van and then transported to the Imperial Sheriff’s station, Lacoste said. There, she said, deputies used a knife to cut the straps of both her backpack and camera in order to pull them off without removing her handcuffs.
Lacoste also alleged that at the station some of the officers used personal cellphones to photograph her and other detainees. Student journalist Pablo Unzueta, who was also arrested that evening, made similar allegations. The Tracker has published his case here.
“The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department values the media and highly respects the freedom of the press,” Deputy Trina Schrader, a spokesperson for the department, told the Tracker in an emailed statement when asked for comment on Unzueta’s arrest. Schrader also noted that an investigation had been launched into the events that day. The department did not respond to an emailed request for comment about Lacoste’s arrest as of press time.
Lacoste said she was detained for more than an hour before being transported to a hospital for treatment. At approximately 6 a.m. the following day, she said, she was transported back to the sheriff’s station.
Lacoste said that at around 10 a.m. she was finally able to speak with her lawyer, who informed her that her bail had been posted and she should be released within two hours. According to Lacoste’s bail paperwork, which was reviewed by the Tracker, she posted a $5,000 bond.
Before her release, Lacoste said, she was transferred to the women’s jail and asked about her injuries. Upon detailing them, the officer processing Lacoste rejected her paperwork and instructed deputies to transport her back to the hospital so her injuries could be fully documented. According to Lacoste, deputies did not transport her back to the hospital, however, and placed her in a cell at the sheriff’s station.
“After hours of begging for a phone that worked they finally let me use the phone,” Lacoste said. “At that point I called my boyfriend and he informed me that I was going to get out soon and they had been making hundreds of calls on my behalf. During that phone call is when I got released.”
Lacoste was charged with misdemeanor failure to disperse and ordered to appear in court on Jan. 6, 2021. Lacoste hasn’t responded to the Tracker’s latest requests for comment, and the status of her case remains unknown.
Freelance photojournalist Julianna Lacoste photographed the multiple injuries she sustained when she was assaulted, arrested and her equipment damaged and seized by sheriff’s deputies while documenting a protest in Los Angeles on Sept. 8, 2020.
",arrested and released,Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,2020-09-09,None,True,2:23-cv-04917,['ONGOING'],Civil,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2023-09-25 16:44:59.569652+00:00,2023-10-02 14:15:14.135230+00:00,"Livestreamer arrested, assaulted during LA protest; phone searched",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/livestreamer-arrested-assaulted-during-la-protest-phone-searched/,2023-10-02 14:15:13.923580+00:00,rioting: failure to disperse (charges dropped as of 2020-09-11),LegalOrder object (241),,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Damage, Equipment Search or Seizure, Subpoena/Legal Order",,"bicycle: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1, protective equipment: count of 1",cellphone: count of 1,Hugo Padilla (Independent),,2020-09-08,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Livestreamer Hugo Padilla was allegedly struck with crowd-control munitions and assaulted by law enforcement before being arrested while documenting protests in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 8, 2020. Deputies later obtained a search warrant for one of his cellphones.
Padilla subsequently joined as a plaintiff in a lawsuit with three others in October 2020 against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles County and then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva, alleging violations of his Fourth, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
Colleen Flynn, an attorney representing Padilla, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Padilla attended the protest to broadcast it on his YouTube channel, Alien Alphabet, while providing audio narration.
Protesters had gathered outside the South Los Angeles Sheriff's Station following the Aug. 31 fatal shooting of Dijon Kizzee, a Black man, by deputies in a nearby neighborhood.
Flynn said that Padilla began filming the demonstration from the parking lot of a nearby 7-Eleven, and confirmed to the Tracker that throughout the protest Padilla was wearing a black bicycle helmet with “PRESS” written in silver lettering on multiple sides.
Approximately an hour into the protest, deputies declared the protest unlawful and ordered the crowd to disperse. According to the lawsuit, officers began to advance on the demonstrators and shortly after fired crowd-control munitions. The crowd dispersed and many individuals — including Padilla — fled into the neighborhood.
In Padilla’s livestream from the protest, he said that he was attempting to circle around to the far side of the crowd, but as he did, a law enforcement helicopter shined a searchlight on him. Within seconds and without warning, Padilla was shot with a crowd-control munition, he said.
The lawsuit claimed the hard projectile struck Padilla in the knee, knocking him off his bicycle and onto the ground. Deputies then “jumped” on him and one of them punched him in the face, splitting his lip, Flynn said. Padilla was tightly handcuffed — his lawsuit states that restraint marks were still visible weeks later — and forced into the back of a large truck where loose pepper ball munitions caused his eyes to water painfully.
According to Flynn, Padilla had no opportunity to identify himself verbally as press before he was arrested, but he did tell deputies he was a journalist while in the truck and in an interrogation room.
Padilla’s bicycle was seized, as was his personal iPhone, which was booked into evidence and later searched. But a Samsung cellphone Padilla was using to livestream fell from his hand and, his suit claimed, deputies did not retrieve it.
Flynn told the Tracker that she believed deputies deliberately left Padilla’s phone and that of freelance photographer Julianna Lacoste, who is also her client, because they were livestreaming.
“It appears that the deputies that abandoned Mr. Padilla and Ms. Lacoste's cell phones on the street while they were livestreaming did so to get rid of the evidence that may have recorded their actions, including their use of excessive force and violation of my clients' constitutional rights,” Flynn wrote in an email.
Padilla’s lawsuit states that once he arrived at the South Los Angeles Sheriff's Station, some of the officers used personal cellphones to photograph Padilla and the other detainees while laughing. Lacoste and student journalist Pablo Unzueta, who were also arrested that evening, said the same.
Padilla was ultimately released from a county jail in downtown LA midmorning the following day with a citation for failure to disperse. His wallet, headphones and a set of keys — not his — were returned to him; the remainder of his equipment was not. Deputies ultimately returned Padilla’s bicycle in December 2020 and his iPhone in June 2021; his bicycle helmet was never returned.
When Padilla appeared for his hearing date at the Inglewood Courthouse on Sept. 11, 2020, according to his lawsuit, a court clerk told him that no charges had been filed.
Sheriff's Deputy Trina Schrader, a spokesperson for the department, told the Tracker in the days following the protest that an investigation had been launched into the events that day. “The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department values the media and highly respects the freedom of the press,” she added.
The day following the protest, sheriff’s deputies obtained a search warrant for cellphones belonging to more than a dozen individuals, including Padilla. The search warrant and an affidavit in support of the warrant were only released in May 2023, more than 2 1/2 years after the incident, and following an August 2022 motion to unseal filed by the First Amendment Coalition and independent news organization Knock LA.
The media organizations said that the sheriff’s department had fought the release of the materials for more than two years, in violation of California state law and the First Amendment. The release only came after Villanueva was ousted in a November 2022 election and replaced by Robert Luna, who acceded to the unsealing.
Susan E. Seager of the UC Irvine School of Law, who represented Knock LA and FAC in the case, said the timing shows that the department never had a good reason to seal the warrants in the first place.
Photos accompanying the warrant materials included the helmet marked “PRESS,” which Padilla’s attorney confirmed belonged to him. FAC noted in a later statement that police records confirmed that the LASD knew journalists were included as targets, which raises press rights concerns.
“Those photos, along with the fact [the] journalists have said they verbally identified themselves as press, should have put pause on the probe or, at a minimum, prompted the department to make disclosures to the judge to ensure press rights were protected,” the FAC statement said.
David Snyder, executive director of FAC, also commented: “While we are grateful the public can finally see these documents, they should have been able to do so long ago. There can be no real accountability without knowledge – what did the police tell the judge who issued this warrant? Now this crucial question can be answered, and accountability for any unjustified arrest and seizure can at long last begin.”
Editor’s Note: This article has been updated to include additional details concerning the seizure and return of some of Padilla’s equipment.
Livestreamer Hugo Padilla, extreme left, filmed multiple protests outside a Los Angeles Sheriff’s station in 2020. During a Sept. 8 protest, he claims deputies shot him with a munition, then arrested him and seized his equipment.
",arrested and released,Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department,2020-09-09,2020-09-08,True,2:20-cv-09805,['ONGOING'],Civil,returned in part,True,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,None,None,None,Journalist,warrant,State,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2021-02-04 19:04:02.636358+00:00,2021-02-04 19:04:02.636358+00:00,Independent journalist struck in the neck with shrapnel on 100th day of Portland protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-struck-in-the-neck-with-shrapnel-on-100th-day-of-portland-protests/,2021-02-04 19:04:02.596836+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Tuck Woodstock (Freelance),,2020-09-05,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Tuck Woodstock was struck in the neck with what the independent journalist believes was shrapnel from a flash-bang grenade while covering a protest against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 5, 2020.
Woodstock was reporting from one of many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon in June. Woodstock is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city of Portland in July to not arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
Sept. 5 marked 100 straight days of protests in Portland. “It was wild for many reasons,” Woodstock told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, describing the events of the night.
A large group gathered in Southeast Portland’s Ventura Park, where organizers planned a march to Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct according to the Portland Mercury.
By the time people were gathering to walk, police were announcing that the march was unpermitted. Woodstock said protesters marched anyway and were met by a “riot line” of officers. Next, Woodstock said, someone in the crowd threw two Molotov cocktails. “I remember thinking this was a huge escalation,” Woodstock said.
Woodstock, who was wearing press identification and working from among a group of other journalists, tweeted just after 9:15 p.m. they were hit in the neck.
Posted this out of thread but you’re going to want to watch it https://t.co/84F0LvJdaW
— Tuck Woodstock (@tuckwoodstock) September 6, 2020
While Woodstock couldn’t say exactly who or what hit them, a bunch of flash-bang grenades were exploding nearby. The shrapnel “felt consistent with flash bangs.” The injury caused minor bleeding, and left a mark on their throat for months, Woodstock said. Woodstock tweeted a picture of the injury several days later. They didn’t seek medical attention.
After the Molotov cocktails were thrown, a man caught fire from one of them and police declared a riot. There were also fireworks exploding in the street.
“Everything was exploding everywhere...that’s what stood out, I hadn’t seen anything like that before,” Woodstock told the Tracker.
When reached for comment during ongoing protests in the fall of 2020, the PPB told the Tracker it wouldn’t comment on specific incidents, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case. Then in early 2021, PPB spokesman Derek Carmon said the department is committed to upholding civil rights for all citizens, including by requiring officers to report any use of force for review.
Democrat and Chronicle photographer Shawn Dowd was hit with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 5, 2020.
For the fourth straight night, demonstrators marched in protest of the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died by asphyxiation while in the custody of Rochester police in March; details surrounding his death came to light only after police body camera footage was released on Sept. 2. The protest was just one of many that had occurred across the nation throughout the summer in protest of police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Dowd, who had also been hit the night before, told the Tracker that he “made the conscious decision to [put himself in the front line] again.”
Dowd said he was hit with a volley of pepper balls, including on the heel of his right hand, which he’d been using to hold his camera to take a photo. Afterward, Dowd said, his hand was swollen and he avoided using his pinky finger for several weeks.
When the police officers “would open fire,” Dowd said, “it seemed like they were just spraying.” He said he saw a number of individuals who were unidentifiable as protesters or press, and connected that to the indiscriminate targeting of less-lethal weapons by the police.
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.
Multiple journalists were hit with munitions on Sept. 5, the fourth night of protests in Rochester, New York, following the release of body camera footage related to the death of a Black man in the city in March 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2021-04-13 13:34:18.251725+00:00,2022-03-09 22:56:22.478347+00:00,Knock LA journalist shot with projectiles at Los Angeles protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/knock-la-journalist-shot-with-projectiles-at-los-angeles-protest/,2022-03-09 22:56:22.415135+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Alex McElvain (Knock LA),,2020-09-05,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Alex McElvain, news coordinator for the nonprofit community news site Knock LA, said he was shot with crowd-control projectiles while reporting during a protest in Los Angeles, California, on Sept. 5, 2020.
Racial justice protests had been held regularly in Los Angeles since the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. Demonstrations were renewed in early September after Los Angeles Sheriff Department deputies shot and killed 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee on Aug. 31.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Protesters marched on the sheriff’s South LA station on the afternoon of Sept. 5 and continued demonstrating into the evening, when law enforcement fired crowd control munitions and chemical irritants on the gathering, LAist reported.
McElvain told the Tracker in an email that he was not reporting on the march earlier in the day, but decided to go cover it when he saw on social media that law enforcement officers were deploying flash-bang grenades and tear gas on protesters.
When he arrived at the LASD South LA station on Imperial Highway around 9:45 p.m., there were no protesters but there were several dozen deputies. According to McElvain, he waved at the officers and one waved back, which he understood to mean that he was not perceived as a threat.
McElvain began taking photographs and notes at the east end of the building, but he said that the deputies shined high powered lights that interfered with his photography. The deputies told him he had to leave, according to McElvain, and one said there had been a dispersal order. McElvain said he repeatedly told them that he was there as a journalist, and asked multiple times where he should stand to observe and report.
“When I got into specifics about whether there was a PIO I could speak with, or where would be an acceptable location (to) stand that would allow me to cover the events occurring at the station, they stopped responding and essentially pretended they couldn’t hear me, and began shining lights in my direction when I took pictures,” McElvain told the Tracker.
About 20 minutes after he arrived, half a dozen protesters came near where McElvain was reporting, so he said he moved across the driveway, in part to make clear that he was not with the protesters.
According to McElvain, deputies threw tear gas and flash-bang grenades toward him without any warning. He hid behind a sign for the sheriff station.
The deputies then started firing crowd-control munitions toward the protesters, he said. He tried to leave by walking away from the station toward the street, and was hit with a projectile that he believes was a pepper ball, so he returned to shelter behind the sign. Another photographer took cover by the sign and began shouting that he was leaving, so McElvain started shouting with him.
A video McElvain posted on Twitter shows an empty street. Voices can be heard shouting, “I’m leaving! I’m leaving!” The video shakes as he appears to move across the street, yelling out multiple times in pain.
Hit at least a dozen times as I ran with hands up pic.twitter.com/HzjuCjuDVv
— Alex McElvain (@alexmce) September 6, 2020
McElvain said he was hit roughly a dozen times on his back and the back of his legs.
McElvain told the Tracker in an email that he believes he was struck with both pepper balls and foam projectiles. He said he had bruises from the projectiles for about two weeks.
McElvain said he did not know if he was targeted because he was a journalist.
“I think what is more likely is that as a journalist as I was considered lumped in with a group of people — the protesters I was also covering — that they felt challenged by and thus relished an opportunity to use force against,” he said.
A spokesperson for LASD told the Tracker in an email that they were unaware of the incident.
News10 NBC reporter Charles Molineaux was hit with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 5, 2020, according to social media posts.
For the fourth straight night, demonstrators marched in protest of the death of Daniel Prude, a 41-year-old Black man who died by asphyxiation while in the custody of Rochester police in March; details surrounding his death came to light only after police body camera footage was released on Sept. 2. The protest was just one of many that had occurred across the nation throughout the summer in protest of police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
The protest on Sept. 5 seemingly started without contention, according to Molineaux’s Twitter feed. Around 8:30 p.m., he tweeted, “Virtually no Rochester police presence visible as marchers preparing to step out.… except for the police drone periodically flying overhead.”
As the protest made its way to the Public Safety Building, police presence became visible, according to Molineaux, with the street blocked off a few blocks to the east. The journalist wrote: “Police have kept their distance throughout the march. Different story at Broad Street and Exchange Boulevard where Exchange is blocked between here and police headquarters and a large detachment of police in tactical gear is behind the barricades.”
Molineaux tweeted at 10:15 that police had set up a barricade at Broad Street and Exchange Boulevard. Around 10:20, he reported that protesters had begun “throwing things” at police and that dispersal orders could be heard on loudspeakers. At 10:25, he wrote: “Police repeatedly announcing the assembly has been declared unlawful and crowds must disburse. Objects being thrown at the police, police now shooting pepper balls at the crowd.”
In the early hours of the next morning, photojournalist Brandon Schoepfel posted a photo of Molineaux with a bloodied mark near his left ear, writing, “Our reporter @WHEC_cmolineaux was hit by what we believe was a rubber bullet earlier in the night.”
Our reporter @WHEC_cmolineaux was hit by what we believe was a rubber bullet earlier in the night. @news10nbc pic.twitter.com/3Mc8ujmkR5
— Brandon Schoepfel (@bschoepf3) September 6, 2020
Molineaux did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
The Rochester Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment, but Spectrum News reported that it had confirmed that the Rochester Police Department does not use rubber bullets. In a Sept. 6 press conference, city officials did not mention journalists being caught up in crowd-control munitions.
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 Nathan Howard said he was pushed to the ground by an officer while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon on Sept. 4, 2020.
Howard, whose work has been published by Reuters, Getty Images and The Associated Press, was documenting one of hundreds of demonstrations held across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit.
On Sept. 4 protesters gathered outside of the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union that represents city police officers. Police declared an unlawful assembly at 11:45 p.m., KATU reported.
Howard told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police came out and started to make targeted arrests of people in the street. He said he was taking photographs of an arrest when an officer came toward him.
Howard said he put his hands up and told the officer multiple times that he was a member of the press while he was backing up. While Howard continued to back up, he said the officer became more aggravated. Eventually the officer shoved him, he said, causing him to fall backwards. He said he landed against a metal street sign pole.
Howard said he was initially alright, and took advantage of his angle on the ground to try to photograph an arrest happening nearby.
Howard said he felt someone fall with him but couldn’t recall who landed on top of whom. He added that in the process, his head was pushed back, hitting the metal street sign pole. He said the impact was jarring, and needed to take a break for a few minutes.
Howard said he was wearing a vest that identified him as press.
The PPB declined to comment on the incidents. The police department has declined to comment to the Tracker on other cases in Portland due to ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland said a police officer shoved him, causing him to land on top of another journalist, while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Sept. 4, 2020.
Lewis-Rolland, whose work has been published by outlets including Reuters and Agence France-Presse, was documenting one of hundreds of demonstrations held across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to a temporary restraining order, and later a preliminary injunction, barring the Portland Police Bureau from harming or impeding journalists. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit.
On Sept. 4 protesters gathered outside of the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union that represents city police officers. Police declared an unlawful assembly at 11:45 p.m., KATU reported.
Lewis-Rolland told the Tracker he was photographing an arrest across the street from the Portland Police Association building. An officer came up from behind him, grabbed him by the backpack, and threw him to the ground, he said.
In a video Lewis-Rolland posted on Twitter, a police dispersal announcement can be heard while two police officers hold down an individual. The image suddenly becomes blurry and a voice can be heard saying “get back.” For a few seconds, the camera is pointed up toward a street sign, then the image refocuses facing toward the pavement.
Just got thrown to the ground by PPB while documenting an arrest. pic.twitter.com/j3ga3NsJVy
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) September 5, 2020
Lewis-Rolland said he wasn’t injured, but was rattled.
“There's something unique about having someone physically throw you to the ground,” he said. “It feels very violating.”
Lewis-Rolland said he was wearing a helmet and backpack that were both marked “PRESS.” He also wore a reflective yellow vest and carried two cameras.
The PPB declined to comment on the incidents. The police department has declined to comment to the Tracker on other cases in Portland due to ongoing litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Democrat and Chronicle photographer Tina MacIntyre-Yee was hit in the helmet with a pepper ball shot fired by law enforcement while covering protests in Rochester, New York, on Sept. 3, 2020.
Demonstrators had marched that day to the Public Safety Building in protest of the death of Daniel Prude, who died by asphyxiation in police custody in March; details surrounding his death came to light only after police body camera footage was released on Sept. 2.
In a phone interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, MacIntyre-Yee explained that she had been called in as the protest “was getting bad” and was told to “bring protection” because the police had been shooting pepper balls. She brought along a bike helmet, which she said she put on nearly immediately upon approaching the scene.
At 11:19 p.m. she tweeted that the police in front of the PSB responded to a thrown water bottle with a “volley of pepper balls.”
A few minutes thereafter, police went inside the PSB and protesters proceeded to remove the perimeter of fence barricades and advance toward the building, according to a video captured by MacIntyre-Yee’s colleague Will Cleveland. Just before 11:30 p.m., according to Cleveland’s Twitter feed, “Police are exiting the PSB with helmets and shields now. It looks like they went inside to get new gear.”
MacIntyre-Yee told the Tracker that, when she saw the protesters’ advance, she quickly moved away, assuming that they would soon be shot at. MacIntyre-Yee said she moved to the left of the roughly 100 individuals who’d gathered and thought that the police could “clearly see that I was media but who knows.”
She said she was wearing all black, coincidentally matching several of the protesters, but had tried to lean over a cement wall surrounding the building with her camera in an obvious way to highlight the fact that she was there in a journalistic capacity.
Soon, there was an outburst of pepper ball fire. MacIntyre-Yee described to the Tracker how the shooting began at the end of the police line directly across from the protesters and rippled down to where she was. While behind a cement barricade, MacIntyre-Yee filmed the scene, including the moment she was hit.
Got hit in the head but had helmet, then got pinned down finally they told me to leave pic.twitter.com/eleEggEbXd
— Tina MacIntyre-Yee (@tyee23) September 4, 2020
She told the Tracker that officers soon came up to the wall she was hiding behind and yelled at her to leave.
A picture posted of her helmet minutes later shows a mark where the pepper ball hit. Even after brushing away the powder, MacIntyre-Yee told the Tracker that there was a permanent scratch. Fortunately, she said, she was uninjured and continued to report.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Freelance journalist Andrew Jasiura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was hit with a rubber bullet while covering protests in Washington, D.C. on Aug. 31, 2020.
On the night of Aug. 30 and early hours of Aug. 31, Jasiura was covering protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement in downtown Washington, D.C.
The journalist, who has been covering the protests for several months as an independent photographer and filmmaker, said he was in the pedestrian area outside of the White House that was renamed “Black Lives Matter Plaza,” when a police officer fired a smoke grenade. Jasiura said that based on his past experience covering protests, he believed the grenade was a warning that officers were going to begin firing tear gas. The journalist walked across the street to put on a sweatshirt with a hood and a gas mask for protection, he told the Tracker.
As he was bent over to put on the hoodie and gas mask, a rubber bullet hit him in the rear end, he told the Tracker. Police officers had begun to fire rubber bullets to clear protesters from the plaza, but Jasiura believed he was targeted because he was “50 feet away from the police line…. and nowhere near the protesters.”
In a separate incident on Aug. 13, Jasiura told the Tracker he was released after being detained by police officers for several hours when a Metropolitan Police Department lieutenant recognized him.
The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a Tracker request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Mike Baker, Seattle bureau chief for The New York Times, said he was hit with less-lethal munitions, identified as paintballs, while covering a pro-Trump caravan that went through downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 29, 2020.
Baker was covering the “Trump cruise rally,” which began at the Clackamas Town Center parking lot, about nine miles outside of Portland. Trump supporters were met with counterprotesters as they drove through the downtown, sparking confrontations, according to local news outlet KATU.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported online videos showing the “flag-adorned trucks driving through groups of protesters, firing paintball guns at crowds and deploying what appears to be pepper spray,” leading to “dangerous, tense confrontations.”
Baker was filming the pro-Trump caravan at the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Washington Street downtown when a man riding in the bed of a black pickup truck flying a Trump flag opened fire with a paintball gun.
“The person in the back of the truck just started shooting their paintball gun into the crowd, just kind of shooting indiscriminately at anyone,” Baker told the Tracker. He was hit by a paintball in the back of the shoulder as he was turning away, he said, adding that it caused bruising but no serious injury. Baker was wearing body armor with press markings at the time he was hit, he told the Tracker
Baker captured footage of the incident, which he posted on Twitter at 8:15 p.m. As pickup trucks adorned with Trump and American flags drive through the intersection, a counterprotester can be seen trying to light a Trump flag on fire and another extends their middle finger at the caravan. A clear liquid of some kind can be seen being sprayed towards the caravan from the anti-Trump crowd, as a man in the back of a pickup fires a paintball at Baker and other people gathered on the sidewalk. Then a man in the next pickup deploys a yellow-tinted chemical irritant.
Clashes. Trump people unload paintballs and pepper spray. They shot me too. pic.twitter.com/PwU5pZMLnV
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) August 30, 2020
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests that have broken out across the country in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Bryan Dozier, an independent photojournalist, was covering Black Lives Matter protests in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 29, 2020, when he was targeted by chemical irritants and stun grenades by Metropolitan Police officers, according to an American Civil Liberties Union of DC lawsuit filed on Dozier’s behalf.
In August 2021, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the D.C. government and the MPD officers, based on this incident and another involving independent photographer Oyoma Asinor. The Tracker documented Asinor’s arrest, assault and equipment seizure here.
Dozier was documenting the BLM protests in central D.C. when police deployed chemical irritants and stun grenades, even though these tactics have been banned by the D.C. Council for dispersing protesters, according to the legal documents issued by the ACLU, and reviewed by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Dozier did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The Metropolitan Police Department’s use of chemical irritants and stun grenades violated the D.C. First Amendment Assemblies Act and D.C. common law, according to the ACLU.
On that day protesters gathered at about 7 p.m. and arrived at the junction of 16th Street and H Street NW, near Black Lives Matter Plaza, around 11 p.m.
At about 11.30 p.m. Dozier saw one of the officers closest to a barricade on H Street shove a demonstrator. When the protesters near the individual yelled at the officer, Dozier moved closer to film the incident, according to the document.
Dozier, whose work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, the Financial Times, and The Guardian, did not see any demonstrator touch the officers, throw objects at the officers, or do anything other than continue to verbally protest.
But a Metro Police officer who was standing farther west on H Street, by or behind the H Street barricade, released a munition into H Street. Dozier heard “a hissing sound, like pressure being released, and then saw some form of gas or smoke with chemical irritants ascend rapidly,” the report said.
The smoke prompted Dozier and many protesters to back farther away from the barricade. As protesters were moving back, a second officer released another munition, causing more smoke or gas with chemical irritants to fill the air.
The document stated: “Despite Mr. Dozier’s attempt to retreat, the irritants made contact with him and caused him to cough. Dozier ran east on H Street toward its intersection with Vermont Avenue to escape. Many demonstrators started running in that direction too.”
Near the intersection, Dozier saw officers wearing riot gear with helmets and batons marching forward in a line spanning the width of H Street. As Dozier was looking for an exit, the riot officers marched through the intersection and past him.
But suddenly one police officer grabbed Dozier, “lifted him, and pushed him west on H Street, through the line of riot officers that had just passed by him, and back near the clouds of chemical irritants produced by the two munitions Mr. Dozier had been running from.”
Dozier was forced to continue west on H Street, through the clouds of irritants. He “struggled to breathe as he moved through the chemical irritants. He continued to cough, his nose ran, and he felt burning across his face. He continued west on H Street, then turned north onto 16th Street.”
Another officer began deploying a series of at least six stun grenades in close succession, near the intersection of 16th and H Streets. At that time, Dozier said he had not seen any protester make contact with officers, throw objects at them or engage in any violent behavior, the document reported.
Dozier, who was described in the document as terrified and disorientated, feared that “either the officers or explosive devices deployed by the officers” would hit him. At that point Dozier left the protest and went home.
For about 30 minutes after returning to his apartment, “he felt intense burning in his eyes and could feel the sting of the irritants in his nose and throat. He took a shower to wash off the irritants but continued to feel a burning sensation on his skin. After the shower, he dry heaved for approximately half an hour,” the document stated.
The Aug. 29 attack caused Dozier “significant psychological distress, the effects of which continue to this day.” The legal document reported that Dozier met with a psychologist after the incident, who noted that he had several symptoms consistent with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that he continues to experience some of the PTSD symptoms, including “heightened sensitivity to loud noises, sudden, unexpected anxiety attacks, and a fear of being trapped with no ability to exit. He additionally continues bi-weekly therapy sessions, which help him deal with his PTSD symptoms.”
MPD told the Tracker they did not comment on active cases.
Cory Elia, an editor at Village Portland and host of a KBOO podcast said he was hit with projectiles that he identified as paintballs while covering a pro-Trump caravan that went through downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 29, 2020.
Elia was covering the “Trump cruise rally,” which began at the Clackamas Town Center parking lot, about nine miles outside of Portland. Trump supporters were met with counterprotesters as they drove through the downtown, sparking confrontations, according to local news outlet KATU.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reported online videos showing the “flag-adorned trucks driving through groups of protesters, firing paintball guns at crowds and deploying what appears to be pepper spray,” leading to “dangerous, tense confrontations.”
Elia tweeted a video of a Trump flag-adorned truck driving away. “This truck start shooting at counter-protesters and then came under attack. I got shot right in the corner of my mouth by a projectile.”
Elia told the Tracker that they had been firing projectiles before his video even started and had been for quite a while. “I was struck in the cheek with the paintball and it left a small welt,” he said.
This truck start shooting at counter-protesters and then came under attack. I got shot right in the corner of my mouth by a projectile. pic.twitter.com/iqcWgSgOFT
— Cory Elia (@TheRealCoryElia) August 30, 2020
He also tweeted a photo of an orange round, writing “This is the exact projectile that hit me. I’m good.” Elia said he had a large press marking on his bulletproof vest and several credentials around his neck.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests that have broken out across the country in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Independent journalist James Stout said he was pepper sprayed and pushed with a club by police while he was covering a protest in San Diego, California on Aug. 28, 2020.
Demonstrators gathered in San Diego in the days after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 23, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Protests against racism and police brutality had been held across the country for months, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, and other deaths of Black people at the hands of police.
Stout, an independent journalist whose work has been published in Slate, The Appeal and other outlets, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was taking pictures of police arresting a woman who was driving a car that provides support for demonstrators.
More protesters and police soon arrived at the scene, and Stout continued to take photographs. Stout said he was standing near a line of police officers who were blocking the intersection, looking through his camera viewfinder when he suddenly felt pepper spray on his face. He said he doesn’t know if he was targeted.
Stout said he lowered his camera to try to see who had sprayed him when a police officer was suddenly in his face shouting at him.
“He starts shoving me and I'm like, no, no I'm a journalist,” Stout said.
The officer pushed him back with his hands and with a baton, he said. At the time, Stout said he was under the impression that the officer may have been trying to get his camera, so he held it up above his head.
“I got really mad after he eventually backed off,” Stout said. “I was like, What are you doing, why are you doing this? You're not supposed to attack journalists.”
Stout said he verbally identified himself as a journalist several times. He was wearing a black vest with the word PRESS written in white, and he carried credentials issued by the Industrial Workers of the World Freelance Journalists Union, he said. He said he didn’t have any bruises or injuries from the incident because he was wearing a bulletproof vest.
According to an article Stout wrote for Slate, the journalist approached the captain of patrol operations for the San Diego Police Department, who was there at the time, to ask why they were targeting journalists. The official turned his back and walked away, Stout wrote. Stout told the Tracker that the San Diego Police Department has denied his requests for body camera footage of the incident.
The San Diego Police Department didn’t return a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Mark Stevens, a reporter for CBS 58 News in Milwaukee, said he was struck and injured by a projectile — possibly a crowd control weapon — while covering a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020.
Protests began in Kenosha after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, on a residential street on Aug. 23. Demonstrations against police violence and racism had been held across the country, including in Wisconsin, since late May.
Stevens told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering a protest outside the Kenosha County Courthouse with a CBS 58 photojournalist and a security guard on the evening of the second day of demonstrations. The protest was largely peaceful at the beginning, but Stevens said some protesters became more aggressive as the evening wore on.
In preparation for a live broadcast at 9 p.m, Stevens said he initially set up with a view of the burned wreckage of dump trucks parked near the courthouse. However, he said the CBS 58 team moved into a nearby park, farther away from protesters, when some people started pulling debris from the trucks to throw at police and the National Guard.
Stevens said the team kept the camera light off to avoid attracting attention, then turned it on just before the broadcast was set to begin.
About two minutes before he was supposed to go live, Stevens said, a projectile struck him in the back of his neck, knocking him to the ground and leaving him with a bruise and broken skin.
Protest medics who came to help him told him they believed he was hit by a rubber bullet. Based on footage his colleague recorded of the incident, Stevens said he thought it might have been a bean bag, a cloth sack of lead shot that police use for crowd control.
But Stevens said he wasn’t certain what the projectile was, or who fired it, though it may have come from police. Law enforcement parked an armored vehicle near where the journalists were filming, he said, and there were reports that police had used projectiles for crowd control during protests the previous night.
A spokesperson for the Kenosha Police Department said police had no report about the incident and declined to comment on it.
Stevens said he was wearing press credentials on a lanyard around his neck when he was hit. He said his group was clearly identifiable as a television news crew because of the camera gear they carried. He said he didn’t seek further medical attention or report the incident to police.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was threatened by an individual while covering a protest in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 25, 2020.
The protest was one of many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Several hundred people marched to City Hall the evening of Aug. 25, and the police quickly declared an “unlawful assembly” after the property was damaged, according to The Oregonian.
While Auberdine was livestreaming, she likely recorded some minor property crime, she said. She was approached by someone dressed in mostly black bloc, a tactic used by some protesters to conceal their identities by wearing black and baggy clothing and face coverings, wearing a helmet and respirator, she told the Tracker. They threatened her, she said, saying, "What did you see? Didn't see shit.”
"I was in the process of moving backward and then they came after me,” she said. “They threatened me and slapped my camera, which destabilized the gimbal, but it didn’t fall out of the clip."
"It was very physically threatening in a non-specific way, but it was very unsettling," she said.
The individual told her that if she filmed in a way that they weren’t comfortable with, she would be "run out" or have her camera smashed, Auberdine told the Tracker.
She asked someone she knew to watch after her, but that person "ended up getting arrested by the Portland Police Bureau that night for standing beside me,” she said. “Initially I felt very responsible."
Auberdine was wearing a vest with large press markings on the front and back, she said, and also had a gimbal, microphone and reporting equipment.
“Whoever did it needs to direct their anger somewhere other than inflicting trauma on their allies. I've spent hundreds of hours, plenty of my own $, and sacrificed my health to stream,” she tweeted afterward.
In a follow-up tweet, she added, “Tonight was a mess. I’m a mess.”
During an Aug. 24 clash between law enforcement and protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, officers fired a tear gas canister at two journalists who say they were standing several feet away from any protesters. One of the journalists, Jesus J. Montero, said the canister hit him on his right arm, and that he experienced itching and difficulty breathing but did not require medical care.
Montero, an independent reporter who was covering the protest on his social media, and Maria Guerrero, from the Chicago-based DePaul University newspaper The DePaulia, were outside the Kenosha County Courthouse as protesters defied an 8 p.m. curfew. According to the journalists, police and sheriff’s deputies warned demonstrators that they would use tear gas if the crowd didn’t leave. When demonstrators and press remained, police moved to break up the crowd, according to Guerrero, who tweeted a video of the scene. The journalists said they were about six feet away from the demonstrators and opposite the line of police, when police fired a tear gas canister that hit Montero in his right arm, causing him itching and difficulty breathing for some hours. Guerrero said she was able to run away from the gas without suffering any difficulties.
Both journalists say they were wearing press credentials at the time. Montero told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he does not believe he was targeted as a member of the press. He said that as he was in the area not far from demonstrators, officers may have had trouble clearly distinguishing journalists from protesters. Aug. 24 was the second day of protests in Kenosha.
“As the weeks went on police had a better understanding that this is the press,” Montero told the Tracker. But when protests first began, he said, “there was no regard to who you were affiliated with.”
However, Guerrero, who is also managing editor of La DePaulia, the Spanish-speaking sister newspaper of The DePaulia, said she believes that she and Montero were deliberately targeted as journalists. “I try my best to stand out from demonstrators,” she said, explaining that on that night she felt she was clearly identifiable as press because she wore goggles and press credentials and carried a professional camera. “As press we’re just there to tell a story and to tell what’s going on,” she told the Tracker.”
Protests in Kenosha were ignited on Aug. 23 by the killing of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was shot seven times by a white police officer in front of his children. While many demonstrations were peaceful, some escalated into violence with some buildings being vandalized and set on fire. The evening after Montero was struck by the tear gas canister, two protesters were killed and a third was injured when civilians armed with assault rifles and guns also took to the streets claiming their intention was to protect private property. A 17-year-old was accused of the killings.
Eric Kriesel, a photojournalist for CBS 58 television, said he was struck in the leg with a brick or rock while covering protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 23, 2020.
Protesters began to gather hours after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, in the back seven times on a residential street in Kenosha. Demonstrations against police violence and racism had been held across the country, including in Wisconsin, since late May.
Kriesel told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he and a reporter with CBS 58 arrived to cover the police shooting and the community’s reaction in the evening shortly after Blake was shot. He said a couple of hundred people had gathered to protest. Police had put up police tape around the perimeter of the scene, and a few other police cars were parked outside of the perimeter, he said.
Kriesel said protesters began jumping on the police cars, damaging them and breaking their windshields. Someone threw some sort of projectile that hit a police officer and knocked the officer to the ground, he said. Other officers retrieved the one who had been hit, who Kriesel said appeared to be unconscious, and police began to leave.
Kriesel and the CBS 58 reporter started to walk away from the scene, ahead of a live broadcast at 9 p.m., he said. They were walking alongside the police vehicles that were driving away, and protesters were throwing objects at the cars.
As he walked, Kriesel said, an object struck him in the lower left shin. He said he believes a brick or a rock ricocheted off of the back windshield of a police car into his leg, and that he didn’t think it was directed at him.
Kriesel said he had a bruise and swelling on his leg for about a month. He had the injury checked at a hospital, but said he didn’t require any treatment.
Kriesel said he was carrying a large and noticeable professional television camera at the time he was hit. He couldn’t recall whether he had his ID card issued by CBS 58 on him at the time, but said he typically carries the credentials when reporting on situations like the demonstration in Kenosha. The Kenosha Police Department didn’t return a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Protesters confront Kenosha County Sheriffs Deputies outside the Kenosha Police Department in Wisconsin following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, on Aug. 23, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,unknown,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2020-11-05 21:51:38.036981+00:00,2022-09-21 20:25:27.744798+00:00,VICE freelancer hit with mace and projectiles during clash of rival rallies in Portland,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vice-freelancer-hit-mace-and-projectiles-during-clash-rival-rallies-portland/,2022-09-21 20:25:27.686151+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Donovan Farley (VICE News),,2020-08-22,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"While covering rival protests in Portland for VICE News on Aug. 22, 2020, freelance journalist Donovan Farley posted a series of tweets reporting that he was maced and hit with projectiles. In his tweets, Farley identified his attackers as right-wing protesters.
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, the protest began around noon as two groups faced off in front of the Multnomah County Justice Center. In a tweet, Farley characterized one group’s action as a “pro-police” rally. Countering that gathering was a group identified as anti-fascists, according to OPB.
At 1:07 p.m.Farley tweeted that he had been shot with paintballs “like five times” by a protester. About 10 minutes later he tweeted that he was hit by a water bottle in the “dome,” apparently referring to his head, as “right folks opened fire on protester and press alike” with various projectiles. Farley did not specify which group threw the water bottle and he did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
“Within an hour of meeting, protesters began to push each other and throw objects,” OPB said in its report. “Some demonstrators on the pro-police side fired paintball guns and deployed pepper spray on counterdemonstrators. Other protesters used baseball bats. Many people wore helmets and body armor as they punched, kicked and tore at each other.”
At 1:23 p.m. Farley posted what he identified as photos of paintball stains on his clothes. His tweet showed a bright yellow helmet labeled “MEDIA” as well as a photo of his chest area, above his press pass. “I took quite a lot of hits. Got my arms too,” Farley wrote.
A few minutes later, Farley tweeted that he was “shot directly in the phone” (he did not specify with what). “It’s a bunch of things being thrown by both sides at the moment but it sure seems #BlueLivesMatter is targeting press. Not everyone mind you—it’s mostly Proud Boys. A few of the other folks have been fine,” he tweeted.
He also tweeted that a group he said was mostly members of the far-right Proud Boys tried to push over a van with an unidentified member of the press on it. In a video tweeted by Farley at 1:41 p.m., the person standing on the van is clearly marked “PRESS” on their neon vest and appears to be holding a camera.
A few minutes later Farley tweeted, “I’m now realizing I got maced at some point as all my skin is on fire.” He speculated that it might have been “bear mace” in a later tweet. Bear spray is a defense against wildlife that contains capsaicin and related capsaicinoids. Capsaicin is the active ingredient that makes chili peppers hot.
According to OPB, most of the right-wing demonstrators left the downtown area by 2:30 that day, before the Portland Police Bureau declared an unlawful assembly at 2:50 p.m.
At 3:28 p.m. Farley tweeted that he was feeling the effects of the mace and was leaving the downtown area. “I am on absolute fire,” he said.
Independent videographer Melissa Lewis said she was doused with bear mace by individuals at a far-right protest while covering clashing demonstrations in Portland, Oregon on Aug. 22, 2020. Lewis, whose work has been published by Yahoo News, said she required medical treatment for injury from the chemical irritant.
Clashes erupted between members of far-right groups and counterprotesters on Aug. 22 outside the Justice Center in downtown Portland, the Washington Post reported. Members of the extremist group the Proud Boys and supporters of then-President Donald Trump gathered for a “Back the Blue” rally, and hundreds of counterprotesters, including Black Lives Matter activists, organized in opposition.
In video footage captured by Lewis, she appears to be filming clashes from behind a van parked on the edge of Chapman Square, a small park opposite the Multnomah County Justice Center. A man wearing a T-shirt that reads “TRUMP” approaches her and tells her to leave.
Seconds later, another man wearing a helmet and a gas mask appears and begins spraying an irritant, hitting Lewis. As that assailant retreats, a man in khaki shorts, taking cover from counterprotesters behind newspaper vending boxes, appears to spray an irritant toward Lewis. She takes a few steps backwards and a third individual appears from behind the van and sprays an irritant directly at Lewis.
As the Proud Boys and other “Patriots” pushed forward with shields, mace was used. One man asked @PhrenologyPhun to get behind him, where other men would have done her harm. Another man told her to LEAVE NOW. Finally Swinney and another man sprayed her multiple times. pic.twitter.com/JPjkcCe1k7
— Cascadianphotog Media (@Cascadianphotog) August 23, 2020
Lewis tweeted that when one individual sprayed her “head to toe,” she turned her head away and the chemical irritant went down her ear canal.
While filming for @Cascadianphotog, I was trapped against snack van and Alan Swinney took advantage of my vulnerable position. He sprayed me head to toe with bear mace. I instinctively turned my face away and the mace went down my ear canal.
— Melissa “Claudio” Lewis (@Claudio_Report) August 22, 2020
After retreating, Lewis said she began “furiously” removing her gear, but once she took off her gas mask, the irritant flowed into her face and all over her body.
“Because my hair was so soaked, it just ran down as soon as I took off my gas mask — that’s what was holding it back,” she said.
Lewis said the irritant caused her intense pain.
“It was like I had showered in it. I was absolutely bathed in bear mace,” she told the Tracker. “It was the most pain that I’ve ever been in.”
With ambulances unable to reach the area due to the unrest, Lewis said some other protesters carried her away from the area until she could get an ambulance to a hospital emergency room, where she said she was treated with pain medication.
Lewis and several counterprotesters filed a lawsuit on Sept. 25 against several far-right group members and supporters who were involved in the unrest on Aug. 22. As of March 2021, she said the suit was still pending.
Lewis was wearing a press badge while she was covering the protests, according to the lawsuit. She told the Tracker she does not know if her attackers identified her as a journalist.
“I was sprayed because I was recording and not right wing,” she told the Tracker in an email.
Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement had been held in Portland daily for months, sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Freelance photojournalist Ringo Chiu, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, was struck by a rubber bullet while covering clashing demonstrations in the Tujunga neighborhood of Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2020.
According to a complaint Chiu filed with the Los Angeles Police Department, which he shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Chiu had arrived near the intersection of Foothill Boulevard and Saluda Avenue at approximately 5:30 p.m. to cover a demonstration by supporters of President Donald Trump. Officers were lined up to separate the Trump supporters from a nearby group of Black Lives Matter counterprotesters, Chiu said in the complaint.
“I began photographing the event when I [was] stopped by the police,” Chiu wrote in the complaint. Chiu added that he was allowed to continue working after showing police his media passes. According to NPPA General Counsel Mickey Osterreicher, Chiu was wearing both his LAPD and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department media credentials that day, and was carrying three cameras.
As tensions between the two crowds began to escalate, first verbally and then into physical fighting, Chiu wrote, LAPD officers attempted to separate them by pushing them back onto sidewalks and out of the street. Chiu wrote that he was standing with other photographers documenting the scene and had just shifted to a new location when he was struck in the abdomen with a rubber bullet that he estimated was fired from officers approximately 15 feet away.
“In that moment, I felt a surge of hot pain in my body and immediately ran away from the police, and sat below a tree on the sidewalk,” Chiu wrote. According to Chiu, as police continued shooting at the protesters, a group of protesters surrounded him and helped him make his way to a nearby parking lot.
Chiu wrote that some of the protesters provided him with first aid, and when an ambulance was unable to reach him because of the clashes, a protester drove him to Kaiser Permanente Hospital.
Chiu told the Tracker that he didn’t have any broken bones from the incident, but that the munition’s impact broke the skin and left a visible scar on his abdomen. Chiu filed his complaint to police on Aug. 24 and told the Tracker in mid-December that he hadn’t received a response from the LAPD.
Osterreicher, the photographer’s association counsel, told the Tracker that an LAPD spokesperson told him on Dec. 16 that the investigation into Chiu’s complaint was “recently completed and is in the review process.” The spokesperson added that, following an internal review, the complaint would be adjudicated and it would be another one to two months before the department would notify Chiu by letter about the outcome.
In a Facebook post shared with the Tracker, Chiu wrote, “Never would I have thought that I would also need to protect myself from the police, those that I believed would always protect us during times of chaos.”
“Although you may have your credentials displayed and carry cameras that show your intent, the risk is far greater than before, as many other photojournalists on the field have also sustained equal or even harsher wounds than I have,” Chiu continued. “Sometimes it feels like, as media covering our community, we can be in danger from every direction when exercising our First Amendment right.”
Independent visual journalist Rodrigo Melgarejo was shoved by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland during the early morning hours of Aug. 21, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
The demonstration on Aug. 20 began peacefully in North Portland with little interaction between police and protesters, according to The Oregonian. However, several protesters were arrested in a later demonstration outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in South Portland, where Portland police declared an unlawful assembly.
“Tonight, PPB declared an unlawful assembly, saying anyone not press was going to be arrested if they don’t leave,” Melgarejo wrote in a tweet at 3:21 a.m. on Aug. 21. “Yet I was shoved, down the sidewalk and into the street.” He told the Tracker he was wearing a ballistic vest and black helmet, both marked with press labels.
In a video accompanying the tweet, Melgarejo is facing a row of officers in riot gear. At 0:11, one officer states, “If you are not press, you need to leave.” Another repeats the same statement a few seconds later, adding that protesters who refuse to leave will be arrested. The same officer then begins to physically pressure people to move and says at 0:20, “Get out of my way. If you’re in my way, I’m going to push you.”
At 0:34, the camera suddenly jostles and an officer’s face can briefly be seen very close to the lens. Melgarejo continues to film one particular officer who repeatedly demands, “Move!” and pushes people forward. This continues for another minute until demonstrators, press, and officers are all on the street. At 1:29, an officer can be seen pointing right at the camera, yelling, “Get out of the street!” and then shoving him.
When reached by email about this incident, the PPB declined to comment citing pending litigation.
Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was shot at and shoved by law enforcement officers while covering protests in front of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Portland, Oregon, on the night of Aug. 19, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work. The injunction was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
Throughout the night of Aug. 19, federal officers and Portland police worked to push protesters away from the ICE facility and direct the crowd toward Elizabeth Caruthers Park, a few blocks north, according to The Oregonian. Police declared a riot at around 11 p.m. after demonstrators had thrown various objects at the officers and spray-painted across the building's windows.
Auberdine told the Tracker that within 15 minutes of arriving that night, she was shot in the arm with a beanbag-like metal round fired by Department of Homeland Security agents. "I was standing on the northwest corner [of the facility]," she said. "It was a direct line between the DHS who shot me. There was no one in front of or behind me."
Soon after, law enforcement officers began a push that continued for about six blocks to the north of the facility, she said. "I was forced to move along the sidewalk, so I didn't have a chance to really account for what had just gone on," she told the Tracker. "There was a hole in my sweater and red marking as well. It hurt a lot, but I didn't know immediately that I was bleeding."
She found street medics to help clean and bandage her arm, she said, and now has a scar.
Later that night, while Portland police officers were walking in a riot line to move protesters away from the ICE building, the officers "suddenly bull rushed and grabbed their batons," Auberdine said. She was the "first one in front of them," and got "shoved onto the hood of an SUV."
Auberdine was livestreaming at the time, and at around the 7:25 mark, officers can be seen suddenly running towards several individuals and pushing them toward a car. For a brief moment, her camera flips sideways, as she gets pushed. A loudspeaker can be heard urging protesters and journalists to head to the north.
She said she had a vest visibly labelled with press markings. "I think this type of violence has a much greater impact on me because this is a direct physical violation…of my body," she told the Tracker.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing the continuing ACLU litigation. The DHS didn’t respond to an emailed request for comment.
Independent photojournalist Teri Jacobs was shoved to the ground and hit several times by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 18, 2020, according to news reports and a legal filing.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was extended later that summer.
Demonstrators on that Tuesday the 18th marched to the Multnomah County Justice Center, where police declared the site of a riot around 10:30 p.m., according to news reports. Portland police officers in riot gear pushed protesters toward the north, where Jacobs was documenting along Southeast Hawthorne Boulevard, according to The Portland Mercury.
In a video shared by Twitter user @johnthelefty, an officer uses a baton to knock Jacobs’ head and shoves her to the ground, the newspaper reported. When she rolls over to sit up, he hits her on the forehead again with the baton.
Jacobs has filed a legal complaint with the United States District Court and is represented by attorneys from the Oregon Justice Resource Center, according to the Portland Mercury. “As Ms. Jacobs was knocked to the ground, she was terrified that the officer was going to continue to attack her and she feared that she might never get up again if he continued with his violent attack,” the complaint reads, according to the article. “An entire squad of Portland Police Officers witnessed this act, failed to intervene, and allowed this officer to walk away after committing a violent crime against Ms. Jacobs.”
In an interview with Fox 12, Jacobs’ attorney Juan Chavez said she was wearing a press credential and that prior to the documented shove, she was also hit “repeatedly on the head, neck and back with a truncheon” by the officer. Chavez added that her camera was broken “when she was knocked to the ground.” According to The Portland Mercury, Jacobs is “seeking punitive damages and attorneys fees from the city and PPB officers involved.”
Jacobs declined to comment to the Tracker. When reached by email about this incident, the PPB declined to comment citing pending litigation.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab said she was thrown to the ground by police in Portland, Oregon, while covering protests in the city’s downtown on Aug. 16, 2020.
Staab, whose photos of the 2020 protests in Portland were published by Reuters, The New Yorker and Agence France-Presse, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting a protest in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis.
At approximately 1:30 a.m. that Sunday the 16th, Staab was documenting protests outside the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office when Portland police deployed tear gas. According to news reports, police declared the gathering a riot at midnight and eventually came in tactical gear to disperse the crowd.
In a video Staab posted on Twitter, a police officer can be seen pushing a protester into a wooden pole, ripping off their gas mask and throwing Staab to the ground. She said she was wearing a large vest marked “press.”
“When he saw that I was filming, he very casually threw me to the ground,” Staab told the Tracker. She continued filming even though she hit her head and scraped her elbows.
In an email, Portland police spokesman Derek Carmon said he reviewed the video and that, among other questions, it wasn’t clear whether the journalist was thrown down or tripped. He said the department was committed to upholding civil rights for all individuals. He detailed the PBB’s crowd-control policies and noted any use of force prompts a lengthy review.
“We have made a very intentional effort to share additional information with the public about the entire context of each nightly event,” Carmon wrote. “If you look at our press releases, you’ll find nightly summaries that discuss why the Incident Commanders gave the direction that they did, including the use of crowd control munitions.”
At the time, a preliminary injunction issued by a U.S. District Court judge barred Portland police officers from harming, arresting or impeding journalists. Carmon declined to comment on pending litigation.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos said on social media that a Portland police officer hit him with a baton while he covered protests in the city on Aug. 16, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The city agreed to a preliminary injunction in July to not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests or impede their work.
Protesters gathered outside the Penumbra Kelly building, where Portland police declared a riot at 11:57 p.m. on Aug. 15 and deployed crowd control munitions, according to news reports. Shortly after midnight, Olmos was documenting hundreds of demonstrators marching toward the Multnomah County’s Sheriff’s Office in southeast Portland. In a video posted to Twitter at 12:34 a.m., Olmos is hit with a baton and repeated calls to move can be heard. “Police bull rush, two officers run on the sidewalk and use butons [sic] to push press, including this reporter,” his tweet reads.
Olmos didn’t respond to requests for comment. When reached by email about this incident the PPB declined to comment, citing pending litigation.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab was pushed to the ground by Portland police while covering protests in downtown Portland on Aug. 11, 2020.
Staab, whose photos of the 2020 protests in Portland have been published by Reuters, The New Yorker and Agence France-Presse, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was documenting a protest in downtown Portland, where demonstrators had been gathering nightly in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis.
At 1:40 a.m. on Aug. 11, Staab said she was at the Portland Police Bureau’s North Precinct station, covering what she said was an arrest of a woman leaving the protest area. Shortly before midnight, Portland Police declared an unlawful assembly at the North Precinct area and tweeted that people should leave or be subject to arrest, citation or crowd control actions. In a video Staab shared on Twitter, officers can be seen running across the street, surrounding a car and yelling at individuals to “get out of the road.”
About 15 seconds in from a video shared by independent journalist Anissa Matlock, Staab turns to walk away from the scene and is pushed from behind by a police officer. With a camera in her right hand and a phone on a stabilizing device for recording in her left, she falls face forward onto a bush, then turns over to continue documenting the scene. In the video Staab can be heard saying, “I’m a member of the press and you just threw me to the ground.”
Last nite I was again assaultd by @PortlandPolice
— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) August 12, 2020
This is my perspective & the next video is by @matlockartist
I was identifid as Press & filmng as they slashd a protesters tires. I was in no way interfering.
This was2AM. The later it gets there's less Press & more impunity pic.twitter.com/0qhLkbSH0F
At the time, a preliminary injunction issued by a U.S. District Court judge barred Portland police officers from harming, arresting or impeding journalists.
Staab said the same officer who pushed her during the Aug. 11 protest had assaulted her more than five times. “I was wearing a big blue vest with white writing and there’s no mistaking me that I’m press,” Staab told the Tracker.
The Portland Police Bureau has said they wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
According to a local news report, an unidentified broadcast cameraman was robbed at gunpoint while loading gear into a news vehicle in Berkeley, California, on Aug. 10, 2020.
CBS affiliate KPIX 5 reported that the incident took place outside Congregation Netivot Shalom. In security camera footage time-stamped 5:01 p.m. and published by KPIX, an individual can be seen approaching the journalist as he loads a camera into a news vehicle. After the individual draws a gun and points it at the journalist, the journalist attempts to hand the camera off before placing it on the ground. The individual then picks it up and runs away.
According to KPIX, the camera was valued at $25,000. The Tracker was unable to verify the identity of the journalist or station.
On Sept. 10, Berkeley police arrested a man identified as Jimmy Ray, having found items in his home that connected him to the robbery, according to a department news release. It is unclear whether the camera itself was found and, if so, in what condition it was in.
According to the news release, Ray was charged the following day on several counts, including robbery.
When contacted for comment, the Berkeley Police Department was unable to provide further details about the condition of the camera or the cameraman's identity.
Independent social media journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was hit with a projectile and pushed into a cactus by law enforcement officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, in the early hours of Aug. 9, 2020.
Demonstrations had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order in July barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists.
Late in the evening of Aug. 8, police declared a riot in North Portland after a small group of protesters broke into the Portland Police Association, the union that represents city police officers, and set a small fire on the floor of the office, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. The Portland Police Bureau and Oregon State Police dispersed the demonstration from that area, though protests continued in the early hours of the morning in Kenton Park, about a half mile north.
Auberdine, who livestreams video of protests on her social media channels, said she was covering the protest in Kenton Park when she was hit with a metal projectile. While standing under a tree for shelter, she was struck in the arm with what she believes was a 40mm puck round fired by a PPB officer, she told the Tracker. The projectile ricocheted off of the tree and hit her from above, she said, adding that it didn’t cause her any injury.
Auberdine said other journalists were also standing near the tree at the time she was struck. She said she didn’t know whether the police had intended the projectile to hit anyone.
About 20 minutes later, she said, she was reporting near the front of a protest in the Kenton neighborhood, a few blocks from the park. Because of where she was standing, she said it was hard to move out of the way. Then a state trooper cross-checked her into a planter box in front of a restaurant or bar, she said. She broke her fall with her left arm by grabbing onto the side of the box. As she did, she said, the needles of a cactus stabbed through her sweater and into her arm.
Got shot in the arm by a canister tonight (clearly marked press) It ricocheted off a tree, so the impact didnt cause any significant injuries, but it ended a few day streak of me not getting shot :/
— Teebs (@TeebsGaming) August 9, 2020
Also got pushed into a cactus by a state trooper. That sentence exists now...
She said she pulled most of the needles out a short time later when the confrontation calmed down, but she wasn’t able to remove all of them until she went home.
Auberdine wore a black bullet resistant vest with the word “press” on the front and back in large white letters, she said, and also carried recording equipment, including a microphone.
“While I bet they would have shoved anyone in arms reach into that planter box, they 100 percent knew what they were doing,” Auberdine told the Tracker.
In response to an email inquiry, a spokesperson for the OSP didn’t specifically address the incident, but said that concerns about excessive use of force could be reported to the state police Office of Professional Standards.
When reached by email, PPB spokesperson Greg Pashley told the Tracker that he didn’t have any information to release about the incident.
Joseph Rushmore, a freelance documentary photographer, was arrested by police officers and charged with two misdemeanors while covering a demonstration in the early hours of Aug. 8, 2020, in northeast Portland, Oregon.
The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
Rushmore was covering a protest that began at around 9 p.m. in Laurelhurst Park. Protesters then marched about a half mile to the Penumbra Kelly building, a repeated focus of demonstrators because it houses the Multnomah County Sheriff's office and some Portland Police Bureau units.
Protesters blocked the road in front of the building while chanting, making speeches and yelling at officers, Rushmore told the Tracker. At one point, police officers rushed into the crowd, driving protesters into the surrounding residential neighborhood.
At some point after midnight, about 50 protesters regrouped to head back to the Kelly building, said Rushmore, who was following them. When the group was about a block from the building, officers blocked the way and started pushing protesters and journalists west along East Burnside Street.
Footage of Rushmore’s arrest, taken by an observer sometime after 1 a.m. and shared with the Tracker, shows officers rushing into the street and knocking down Rushmore and several protesters. Rushmore can be seen getting grabbed from behind and thrown to the ground. A group of officers then restrains Rushmore and arrests him.
“I have two very large cameras around my neck at all times so it is quite obvious I am press,” said Rushmore, though he wasn’t wearing any press credentials or clothing marked as press.
“During this rush, an officer with Portland Police Bureau grabbed me from behind, spun me around and threw me to the ground, slamming my head hard into the pavement,” said Rushmore, adding that his helmet protected him from injury. “At least one more officer got on top of me, and they held me down while zip-tying my hands behind my back. I yelled to the officer that I was press multiple times. He told me, `Now you're part of the riot.’ And when I told him again I was just press, he said, ‘Then you shouldn’t have been rioting.’”
The officers searched Rushmore and seized his helmet, cameras, backpack and phone before being taken to the Kelly building, he said. He was then sent to the jail at the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown, where he was detained in a general holding area. By noon, Rushmore was released, he said. He got all his equipment back two days after his arrest.
Rushmore was charged with two misdemeanors, interfering with an officer and disorderly conduct, but the charges were dropped sometime in the weeks after the arrest, he said.
Portland City Attorney Tracy Reeve didn’t respond to a request for comment. The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
A journalist who is a member of an independent press collective known as the 45th Absurdist Brigade was shoved twice by police while reporting on protests in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 6, 2020.
The journalist, who asked not to be named, was covering one of the many protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
On the night of Aug. 6, the journalist was reporting on protests outside the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct when police began trying to clear the area, they told the Tracker.
Officers were moving people northeast, clearing an area toward Southeast Stark Street, the main thoroughfare, the journalist said. Walking backward alongside the police line, the journalist was filming the gap between the police and the protesters. While staying on the sidewalk, they saw officers start to “shove” members of the press, when they were suddenly pushed themselves.
“I was walking backwards and an officer was like, “Get back! Get back on the sidewalk!,’” they said, adding that the officer then “tried to slap my camera down.”
The journalist’s camera was tethered to their wrist, they said, so it just briefly fell out of their hands before they grabbed it again. But soon after, they were shoved again back toward the sidewalk, they said.
“Since I was already walking backwards when I got shoved, I just kind of went back on my back foot,” the journalist said. “And I just kind of stumbled back and got up, and continued walking, trying to make sure I didn't get trapped.”
A video the journalist posted on Twitter at 10:50 p.m. captures the shoving. The first push can be seen around 40 seconds in, and then the camera angle goes askew. Several seconds later, the journalist gets shoved again.
The push pic.twitter.com/RmL4t1A2in
— 45th parallel absurdist brigade (@45thabsurdist) August 7, 2020
The shoving was captured from another angle by independent videographer Garrison Davis. “An officer tried to slap @45thabsurdist’s phone out of their hand, then when that failed an officer just pushed them around,” Davis tweeted.
The journalist wasn’t physically harmed, they said, and their equipment wasn’t damaged.
The PPB didn’t respond to a request for comment on this incident.
Independent journalist Alissa Azar said she was pushed by a law enforcement officer while she was covering protests on Aug. 5, 2020, in Portland, Oregon.
The protest was one of many that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland have targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU suit led to the city agreeing to a preliminary injunction in July to not arrest, harm or impede the work of journalists or legal observers of the protests.
On Aug. 5, Azar was covering a demonstration that started at Floyd Light City Park in Southeast Portland at around 8 p.m. Protesters then marched to the Portland Police Bureau’s East Precinct station, about a five-minute walk from the park. When protesters arrived at the precinct, some of them vandalized surveillance cameras and set small fires outside the precinct, according to KGW8, the local NBC affiliate.
At around 10 p.m., after declaring the protest a riot, law enforcement officers responded with tear gas, driving the demonstrators away from the precinct station into the surrounding residential neighborhood.
At 10:36 p.m., Azar posted a video on Twitter showing a police officer directing protesters to move north as another group of officers arrests someone on the ground in the middle of a street. Azar continues to film as officers push observers from the progressive legal organization National Lawyers Guild away as they try to film the arrest. About 40 seconds in, an officer appears to approach Azar, and then her camera goes askew as she yells out.
“They pushed me and nlg for trying to film this,” Azar, who didn’t respond to interview requests from the Tracker, wrote on the post accompanying the video.
The incident was also captured by Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos from across the street. About 45 seconds into footage he posted, an officer can be seen pushing the NLG observer and Azar. There was a combination of Portland police and Oregon State Police involved in clearing the protesters, according to Olmos.
Portland Police Bureau spokesman Derek Carmon declined to comment on the video and Azar’s allegation, citing continuing litigation.
Freelance photographer John Rudoff said he was pushed by law enforcement while covering protests against racial injustice and police brutality in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 5, 2020.
That night and into the following morning of Aug. 6, demonstrations were held in North Portland outside the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union representing the Portland Police Bureau. Shortly before midnight, law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after an unidentified individual tried to break into the building, according to statements by the police to local news media.
Police bull rushed the crowd, protestors were cleare from the area pic.twitter.com/qWZAzDS8Tq
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) August 5, 2020
Police officers then moved to disperse the crowd, pushing people off the street and onto the sidewalk, Rudoff told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Rudoff, who wasn’t on assignment that night but whose photographs were used by wire services, said he was in the middle of the “scrum of… journalists, activists and everyone in-between” who were pushed by officers onto the sidewalk.
He told the Tracker he was clearly identifiable as a journalist as he was wearing press gear “literally head to toe,” including a fluorescent yellow press vest, a helmet that said press, a gas mask, body armor, and was carrying two large cameras. Rudoff told the Tracker he was uninjured and continued photographing.
In a video of the events that night shared on Twitter by freelance journalist Justin Yau, a police officer is seen telling a group of journalists trying to film an arrest that, “press needs to stop interfering,” and then pushing a female journalist wearing a white press helmet. Rudoff and Yau identified the journalist as freelance videographer and photographer Emily Molli.
Since July 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
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 John Rudoff captured this image while documenting protests in Portland on Aug. 5, 2020. He told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was one of several journalists shoved by police officers that night.
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That night and into the following morning of Aug. 6, demonstrations were held in North Portland outside the headquarters of the Portland Police Association, the union representing the Portland Police Bureau. Shortly before midnight, law enforcement declared the gathering an unlawful assembly after an unidentified individual tried to break into the building, according to statements by the police to local news media.
In a video of the events that night shared on Twitter by freelance journalist Justin Yau, a police officer is seen telling a group of journalists trying to film an arrest that, “press needs to stop interfering,” and then pushing a female journalist wearing a white press helmet. Yau identified the journalist as freelance videographer and photographer Emily Molli.
Molli shared Yau’s tweet and previously told the Tracker about getting pushed by police and getting hit with a crowd-control round during Portland protests, but hasn’t responded to text messages seeking comment on this incident.
Members of the press filming the injured arrestee were pushed away and accused if interfering. Several journalists including members of foreign news media were shoved away. #PortlandProtest #PDXProtest #BlackLivesMatter pic.twitter.com/goFiwQBfe0
— Justin Yau (@PDocumentarians) August 5, 2020
Since July 2020, law enforcement officers from the PPB and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
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.
Roman Mendoza, a reporter for the Davis Vanguard, a California nonprofit news organization, was struck with shrapnel from a flash-bang grenade and pushed by a police officer while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 30, protesters gathered downtown at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which had emerged as a nightly flashpoint between protesters and federal agents. The protest continued past midnight and into the next day.
Mendoza told the Tracker he was standing near the line of fences that federal officers had erected around the courthouse when officers began to disperse the crowd.
“The officers threw a flash-bang near me and it kind of nicked my leg,” Mendoza said. “That one I probably should have gotten stitches for.”
Mendoza received some basic first aid from a volunteer medic at the protest, who cleaned out the wound and wrapped it in gauze. He said the shrapnel cut a relatively deep, 2-to-2.5 inch gash in his leg.
“It took two or three weeks for my leg to fully heal and get back to where it was before,” Mendoza said.
Mendoza said he continued reporting that night after receiving medical attention. As he walked, he came upon a group of Portland Police Bureau officers who were sitting in a vacant parking lot alongside several police vehicles and riot vans on the edge of the protest.
“As I approached them, once I got to a certain point they told me that was far enough and to not continue moving forward,” Mendoza said. “They had just issued the TRO, so I told them, ‘I’m not here to do anything. I’m press so I’m not going to disperse right now.’”
One officer quickly approached him and told him that he didn’t have to disperse, Mendoza said, but that he did have to comply with officers’ orders to move back the two paces he had taken into the parking lot and return to the sidewalk.
“The officer then pushed me so I was back on the sidewalk,” Mendoza said. “That was unnecessary, but yeah. I just stayed there to document what these police officers were doing, and they just started heckling me.”
Mendoza said they said things along the lines of, “You’re a loser,” “Why don’t you get a real job?” and “You must not have a life if you’re out here.” Mendoza said the officers also told him that he “wasn’t a real man” alongside other sexist comments. After about 20 minutes, the officers left the parking lot to what Mendoza believes was the protest area.
In February 2021, Mendoza told the Tracker that he had filed a complaint with PPB about the officers’ behavior and had received notice the bureau was investigating it, but no other updates.
The PPB declined to comment when emailed about this incident. The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab was hit in the knee with a rubber bullet fired by a federal officer while she was reporting on a protest in Portland, Oregon, early in the morning of July 30, 2020.
Racial justice protests in Portland had been held on a nightly basis since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
Thousands of people rallied around the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse and the nearby Multnomah County Justice Center earlier in the evening of July 29, according to the Oregonian. Confrontations between federal law enforcement officers and protesters continued late into the night, and federal officers declared an unlawful assembly at around 11:30 p.m.
Staab, whose work has been published by outlets including The Washington Post, The New York Times and VICE, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the protests continued past midnight. Toward the end of the night, she said federal officers were going into a garage at the back of the justice building when some protesters followed them. Staab said she was near the garage door, standing to the side of it.
As the garage door was going down, Staab said, officers started shooting rubber bullets out at the protesters and press who remained.
One rubber bullet struck her on the inside of her right knee, she said, causing her to collapse.
“I was just basically taken out,” she said. “My knee completely gave out and I just hit the ground.”
Staab said several journalists who were near her pulled her away from the area and helped her up. Within 30 minutes, her knee had swollen so much that the welt was visible through her jeans, she said.
A photograph Staab posted on Twitter later that day showed her knee very swollen and bruised.
My knee is fcked.
— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) July 30, 2020
How did this happen?
I was shot by Federal officers while working as a journalist in #Portland, Oregon. @ACLU @pressfreedom #PortlandProtest #PortlandProtests pic.twitter.com/ozkN85jAyI
Staab told the Tracker that she cared for the injury by elevating it, icing it and taking ibuprofen.
The next day, photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland posted on Twitter a photograph of Staab’s swollen knee, with white tape marked “PRESS” above and below it.
@MaranieRae was out last night and was hit while operating her camera. Her knee... 💔 @AthulKAcharya @ACLU_OR pic.twitter.com/b30vQPolTO
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) July 31, 2020
Staab said she continued to cover protests in the following days, wearing shorts because her knee was so swollen. The injury hobbled her for weeks, she said.
On the night she was hit, Staab said, she had used white masking tape with the word “PRESS” written in black marker to label herself on the front and back of her t-shirt and on her helmet. She said she was also carrying professional cameras.
Staab said that she does not have any way to know whether she was targeted. She noted that she was not standing near demonstrators, and said that federal officers did not “attempt to delineate between protesters and press.”
The Department of Homeland Security, whose officers were on duty that night, did not respond to a request for comment about the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
On July 30, 2020, photojournalist Maranie Staab was hit with a rubber bullet fired by law enforcement in Portland, Oregon. The next day, another photojournalist documented her taped-up knee while she was reporting again.
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The protest was held in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 28, protesters gathered downtown at the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, which had emerged as a nightly flashpoint between protesters and federal agents. The protest continued past midnight and into the next day.
Mendoza told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he had been recording protests that night in front of the courthouse and in the park across the street. As he exited the park, Mendoza said officers were spraying people with crowd control munitions, and he was struck in the ankle and thigh. Mendoza said he believes a rubber bullet struck his thigh, but he couldn’t identify what had struck his ankle.
“I didn’t feel it very much in the moment because of the adrenaline,” Mendoza said. “I didn’t even recognize what had happened.”
In Mendoza’s footage of the incident, he appears to be walking through a cloud of tear gas near the edge of the park as more than a dozen protesters walk and run through the frame. The camera appears to suddenly shake and Mendoza can be heard exclaiming in pain. Immediately after, Mendoza continues filming as he walks towards a line of unidentified law enforcement officers.
Mendoza said both the helmet and backpack he was wearing that night were labeled “PRESS.”
The PPB declined to comment when emailed about this incident. The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Emily Molli, a reporter for SCNR, an independent video-based outlet previously known as Subverse News, said she was hit in the right arm with crowd-control munitions fired by federal officers while she was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, during the early hours of July 27, 2020.
Molli was among dozens of reporters covering one of the many demonstrations that have broken out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 26, demonstrators gathered in the area around the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, where clashes with the Portland police and federal officers escalated into the next morning, according to local news outlet KGW8. Federal officers declared an “unlawful assembly” at 12:16 a.m., according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.
Molli was hit with a marker round in the right arm, which she said caused bleeding and left a scar. “It hit my forearm muscle so hard that...I couldn’t grip with my right hand,” she told the Tracker. “It caused pretty nasty lacerations that took several weeks to finally heal.”
She had a press ID visibly displayed, she said, as well as press markings on her helmet.
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement about the night’s enforcement actions that officers used crowd control tactics to respond to “attacks” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by demonstrators. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
Justin Yau, a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in the Daily Mail and The New York Times, said he was hit in the right leg with a marker round fired by federal officers while he was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, during the early hours of July 27, 2020.
Yau was covering one of the many demonstrations that have broken out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 26, demonstrators gathered in the area around the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, where clashes with the Portland police and federal officers escalated into the next morning, according to local news outlet KGW8. Federal officers declared an “unlawful assembly” at 12:16 a.m., according to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security.
Sometime after midnight, Yau was documenting the protests around the northwestern corner of Lownsdale Square, which is near the courthouse, when federal officers fired impact munitions through the smoke, he told the Tracker. A FN303 marker round bruised him in the right leg, he said, adding that it “bent some of my keys in my pocket at the time.”
Officers also fired a tear gas canister at a light fixture near him, said Yau, adding that it “shattered glass on top of us.” In a video posted to Youtube, the canister can be seen hitting at about 50 seconds in, causing Yau to duck. He was wearing a bright yellow vest with “press” labeled across the front and a black helmet with similar markings, he said.
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement about the night’s enforcement actions that officers used crowd control tactics to respond to “attacks” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by demonstrators. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
Lesley McLam, co-host of a KBOO podcast and contributor to Village Portland, said she was struck by a crowd-control munition fired by federal officers and covered in a “toxic white powder” while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 26, 2020.
McLam was documenting one of the many protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
One of the main demonstrations taking place the night of July 25 — and stretching into the next morning — was held outside the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed. Several other journalists were targeted with crowd control munitions after midnight as well.
McLam said she was traversing the area between the courthouse and the parks across the street when she realized the protesters around her were crouched behind shields. “That crowd behind the shields is all hunched down, and that’s when I hear that `pop pop pop pop pop,’ and I felt it on both of my arms,” she told Tracker. “I just hunched down — I hadn’t even made it to the other side yet — hunched down and was like, `Wow, I just got fired at.’”
When she left the area, McLam noticed the white powder, which she believes was from an exploded pepper ball. In addition to getting hit in the bicep, a pepper ball that grazed her right arm left a small slice in her backpack strap, as well. Her phone was also hit by a pepper ball, she said
Later that morning, McLam tweeted: “While covering the protests at the federal courthouse, a toxic white powder got all over me and my equipment.” The accompanying pictures show powder on her backpack, which is labelled “media,” on her camera, on the leg of her pants, and around press passes issued by KBOO and Village Portland.
In a follow-up tweet, she posted two photos of her left bicep, where she was hit by what she believes was a pepper ball. “This is one of the places I was hit by a round shot by #FederalPolice. It broke the skin, through cloth, and a bruise is forming,” McLam wrote.
The injury caused bruising all the way down to the elbow and on the back side of her arm, McLam told the Tracker.
Neither her camera nor her phone were permanently damaged by the powder.
McLam couldn’t say with certainty whether she was targeted for being press, or whether she was hit because she was standing up while others were crouching. In addition to the identification on her backpack andher press passes, she was wearing a black baseball cap with “press” in white letters.
The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Journalist Tuan St. Patrick’s camera lens was broken after he was repeatedly shoved to the ground by Portland, Oregon police in the early morning hours of July 26, 2020, just hours after he and other journalists covering demonstrations say they were hit with crowd-control munitions.
St. Patrick is a national correspondent for Berlin, Germany-based video news service Ruptly, whose sole shareholder is funded by the Russian government. St. Patrick was covering one of the many protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Protests have been held nightly in Portland since late May and grew more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement in the city increased. Since July, police and federal agents in the Rose City have been under court orders not to harm or impede journalists.
St. Patrick was covering demonstrations that began the night of July 25 around the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and continued on into the next morning.
St. Patrick and three other journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were struck with crowd-control munitions just after midnight on July 26. Their account of that incident is here.
St. Patrick told the Tracker he was sprayed with a chemical irritant in that incident but continued covering the police response to the demonstrations.
He said that at about 5 a.m. on July 26, he was livestreaming while he was among protesters at the intersection of SW 4th Ave and SW Yamhill Street. Police announced an unlawful assembly for the area and dispatched officers to clear the intersection with crowd control munitions and physical force, he said.
“They start running towards us,” St. Patrick told the Tracker. “I turn around and I’m like ‘this is not so safe.’”
St. Patrick told the Tracker that he was pushed to the ground twice and shoved into a tree as officers rushed through the area. He got to his feet and found pepper-ball powder on his vest and his clothing. He was carrying a Sony A7 Mark III digital photo camera and, upon closer inspection of his gear, found that his lens had been broken.
“It was just a messy scene,” St. Patrick said.
Since July, law enforcement officers from the Portland Police Bureau and federal agencies have been barred by court rulings from arresting, harming or impeding journalists or legal observers of the protests. The orders were issued as part of a lawsuit that the American Civil LIberties Union filed on behalf of journalists who allege that law enforcement officials targeted them with arrests and physical violence.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Independent photojournalist Trip Jennings was struck in his eye with a pepper ball that pierced one of the plastic lenses on his gas mask on July 26, 2020 in Portland, Oregon, while he covered civil unrest in the city.
Jennings was covering one of the many protests that broke out in Portland in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Protests have been held nightly in Portland since late May, which grew more intense in July as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in the city. Since July, both police and federal agents in the city have been under court orders not to harm journalists or otherwise impede their work.
In a Twitter thread, Jennings said he was taking photos of the police response to demonstrations at the intersection of SW 4th Avenue and SW Salmon Street near the Multnomah County Justice Center, standing among demonstrators, when authorities gave an order to disperse.
As the crowd began to disperse, federal agents fired crowd-control munitions that included pepper balls, rubber bullets and tear gas, he wrote.
Jennings wrote that he was ducking for cover behind a tree when what he believes to be a pepper ball hit him in the face, broke through one of the plastic lenses on his gas mask and cut his eye and cheek.
The journalist found medics near the scene. “‘Oh my God, that’s bad!’” one of the street medics tending to his injuries remarked, according to Jennings.
Jennings told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that three medics escorted him to a vehicle to drive him to the emergency room at Legacy Good Samaritan Medical Center in northwest Portland. As the group drove away from the scene, federal agents fired impact munitions at the vehicle, he said.
“On the way to the hospital, we drove through clouds of teargas so windows stayed shut and the pepper spray on my clothing and bag choked us all,” Jennings tweeted.
The pepper spray still clung to Jennings after he arrived at Good Samaritan, causing the doctor who treated his injury to cough repeatedly behind a surgical mask, according to Jennings. The doctor put on a respirator mask prior to sewing eight stitches into Jennings’ eyelid and face, he told the Tracker.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
Independent journalist Teebs Auberdine said she was hit with impact munitions fired by federal officers while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 26, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
On the night of July 26, demonstrators gathered in the area around at the Multnomah County Justice Center and the Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, where clashes with the Portland police and federal officers escalated later in the night, according to local news outlet KGW8.
Auberdine was livestreaming near the Justice Center, wearing a vest clearly labeled with press markings, when she was hit.
“Had to end stream early tonight after getting hit in the head with a pepperball. Still clearly marked Press,” she tweeted. “I'm well geared for this and was not injured, but it was fairly spicy and got all in under my helmet and around my neck.”
Had to end stream early tonight after getting hit in the head with a pepperball. Still clearly marked Press.
— Teebs (@TeebsGaming) July 27, 2020
I'm well geared for this and was not injured, but it was fairly spicy and got all in under my helmet and around my neck.
I'll be back tomorrow~
She didn’t sustain any acute injuries aside from the powder and gas exposure, she told the Tracker.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement about the night’s enforcement actions that officers used crowd control tactics to respond to “attacks” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by demonstrators. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incident.
Journalist Melanie Buer was detained by police officers while covering protests in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 25, 2020.
Buer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was held for more than two hours by officers who doubted her professional status, but she eventually was released without charge.
On the night of July 25, protesters had been marching for several hours in downtown Omaha while police officers accompanied them and redirected traffic, according to local news reports. The demonstrators were protesting against the killing of a Black Nebraska man, James Scurlock, who was shot dead by a white bar owner during a Black Lives Matter protest in May. They also marched in solidarity with protests in Portland, Oregon, and many other cities against police violence following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Once protesters reached the city’s Farnam Street bridge, police officers announced that the demonstration was an “unlawful assembly and you’re all subject to arrest,” according to local news reports. Buer, who is a freelance journalist and an associate editor at Protean Magazine, which describes itself as a nonprofit leftist media collective, told the Tracker that when protesters reached the end of the bridge shortly before 10 p.m. they were corralled by police officers who began wide-scale arrests. The Omaha World-Herald later reported that of 120 people arrested at the protest, 30 were subsequently charged with criminal violations.
In a timeline of the events on July 25 later published by the Omaha Police Department, the department said the protesters were marching without a permit, were putting others in danger by walking against oncoming traffic and ignored repeated warnings that they were subject to arrest. Many protesters said they heard no prior warnings, according to news reports.
Buer and two colleagues from the magazine were on the sidewalk on the northwest side of the bridge when police officers began firing pepper balls at protesters in the street, she said. The protesters then began jumping back on to the sidewalk, so they were surrounded and had nowhere to move out of the way as officers began making arrests. The other journalists, Ashley Darrow and Kristofer Nivens, declined to comment on the incident.
Buer was filming the events on her cellphone when she was shoved by a police officer and fell to the pavement, she said. In a video she posted to Twitter the next day, police officers can be heard yelling “get on the ground!” and approaching the sidewalk area where Buer and others are gathered. The camera then shakes and the image is blurred and momentarily goes black, before resuming filming from a lower vantage point.
The first couple of minutes of the police escalation, featuring me getting shoved violently pic.twitter.com/yYxvQdMOXz
— Mel Buer (@coldbrewedtool) July 26, 2020
Buer can then be heard yelling that she is a member of the press, to which the officer says “I don’t see anything right now.” Buer yells, “Are you kidding me? I have a press pass!” The officer responds “I don’t know that that’s real, I have no idea that that’s valid. Right now you’re getting detained.”
The journalist’s wrists were then constrained in zip ties and she was made to sit on the bridge for more than two hours, she said.
Been detained pic.twitter.com/YSrdPhOmQh
— Mel Buer (@coldbrewedtool) July 26, 2020
Buer said she had a press badge clearly displayed around her neck and that she repeatedly told the police officers she was a journalist, but that they didn’t believe her.
“It would defy logic,” that they didn't realize she was press when they shoved and detained her, she said. In another video Buer posted to Twitter in the days after the incident, a police officer can be heard telling another officer that “she is saying she’s press, but I can’t verify that. We’ve got intel that they have fake press cards.”
“This is not a fake press card,” Buer responds.
Going back through footage from the bridge the other night - here’s more of the conversation where this cop didn’t believe I was press.
— Mel Buer (@coldbrewedtool) July 28, 2020
“We’ve got intel that they’ve got fake press cards.”
Fuck you buddy, that’s not for you to decide. pic.twitter.com/ZR0imZfydg
Shortly before midnight, Buer and her colleagues spoke with a lieutenant who asked them about the media outlet they worked for and told them they “needed to wear hi-vis safety vests in order to not be confused for protesters,” Buer said in an email.
The lieutenant told his officers to cut off the journalists’ zip ties and take down their personal information, as well as that of the outlet they worked for. But “there was no attempt to verify our assignments with our editor or anything of that nature (though we offered it),” Buer wrote.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Journalist Jasper Florence was struck with pepper balls fired by law enforcement officers while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on the night of July 25, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t responded to requests for comment on any incidents involving its officers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates under DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
Florence was hit with pepper balls while they were documenting confrontations at the courthouse. In photos shared on Twitter, residue from pepper balls could be seen on an equipment bag on Florence’s hip and staining their pants. Their press identification is also visible.
Theese are from last night as I was heading out, you can clearly see I was shot in the chest hip and waist area, I had taken my press badge off my vest at that point but this occured pretty early into th night
— Jasper Florence (They/Them) (@JFlorencePDX) July 26, 2020
They (feds/ppb)seriously don't care
1/ pic.twitter.com/QLfQMNQWwd
Florence told the Tracker that law enforcement officers confronting protesters at the courthouse were firing “fairly indiscriminately” into protesters that night. Florence was wearing press markings, but said they didn’t feel targeted.
“They were trying to fire at the protesters, but they didn’t really think about how they were firing,” Florence said. “It was a caught-in-the-crossfire kind of thing.”
(explitive warning) This clip sucks but I had my camera on a canister that rolled and stopped near me when I looked up they were already firing pepper balls,
— Jasper Florence (They/Them) (@JFlorencePDX) July 26, 2020
Also sorry every time I get hit my immediate reaction is just swearing so bear with me here on that 2/ pic.twitter.com/i84ShdwFyU
Florence wasn’t sure how many times they got hit and described the injuries as minor, leaving bruises for several days. They were wearing a paintball vest, which helped protect their chest from pepper-ball impacts. Florence continued to work after being struck.
Independent journalist Janet Burns said she was shoved by a police officer while covering a protest in New York City on July 25, 2020.
Burns said she was covering a demonstration that night in Lower Manhattan, at the corner of Delancey and Ludlow streets, for NYC Protest Updates 2020, a Twitter account set up by a group of young journalists after the May killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests. The Twitter account has over 40,000 followers and provides regular coverage of protests and police activity in New York City.
“I was sending in pictures and describing what was happening,” Burns told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, while an editor for the account sent out the actual tweets that night.
According to Burns, clashes between demonstrators and officers had erupted throughout the night, and officers were blocking streets to contain the crowd. Burns said she saw several people tackled and arrested. “I could see that the police had some people among them, at least one of them was still on the ground,” she told the Tracker. Burns said that when she tried to get a better view of protesters held behind the police line, officers blocked her path.
“They didn’t want me to walk in their direction which was the edge of a kettle” she explained, referring to the term describing a common police tactic to surround and arrest protesters during public demonstrations. One of the officers told her that she could not move forward, so she waited a few seconds and asked another officer, who agreed to let her go. “I began walking that way but the [first] officer saw and became angry,” she said.
Burns said the first officer blocked her way, pushing his chest against her to knock her over. “He didn’t use his hands, he used his chest,” she said. Burns said she was not hurt and none of her equipment was damaged. “The guy was just being angry,” she said, referring to the officer who had pushed her.
Burns said she was wearing a press badge from the Freelance Journalists Union and another ID “that says that I’m a professional journalist.”
The New York Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent photojournalist Maranie Staab was shoved to the ground by a federal officer while she was reporting on protests in Portland, Oregon on July 25, 2020.
Racial justice protests in Portland had been held nightly since the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. The protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
Thousands of people rallied near the Mark O. Hatfield District Court and the Multnomah County Justice Center on July 25, and numerous confrontations erupted between protesters and federal law enforcement agents through the night, The Oregonian reported.
Staab told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was walking in a park across the street from the Justice Center when a federal officer saw her and, without warning or explanation, shoved her, causing her to fall to the ground.
In a video Staab posted on Twitter, filmed by a social media journalist with Full Revolution Media, a tall person in a blue helmet can be seen pushing another person to the ground. Staab identified herself in her tweet as the person being shoved. “I was thrown to the ground by a #DHS officer while working as a photojournalist in #Portland.”
On Sun. I was thrown to the ground by a #DHS officer while working as a photojournalist in #Portland. (shown twice for clarification)
— Maranie R. Staab (@MaranieRae) July 29, 2020
A grwn man, outfittd for war, was compelld to put his hands on me, unprovoked, & push me to the cement.
I’m fine. But that’s not the point. pic.twitter.com/Pa0ZZJh65I
Staab told the Tracker she does not know why the officer shoved her. “I can't offer anything that makes sense.”
She said that she thought it might have been an effort to get people away from the Justice Center.
Staab said she was carrying her professional camera gear and had used white masking tape with the word “PRESS” written in black marker to label herself on the front and back of her T-shirt, and on her helmet. She said she wasn’t near any protesters at the time she was shoved.
She said she couldn’t be certain whether she was targeted because she was a journalist. None of her equipment was damaged and she wasn’t injured, but she said that the incident raises other concerns.
“To me the biggest issue is just, we're a democracy and our press has consistently been obstructed,” Staab said.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Independent journalist Seth Dunlap was shoved to the ground by an agent he believes was with ICE or another federal agency while filming protests in Portland, Oregon, on the night of July 25, 2020.
The protests were among many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Law enforcement officers in Portland had targeted journalists since the outbreak of the demonstrations, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in June by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The case resulted in a temporary restraining order on July 2 barring the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists, which was expanded to include federal agents later that month.
The Department of Homeland Security hasn’t responded to requests for comment on any incidents involving its officers. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which operates under DHS, referred the Tracker to the DHS for comment.
Dunlap, a contributor to media company Frontline Access, said he was filming officers tearing up medic and water stations from approximately 30 feet away when an officer dressed in black quickly approached him and yelled, “Get the hell out of here.”
Dunlap repeated the language from the preliminary injunction ordering federal officers to not assault or arrest journalists, but the officer shoved him back.
“I calmly cited Judge Michael Simon’s reaffirming ruling to multiple federal officers that night and my interactions were generally fine,” Dunlap wrote to the Tracker. “Then one homeland security guard refused to let me stay and shoved me to the ground forcefully and threatened me with arrest. Only my loud pleas perhaps stopped that from happening, I’m not sure."
In a video Dunlap posted to Twitter that is no longer available, he can be heard saying that, as a member of the working press, he didn’t have to obey orders to disperse. “I’m going to respectfully allow you to do your jobs and you’re going to respectfully allow me to do [mine].”
After Dunlap took a knee, he said the officer turned around and walked away without saying anything else. He sustained several bruises, but didn’t know whether they all came from this incident.
“I felt completely violated not only as press but as a human,” Dunlap said.
Freelance journalist Sergio Olmos said he was struck by crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon,on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
Olmos said he was struck in the leg with what he described as “some kind of flash bang” while filming the protest at the federal courthouse.
In a video Olmos uploaded to Twitter at 1:13 a.m., sparks can be seen flying above the journalist before a canister tumbles in front of him and a bang is heard.
Some kind of flash bang goes off on my legs, it hurt enough that I had to walk off for a bit, but didn’t burn through my sambas. I’m good pic.twitter.com/5A0po4jDhO
— Sergio Olmos (@MrOlmos) July 24, 2020
“Some kind of flash bang goes off on my legs, it hurt enough that I had to walk off for a bit, but didn’t burn through my Sambas. I’m good,” he wrote on Twitter.
Later, after he left downtown Portland, Olmos shared a picture of small blood spots on the back of his leg writing: “must have burned through my pants.”
Olmos didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Independent social media journalist Teebs Auberdine was hit with projectiles on the legs and ankle fired by federal agents while covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon on July 24, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23.
Early on July 24, Auberdine was standing on the sidewalk across Southwest Third Avenue from the courthouse when federal agents came out from behind the fencing to push protesters back, Auberdine told the Tracker.
Auberdine said federal agents were firing projectiles to drive protesters away, and a flash-bang grenade went off less than a foot away from her, slightly below their waist to the side. She said another projectile hit her in the ankle, causing bruising and swelling.
Auberdine later posted a photograph on Twitter of the black pants she was wearing that night, which were coated in residue and white powder she said was from the crowd control munitions federal agents used.
Got shot at & hit a lot tonight, I have a fresh bruise on my ankle.
— Teebs (@TeebsGaming) July 24, 2020
I was also hit in the back of the legs with (what I'm pretty confident was) an OC canister.
Are these pants salvageable, or am I gonna ruin my laundry machine? pic.twitter.com/IDVUEpLx4V
Auberdine said she was wearing a black bulletproof vest with the word “press” spelled in large white letters on the front and back. She also carried a microphone.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
KATU ABC 2 photojournalist Ric Peavyhouse was struck by crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
Peavyhouse was filming federal agents though a protective fence around the federal courthouse when he was “hit by something that felt like buckshot,” he wrote on Twitter at 1 a.m. alongside a video he uploaded of the incident.
Feds came out. Tear gas. I got hit by something that felt like buck shot 44 seconds in. #PDXprotest #PortlandProtest pic.twitter.com/efdS9p6u2V
— Ric Peavyhouse (@RPeavyhouse) July 24, 2020
In Peavyhouse’s video, protesters can be heard taunting federal agents on the other side of the fence before the camera jerks sharply and Peavyhouse retreats.
At 2:15 a.m., Peavyhouse tweeted a photograph of a hospital wristband and wrote “not how you want a protest to end.” He replied to a comment saying he had something “stuck in his eye.”
In a tweet that afternoon Peaveyhouse wrote: “My best guess for what hit me in the eye last night was pepperball shrapnel shot at head level. Going frame-by-frame, it looks like officers shooting from the steps hit the officer in front of me and then I went down. I felt similar debris/shrapnel the other night. #pdxprotest”
Neither Peavyhouse nor a news director at KATU ABC 2 responded to requests for comment.
Independent journalist and livestreamer Rosa Watts said she was struck by crowd-control munitions fired by federal law enforcement officers during a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 24, 2020, despite a fresh court order barring federal agents in the city from harming members of the press covering protests.
Portland had been experiencing daily protests over the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
The presence of federal law enforcement in Portland in July intensified the city's regular protests and the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse in downtown Portland became a nightly flashpoint. A temporary restraining order from July 2 that barred Portland police from harming or impeding journalists was expanded to include federal agents on July 23. Despite the expansion of the temporary restraining order, the following day numerous journalists were hit with crowd-control munitions in the vicinity of the federal courthouse as protesters again gathered there. Some said they believed they were targeted.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment. In its “Portland Riots Read-out” DHS said one federal officer was injured during the protest, which began the night of July 23 and went through the morning of July 24.
“No injuries to protestors or rioters have been reported” the statement added. It didn’t mention any injuries to journalists, despite reports some reporters were hurt.
Watts said she was struck with a projectile fired by federal agents as she filmed through the federal courthouse’s protective fence in the early morning of July 24.
In a video captured by freelance journalist Matthieu Lewis-Rolland, Watts can be seen standing next to the fence wearing a helmet and jacket marked “press” in large letters. A projectile flies toward her from the left, appearing to hit her in the chest before she falls backward onto the ground.
Video of Feds shooting #press in the face in violation of #TRO @ACLU_OR @AthulKAcharya pic.twitter.com/fkGS2bHEcX
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) July 24, 2020
Watts replied to the video by saying it was her in the footage. She didn’t respond to requests for comment from the Tracker.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Federal officers struck Black Zebra videographer Johnny Lynch multiple times and dragged him to the ground as Lynch covered protests against police violence in Portland, Oregon, on July 22, 2020.
Black Zebra Productions, based in Sacramento, California, is a video production company that has drawn thousands of views for its livestreams at Black Lives Matter protests across Sacramento. Company videographer Lynch was in Portland covering one of the many protests that continued for months in that city following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25.
On the night of July 21, protesters gathered outside of the Multnomah County Justice Center in downtown Portland. A report issued by the Department of Homeland Security said that about 2,000 people had gathered by 10:30 p.m., when “rioters started to launch mortar-style fireworks over the fence at the federal courthouse and officers.” The DHS report also said protesters attacked a fence put up around the courthouse. In response, federal officers deployed tear gas, flash bang grenades and other crowd control munitions for several hours to break up the crowd, according to news reports.
In an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Lynch said federal officers rushed protesters numerous times to disperse the group and deployed crowd control munitions, including tear gas and pepper balls.
"There was tear gas everywhere," Lynch told the Tracker. “I got my gas mask back on and went out to the Justice Center and that's when the rush happened."
In a live stream shared on Facebook by Black Zebra Productions, federal officers can be seen running towards a crowd of people at 1:24:03 into the video. Lynch said the rush began shortly after midnight July 22. Lynch, who is wearing an orange helmet, is caught in the commotion and pushed to the ground. A few seconds later he can be seen running away from the officers and smoke that is enveloping the crowd. Another video posted by Black Zebra shows, in split screen, the attack as seen from the livestream alongside footage from Lynch’s camera. In Lynch's perspective, which is in the top frame of the video, a federal officer's baton can be seen slamming down towards the camera.
"They said move, I turned around, and then they hit me," Lynch told the Tracker. "They hit me a couple of times [and] dragged me into a cloud of tear gas that had just started to go off." He said another officer hit him while he was being dragged on the ground.
"This was very obviously a group of camera people," Lynch said. "That officer was standing there next to me for at least long enough to have seen my camera.”
Lynch said he had been wearing press passes issued by The Sacramento Bee and Black Zebra Productions. He said he lost his lens hood, sustained several bruises across his body and suffered nausea from the tear gas. After he left the scene, he said he regrouped with his team and they continued documenting till 2 a.m. on July 22.
DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country. The Tracker documented a previous incident involving Black Zebra here.
Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland was hit with crowd-control munitions and tear gas fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on July 22, 2020, causing damage to his camera.
Lewis-Rolland, an independent photographer whose work has been published by the Portland Mercury, The New York Times and Reuters, was covering one of the protests that had been held in Portland almost nightly since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon, that led to the ban.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who had been criticized for his handling of law enforcement during the protests, attended the demonstrations the night of July 22. Protesters confronted the mayor for tactics the city police used to crack down on demonstrators, according to local news outlet KATU, while the mayor spoke out against the presence of federal law enforcement agencies in Portland.
Lewis-Rolland was standing about six feet from the mayor outside the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, a focal point of the protests, when he was hit with munitions, according to a statement he provided for the ACLU case.
In a video Lewis-Rolland posted on Twitter, a crowd is seen up against the metal fence that had been set up around the courthouse. A round of shots can be heard, followed by Lewis-Rolland exclaiming, “I just got shot! I just got shot!” As he moves away from the fence, a white cloud of tear gas envelopes the crowd, including the mayor, who can be seen facing the fence and wearing a blue shirt and goggles.
“So if life could't get any stranger for me, last night I was shot with less lethal's by feds and then tear gassed all while standing next to @tedwheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon,” Lewis-Rolland wrote in the post.
So if life could't get any stranger for me, last night I was shot with less lethal's by feds and then tear gassed all while standing next to @tedwheeler, the mayor of Portland, Oregon. 2020 won't quit. pic.twitter.com/bclUiUBEFT
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) July 23, 2020
Wheeler was likely hit with tear gas at around 11:15 pm., according to KATU.
In the court statement, Lewis-Rolland said the munitions first hit the metal fencing, and the shrapnel damaged his camera and backpack. He didn’t respond to a request for comment about the damage to his equipment.
In the statement, Lewis-Rolland said that beginning on July 22, he started wearing a reflective yellow vest with a transparent pocket, where he displayed a press pass issued by the Portland Mercury. He also had “press” marked on his white bicycle helmet and on his backpack.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Independent journalist Laura Jedeed said she was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, when federal agents threw tear gas canisters toward her at least twice in the early hours of July 22, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. courthouse downton for a number of confrontations with the federal agents that continued past midnight, according to the local KPTV news station.
Jedeed, a contributor to Portland Monthly and Willamette Weekly, live-tweeted protest scenes from outside the courthouse, where federal law enforcement officers were stationed. Using the Twitter handle @defendpdx, Jedeed reported throughout the night that federal agents repeatedly fired tear gas canisters at protesters, while demonstrators started fires and threw fireworks and tear gas canisters back toward the courthouse.
In a tweet that is no longer available online, Jedeed said “At least twice, the feds launched a tear gas cannister directly at me. I was not hurt, but others aren't so lucky.”
Jedeed confirmed the events to the Tracker.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
A member of a press collective known as the 45th Absurdist Brigade was shoved by a federal officer covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, on July 22, 2020.
Protests had been held in Portland on almost a nightly basis since the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering BLM protests across the country.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. courthouse downtown for a number of confrontations with the federal agents that continued past midnight, according to the local KPTV news station.
The journalist, who asked not to be named, was filming on the sidewalk across from the courthouse. A video the journalist posted to the collective’s Twitter at 1:57 a.m. shows officers advancing on a line of protesters with pepper balls and batons.
They come out of the courthouse hitting people with sticks pic.twitter.com/ikueMx3gy9
— 45th parallel absurdist brigade (@45thabsurdist) July 22, 2020
The journalist told the Tracker that while filming the scene with a phone, they witnessed a few people get shoved by police officers. The journalist attempted to stand back from the crowd by staying on the sidewalk, not huddled with other protesters or members of the press. An officer ran by and physically pushed several people back, including the journalist, who added that they may have been shoved with a baton.
“I was standing there filming and I got shoved,” the journalist said. “They just came out and shoved like four people in a row. And I was one of them.”
The journalist said they were clearly marked as “press” by large letters on their helmet, a sticker on their back and front, and press identification. However, they weren’t sure if they were targeted as press because officers were pushing a lot of people back.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incidents.
Sarah Jeong, an opinion writer for The New York Times and columnist for The Verge, said she was thrown down courthouse steps while reporting in Portland, Oregon, on July 21, 2021.
Jeong was covering one of the many protests that broke out in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests, held nightly since late May, had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23.
On the night of July 21, the “Wall of Moms” and thousands of other demonstrators converged on the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse downton for another night of confrontations with the federal agents, according to the local KPTV news station. When some individuals began pulling off the plywood blocking access to the courthouse shortly after 11 p.m., federal agents emerged from the building to clear the area.
Jeong was standing in front of the courthouse in an area that is elevated several steps above the sidewalk, she told the Tracker. Federal agents exited the courthouse and swept right to left, clearing the crowd of protesters in front of the building, she said.
Jeong, who was standing in the center of the crowd, began to slowly back up while holding up her press identification, she said. Her helmet was also clearly marked “press.” A federal agent then pushed her down the steps, she said, adding that she believes the agent shoved her while trying to arrest someone near her.
Jeong went fully airborne and landed on her back. Her backpack protected her from further injury, she said, but she had a bad bruise and suffered whiplash for a few days after the event.
Soon after she was pushed, at 11:19 p.m., Jeong tweeted, “Curious if anyone got video of feds throwing me down the steps of the courthouse?”
While Jeong doesn’t have direct footage of the push, she did find a video posted by another Twitter user showing the events leading up to the incident. About 19 seconds into the video, Jeong can be seen wearing a white helmet clearly marked “press.” She appears again briefly around 27 seconds into the video, on the elevated part of the courthouse, as an aggressive arrest is being made.
“It’s really hard for me to imagine that they didn’t know that they were pushing a journalist,” Jeong told the Tracker, but added that she isn’t sure if she was targeted as a member of the press.
“I was not that close to other people, I was clearly not a threat, I was holding up my badge, I was being very purposefully non-threatening,” said Jeong, who gave a declaration to the ACLU about the incident in support of a restraining order against federal agents. Since the restraining order was granted on July 23, her declaration wasn’t included in the suit.
The Department of Homeland Security, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers were “forced” to leave the courthouse to repel a “mob” of protesters. DHS didn’t respond to a request for comment on this incident.
Independent journalist Ari Taylor told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was assaulted and detained by federal officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on July 2, 2020.
Taylor, who was livestreaming for Halospace Community Media and filming for the Grassroots Activist International Association, was documenting one of the many protests that have been ongoing for months in Portland and across the U.S. in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25. The Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
The Portland protests had grown more intense as the presence of federal law enforcement increased in early July. A temporary restraining order on July 2 that barred the Portland police from harming or impeding journalists wasn’t expanded to include federal agents until July 23. Taylor said she is participating in a separate class-action suit against federal officers and Chad Wolf, former acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, for using excessive force against protesters.
On the night of July 2, several hundred protesters gathered outside of the Multnomah County Justice Center, according to local news station KGW. After several demonstrators broke into the building, federal agents emerged to clear the area around 11:42, according to a Portland Police Bureau report. The Portland police declared a riot about 10 minutes later.
Taylor told the Tracker that right before the riot was declared, she was filming a glass door that had been shattered during an altercation between federal officers and a shirtless individual. According to Taylor, the officers were pushing down on the door and broke it, but the individual was arrested for the incident.
"They [officers] had shoved another member of the press with their shield, and I had gone to help him up," Taylor said. "Then they went after the shirtless individual, and I turned around to get his arrest. I had my back to the officers and was filming the crowd, and that's when they attacked me."
In a video taken by independent journalist Eric Greatwood and posted on YouTube, at about the one-minute mark, several officers can be seen pulling Taylor across the courthouse entrance and into the building amidst clouds of purple smoke and yelling from the crowd. At the 1:45 mark in another video, it is clear that Taylor is being dragged by her arm and leg. Another video shows Taylor's camera footage intercut with another individual's footage, and she can be seen being dragged up the stairs around the 0:50 mark.
Taylor said the officers pulled her across a pile of broken glass, damaging her DSLR camera and lens in the process.
Once inside the building, Taylor identified a mix of officers from the Portland police, DHS, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, based on their uniforms and badges, she told the Tracker. They brought her to a holding facility on the third floor, she said, but wouldn’t tell her what she was being charged with.
"A male officer patted me down and searched me," said Taylor. "Every hour, they'd come in and I'd ask to talk to a lawyer and they wouldn't let me."
Around 5:30 a.m., the officers released her without any paperwork or rationale as to why she was detained, said Taylor, adding that they only stated, "We may be talking later."
"They still have my gimbal," she said, referring to a mechanical stabilizer for her camera. She said the officers had confiscated all her belongings, including her backpack, gas mask and camera equipment when they searched her. "There's nothing to be held accountable. I have no paperwork to prove that I was ever in their facilities."
At the time, Taylor had press credentials stating the organizations she was affiliated with, she said. She tweeted photos of numerous bruises, cuts and scrapes sustained from the incident, and said she ended up going to the hospital for treatment of injuries to her hip, back and foot.
This just my view and one other persons view there are many other views of my federal kidnapping that you can watch. I was given no paper work and still don’t have all my stuff. I had many injuries but I will post pictures of a few. https://t.co/9hWBP4LCEe pic.twitter.com/oiAfVAkyec
— Pdx Peoples News (@PdxPeoples) July 17, 2020
The DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to a request for comment about the incident.
Independent journalist Tuck Woodstock said they were pushed several times and hit by crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Portland, Oregon on June 30, 2020.
The Portland-based journalist was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Woodstock is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
The June 30 demonstration took place the day before a planned vote to extend the city’s contract with the police union. Protesters marched over a mile from Peninsula Park to the Portland Police Association headquarters in North Portland.
Soon after protesters arrived at PPA offices around 9 p.m., the police declared an “unlawful assembly” and ordered them to disperse. When Woodstock arrived just after 9:30 p.m., the scene involved police pushing protesters and the press and shooting impact munitions at the crowd, they said.
“I got to the PPA just in time to watch PPB shoving protesters, NLG, and press while insisting that they walk faster,” Woodstock tweeted at 9:26 p.m. In the accompanying video, the camera goes askew as police push people around Woodstock.
About a half hour later, Woodstock was pushed several times when police bull-rushed a crowd of protesters. While trying to film the arrest of some protesters, Woodstock “felt a baton pressed into their back as an officer yelled ‘move, move, move, move,’ directly in their ear,” according to court documents in the ACLU case. Despite informing an officer that they were press, Woodstock was pushed at least four times, the filing said.
Then, a little after 10 p.m., Woodstock was hit by shrapnel from a canister police threw that appeared to explode on the curb in front of them. Woodstock tweeted a video of the incident, writing, “Yup just got hit in the leg with shrapnel. Seems very superficial.”
Yup just got hit in the leg with shrapnel. Seems very superficial. pic.twitter.com/2KqSIgwRDI
— Tuck Woodstock (@tuckwoodstock) July 1, 2020
Woodstock declined to comment further about the incidents.
The PPB has said it wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation in the ACLU case.
Robert Evans, a journalist and iHeartRadio podcast host, was repeatedly shoved by police officers in Portland, Oregon, while reporting on protests on June 30, 2020, according to a lawsuit filed against the city.
Protests broke out in Portland and across the United States in response to police violence and the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white officer in Minneapolis.
On Aug. 27, Evans, with colleague Bea Lake, who was arrested while documenting protests on June 7, and another plaintiff filed a civil lawsuit against the city of Portland. The complaint said that on June 30, Evans was covering a group of protesters as they marched to the Portland Police Association building where officers in riot gear were already stationed. About a half hour later, the demonstration was declared an unlawful assembly. Police officers ordered the crowd to disperse and started removing individuals from the street and sidewalk before firing riot control agents.
Evans, who did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment, was wearing a helmet labeled “PRESS” and press credentials and was repeatedly shoved by police officers as he tried to follow their orders. He stated in the complaint that he was “unable to fully document clashes and police conduct because he was forced off to the side and unable to find a reliably safe place for him to film.”
On June 28, the Americans Civil Liberties Union of Oregon filed a class-action lawsuit against the city of Portland and its law enforcement. The city later agreed to a preliminary injunction to not arrest, harm, or impede working journalists or legal observers at protests.
The Portland Police Bureau has said it wouldn’t comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protest, citing ongoing litigation.
Voice of America journalist Jason Patinkin said he was hit with a baton while reporting on a protest in Washington, D.C.’s Lafayette Square on June 22, 2020.
Patinkin told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker the man who hit him appeared to be working with law enforcement but was not wearing a uniform and would not answer questions about his identity.
The protest was one of many against racial injustice in the capital and around the country in response to the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At the June 22 demonstration in Lafayette Square, a park adjacent to the White House, a group of protesters attempted to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson, prompting the U.S. Park Police to use pepper spray and batons to push them back, the Washington Post reported.
Late in the afternoon, Patinkin said he was filming a line of police attempting to move protesters when a man used a baton to hit the journalist and a nearby protester. Patinkin said the man was not wearing a uniform but appeared to be working with the police to control the protest.
Images in a VOA video news story about the protest show a man wearing a dark green shirt, green protective vest and a helmet with a face shield who is holding a baton on both ends in front of his chest. He lunges toward the camera, which shakes, then can be seen lunging toward the right of the screen, apparently hitting a protester.
Patinkin said the man hit him horizontally across the chest.
“It's an unmarked guy hitting, hitting a journalist and hitting a protester,” Patinkin said. “If that's not assault, I don't know what is.”
Patinkin said the blow was not enough to knock him over. He told the Tracker that he repeatedly asked the man who he was, and the man backed away from the police line. He did not identify himself or answer questions about his affiliation, Patinkin said.
Patinkin said he asked a uniformed police officer who the unidentified man was, but the officer said he didn’t know.
“That means that he was operating in a line of police violently, and they didn't know who he was, and they didn't do anything about it,” Patinkin said.
Later in the day, Patinkin filmed the same man working alongside police officers, including helping with an arrest.
Patinkin said he was wearing a press badge issued to him at VOA by the U.S. Agency for Global Media, which oversees VOA. He said he had repeatedly identified himself as a journalist to other police officers who were in the line at the time he was hit. He also was carrying a camera with a large microphone attached.
“I don't know if I was specifically targeted because I was a journalist, but I was definitely hit despite clearly being a journalist,” he said.
The U.S. Park Police did not respond to requests for comment.
The Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Voice of America journalist Ayen Bior was shot in the finger with a pepper ball while filming a protest in Washington, D.C., on June 22, 2020.
The protest was one of many against racial injustice in the capital and around the country in response to the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
At the June 22 demonstration in Lafayette Square, a park adjacent to the White House, a group of protesters attempted to pull down a statue of President Andrew Jackson, prompting the U.S. Park Police to use pepper spray and batons to push protesters back, the Washington Post reported.
Bior told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that police were pushing the protesters away from the statue and toward St. John’s Episcopal Church. She said she decided to stand on the base of a lamp post in order to try to film the clash between police and protesters from a heightened angle.
“By doing that I obviously made myself a target because I stood out,” Bior said. “But I remember thinking, ‘I think that they will know that I am a member of the press.’”
Bior said she positioned herself so that most of her body and her face were protected behind the lamp post while she held out her phone to film. The phone was held out in one hand, and her left pinky finger was exposed, when she suddenly felt a burning sensation on that finger, Bior said.
Bior said she had been hit by a pepper ball, a police crowd-control device, and the pain was so intense she fell to the ground and was nearly in tears. Bior said she initially thought her finger was broken because it was difficult to move, but she treated it by wrapping and icing it and eventually concluded it was not broken.
Bior told the Tracker that she did not know whether she was targeted because she was a journalist, but she said she believed she was shot because she was filming. At other protests she has covered, she said, police typically fire pepper balls toward the ground.
“I knew that they were sending a message to me to stop recording,” she said. “I knew that that was the intent of shooting me and I felt like they risked my vision and risked me losing my eyesight for them to get that message across.”
Bior said she was not sure which law enforcement agency fired the pepper ball that hit her. The Post reported that D.C. Metro Police were at the protest in addition to U.S. Park Police.
Bior was wearing a ballistic helmet and a bulletproof vest at the time she was hit, which she thought would make her stand out from protesters. She said she was also displaying an ID card issued by VOA that clearly says “PRESS.”
The U.S. Park Police did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the D.C. Metro Police Department said the department does not use pepper balls.
The Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Kandist Mallett, a freelance journalist and columnist for Teen Vogue, was struck with pepper bullets fired by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies while covering a protest in Compton, California, on June 21, 2020.
The protest was organized in response to the shooting death of 18-year-old Andrés Guardado by a deputy three days earlier. The Los Angeles Times reported that approximately 600 demonstrators marched from nearby Gardena down West Redondo Beach Boulevard, where Guardado was shot, to the Sheriff’s Department’s station in Compton.
Mallett told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that while most of the demonstrators had left by around 6 p.m., a small group faced off against a line of sheriff’s deputies in riot gear. In Mallett’s footage of the scene posted to Twitter, at least seven deputies appear to be standing behind metal barricades blocking an alley on the north side of Compton City Hall, across the street from the Sheriff’s Department.
In the video, some of the deputies can be seen pointing their crowd-control weapons at the crowd as protesters shout at them. Mallett wrote that moments after she took the footage, the deputies began to use tear gas and the pepper ball guns on those present, including reporters.
They just started shooting at us I got hit with something pic.twitter.com/ECvpCDWnEL
— Kandist (@kandistmallett) June 22, 2020
“They shot tear gas, pepper bullets, pepper spray and rubber bullets at us,” Mallett said. “I was struck with the pepper bullets on my arm and my leg and caught in the tear gas.”
Mallett said that the deputies did not declare the gathering an unlawful assembly before opening fire on the demonstrators and members of the press.
“I showed the line of deputies my press pass just to be like, ‘Don’t shoot me,’” Mallett said. “[The deputies] just started doing everything, and I tried to get out of the way, but because we were in that long hallway, there was no way to escape without being in their aim.”
Mallett said that while she was coughing a lot and her eyes were irritated, she did not seek medical attention at the scene.
When asked whether she felt she had been targeted, Mallett said that many of those in the area were clearly identified as members of the press when the deputies opened fire.
“I did feel like the deputies just didn’t care that there were members of the press, and that their response was unnecessary and unprovoked,” Mallett said.
Freelance photojournalist Ringo Chiu was also struck with crowd-control munitions while covering the protests that day. The Tracker has documented his case here.
KTLA reported that the Sheriff’s Department confirmed that its deputies had used flash-bang grenades, pepper balls and smoke grenades on demonstrators that day, but did not provide details about what triggered their use.
The Sheriff’s Department did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country in 2020. Find these incidents here.
A young, unidentified male hurled a concrete block into the windshield of a television news crew’s car after a June 15, 2020, protest in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, video of the incident shows.
The protest was held in response to the killing of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman who was shot dead by police on March 13, as well as the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May.
Shaquille Lord, a reporter for CBS affiliate WLKY, posted a video to his Twitter page showing a group of people heckling the crew as they walk to their car. A young male holding a large concrete block walks into the street and yells, “You better hop in that car before I break the shit.” The video shows him throwing the block into the vehicle’s windshield and the news crew fleeing the scene.
“Our crew just got attacked as we were trying to leave,” Lord said on Twitter. “We’re okay and I recorded the entire thing. I can tell you things are definitely not peaceful in the downtown area today.”
Our crew just got attacked as we were trying to leave. We’re okay and I recorded the entire thing. I can tell you things are definitely not peaceful in the downtown area today @WLKY #Louisvilleprotests #DavidMcAtee #BreonnaTaylor pic.twitter.com/nnlv0lX34k
— Shaquille Lord (@ShaqWLKY) June 15, 2020
Neither Lord nor WLKY News Director Andrea Stahlman responded to requests for comment from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Newsweek also reported on the incident. It isn’t clear whether the crew was targeted for being members of the media. WLKY’s vehicles are clearly marked with the station’s logo.
A teenager was later arrested in Louisville and was charged with wanton endangerment, burglary, and criminal mischief in relation to the incident, police spokesman Sgt. Lamont Washington said.
Because he is a minor, the youth isn’t being identified and the Tracker was only able to obtain a redacted copy of the police report. Washington said he couldn’t provide any further information about the case.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent journalist Tuck Woodstock said police shoved them while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 15, 2020.
Woodstock was covering one of the many protests that have broken out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon in June. Woodstock is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city of Portland in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
Around 8:30 p.m. on June 15, Woodstock started covering a rally, organized by Rose City Justice, demanding funding cuts for the Portland Police Bureau ahead of an upcoming Portland City Council budget vote, according to The Oregonian newspaper.
The protesters marched from southeast Portland to Pioneer Courthouse Square downtown. After the rally concluded, Woodstock followed protesters to the Multnomah County Justice Center, a regular meeting point for protesters.
Just after 11 p.m., police declared a civil disturbance and warned the crowd to leave the area or be subjected to force or arrest. Around the same time, Woodstock tweeted that shots rang out as police used crowd-control munitions to disperse the protesters. About 20 minutes later, Woodstock tweeted that a protester had been shot in the head by some type of munitions in an area outside the dispersal zone.
Soon after, Woodstock tweeted about getting shoved. A video Woodstock posted later on Twitter appears to show the incident. “Police were aiming guns at a protester next to me, and I got caught in the protester’s umbrella and then slammed into by police and then dropped my phone and then picked it up to see the protester get jumped on by many police,” Woodstock says in the tweet.
And this, my friends, is when police were aiming guns at a protester next to me, and I got caught in the protester’s umbrella and then slammed into by police and then dropped my phone and then picked it up to see the protester get jumped on by many police. So. Content warning. pic.twitter.com/Phx5UnqXGg
— Tuck Woodstock (@tuckwoodstock) June 16, 2020
Woodstock declined to comment further about the incident. Derek Carmon, a spokesman for the PPB, said he was unable to comment on this incident due to the ongoing ACLU litigation.
Beth Nakamura, a photojournalist for the Oregonian, said she was pushed by officers then struck with a baton while covering demonstrations in Portland, Oregon, on June 13, 2020.
Protests in the city that day were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. But even after the curfew was lifted, Portland law enforcement continued to target journalists, according to a class-action lawsuit filed on June 28 by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order against the Portland Police Bureau, and eventually led to a preliminary injunction in July barring the police from harming or impeding journalists and legal observers.
In the early morning hours of June 13, Nakamura was covering protests in downtown Portland around the Multnomah County Justice Center, which houses a jail, courtrooms and a police precinct. Most protesters were congregating in Chapman Square, across the street from the Justice Center.
At around 12:30 a.m., Portland police declared the demonstration an “unlawful assembly.” Officers fired tear gas and flash-bang grenades, then rushed into the park to clear the area of demonstrators.
“It’s a chaotic scene that unfolds quickly,” Nakamura told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “I was photographing and held up — which I always do — my I.D. and my camera. I was at the time saying, ‘Press, press.’”
When the police instructed her to move north, Nakamura obeyed.
“I turned around and I was walking, and I got pushed by a police officer,” she said. “Then I got batoned, slammed on the back as I’m walking.” When she tried to explain that she was with The Oregonian, the officer said, ‘I don’t give a fuck who you are,’” according to Nakamura.
“Physical assault is not normal,” said Nakamura. “It’s not something anyone should tolerate well. It’s not right.”
After Nakamura tweeted about the incident a couple of days later, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who also holds the title of police commissioner, responded in a tweet: “This is extremely concerning. Journalists need to be able to cover the protests safely. I know @portlandpolice works hard to protect the rights of our press, but there are alarming incidents that need to be addressed.”
While covering protests I was slammed by a baton from behind by police. Just before that I was shoved hard. I'd made it clear I was press (both hands up, ID in left hand, camera in right). This happened sometime between 12-1 Friday night.
— Beth Nakamura (@bethnakamura) June 15, 2020
The Oregonian, Nakamura’s employer, and the Portland Tribune, Sparling’s employer, have both filed complaints about the incidents with the Portland Independent Police Review, an independent agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct.
“Both of those investigations are underway,” Ross Caldwell, the director of the Independent Police Review, told the Tracker. “We have a huge volume of cases, as you can imagine, so everything is taking longer than it normally does.”
In response to questions about the incidents involving Nakamura and Sparling, marched Carmon, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, told the Tracker, “We will not be commenting in regard to these two incidents at this time” because “there is a TRO in place and because the preliminary injunction is still an open litigation case.”
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.
Police disperse protesters in Portland, Oregon on June 13, 2020.
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Protests in the city that day were in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. But even after the curfew was lifted, Portland law enforcement continued to target journalists, according to a class-action lawsuit filed on June 28 by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The ACLU lawsuit resulted in a temporary restraining order against the Portland Police Bureau, and eventually led to a preliminary injunction in July barring the police from harming or impeding journalists and legal observers.
On the evening of June 13, Sparling told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering demonstrators who were yet again gathering in Chapman Square downtown. A little after 10:30 p.m., the Portland police declared the protest an “unlawful assembly” and began to fire crowd-control munitions and tear gas to clear the square. Sparling followed a group of about 50 protesters who fled the area and then formed a line on Southwest Main Street, next to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.
As the police were warning protesters that the downtown area was closed and they needed to leave, Sparling — who was filming the scene with his cellphone and had a camera strapped around his neck — moved to the sidewalk so he could document the scene away from the crowd.
“As a journalist, I was staying out because that’s when people want observers on the ground: when munitions are going and orders are being enforced with force,” he told the Tracker.
When the police started to charge toward the demonstrators, Sparling turned the corner onto Southwest Park Avenue. “But the officer appeared around the corner as well,” he said.
Footage that Starling posted on Twitter at around 11:50 p.m. shows an officer running around the corner and — right after Sparling calls out that he was “media” — shoving him into a wall. The officer could be heard saying, “I don’t give a shit.” and ordering him to leave the area.
Portland Police charge protesters tonight.
— Zane Sparling (@PDXzane) June 14, 2020
Officer: Move!
Me: MEDIA!
Officer: I don’t give a shit! Go!
I was shoved into the wall, then hit in the heel by some sort of crowd control munition. I’m fine pic.twitter.com/daPElkEb6J
“I didn’t break any bones. But it was a scary moment,” Sparling told the Tracker. “I was on the sidewalk not doing anything other than my job, other than being there and trying to observe.”
Sparling wasn’t unsure if the police targeted him because he was a journalist, noting that although his camera was hanging from around his neck, his press badge may have been hard to see.
After getting shoved, Sparling walked down the rest of the block to leave the area. As he was walking away, a crowd-control munition hit his foot, leaving a red welt, he said.
The Portland Tribune, Sparling’s employer, and The Oregonian, Nakamura’s employer, have both filed complaints about the incidents with the Portland Independent Police Review, an independent agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct.
“Both of those investigations are underway,” Ross Caldwell, the director of the Independent Police Review, told the Tracker. “We have a huge volume of cases, as you can imagine, so everything is taking longer than it normally does.”
In response to questions about the incidents involving Nakamura and Sparling, marched Carmon, a spokesman for the Portland Police Bureau, told the Tracker, “We will not be commenting in regard to these two incidents at this time” because “there is a TRO in place and because the preliminary injunction is still an open litigation case.”
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.
A freelance photojournalist said police shot him in the back with a rubber bullet while he was covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 12, 2020. The photojournalist asked to remain anonymous out of concerns for his safety and privacy.
Many protests broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over Floyd’s death began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare a curfew that lasted three days. Even after the nightly curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. The photojournalist provided a declaration in support of the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the Portland Police Bureau in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
On June 12, the journalist said he was taking photographs of the protests near the Multnomah County Justice Center — which houses a jail, courtrooms and a Portland police precinct — when he was shot from behind.
“I was taking photos near the Justice Center when police shot me in the back with a rubber bullet,” he said in the court declaration, noting that he had a press pass and he is clearly identified as a journalist. “Fortunately, I was wearing a backpack, or I may have been seriously injured. Shortly after this, the police swarmed the crowd from behind, physically assaulting and beating people at random.”
The shooting made him fearful of covering the demonstrations after that. “After this incident, I stopped reporting on the protests because the actions and attitude of the police made me feel unsafe,” said the journalist, who declined to comment further for the Tracker.
In response to questions about the journalist’s account, Portland Police Bureau spokesman Derek Carmon told the Tracker, “We will not be commenting” because “there is a TRO in place and because the preliminary injunction is still an open litigation case.”
Portland City Attorney Tracy Reeve similarly said, “We are not able to comment on pending litigation.”
Independent multimedia journalist Jordan Pickett was hit and injured by a crowd-control projectile fired by law enforcement officers while he covered protests against police violence in Seattle on June 8, 2020.
The Seattle demonstrations were one of many that have swept across the country in response to the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis on May 25.
On the evening of Sunday, June 7, most protesters were gathered in one area near Capitol Hill along East Pine Street and 10th Avenue, Pickett told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. He had been covering the action in the front, but began to slowly retreat as police officers deployed tear gas to force protesters to disperse.
“At that point, a flash bang grenade went off almost directly on my foot and that was scary enough that I started to push back further,” Pickett remembered. “I was walking with both of my cameras held up to try to appear as not intimidating as possible.”
Pickett said he also had a press badge around his neck and large pieces of white duct tape with the word “PRESS” written in black Sharpie on his hat and backpack.
At 12:23 a.m. on June 8, officers hit Pickett with what he believes was a 40mm baton round in the back of his right thigh, he told the Tracker. In a tweet sent at 3:02 a.m., he wrote the projectile tore through thick jeans from more than 50 feet away, breaking the skin and making him collapse in pain.
According to his estimates, officers were still more than 50 feet away. Picket crawled behind a parked car to regain his composure while more tear gas was released around him. He said he was momentarily blinded and still disoriented when he got up and started walking towards Broadway, where a protester sprayed a baking-soda solution in his eyes.
“Either officers identified me as press and shot anyway, are shooting so quickly or indiscriminately that they can’t identify their targets first or weren’t aiming for me and shot inaccurately,” Pickett wrote in another tweet. “All three seem problematic.”
On Sept. 25, the law firm of Stritmatter Kessler Koehler Moore filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle and State of Washington on the behalf of “peaceful protesters,” including Pickett, claiming the city enabled police officers’ “unreasonable and disproportionate conduct” and the “widescale use of excessive force,” violating rights protected under the First Amendment.
Seattle Police Department spokesman Randy Huserik declined to comment, citing a policy of not discussing pending litigation. He confirmed that SWAT officers were deployed but said they do not use baton rounds.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country.
Shortly after being hit with a crowd-control munition while covering a protest in Seattle on June 8, journalist Jordan Pickett posted these images on Twitter, saying he was clearly identifiable as working press.
",None,None,None,None,False,20-2-14351-1,['ONGOING'],Civil,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at, student journalism",,, 2020-11-04 19:24:02.788059+00:00,2022-03-10 17:03:26.180017+00:00,Freelance photojournalist hit by police paint projectile while covering Portland protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/freelance-photojournalist-hit-police-paint-projectile-while-covering-portland-protest/,2022-03-10 17:03:26.124737+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Alex Milan Tracy (Freelance),,2020-06-07,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Freelance photojournalist Alex Milan Tracy was hit with a green paint projectile fired by police while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on June 7, 2020.
The protest was one of many that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
In Portland, nightly protests over the death of Floyd began on May 29, prompting Mayor Ted Wheeler to declare an 8 p.m. curfew that lasted three days. Even after the curfew was lifted, journalists continued to be targeted by police, according to a class action suit the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon filed against the Portland Police Bureau in June. Tracy is a plaintiff in the suit, which resulted in a temporary restraining order and an agreement by the city in July not to arrest, harm or impede any journalists or legal observers.
Tracy was covering one of three protests in the city on the night of June 7. The protest originated at the Multnomah County Justice Center with a speech by faith leaders. The protest remained peaceful until 11 p.m., when protesters began to shake the fence around the Justice Center and police countered with pepper balls. Around 11:45 p.m., an unlawful assembly was declared and the use of crowd control munitions escalated.
As officers cleared the area in front of the Justice Center, Tracy was hit in the lower leg by the police paint marker round, according to the ACLU declaration. Tracy wasn’t available for further comment.
In a video Tracy tweeted of when he got hit, green paint can be seen on the ground where he had been standing. He also tweeted a picture of his pants covered in green paint below the knee.
Just before midnight, Tracy fell while running from a police charge. “I fell backwards on a curb, got up and turned around and was seconds away from getting grabbed by riot police who were tackling people to the ground as they made arrests,” he said in the declaration. In a video Tracy tweeted, he appears to fall about 20 seconds in, and then a protester can be seen getting tackled as Tracy gets up to run.
— Alex Milan Tracy (@AlexMilanTracy) June 8, 2020
The PPB has said they wouldn't comment on incidents involving journalists covering the protests, citing continuing litigation.
A skateboard thrown at a television news station’s car smashed the vehicle’s windshield and broke the driver’s door near protests against police violence in Colorado Springs, Colorado on June 6, 2020.
Reporter Colette Bordelon was driving the marked KOAA News5 car near Colorado Springs’ City Hall to cover the demonstration on June 6. When she made a left turn on a street heading away from City Hall, someone threw a skateboard at the car. Later that night, Bordelon tweeted a video showing damage to the car and said: “I can’t open the driver’s side door as a result. Friendly reminder that your local reporters are here to tell your stories.”
A video clip that accompanies the tweet shows a large smash on the left-hand side of the car’s windscreen.
It isn’t clear whether the vehicle was specifically targeted for belonging to a media outlet. “It was pretty close to the protests, but I have no way of knowing if it was a random person or actually a protester,” Boredelon told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
“There are too many unanswered questions in my specific incident to go ahead and attribute it to an attack on the press, or as related to the protests,” Bordelon said in an email.
Bordelon tweeted after the incident that she was uninjured, and livestreamed on Facebook Live from the scene of the protest that night.
“So everyone knows - I’m totally okay!” she tweeted. “Also, I realize this is an isolated incident, and it doesn’t represent all of the people I have met at these protests over the past week. The main message of the protests is still the story I will share - systemic racism in America.”
Bordelon filed a police report about the incident.
The Colorado Springs demonstration was one of many protests that broke out across the U.S. in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement since the end of May. They were sparked by a viral video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A screenshot from a video taken by journalist Colette Bordelon and posted to Twitter shows damage to her news vehicle.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,private individual,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2020-11-04 14:36:10.527748+00:00,2024-03-27 17:15:11.550953+00:00,"Independent journalist pushed, hit by NYPD while covering protest in Bronx",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-journalist-pushed-hit-nypd-while-covering-protest-bronx/,2024-03-27 17:15:11.428727+00:00,,,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Search or Seizure",,equipment bag: count of 1,,Ashoka Jegroo (Freelance),,2020-06-04,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Independent journalist Ashoka Jegroo was pushed and hit with a baton by a police officer while covering a racial justice protest in the Bronx borough of New York on June 4, 2020.
The protest, in the Mott Haven neighborhood in the Bronx, was one of many demonstrations organized across the city in response to the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and others in 2020. Jegroo regularly reports and films video footage of protests, which he sells to media outlets.
In a phone interview, Jegroo told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was at the front of the demonstration, near some of the organizers, as they began marching through the neighborhood on the evening of June 4. A few minutes before a citywide 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, said Jegroo, city police officers moved to break up the protest using a crowd control tactic called kettling, in which police block demonstrators from leaving. As police advanced on the crowd, Jegroo and organizers at the front of the march were separated from the “kettle” and pushed across the street by police, the journalist said.
Jegroo said that police appeared to target an organizer near him who was using a megaphone to communicate to the larger group.
In a video Jegroo posted on Twitter, a line of NYPD officers is seen standing on the street. An NYPD officer in a yellow helmet approaches another officer and points into the crowd. “You want her locked up?” the second officer asks. “OK.”
The second officer then moves swiftly, striking at protesters and swiping toward Jegroo. “Get the fuck back, I’m not fucking with you, get the fuck back,” the officer says.
NYPD cops are making violent arrests & beating people with batons at the #FTP4 march in the Bronx. I just got hit with a baton & pusher by cops. pic.twitter.com/w6YOxXssvj
— Ash J (@AshAgony) June 5, 2020
Jegroo said that the police officer struck him with a baton on his abdomen between his belly button and his groin. Jegroo said he then ran away from the line of police, following two protest organizers as they sought to see what was happening to the larger group of demonstrators cordoned off by police. When they encountered more police, officers grabbed the organizers, Jegroo said, then threw him against a fence, where he slid down to the ground.
Jegroo said that as he attempted to get up, a police officer pulled him up, turned him around and pinned him against a gate, holding one of the journalist’s arms behind his back. A second officer questioned Jegroo, asking why he was there and where he lived, while another officer rifled through his backpack, Jegroo said. After searching through his bag, the police freed Jegroo. He said he collected his belongings, which the police had dropped on the ground. He reported that none of his reporting equipment was damaged.
Jegroo said he did not identify himself to police as a journalist at any point during the protest. He said that in past encounters with police, he had found that identifying himself as a reporter did not help. “I've tried to do that before, but … they don't give a damn,” he said.
NYPD did not respond to a request for comment about Jegroo’s experience.
The march was the fourth organized by a coalition of grassroots groups under the name FTP4, initials that various group members say can stand for “For the People,” “Feed the People,” or “Fuck the Police.” Police tactics during the Mott Haven march came under criticism in a report released in September by Human Rights Watch. The group said that police conduct during the FTP4 march was “intentional, planned, and unjustified,” and that NYPD’s response violated international human rights law.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Journalist Ashoka Jegroo was documenting a protest in the New York borough of the Bronx when he was shoved and hit with an NYPD officer's baton.
",detained and released without being processed,New York Police Department,2020-06-04,2020-06-04,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2020-06-22 16:59:42.048749+00:00,2021-06-01 16:20:50.639932+00:00,"NYPD hits journalist with batons, confiscates his bike",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/nypd-hits-journalist-batons-confiscates-his-bike/,2021-06-01 16:20:50.573727+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"bicycle: count of 1, equipment bag: count of 1",,Armin Rosen (Tablet Magazine),,2020-06-03,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Tablet Magazine senior reporter Armin Rosen was beaten by police, who then confiscated his bicycle, while he was covering protests in New York, New York, on June 3, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Rosen told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering a protest march in downtown Brooklyn shortly after 9 p.m. New York Police Department officers had been gradually pushing the crowd toward Borough Hall but quickened their advance when a sudden downpour began.
Rosen — who had with him a reporting notebook, backpack, bicycle and helmet wrapped in white duct tape with “PRESS” emblazoned across it — walked his bike over to a nearby structure to take cover from the rain and put his notebook away so it wouldn’t be damaged.
Still got my helmet though! (Tape etc applied by @BenFeibleman last night) pic.twitter.com/M5zw2Bie26
— Armin Rosen (@ArminRosen) June 4, 2020
“Facing the structure, and thus with my back to the crowd, I felt a blunt object strike my right shoulder and very quickly realized I was on the grass and surrounded by police,” Rosen said.
He added that he is unsure how many times officers struck him with their batons in total.
Three officers held him down while another demanded, “What the fuck is in your bag?” The officer then quickly searched the backpack as Rosen explained that he was a journalist and had been concerned about his notebook getting wet. Rosen said the officers did not ask him to produce any identification.
Rosen said another officer said, “Take your shit and get the fuck out of here,” and threw the still-open bag toward him.
“Once back on my feet, I was aggressively pushed forwards by a nearby cop and nearly fell to the ground again,” Rosen said.
That’s when Rosen said he realized that his bike was gone. When Rosen asked if the officers could return his bike, an officer responded, “It’s not your bike anymore.”
Cops clubbed me and took my bike what the he’ll do I do
— Armin Rosen (@ArminRosen) June 4, 2020
Rosen told the Tracker that he asked if there was a number he could call in order to recover the bike, but both the officers who had surrounded him and a man who appeared to be a commanding officer dismissed or ignored his requests.
“I currently have a large welt on my right shoulder from the initial blow, along with a second area of pain in my left buttock,” Rosen said.
Rosen told the Tracker that a fellow journalist found his bike more or less abandoned near Borough Hall along with multiple others a few hours after it was taken, and was able to return it to Rosen.
When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30-minute mark” of a press briefing held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.
Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “Wherever appropriate, we issue summonses in lieu of arrests. We’ve obviously done a lot of both summonses and arrests. The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately, we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second—maybe too long—to sort out.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A man scuffles with law enforcement officers during a protest in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on June 3, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2020-09-16 20:29:39.235949+00:00,2022-03-10 22:00:59.810609+00:00,"New Orleans photographer bruised, thrown to ground by police while covering protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/new-orleans-photographer-bruised-thrown-ground-police-while-covering-protest/,2022-03-10 22:00:59.747797+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Hope Byrd (Antigravity Magazine),,2020-06-03,False,New Orleans,Louisiana (LA),29.95465,-90.07507,"Hope Byrd, a New Orleans photographer, says she was assaulted by a police officer who threw her to the ground and into a barricade while she was covering a protest in the city on June 3, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Byrd, who was on assignment for Antigravity Magazine, was left with bruises and cuts. She temporarily lost some of the use of her left arm after she was physically assaulted by a New Orleans Police Department officer, she told the Committee to Protect Journalists in a phone interview.
The New Orleans protest began in Duncan Plaza, a small park in the city center, on the night of June 3. At 7 p.m., between 1,000 and 2,000 protesters began marching east to Crescent City Connection, a bridge that spans the Mississippi River. At that point, it was peaceful, Byrd told CPJ. The police were anticipating the group, and had followed the marchers from the plaza to the on-ramp to the bridge, Byrd said.
But at around 9:30 p.m. protesters were underneath the bridge and getting restless. A police barricade prevented them from crossing the bridge. The protest organizers selected two or three people to try and cross the police line and begin negotiations with police, Byrd said.
“They wanted to be escorted past the bridge, to the other side,” Byrd said. “It seems like a simple gesture, but the SWAT team was not having it.”
Shortly before 10 p.m., the confrontation began. Byrd said the police line was breached, and the police started pushing into the crowd. She doesn’t know how or why the line was breached, but protesters were able to get on the other side of the police line. In response, police started firing tear gas.
“I was pushed through [the line]; I don’t know and don’t really remember how I got through,” Byrd said. “I was quickly grabbed and thrown on the ground, which is when I produced my media pass and made it very clear that I was media to an officer. That didn’t seem to help.”
“Between the first and second grab of the officer I produced my already visible media badge. I held it in my hand and put it toward his face, but it didn’t matter,” Byrd said. “I didn’t expect it to, but I felt the need to produce that. That’s when he threw me on the ground, back into the barricade, and into the crowd and into the tear gas.”
Byrd says her press credentials were visible around her neck the whole time. She was also wearing a hat with the word “Antigravity” on it, the name of the magazine she was shooting for.
After examining photos and videos from the altercation, Byrd believes the police officer who assaulted her was the captain of a New Orleans Police Department squad. Byrd said she also witnessed the same officer put a male protester in a chokehold. She did not see the names or badge numbers of any police officers, including the one who assaulted her, she said.
“The police at the line, some were talking, some weren’t,” Byrd said. “The officers I addressed, I asked them where their body cam was. I asked them to produce their name and their badge number. To my knowledge and in the photos I have, there’s no identifying anything.”
After she ended up on the other side of the police line and back with the protesters, Byrd put her goggles on as her visibility was affected by tear gas. Other photographers were wearing gas masks, but Byrd did not have one. As she was shooting, she heard rubber balls being shot by police. Although they initially denied it, the New Orleans Police Department confirmed that they used rubber balls against protesters during the city’s protests.
At around 10:40 p.m., the protest organizers began their retreat and Byrd left the scene.
When asked if she thought she was targeted for being a member of the media, Byrd said both yes and no.
“The fact that [the police officer] responded with more violence after I said I was media, by making it clear I was media, by showing the credentials [suggests yes],” she said. “Most of the damage was from the second and third throw. At the same time, we see that he’s choke holding other protesters.”
Gary S. Scheets, a senior public information officer for the New Orleans Police Department, told CPJ it could not comment on Byrd’s allegations without a police report. Byrd did not file a police report, but she did contact the New Orleans Independent Police Monitor. Byrd said she tried to use the complaint form online, but the link to upload evidence is broken.
Photographer Hope Byrd supplied this image of injuries sustained while covering a protest against police violence in New Orleans on June 3, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,, 2020-10-22 15:46:49.439206+00:00,2021-11-19 16:45:57.090497+00:00,"Tampa Bay Times journalist knocked to the ground, detained while covering Florida protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/tampa-bay-times-journalist-knocked-ground-detained-while-covering-florida-protests/,2021-11-19 16:45:57.019193+00:00,,,,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Divya Kumar (Tampa Bay Times),,2020-06-03,False,Tampa,Florida (FL),27.94752,-82.45843,"Tampa Bay Times reporter Divya Kumar was detained in the early hours of June 3, 2020, while covering a protest in Tampa, Florida.
Protesters had gathered in Tampa and in cities across the U.S. to denounce police brutality following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25.
The Times reported that Kumar was arrested downtown when Tampa Bay Police Department officers declared an unlawful assembly near Joe Chillura Courthouse Square.
The outlet reported that Kumar held up her media credentials to identify herself as a member of the press as a line of bicycle officers advanced. However, one of the bicycle officers knocked Kumar to the ground, handcuffed her and then placed her in plastic zip ties for 10 to 15 minutes.
Luis Santana, a Times photojournalist, posted photos of her detention on Twitter.
@TB_Times @divyadivyadivya places in cuffs and detained by @TampaPD while covering the protests in downtown Tampa even after identifying herself as a Times reporter. She was eventually released. pic.twitter.com/4E9095kmcM
— Luis Santana (@TBTphotog) June 3, 2020
“I don’t know what I could have done differently,” Kumar told the Times. “I identified myself as a journalist and tried to get out of there safely.”
In a news conference held later that day, Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan defended the officers’ actions and emphasized that Kumar had been detained, not arrested.
“I think what happened was in their effort to cover the actions they ended up too close to it and ended up getting detained,” Dugan said, adding that Kumar was released after she was identified as a member of the media.
At the same press conference, Mayor Jane Castor suggested that many people attended the protest with fake media credentials, and declined to apologize for Kumar’s detention.
“We got bigger things out there than apologizing to a reporter that gets detained that didn’t leave when they were asked to leave three times,” Castor said.
The Times reported that later that day, Castor did call Kumar to apologize, as did Chief Assistant City Attorney Kirby Rainsberger.
Rainsberger said officers’ treatment of Kumar was “an overreaction,” and the city was reiterating the right of the press to the department during officer roll calls and via email.
In a statement published that day, Times Executive Editor Mark Katches objected to the detentions of Kumar and a second Times journalist, Jay Cridlin, in St. Petersburg the night before. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented Cridlin’s arrest here.
“Journalists need to be able to do our jobs and report the news without being harassed, detained, intimidated or harmed by law enforcement,” Katches said.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Spencer Wilson, a reporter for local CBS affiliate KKTV 11, was pepper sprayed by police while covering a protest in Colorado Springs, Colorado, on June 2, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Wilson had been covering the protest in front of the Colorado Springs police headquarters with a KKTV photographer, Jon Modic, all day, and broadcast much of the demonstrations on Facebook Live. The pair were reporting from a barricade in front of the police headquarters, where about 75 people were protesting and about 40 police officers were standing on the other side, Wilson told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
At around 10:30 p.m., an announcement came over a loudspeaker informing the crowd that the protest was no longer peaceful, and that protesters needed to leave. Wilson heard the same announcement while covering protests the previous night, June 1. On both nights, the announcement angered the crowd, Wilson said, and he saw bottles being thrown at police officers.
At this point, Wilson was standing with Shawn Shanle, a photographer for FOX 21, and he began moving back as officers with riot shields moved toward the crowd. Wilson estimated no more than two minutes passed between the dispersal order and the police moving in on the crowd. Then, fireworks exploded and police shouted, “That was not us!” Officers then began pepper spraying the crowd.
“I’m walking away from the police. I turn around to start walking backwards, like I’m in a marching band, while I’m holding up my camera on my shoulder,” Wilson said. “A police officer, who is on the very edge of the line, just randomly sprays pepper spray as if it was silly string.”
Wilson said the officer looked directly at him when he sprayed from about 10 yards away. “It was directly aimed at me and that photographer and it wafted over to us and went directly into us.”
Wilson said he was clearly identifiable as a member of the media. He had a large camera on his shoulder, was dressed in a suit and tie, and was wearing a media I.D. on a lanyard.
Wilson also had visited the police station earlier in the day to ask where journalists should report from, and where they should move to in the event of a dispersal. When told to disperse, Wilson walked in the direction the police had told him to go earlier in the day.
After he was sprayed, Wilson turned the camera at the police, repeated that he was media, and asked the officer why he sprayed. Wilson says the officer was silent, and continued chasing after protesters who were walking away. Wilson didn’t get the name of the officer, and said he didn’t know whether he had been targeted as a member of the press.
After being sprayed, Wilson said he was separately hit with tear gas deployed by police. A police officer led Wilson — coughing and with eyes stinging from the chemicals — away from the street. He used a water bottle given to him by a protester to wash out his eyes and finished reporting at around midnight.
A spokesperson for the Colorado Springs Police Department declined to comment on the incident, but said the department worked with the media to address safety concerns. The department also said on Twitter that demonstrators are ordered to disperse only when protests turn violent.
In a message sent to members of the media on June 3, the Colorado Springs Police Department said, “Please know that you are never targeted because you are press. When officers are working to safely disperse a crowd, they cannot differentiate media in the crowd (as many protestors also have cameras), and are working to disperse everyone present.” The message goes on to ask reporters to wear clothing that clearly identifies them as press, and that journalists have their credentials on them at all times.
The next day, Wilson’s boss bought goggles and reflective vests for journalists to wear for future assignments, so police could more easily identify them. Wilson said he went back to the Colorado Springs police headquarters and told officers about the vests.
“The officers I spoke with laughed and said, ‘It’s not going to help.’ I was taken aback.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Detroit Free Press reporter Darcie Moran had her hands zip-tied and was flung to the ground by Detroit police while reporting on protests in the city on June 2, 2020, the reporter told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Moran said that she was working on a story about police tactics and observed police blocking a line of protesters on Gratiot Avenue and an armored vehicle coming up from behind the protesters.
Moran said she was standing on a grassy area with other reporters near the Family Dollar store at 10950 Gratiot Avenue while the protesters were in the streets. She stepped slightly away from the group to get a better glimpse of the protesters.
“All of a sudden there was a rush to my right and I can’t say exactly what happened because it was a little bit of a blur,” she said, stating that protesters might have run up to the curb between the grassy area and the street.
“What I do know is that police started coming up from the side and not from the spots that we had been facing,” she said. “I turned and as I go to lift up my press badge that’s hanging on my chest, I am pushed to the ground and they start putting me in zip ties,” she said.
Moran said she had a respirator on at the time and so wasn’t sure if police could hear her yell, “I’m media, I’m media!” Moran said her colleagues behind her were yelling that she was a member of the media and for police to release her once she was on the ground.
Moran’s colleagues posted a video of the incident online. “You can see in the video that he allows me to put my phone in my back pocket,” Moran said.
Another officer walked up and instructed his colleague to release Moran, the journalist said. Moran said that until she saw the video, she didn’t realize that her second hand was in the process of being zip-tied when the police officer intervened.
“What’s interesting about this is they had released media passes for these events two nights prior,” Moran said. “[I] had a giant one printed out and used duck tape to strap it on my back, so it was a very large sign that a number of people pointed out would have been visible as I was on the ground being zip-tied,” she told CPJ, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Moran said that the officer who ended the confrontation helped her up from the ground, apologized and then found her later to apologize again. Moran said she had a scratch and some back and ankle pain the next day.
Detroit police did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment.
San Antonio Express-News reporter Mark Dunphy was hit by a crowd-control munition fired by law enforcement officers who were attempting to disperse protesters in downtown San Antonio, Texas, on the evening of June 2, 2020.
Protesters had gathered in San Antonio and in cities across the U.S. to denounce the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25.
In San Antonio, demonstrators were marching towards the Alamo, a symbolic site where in 1836 a vastly outnumbered group of Texan settlers were besieged in the mission by 1,500 Mexican troops.
Dunphy and Spectrum News reporter Lena Blietz were on the scene as protesters gathered by a line of police officers wearing riot gear in front of Alamo Plaza, a commercial center next to the historic mission.
Blietz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest was “super peaceful.” As some protesters took a knee and one addressed the crowd near the police line, Blietz said she thought she was about to witness officers and protesters embracing — something that had happened in Fort Worth, Texas, the previous night.
A video captured by Blietz showed a man standing in front of riot police telling protesters, “put your hands up — let everybody know we’re not here for violence!”
As he said that, there is a commotion alongside several bangs and the sound of crowd-control munitions being fired as people scramble to flee.
Dunphy, who was standing near Blietz when police moved to disperse protesters, was hit with a crowd-control munition.
“Caught one of them to the leg. Free Yin Yang tattoo, I suppose,” Dunphy wrote on Twitter alongside photos of a hand holding a wooden projectile and a dark welt on the back of his thigh.
Blietz was also struck in the leg with a crowd-control munition. The Tracker has documented that case here.
In another tweet, Dunphy wrote that he saw a plastic bottle thrown at police shortly before officers began firing wooden rounds and using tear gas. In a video shared by Dunphy that night, dots from laser pointers aimed at police officers can be seen. Blietz can be seen standing directly in front of police, filming a protester’s address to the crowd.
In a photo shared by Dunphy the day after he was hit, the welt caused by the wooden round had grown in size, turning purple and red.
After the incident, one of Dunphy’s colleagues at the Express-News tweeted that Dunphy had been hit by a wooden bullet fired by police and tagged San Antonio mayor Ron Nirenberg, asking “are you okay with this?”
“No, I’m not,” Nirenberg responded, “I am asking for more information on these projectiles.
No, I'm not.
— Mayor Ron | Get vax’d! 💪 (@Ron_Nirenberg) June 3, 2020
I am asking for more information on these projectiles. https://t.co/TCEEexVEXZ
Dunphy and the Express-News didn’t respond to requests for comment. Spokespeople for the San Antonio mayor’s office also didn’t respond to the Tracker.
“It is my understanding that two local journalists were hit during the crowd dispersal,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said in a June 3 statement. “Although this was unfortunate, this was certainly not the police department’s intent. During crowd control dispersal action officers cannot readily distinguish between peaceful protesters, media and agitators once the situation has reached a boiling point.”
McManus added that the police department was and would continue offering journalists the opportunity to cover protests from a “safe zone” behind the line of officers. The police chief advised journalists who cover protests from within crowds to leave if the situation becomes volatile.
A public information officer for the San Antonio Police Department said they had no additional statement.
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.
Derrick Broze, co-host of Free Thinker Radio on 90.1 KPFT and a freelance reporter, was arrested in downtown Houston, Texas, while documenting protests on June 2, 2020, according to his and other news accounts of events.
Protests in Houston were held in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd grew up in Houston’s Third Ward and lived in Texas until around 2014, Texas Monthly magazine reported.
In a video posted to Facebook, Broze narrates that protesters were near the intersection of McKinney Street and Avenida De Las Americas when some individuals began throwing bottles at a dense line of advancing officers.
A few minutes later, Broze can be heard saying, “They’re coming on both sides, they’re closing us in.”
In an account written for The Last American Vagabond, Broze said that he had been documenting the protests for approximately five hours before police declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly.
“The police – dressed in riot gear and armed with live ammunition – surrounded the protesters, medics, and yours truly using a tactic known as ‘kettling,’” Broze wrote. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented the arrests and assaults of other journalists within kettles here.
Houston police officers surrounded the group of around 50 protesters and began “violently rushing into the crowd and grabbing people,” according to Broze’s account.
“During the chaos I told several officers I was press documenting the situation,” he wrote. “I was told over and over that I should take it up with the courts.”
In Broze’s footage, he can be heard identifying himself as a member of the press multiple times and asking whether he can be released from the kettle or speak to a public information officer.
Broze tweeted the following day that he was among the individuals “snatched” and thrown to the ground when placed under arrest. His footage of the incident ends before he is placed under arrest.
Broze added that he was charged with “obstructing a highway/passageway.”
breaking the law. However, me and the other 2 dozen people I was kidnapped with were kettled in by the police as they violently snatched protesters, throwing some to the ground, including me. I was charged with "obstructing a highway/passageway" for being on the sidewalk.
— Derrick Broze (@DBrozeLiveFree) June 3, 2020
In his account of the incident, Broze wrote that he was taken to Harris County Jail and held there for 16 hours.
The Houston Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment.
Broze wrote, “As a journalist (and an opponent of police violence) I will continue to document the George Floyd protests and other important movements in the United States.”
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office dismissed nearly 800 charges on June 9 against individuals at demonstrations “in the interest of justice,” the Houston Chronicle reported. The DA’s office did not respond to a request to verify that the arrest charges against Broze were among those dropped, but the Tracker is marking as such barring further information.
The Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Protesters march at a rally for George Floyd on June 2, 2020, in Houston, Texas.
",arrested and released,Houston Police Department,2020-06-03,None,True,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, kettle, protest",,, 2021-10-19 16:08:24.074357+00:00,2022-03-10 17:04:47.483111+00:00,Spectrum News reporter hit by police projectile amid San Antonio protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/spectrum-news-reporter-hit-by-police-projectile-amid-san-antonio-protest/,2022-03-10 17:04:47.413562+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Lena Blietz (Spectrum News),,2020-06-02,False,San Antonio,Texas (TX),29.42412,-98.49363,"Spectrum News reporter Lena Blietz was hit by crowd-control munitions fired by law enforcement officers who were attempting to disperse protesters in downtown San Antonio, Texas, on the evening of June 2, 2020.
Protesters had gathered in San Antonio and in cities across the U.S. to denounce the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man who died while being arrested in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25.
In San Antonio, demonstrators were marching towards the Alamo, a symbolic site where in 1836 a vastly outnumbered group of Texan settlers were besieged in the mission by 1,500 Mexican troops.
Blietz was on the scene as protesters gathered by a line of police officers wearing riot gear in front of Alamo Plaza, a commercial center next to the historic mission.
Blietz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest was “super peaceful.” As some protesters took a knee and one addressed the crowd near the police line, Blietz said she thought she was about to witness officers and protesters embracing — something that had happened in Fort Worth, Texas, the previous night.
A video captured by Blietz showed a man standing in front of riot police telling protesters, “put your hands up — let everybody know we’re not here for violence!”
As he said that, there is a commotion alongside several bangs and the sound of crowd-control munitions being fired as people scramble to flee.
“Eventually they brought out the tear gas and the rubber bullets or pepper bullets, whatever they’re using,” said Blietz in a video recorded after the incident. “I was shot in the leg but I’m fine,” she wrote on Twitter.
Blietz’s polo shirt and hat were emblazoned with the Spectrum News logo and she wore press credentials around her neck. She said she had been standing between protesters and police before law enforcement tried to disperse the crowd, and that she was clearly identifiable as media.
In a photo of a welt on the back of her thigh the next day, she wrote: “It looks like I was standing in a batting cage.”
Thank you to everyone who’s reached out and I’ll get back to all of you soon.
— Lena Blietz (@LenaBlietz) June 3, 2020
Here’s an update on my thigh from the non-lethal bullet shot by SAPD SWAT last night.
It looks like I was standing in a batting cage.#BlackLivesMatter #SanAntonioProtest #rubberbullets #protests2020 pic.twitter.com/DsEpcKtYBb
“The next day I basically couldn’t walk it hurt so much,” she told the Tracker.
San Antonio Express-News reporter Mark Dunphy, who was standing near Blietz when police moved to disperse protesters, also was hit. The Tracker has documented that case here.
In another tweet, he wrote that he saw a plastic bottle thrown at police shortly before officers began firing wooden rounds and using tear gas. In a video shared by Dunphy that night, dots from laser pointers aimed at police officers can be seen. Blietz can be seen standing directly in front of police, filming a protester’s address to the crowd.
“It is my understanding that two local journalists were hit during the crowd dispersal,” San Antonio Police Chief William McManus said in a June 3 statement. “Although this was unfortunate, this was certainly not the police department’s intent. During crowd control dispersal action officers cannot readily distinguish between peaceful protesters, media and agitators once the situation has reached a boiling point.”
McManus added that the police department was and would continue offering journalists the opportunity to cover protests from a “safe zone” behind the line of officers. The police chief advised journalists who cover protests from within crowds to leave if the situation becomes volatile.
A public information officer for the San Antonio Police Department said they had no additional statement.
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.
Independent photojournalist Joe Piette was shot by law enforcement officers with a projectile that injured his hand and destroyed his camera while covering protests in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 1, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Piette told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing protesters as they poured onto the I-676 highway, halting traffic in both directions at around 5 p.m. Minutes later, Piette said, Philadelphia police began firing tear gas into the crowd.
“I was one of many people who ran up a grass embankment through a lot of gas fumes to street level,” he said.
Piette told the Tracker that once he was out of the gas, protesters helped pour water into his eyes and he crossed to the other side of the expressway, where there were very few people.
“From that vantage point, I had a good view of police continuing to shoot [crowd control munitions] at protesters as they tried to flee up an embankment and over a 10-foot-tall fence,” Piette said. “I took a few photos, and suddenly my camera was shot out of my hands and I felt a lot of pain in my right hand.”
After looking at his photos the following day, Piette saw that his second-to-last image shows an officer on top of a tank approximately 20 feet from him. Piette told the Tracker that he assumes that is the officer who shot at him.
While Piette was not wearing any press identifiers, he told the Tracker that the officer had no cause to shoot at him, as he was standing away from the disturbance and with no other people around him.
“The camera is totaled. The glass was shot out of the lens. The in-camera flash is stuck in the up position. When I turn on power, nothing happens,” Piette said.
Piette told the Tracker that he went to the hospital to have his hand X-rayed. While it was not broken, he said that it was discolored, sore and swollen.
“This is an attack on the press, a clear violation of the Constitution. I have a right, as every citizen does, to film and report on police activities, especially when the police are violating the rights of peaceful protesters,” Piette said.
In a late-night statement on June 1, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw said that officers had no choice but to use tear gas after the protest turned violent, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
WHYY reported that there does not appear to be evidence to support those claims.
Neither Mayor Kenney nor the Philadelphia Police Department responded to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photojournalist Joe Piette captured this image of Pennsylvania police officers using crowd control ammunition during a protest on June 1, 2020, moments before he was hit with one of the projectiles.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-07-08 12:22:55.718731+00:00,2022-03-10 17:07:00.936924+00:00,"Photographer hit with projectile, tear gas while covering protests in Louisville",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photographer-hit-projectile-tear-gas-while-covering-protests-louisville/,2022-03-10 17:07:00.876296+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Amy Harris (Freelance),,2020-06-01,False,Louisville,Kentucky (KY),38.25424,-85.75941,"Freelance photographer Amy Harris was hit by pepper balls shot by law enforcement officers while covering protests in Louisville, Kentucky, on June 1, 2020.
The Associated Press reported that protests in Louisville have centered around the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, both of whom were Black. Taylor was shot eight times in her Louisville home in mid-March by narcotics police who broke down her door. Floyd died on May 25, after a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, kneeled on his neck for several minutes during an arrest. Video of Floyd’s death has sparked protests across the country.
Harris told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she had been photographing peaceful protests for several hours around Jefferson Square Park when police officers, who had previously been present only on the roofs of surrounding buildings, began to appear on the ground to enforce a 9 p.m. curfew. At approximately 10:15, Harris said, officers lined up in riot formation and announced that everyone present was in violation of curfew and ordered them to disperse.
The officers then began to shoot tear gas and pepper balls in all directions, according to Harris, and she was hit with a pepper ball. Both she and a nearby TV news crew, with whom she had paired up with earlier in the day for safety purposes, all felt the tear gas, she said. Harris said it was impossible to know whether they had been targeted.
Harris and the other journalists tried to flee but couldn’t tell which direction the projectiles were coming from and felt surrounded on all sides, she told the Tracker. Eventually, they were able to retreat. Harris said they heard the sounds of gunshots from the crowd while leaving.
The TV crew and their security team accompanied Harris to her car and she was able to leave the scene. Harris said she had bruising from the pepper balls but otherwise was uninjured in the attack.
The Louisville Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents — including others involving Harris — of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photographer Amy Harris said she had been documenting protests around Louisville's Jefferson Square Park for several hours before she was hit with a projectile.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-07-21 02:18:44.373413+00:00,2023-11-01 15:46:27.000225+00:00,Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter assaulted while covering Little Rock protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/arkansas-democrat-gazette-reporter-assaulted-while-covering-little-rock-protests/,2023-11-01 15:46:26.907420+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,work product: count of 1,Tony Holt (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette),,2020-06-01,False,Little Rock,Arkansas (AR),34.74648,-92.28959,"Tony Holt, a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, was struck in the face and injured while he covered protests in Little Rock, Arkansas, on June 1, 2020.
Protests in Little Rock began after the death of George Floyd, a Black man, who was killed during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, when a white police officer kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes. Floyd’s death prompted widespread demonstrations against racism and police violence across the country.
Holt was reporting on the third day of protests in Little Rock when he was hit and hurt to the point of needing medical treatment.
Holt didn’t respond to a request for comment. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Managing Editor Eliza Gaines detailed the incident in an interview with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Shortly before he was attacked, Holt tweeted that hundreds of people were still out a few minutes past the city’s 10 p.m. curfew. People had been throwing rocks through windows and damaging property, Gaines said. Holt was “in the thick of it,” she said, when he felt someone take his reporter’s notebook from his pocket. Then he was struck with something.
Gaines said many of the details around the attack were unclear. Holt doesn’t know exactly what happened to him, or who did it, she said.
A “good Samaritan” got him to emergency services, she said, and he was transferred to a hospital. Editors — alerted to the attack by a tweet Holt sent at the time — went to wait for word of his status outside the building, since Covid-19 restrictions barred them from entering.
The following day, Holt posted on Twitter that his nose was broken in the attack and that he was in the hospital for five hours.
“I have no memory of the attack last night in Little Rock, but there was a small group among the rioters who clearly didn’t want me there,” he wrote.
I have no memory of the attack last night in Little Rock, but there was a small group among the rioters who clearly didn’t want me there. Suffered a broken nose, but no other fractures. All journos, seriously, be careful. I got too close and paid for it w/ a 5-hour hospital stay pic.twitter.com/Dju2BfdsZ6
— Tony Holt (@HoltDemGazette) June 2, 2020
Holt wasn’t wearing anything that would clearly mark him as a reporter, Gaines said, though he had credentials with him and carried a notebook. The newspaper bought vests with the word “press” on the back for reporters after the assault on Holt, Gaines said, but “we realized it might put a target on someone's back.” Reporters can decide whether or not to wear them, Gaines said.
“It'd be good if you had it so the police could see it but otherwise it's kind of, you know, alerting others that you're press,” she said.
Gaines said she didn’t believe the incident had been reported to police. A spokesperson for the Little Rock Police Department said police weren’t aware of the incident.
Two days earlier, reporter Shelby Rose of KATV Channel 7 News was shouted at and struck with an object while she was broadcasting live from protests in Little Rock.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd and others while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Multiple journalists for the Spanish-language outlet Telemundo reported being hit with projectiles while covering protests near the White House on June 1, 2020.
The protests that day were part of a wave of demonstrations resulting from a viral video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The Telemundo journalists — cameraman Edwin López, senior Washington correspondent Cristina Londoño Rooney and bureau chief Lori Montenegro — reported being hit with projectiles as law enforcement officials attempted to disperse protesters half an hour before the district’s 7 p.m. curfew on June 1 and as President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Rose Garden, nearby.
Emailed requests to the Telemundo journalists for interviews were not returned as of press time.
In a video posted shortly before being hit, Londoño described “a very tense atmosphere” and how tear gas was “already starting to make our throats itch.” She wondered if “protesters are aware that the president will be addressing the nation any time.”
After the attack, the Colombian journalist posted a video in which she detailed the journalists’ injuries, stating that López had been hit on his right arm and ribs; that Montenegro had been hit on the back and that her throat was sore after breathing air filled with tear gas; and that law enforcement had used “long weapons that were pointing at us” to push them out of the area close to the White House.
In a tweet on June 5, Londoño shared pictures of her wounds and bruises, writing, “The White House also said rubber bullets were not used. Can anyone tell me what this looks like?”
La Casa Blanca negó que usaron gases lacrimógenos o balas de goma para dispersar a los manifestantes y periodistas el lunes. Sentí los gases y el @washingtonpost ahora los confirma. Y esto ¿Me pueden decir esto qué es? pic.twitter.com/CkjEIPSwqu
— Cristina Londoño Rooney (@CristiLondono) June 6, 2020
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Park Police said in a statement on June 2 that its officers and other assisting law enforcement partners had not used tear gas that day, though multiple outlets, including the Washington Post, have reported that “chemical agents” were deployed. Regarding this particular incident, Park Police did not respond to our request for comment as of press time.
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.
Freelance photojournalist Richard Cummings was arrested and charged with failure to disperse and other charges while documenting a protest against police violence in Worcester, Massachusetts, on June 1, 2020.
Cummings told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he went to the protest that day to photograph from a distance, but added he didn’t stay long before heading for the Main South neighborhood to continue work on a long-term documentary project on the area.
Cummings said that at around 9:30 p.m. he noticed an escalated police presence, with officers from the Worcester Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police and the Clark University Police blocking roads and offloading vans filled with officers in riot gear.
Cummings said he heard the officers screaming, as if “to get pumped up for something.” He added he didn’t understand what was happening, because the protest was elsewhere and he hadn’t seen any escalation there.
The Telegram & Gazette, Worcester’s daily newspaper, reported that a group of people had gathered in the neighborhood after the peaceful protest in downtown had dispersed. A confrontation reportedly ensued with law enforcement after the group staged a “die-in” in a roadway.
According to Cummings, the officers moved in formation down Main Street, chanting, “Move back,” and firing tear gas and projectiles as some individuals threw rocks and shot fireworks toward them. He said several people were arrested, many of whom appeared to not have been the ones throwing objects.
Cummings said he was struck twice by projectiles fired by police during the melee, once on his left shoulder and once on his right elbow. He told the Tracker he was unsure what type of projectiles they were.
Cummings said he then moved to stand next to a police formation near the intersection of Hammond and Main, figuring it was a safer place to photograph. He said he told an officer that he was a freelance photojournalist and that the officer directed him to stand on the sidewalk, which he did, continuing to document the scene.
Another officer, who Cummings said seemed to be in charge at the scene, asked Cummings what he was doing. Cummings said he was told it was all right to be where he was. A recording filmed by Cummings and published by the Telegram & Gazette appears to have captured this interaction.
In the video, an officer can also be heard saying of a protester, “I’m keeping eyes on him. I’d love to hit him with a pepper gun.”
About 15 to 20 minutes later, Cummings said, he was suddenly grabbed by an unknown number of officers, who bent him over a brick wall with his arms behind his back. Cummings said an officer screamed he was going to break Cummings’ arms and called him a homophobic slur.
Cummings told the Tracker that he didn’t resist and pleaded with the officer to not break his camera. While a second officer took his camera, Cummings said, the officer who pinned and screamed at Cummings seized his cellphone.
Both the Worcester Police Department and the Worcester County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment.
Cummings said he was then escorted to a police van, where he said he began to have a panic attack, in part due to the impact of exposure to pepper spray or tear gas and in part due to fear of contracting coronavirus in a confined space. He also said the metal handcuffs cut into his wrists.
“It was hell, pretty much for taking pictures on the sidewalk,” Cummings said. “I wasn’t being rude to any cops. I wasn’t yelling at any cops. I went there ... I didn’t show any side. I was just documenting it.”
Cummings was one of nearly 20 people arrested that night on charges of disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace and failure to disperse during a riot, the Telegram & Gazette reported.
Cummings told the Tracker that, on his release early the next morning, he noticed that videos on his phone appeared to have been deleted. He said that his phone didn’t have password protection, so its data would have been accessible. Cummings said that he was unable to recover any of the deleted footage.
Cummings’ legal team, who are representing multiple people arrested that night, said the phones of two other individuals had disappeared or been destroyed, the Telegram & Gazette reported.
Cummings pleaded not guilty on Aug. 21, according to the Telegram & Gazette. A Worcester County District Attorney’s Office spokesperson told the Tracker that his next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 28. If convicted on all charges, Cummings faces up to a year in prison and fines totaling up to $800.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering demonstrations across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Reporter Katherine Burgess of the Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tennessee, was pushed by a police officer with a riot shield while covering a Black Lives Matter protest at Memphis City Hall on North Main Street on June 1, 2020.
The protest, in response to the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, began in the daylight hours of May 31 at the National Civil Rights museum. In a long-running thread on Twitter, Burgess posted video and text showing the movement of the protesters and occasional confrontations with Memphis police.
In the footage Burgess posted to her personal Twitter account, a Memphis police officer is seen pushing Burgess back with a riot shield near City Hall. One of the officers tells Burgess to “back up” a few times, as she attempts to document arrests of protesters in an area closed off by police. In the video, she says several times that she is “media” and asks “Why are you pushing me away from the scene?” More than a dozen officers can be seen, most with riot gear and a few holding billy clubs.
Police moved abruptly to arrest peaceful protesters I was with. Then they pushed me back and forced me to move down the mall. They made 3-4 arrests. They had one man on the ground. pic.twitter.com/X6uQoYye4S
— Katherine Burgess〽️ (@KathsBurgess) June 1, 2020
“After I was pushed with riot shields and told to "go home" by police officers when trying to film several arrests, then followed in an intimidating fashion up the mall outside City Hall,” Burgess told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Moments after the incident, Burgess said she called the Commercial Appeal’s executive editor, Mark Russell, to share her experience. According to Burgess, Russell expressed his disappointment with how officers treated his staff. In a call with the Tracker, Russell said he sent a letter to Memphis Police and city and county officials, saying that Burgess was “just doing her job” when she was pushed. Russell noted that since that communication, his staff has not had any issues with local law enforcement.
Memphis Police, Tennessee State Highway Patrol and the Shelby County’s Sheriff Office did not respond to repeated requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Journalist Jo Ling Kent was hit on the arm with an exploding incendiary device while reporting live from protests in Seattle, Washington, on June 1, 2020. Kent was uninjured, according to social media posts.
Kent, a correspondent for the TV networks NBC and MSNBC, was covering protests against racial injustice and police brutality that moved through the city of Seattle on the evening of June 1, according to the journalist’s posts on Twitter.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Starting at around 6 p.m., Kent tweeted photos and videos of large crowds moving towards Seattle’s east precinct and through the Capitol Hill neighborhood.
At 7:49 p.m., she tweeted that protesters were “proceeding peacefully” through the streets. But less than an hour later, at 8:27 p.m., Kent wrote that “Tensions are rising near the east precinct in Seattle.” Her tweet accompanied a photo of a police officer holding a baton and facing a protester.
Shortly after, at 9:19 p.m., Kent was reporting live on MSNBC from a sports field in Capitol Hill. In a video of the broadcast posted to Twitter by MSNBC, fireworks are seen going off in the background while Kent reports that police officers are “now advancing on protesters.” Seconds later, an incendiary device explodes and hits Kent on her left arm. She is then hustled away by the network’s security team to the back of the field, where she continues to report until the anchor cautions her to leave the area and a crowd of people start running and yelling. Kent and her team then run off and the video ends.
WATCH: @jolingkent is hit with fireworks during live broadcast as protests in Seattle, Washington, quickly escalate. pic.twitter.com/0KdpGXzhH6
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) June 2, 2020
Kent, who did respond to messages via Twitter and emails seeking comment, later tweeted that “Thankfully, our whole team is ok and safe. I’m totally fine - my jacket sleeve got singed and that’s it.”
As Kent was leaving the scene after being hit she reported on air that “there is severe tear gas and fireworks being deployed by Seattle police.” In its caption with the post of the recording to Twitter, MSNBC wrote that Kent was “hit with fireworks during live broadcast as protests in Seattle, Washington, quickly escalate.”
Dozens of commenters on both MSNBC and Kent’s posts wrote they thought the device, which was seen emitting smoke after exploding and hitting Kent, resembled a tear gas canister or a flash-bang grenade, rather than a firework.
The Seattle Police Department did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Maya Saenz, a news anchor for Omaha-metro area CBS affiliate KMTV, said she was shoved by National Guard officers while covering a June 1, 2020 protest in Omaha, Nebraska, against police violence.
Protests against police violence had spread across the country following the May 25 death of George Floyd. On June 1, demonstrations in Omaha also protested a decision by Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine to not charge a white bar owner, who had shot and killed 22-year-old Black man James Scurlock two days earlier, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
After an 8 p.m. curfew went into effect June 1, the World-Herald reported that at least 150 protesters remained on downtown streets. According to Mayor Jean Stothert's proclamation, as reported by WOWT 6 News, members of the media were exempt from the curfew.
Saenz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she and her KMTV colleague, Kent Luetzen, were covering protests near Jackson Street and South 13th Street when they were aggressively confronted by National Guard officers.
“Guardsmen quickly ran towards the middle of the street and started grabbing protesters and throwing them on the ground and then placing zip-ties around their wrists,” she said. “I started recording on my cellphone and recorded when one guardsman shoved my colleague and I against a wired fence and attempted to arrest both of us and place zip-ties around us. We yelled, ‘We’re media! We’re media!’ and that’s when they let us go, but several others barked at us to leave the scene.”
In a video posted to Twitter at 9:07 p.m., both reporters repeatedly scream that they are media as a National Guard officer grabs Luetzen. Saenz said she was wearing a shirt with a KMTV logo in the top corner as well as her media credential on a lanyard around her neck. “During the forceful encounter with the guardsmen, my lanyard tore,” she said. “After that, I put it in my pocket.”
Luetzen told the Tracker he was briefly put into zip-ties, but quickly released. At the same time on the same block, one of their colleagues, Jon Kipper, was tackled and also briefly detained.
Approximately half an hour later, Luetzen and Saenz were briefly detained by Omaha police.
Around 9:30 p.m., Luetzen said protesters had spread out after police made a series of arrests in the downtown area. He told the Tracker that he and colleagues from his station, including Saenz, were walking away from the main demonstration area after being told repeatedly that they would be arrested if they didn’t leave. At the intersection of Leavenworth Street and South 15th Street, they came across four Omaha police officers who had detained two people.
"They made us get on the ground and put our hands behind our backs," Luetzen said. "Even though we work with them daily and they knew my co-worker, they still made us get down, put our chests to the ground."
Luetzen said he had his press credentials around his neck and a KMTV logo on his hat. He said that Saenz told the officers that they were all working journalists and were leaving the area. After Saenz’s clarification, he said, the officers let them leave.
The Nebraska National Guard did not respond to an immediate request for comment. When asked for comment about Luetzen’s detainment, Lt. Sherie Thomas, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department, told the Tracker that Police Chief Todd Schmaderer had ordered “an overall review of the protests.” Thomas later said that the department sent “clear communication” to news outlets “to make sure employees had visible badges showing that they work for the media” and to “wear highly visible vests.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Multiple journalists for the Spanish-language outlet Telemundo reported being hit with projectiles while covering protests near the White House on June 1, 2020.
The protests that day were part of a wave of demonstrations resulting from a viral video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The Telemundo journalists — senior Washington correspondent Cristina Londoño Rooney, bureau chief Lori Montenegro and cameraman Edwin López — reported being hit with projectiles as law enforcement officials attempted to disperse protesters half an hour before the district’s 7 p.m. curfew on June 1 and as President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Rose Garden nearby.
Emailed requests to the Telemundo journalists for interviews were not returned as of press time.
In a video posted shortly before being hit, Londoño described “a very tense atmosphere” and how tear gas was “already starting to make our throats itch.” She wondered if “protesters are aware that the president will be addressing the nation any time.”
After the attack, the Colombian journalist posted a video in which she detailed the journalists’ injuries, stating that Montenegro had been hit on the back and that her throat was sore after breathing air filled with tear gas; that López had been hit on his right arm and ribs; and that law enforcement had used “long weapons that were pointing at us” to push them out of the area close to the White House.
In a tweet on June 5, Londoño shared pictures of her wounds and bruises, writing, “The White House also said rubber bullets were not used. Can anyone tell me what this looks like?”
La Casa Blanca negó que usaron gases lacrimógenos o balas de goma para dispersar a los manifestantes y periodistas el lunes. Sentí los gases y el @washingtonpost ahora los confirma. Y esto ¿Me pueden decir esto qué es? pic.twitter.com/CkjEIPSwqu
— Cristina Londoño Rooney (@CristiLondono) June 6, 2020
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Park Police said in a statement on June 2 that its officers and other assisting law enforcement partners had not used tear gas that day, though multiple outlets, including the Washington Post, have reported that “chemical agents” were deployed. Regarding this particular incident, Park Police did not respond to our request for comment as of press time.
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.
Multiple journalists for the Spanish-language outlet Telemundo reported being hit with projectiles while covering protests near the White House on June 1, 2020.
The protests that day were part of a wave of demonstrations resulting from a viral video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
The Telemundo journalists — bureau chief Lori Montenegro, senior Washington correspondent Cristina Londoño Rooney and cameraman Edwin López — reported being hit with projectiles as law enforcement officials attempted to disperse protesters half an hour before the district’s 7 p.m. curfew on June 1 and as President Donald Trump addressed the nation from the Rose Garden, nearby.
Emailed requests to the Telemundo journalists for interviews were not returned as of press time.
In a video posted shortly before being hit, Londoño described “a very tense atmosphere” and how tear gas was “already starting to make our throats itch.” She wondered if “protesters are aware that the president will be addressing the nation any time.”
After the attack, the Colombian journalist posted a video in which she detailed the journalists’ injuries, stating that Montenegro had been hit on the back and that her throat was sore after breathing air filled with tear gas; that López had been hit on his right arm and ribs; and that law enforcement had used “long weapons that were pointing at us” to push them out of the area close to the White House.
In a tweet on June 5, Londoño shared pictures of her wounds and bruises, writing, “The White House also said rubber bullets were not used. Can anyone tell me what this looks like?”
La Casa Blanca negó que usaron gases lacrimógenos o balas de goma para dispersar a los manifestantes y periodistas el lunes. Sentí los gases y el @washingtonpost ahora los confirma. Y esto ¿Me pueden decir esto qué es? pic.twitter.com/CkjEIPSwqu
— Cristina Londoño Rooney (@CristiLondono) June 6, 2020
D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Park Police said in a statement on June 2 that its officers and other assisting law enforcement partners had not used tear gas that day, though multiple outlets, including the Washington Post, have reported that “chemical agents” were deployed. Regarding this particular incident, Park Police did not respond to our request for comment as of press time.
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.
KCBS Radio reporter Timothy Ryan was caught in a cloud of tear gas and severely injured his ankle while covering protests in Oakland, California, on June 1, 2020, according to a lawsuit filed on his behalf in January 2022.
Protests in Oakland took place amid a national wave of demonstrations against racism and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis in May 2020. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented hundreds of incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control munitions or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Ryan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the demonstration downtown as protesters marched toward the Oakland Police Department. According to the lawsuit, Ryan was reporting near the corner of Broadway and Ninth Streets at approximately 7:40 p.m., shortly before the city-wide curfew order went into effect.
“Just like I’ve seen so many times in Oakland, there were a couple hundred police officers, all in their riot gear,” Ryan said. “And as I usually do, I positioned myself close enough to the action but always keeping an eye out for an escape route.”
Ryan said he saw two small, plastic water bottles fly toward the police officers. Instantly, the officers began deploying tear gas and flash-bang grenades into the crowd.
“I didn’t think their reaction would be so violent,” he said. “Instantly, it just gets chaotic.”
Ryan said he was half a block away from the skirmish line and he attempted to flee as a thick cloud of tear gas enveloped him.
“I’m overcome with tear gas and it’s dark and I’m blinded,” he said. “I turn to run and in that retreat, in just the first couple of steps, I move from the sidewalk to the street and that movement twists my right foot in.”
Ryan told the Tracker he tore two ligaments and broke a bone in his right foot. He said that while the adrenaline helped him push through the pain and continue reporting for several hours, his injuries ultimately required surgery and he still has a limp.
Ryan was wearing a helmet labeled with “PRESS,” had his KCBS press identification attached to his belt and was carrying a digital recorder and microphone with the KCBS logo, according to his lawsuit.
“The tear gas attack by defendants on plaintiff RYAN was motivated by his status as a working journalist or was committed with reckless disregard to his status as a journalist and his peaceful and lawful presence at the protest,” the suit states.
Then-Deputy Police Chief Leronne Armstrong said during a town hall meeting on June 8 that the department would examine each instance when munitions were deployed during the protest, KTVU FOX 2 reported. He also acknowledged that it was possible the crowd did not hear the officer’s dispersal order.
Armstrong, who became chief of police in 2021, issued an apology one year after the protest for the police response and announced that he had issued at least 33 disciplinary actions to officers for violating city and department policy.
"We failed on June 1," Armstrong told KTVU. "We deployed tear gas outside policy. I apologize to the young people that you had to experience what you experienced. This department is holding itself accountable."
Ryan filed his lawsuit on Jan. 26, 2022, against the City of Oakland and two Oakland Police Department officers who had supervised the police response.
Ryan’s attorney, Dan Siegel, told the Tracker that the goal of the suit is to hold the department accountable for its excessive use of force, and they are seeking both policy change and monetary damages.
In November, Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu dismissed the municipal liability claims against the city, but ruled that the remainder of the claims — including First Amendment retaliation and supervisory liability — can stand.
According to court records reviewed by the Tracker, a jury trial in the case is scheduled for Sept. 25, 2023.
Oakland police disperse a crowd with tear gas on June 1, 2020. KCBS reporter Timothy Ryan, who was covering the protest against police brutality, severely injured his ankle when fleeing the chemical irritant.
",None,None,None,None,False,4:22-cv-00521,['SETTLED'],Civil,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,, 2020-06-05 04:55:29.996052+00:00,2024-03-26 21:20:21.191050+00:00,"NM student journalists fired upon with foam rounds, one struck by ricochet",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/student-journalists-fired-upon-foam-rounds-one-struck-ricochet-amid-albuquerque-protests/,2024-03-26 21:20:21.063821+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Andrew Gunn (New Mexico Daily Lobo),,2020-05-31,False,Albuquerque,New Mexico (NM),35.08449,-106.65114,"Andrew Gunn, a journalist for the student-run newspaper at the University of New Mexico, was hit by a ricochet foam-tipped munition when law enforcement officers fired into a small protest that Gunn and his colleagues were covering in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on May 31, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Gunn, a senior reporter and copy editor for the New Mexico Daily Lobo, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he arrived in downtown Albuquerque at 1 a.m to document the protests, joining a group of colleagues.
Approximately 30 minutes later, Gunn said he was standing with photo editor Sharon Chischilly and reporter and photographer Liam DeBonis reporting on the protests when officers fired tear without warning.
Gunn said that all three journalists were clearly identified as media, with DeBonis wearing a helmet marked with the word “PRESS.”
.@LiamDebonis ‘s helmet is brilliant! pic.twitter.com/j7e9HXlu83
— Sharon Chischilly (@Schischillyy) June 1, 2020
Gunn continued reporting via livestream on Twitter. He said that shortly after he turned off the livestream just after 2 a.m., law enforcement fired foam rounds at protesters, and one ricocheted off the street and struck him in the back.
— ᴀɴᴅʀᴇᴡ ɢᴜɴɴ 🏳️🌈 (@agunnwrites) June 1, 2020
Gunn said that two other colleagues, data editor Joe Rull and senior reporter Bella Davis, were standing with him also wearing press identification when the officers opened fire; Gunn said no one was injured.
“Everyone is safe and unharmed, and things are quieting down, but I was quite shaken by the encounter along with my colleagues,” said Gunn, who provided a photograph of the munition to the Tracker.
Gunn said that these incidents followed similar ones earlier in the evening. Before Gunn arrived on the scene he said colleagues told him they were fired upon with tear gas and foam rounds.
had to run back because they shot something toward the crowd pic.twitter.com/3BUJBSs5OY
— Joe Rull (@rulljoe) June 1, 2020
Gunn said he saw officers with the Albuquerque Police Department, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department and the New Mexico State Police on patrol; he is not certain to which agency the officers firing the foam rounds or the tear gas belonged.
The Tracker contacted all three agencies but did not receive immediate responses from APD or the Sheriff’s Department.
The New Mexico State Police deferred comment to the Albuquerque Police Department, which it said was the lead agency in charge of managing the protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Student journalist Joe Rull picked up this foam-tipped munition shortly after he and colleagues from the New Mexico Daily Lobo were fired upon by law enforcement in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at, student journalism",,, 2020-07-17 11:57:29.013655+00:00,2022-03-10 17:12:23.346612+00:00,Columbus Dispatch photographer hit with projectile while covering protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/columbus-dispatch-photographer-hit-projectile-while-covering-protests/,2022-03-10 17:12:23.281515+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Adam Cairns (Columbus Dispatch),,2020-05-31,False,Columbus,Ohio (OH),39.96118,-82.99879,"Adam Cairns, a staff photographer for the daily Columbus Dispatch, was hit with a projectile while covering protests in Columbus, Ohio, on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
On the night of May 31, Cairns and his colleague Dean Narciso left the Dispatch office and walked half a block to the intersection of Broad and High streets adjacent to the Ohio state capitol building where protesters had gathered. At around 9:45 p.m., shortly before a 10 p.m. curfew went into effect, Cairns observed a large police presence moving into formation in the middle of the intersection, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. As the officers lined up, he said he saw something that resembled a water bottle thrown at the police. Immediately, and without warning, according to Cairns, police began shooting projectiles and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
Cairns and Narciso were standing at a distance from the group of protesters who had congregated. They turned to leave the scene. At that moment, Cairns told the Tracker, he was struck on the back of his right ear and cheek by what appeared to be a wooden bullet, knocking his safety glasses off his head. Narciso was not hit, according to Cairns. The men returned to the Dispatch office and Cairns said he did not resume photographing the protests until the following night. The projectile left a welt on his cheek for several hours and a scratch on his ear, he said. His equipment was not damaged.
In a photograph taken by Cairns shortly before he turned away and was hit, a police officer can be seen aiming in his direction.
Police open fire with non-lethal rounds to disperse protesters from Broad/High as curfew neared pic.twitter.com/lYxdzwXGDF
— Adam Cairns (@atomicphoto) June 1, 2020
In an editorial for the paper, Dispatch Editor Alan D. Miller wrote of the photograph, “It’s unclear whether it was that officer’s bullet that grazed Cairns’ ear and cheek… It’s unclear whether the officer who fired at Cairns was targeting a journalist. But there was no mistaking Cairns for a protester, given the camera equipment and press credentials he was carrying.”
Cairns told the Tracker “it’s really hard to say” whether he was targeted by law enforcement. “As I look back on it, there was nobody else in the area other than me with cameras pointed at them,” he said.
The Columbus Division of Police did not immediately respond to phone and emailed requests for comment.
In his editorial, Miller wrote that when asked in a press conference two days later about police treatment of journalists covering the protests, Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan responded, “There’s no malice involved, there’s no intent. ... We ask the public to have some patience and please comply, and we’ll work it out afterward. Please don’t stand there and argue; move along and comply and we’ll fix this after.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Soon after taking this photograph for Ohio's Columbus Dispatch, staff photographer Adam Cairns was hit with a projectile on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-08-06 18:29:47.842441+00:00,2022-03-10 17:13:57.810181+00:00,VICE News journalist hit by projectiles while covering protests in DC,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vice-news-journalist-hit-projectiles-while-covering-protests-dc/,2022-03-10 17:13:57.749814+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Todd Zwillich (VICE News),,2020-05-31,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"VICE News journalist Todd Zwillich told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was hit in the head by multiple projectiles during a chaos-filled night of protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
According to his Twitter feed, Zwillich had spent much of the evening of May 31 covering protests in Lafayette Park, near the White House. He told the Tracker that at around 11 p.m., the start of the city’s curfew, he’d been filming a line of law enforcement officials as they marched up 16th Street to clear protesters from the area, saying that the scene was not particularly crowded and that his credentials were visible.
He said that shortly thereafter an officer aimed at him and fired two projectiles. On Twitter he posted that he’d been “hit with a rubber bullet,” but he clarified to the Tracker that he wasn’t sure what the projecticles were. He was hit in the head, though did not suffer serious injury.
Police moving protesters up 16th st. I just got hit in the head with a rubber bullet. My press credentials are out. I’m fine. pic.twitter.com/x6PVf1MnDS
— Todd Zwillich (@toddzwillich) June 1, 2020
“I don’t know what they saw. I don’t know what they thought,” Zwillich told the Tracker. “I know what I was doing. But I don’t know how it was perceived.”
Zwillich said he was not certain which agency the officer was with. D.C. is notable for the large number of different police forces that operate within its borders. Requests for comment from the Metropolitan Police Department and the U.S. Park Police were not immediately returned.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Law enforcement in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-08-10 19:26:29.071238+00:00,2022-03-10 17:14:15.614094+00:00,Primer Impacto reporter injured by rubber bullet during protests in Santa Monica,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/primer-impacto-reporter-injured-rubber-bullet-during-protests-santa-monica/,2022-03-10 17:14:15.555064+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Paula Rosado (Primer Impacto),,2020-05-31,False,Santa Monica,California (CA),34.01949,-118.49138,"Paula Rosado, a reporter for Primer Impacto, a Spanish-language evening news program broadcast by Univision, was hit with a rubber bullet as she covered protests in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, 2020.
Demonstrations that day were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Rosado had been narrating a livestream on Facebook in the late afternoon of May 31. A little over 12 minutes in, shots can be heard, followed by a loud scream from Rosado, who then said she’d been hit in the leg.
The assault occurred as law enforcement tried to disperse the demonstrators with tear gas and rubber bullets, Univision reported the next day.
Rosado was taken to an area hospital. In a later video, she compared the day’s events to the riots that erupted in Los Angeles in 1992, after four policemen had been acquitted of beating Rodney King.
In her next on-air appearance, Rosado can be seen on crutches. She tells her audience: “We left a dangerous situation safe and sound, so that we could tell our story and do our job. We know we are not the only ones, but there’s an entire nation in conflict and we hope with the strict curfews, the city comes back to normal.”
Rosado, the Los Angeles Police Department and the Santa Monica Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Univision reporters Alexander Zapata and Fernando Rentería said they were fired on with what they believed to be pepper ball rounds by police while covering the arrest of a civilian protester in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 31, 2020.
The protest that day was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Zapata and Rentería had been streaming live on Facebook as night fell on May 31, covering protests along the Strip. About an hour into their stream, the reporters can be seen making their way north on Las Vegas Boulevard when Zapata explains that tear gas had been fired on the crowd but that it was not very intense. Shortly thereafter, the reporters walked toward a group of officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Zapata can be heard saying, “It looks like they are arresting a civilian.”
➡️ Equipo de noticias de Univision en Las Vegas recibe balas de gomas de parte de la policía en medio de las protestas por la muerte de #GeorgeFloyd. pic.twitter.com/zJV0YHXoa1
— Univision Noticias (@UniNoticias) June 1, 2020
In the video, reviewed by the Tracker, an officer can be seen moving toward the journalists. Several shots can be heard, after which Zapata can be heard groaning. He says on the livestream, “They have just shot us.”
Zapata then said to his audience, “Police officers from Las Vegas just shot us. Police officers from Las Vegas Police Department are attacking the press. I repeat, my partner, Fernando Rentería, and I were hit by the police.”
The LVMPD responded to requests for comment by emailing the Tracker two press releases. Neither addressed Zapata or Rentería specifically, or members of the media more broadly. Nor did they address the use of particular munitions.
Zapata told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “I believe no reporter or member of the press should become a victim of these kind of attacks from any kind of authority. Our job is to narrate the events that take place during situations like these. We are not standing up for any side. We just tell the community what is happening.”
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.
A Virginia public radio reporter was pepper sprayed and knocked to the ground by police officers while covering protests in Richmond on May 31, 2020. The journalist had identified himself as a member of the press before the assault, he told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
On the evening of May 31, VPM News reporter Roberto Roldan and photographer Crixell Matthews were covering protests that moved from the site of the Robert E. Lee Memorial toward the Virginia State Capitol building in downtown Richmond. A line of police officers formed behind protesters on East Broad Street. At around 9 p.m., after an 8 p.m. curfew had gone into effect, the line of officers fired tear gas into the crowd, Roldan told the Tracker.
Cops are now firing tear cas at protesters from the back of the crowd. Now moving down Broad toward Shockoe.
— Roberto Roldan (@ByRobertoR) June 1, 2020
Though they were not directly hit, Roldan and Matthews coughed and experienced sinus drip from the effects of the gas, said Roldan, who typically covers Richmond City Hall.
Roldan helped Brian Palmer, a Richmond-based photographer covering the protests, rinse pepper spray out of his eyes, Palmer told the Tracker. When Palmer said he was feeling better, Roldan and Matthews decided to move on from what had become a “chaotic situation,” Roldan told the Tracker.
Then the two journalists turned off East Broad Street and walked around the corner to East Marshall Street to take cover. While walking on East Marshall they encountered a line of police officers who were blocking the street and not allowing anyone to advance, Roldan said.
Seeking to leave the area, Roldan, who was wearing a reflective vest and his press badge around his neck, approached the line of police officers with his press badge in his hand and verbally identified himself as a member of the press, he told the Tracker.
”As soon as I said ‘I’m with the press,’ an officer on the police line who had a tank of pepper spray in his hand released the pepper spray at us,” Roldan said. Roldan was hit across his face and hands, though protective glasses shielded his eyes, the journalist said.
Matthews told the Tracker that she was behind Roldan when the pepper spray was fired and hit with residual spray. “The spray mostly hit my arms with some of it hitting my face,” Matthews said.
Disoriented from the pepper spray, Roldan stopped and bent over at the waist in front of the line of officers. As he looked up, he said he saw a large police officer run toward him. The officer “shoulder-tackled” him to the ground, Roldan said.
Matthews helped Roldan off the ground and the two of them approached the police line again. This time they were permitted to pass. Roldan said he tried to explain to an officer on the other side of the line what had happened. The officer asked to see Roldan’s press badge, and then offered no response, Roldan said.
As they continued down East Marshall Street, Roldan and Matthews saw an officer who they recognized as the person who had shoved Roldan to the ground, the reporter said. Roldan said the officer refused to stop or respond when Roldan asked for his badge number. Roldan noted the numbers on the back of the officer’s helmet. He then posted to Twitter about the incident.
After showing my badge and yelling “I am with the press” a @RichmondPolice officer sprayed pepper spray in my face and shoved me to the ground. Had “3397” on his helmet. I’m out. @myVPM #Richmond #GeorgeFloydProtests
— Roberto Roldan (@ByRobertoR) June 1, 2020
The two journalists then asked a VPM News editor who lived nearby to pick them up and drive them home. While in the car, Roldan said he received a telephone call from Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney who had seen his tweet. The mayor apologized for what had happened and said he would call for an investigation, Roldan said.
The following day, Stoney confirmed he had spoken with Roldan and had ordered the investigation, according to news reports. The mayor also tweeted, “There is NO reason this should have happened to a member of the press. No reason. It is absolutely unacceptable, and we are investigating the matter.”
There is NO reason this should have happened to a member of the press. No reason. It is absolutely unacceptable, and we are investigating the matter.
— Levar M. Stoney (@LevarStoney) June 1, 2020
In a press conference on June 1, Police Chief Will Smith said the incident had been “completely accidental” and that the officer “was actually running, and sadly is not as agile as we would like. We weren’t throwing [Roldan] to the ground to effect arrest. It was really in a very tense moment and we were trying to affect other things.” Roldan told VPM news that while he doesn’t know what the officer was thinking, “the tackle felt intentional.”
“My skin was definitely burning for a while after leaving the scene and getting back home,” Matthews told the Tracker.
While her camera equipment was not damaged, there were “residual chemicals on at least the lens hood that I hadn't thought to wipe down,” Matthews said. “I realized it after those chemicals were reactivated by my sweat a few days later during a separate event when I had it sitting on my arm.”
The Richmond Police Department did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Protesters rally around the memorial of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, in mid-June 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest",,, 2020-10-14 15:23:23.586230+00:00,2023-11-01 15:59:25.438404+00:00,"Voice of America video journalist punched in face, toes fractured while covering protests in Santa Monica",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/voice-america-video-journalist-punched-face-toes-fractured-while-covering-protests-santa-monica/,2023-11-01 15:59:25.332836+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Khrystyna Shevchenko (Voice of America),,2020-05-31,False,Santa Monica,California (CA),34.01949,-118.49138,"Voice of America video journalist Khrystyna Shevchenko was punched in the face and fractured three toes while covering protests against police violence in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, 2020.
Shevchenko told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that she and a friend, Christian Gomez, had been filming along the Third Street Promenade in downtown Santa Monica that afternoon when individuals split away from the protesters and broke into various stores, taking shoes and other items.
As Shevchenko was setting up her frame, an unidentified man charged toward her and punched her in the face, she said. She immediately blacked out, and her camera and tripod fell on her foot, fracturing three toes and breaking the camera’s viewfinder. Gomez told the Tracker that the assailant then punched him in the face as well.
“My friend fought back,” Shevchenko said. “But then that guy started to call for help, so [other individuals] started to kick my friend without any analysis of what was going on.”
Gomez told the Tracker that he had pinned the assailant down, but then released him to check on Shevchenko, who had regained consciousness. The assailant ran away with Gomez’s gimbal and lens. Gomez then helped Shevchenko to his car and drove her to the UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center emergency room, where a doctor diagnosed the three fractured toes and a minor head injury, Shevchenko said. Shevchenko underwent surgery on her foot two weeks after the incident.
Shevchenko said she couldn’t be certain if she was targeted specifically because she was a journalist, though she surmised that the assailant attacked her in order to take her camera and other equipment.
After returning home from the ER, Shevchenko filed her story for Voice of America’s Ukrainian service.
“I was so shocked—I couldn’t think that I would go through all of that and not have the story air,” Shevchenko said of her need to get the story out despite the pain she was in. “I had to write the story.”
In early June, Shevchenko and Gomez filed a report with the Santa Monica Police Department.
“He [the unidentified man] is in my footage and my friend recognized him,” Shevchenko explained. “However, the police said that because I didn’t document the action of punching, they cannot confirm that he did it.”
Additionally, Shevchenko made clear that Gomez was a witness to the incident, but the police department never reached out to him after taking his initial statement, according to Gomez. Shevchenko’s case is pending, but as of early October, she said she has yet to receive new updates.
The Santa Monica Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment as of press time.
“It’s an injustice,” Gomez stated. “She went through neuropathy for a month, and it seems like there’s no recourse to alleviate financial hardships or provide any help at all. It’s not just a physical thing that she had to overcome. It’s emotional, mental.”
Shevchenko told the Tracker that she still experiences post-traumatic stress and is unable to walk independently.
Numerous protests across the Los Angeles area ensued following the death of George Floyd, a Black man who died in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. In a widely circulated video online, a white police officer kneeled on Floyd’s neck, ignoring his calls that he could not breathe. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Khrystyna Shevchenko, a Voice of America video journalist, was injured by an unknown assailant while covering protests in Santa Monica, California, on May 31, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,private individual,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2020-10-26 14:31:06.448199+00:00,2022-03-10 17:15:45.679513+00:00,Reporter covering Iowa protests struck by rubber bullet,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-covering-iowa-protests-struck-rubber-bullet/,2022-03-10 17:15:45.618198+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Bryon Houlgrave (Des Moines Register),,2020-05-31,False,Des Moines,Iowa (IA),41.60054,-93.60911,"A photojournalist covering protests in Des Moines, Iowa, tweeted that he was hit in the thigh by a rubber bullet fired by police on May 31, 2020.
I was hit in the thigh by a nonlethal projectile (rubber bullet) while covering the protests last night in Des Moines. #GeorgeFloydProtests #desmoines pic.twitter.com/SEfcKDfTi9
— Bryon Houlgrave (@bryonhoulgrave) June 1, 2020
The journalist, Bryon Houlgrave of the Des Moines Register, declined to comment further about the incident.
Demonstrations that night included a march starting at Evelyn K. Davis Park, a candlelight vigil, and protests outside Merle Hay Mall and Des Moines police headquarters, the Register reported.
Register reporter Andrea Sahouri was pepper-sprayed and arrested while documenting the Merle Hay Mall demonstration.
The journalists were covering the third night of protests in the city in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Ford Fischer, co-founder and editor-in-chief of News2Share, was struck by a crowd control munition and detained by Metropolitan Police Department officers while on assignment for digital wire service Zenger covering protests in Washington, D.C., on May 31, 2020.
The protest was one of a surge of demonstrations across the country, sparked by the May 25 death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Fischer, whose video news service focuses on "the latest on politics and activism,” told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was covering demonstrations in Farragut Square, just north of the White House in downtown D.C.
Some of the protesters, he said, moved from the square eastward toward the intersection of 16th and I streets. A group of riot police were gathered about half a block up I Street, Fischer said, and a small group of officers was on the north side of 16th Street.
Demonstrators were throwing fireworks and police tossed flash-bang grenades, Fischer said, as he filmed from a bit behind the protesters. In footage he posted of the incident, Fischer appears to be standing in the street filming as fireworks are launched by individuals nearby.
“At some point during that charging, there was an instant strike to my head,” Fischer said, noting that he could even hear in his video footage the sound of the crowd control munition flying through the air.
I'll have a full footage thread on @Zenger soon, but I found the HD footage from when I got hit with what I believe was a rubber bullet.
— Ford Fischer (@FordFischer) June 1, 2020
For about a minute, protesters were shooting fireworks at the cops.
Police charged in and open fired, hitting me at 1:17 in this clip. pic.twitter.com/m8iNrUAmSU
Fischer noted in a separate tweet that the “solid goggles” he was wearing helped minimize the harm, saying that he was “fine.” He told the Tracker that he believes the goggles deflected the round.
“That’s how I ended up with this weird, two part injury from this one shot,” Fischer said. “There was this half-golf ball-sized sore coming out of my forehead and then also an impact on the upper part of my nose.”
Fischer said that after he was struck, he attempted to leave the protest by heading west on I Street, where some looting was taking place.
“At some point police charged them, and it was while everyone was running away westward towards the Foggy Bottom/George Washington region of D.C. that the particular group I was running with ended up being kettled.”
“Kettling” is a police maneuver used to hem in protesters and is often followed with indiscriminate arrests or citations.
Fischer said that he and about 20 protesters were detained in the kettle for approximately eight minutes.
“When I realized what was happening I identified myself as press to one of those officers,” Fischer said, “and I remember that he responded, ‘We’ll talk about that later.’”
While detained, Fischer said he interviewed one of the protesters who had his front teeth knocked out by police earlier that evening. Eventually an officer came up to the group and announced that everyone would be allowed to leave as long as they returned home upon their release, according to Fischer.
“So they let us out one by one, and one of the officers took their body cam off of their vest and held it close to our faces as we exited, effectively taking mugshots or documenting the people they had kettled before letting us go,” Fischer said.
The Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
The previous night, May 30, Fischer was struck twice with pepper balls, which are functionally paintballs filled with a powdery pepper spray: once in the stomach and once on his right shoulder. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented that incident here.
MSNBC reporter Garrett Haake was struck with a crowd-control projectile on May 31, 2020 in Washington, D.C. while giving an on-air report on protests that broke out over the deaths of George Floyd and other Black people at the hands of police.
Haake was reporting live after 11 p.m. from I Street Northwest and 16th Street Northwest in downtown Washington on clashes between protesters and law enforcement.
During the report, Haake’s film crew captured images of flipped and burning vehicles in the area and a line of Metropolitan Police Department officers forming on the east side of the intersection, according to clips of the broadcast posted on Twitter and by Mediaite.
Numerous explosions are heard in the distance, which Haake describes as protesters letting off fireworks.
Haake then begins to move toward the north side of the intersection, telling anchor Katy Tur that “we’re going to make some moves here.”
“We’re going to end up in a place we don’t want to be in if we’re not careful, Katy. So...ah dammit!” Haake said on air.
The broadcast then turns back to Tur in the studio, who tells Haake to move to a safer location. But Haake is back on the air in less than a minute and tells Tur that he believed he was hit with a rubber bullet.
“I have some souvenir welts on my side to show for it,” Haake tweeted after the incident. “And sorry for cursing on tv. Those rubber bullets/pellets/bean-bags hurt!”
It isn’t clear from MSNBC’s footage of the incident whether officers from the Metropolitan Police Department fired the rounds that struck Haake. A department spokeswoman said she couldn’t confirm whether officers used crowd-control munitions at this particular time.
Neither Haake nor MSNBC responded to requests for comment. The Office of Police Complaints said it didn’t receive a complaint related to the incident.
The protest was one of many that erupted nationwide in response to the police killings of Black people including George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky on March 13, and others.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photojournalist Edward Leavy Jr. said he was shoved to the ground by police officers multiple times and hit with a baton while reporting on protests in New York City on May 31, 2020.
Racial justice protests in New York and across the country began in response to a video of the police killing of George Floyd on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting arrests, assaults and other obstructions to journalists covering protests across the country.
Leavy, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, told the Tracker he was covering the protests for the Australian socialist news publication Green Left Weekly. He reported his experience to the Tracker but didn’t respond to further requests for comment.
Leavy said he was following a protest on Broadway between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. when New York Police Department officers began rushing at protesters. He said that an officer told him to back up, so he began walking away. As he was going, he said he was shoved from behind, face-down into the street by an officer.
Leavy said another officer started to place him under arrest, until a superior officer released him. However, he said, he was again shoved into the ground as he was being released.
Leavy said police subsequently pushed him two more times. One time he was shoved into a curb, which wounded both of his legs. He was also pushed over a newspaper box that had been tipped over, which he said bruised his ribs.
Later in the evening, he said he was hit with a baton while he was photographing the protest.
Leavy told the Tracker he was wearing a tactical vest marked with the word “PRESS” and was also displaying press identification cards hanging from his neck.
“When I inquired why are journalists being attacked they only denied that anyone would do that to me,” he said.
NPYD didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Univision reporters Fernando Rentería and Alexander Zapata said they were fired on with what they believed to be pepper ball rounds by police while covering the arrest of a civilian protester in Las Vegas, Nevada, on May 31, 2020.
The protest that day was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Zapata and Rentería had been streaming live on Facebook as night fell on May 31, covering protests along the Strip. About an hour into their stream, the reporters can be seen making their way north on Las Vegas Boulevard when Zapata explains that tear gas had been fired on the crowd but that it was not very intense. Shortly thereafter, the reporters walked toward a group of officers from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department. Zapata can be heard saying, “It looks like they are arresting a civilian.”
➡️ Equipo de noticias de Univision en Las Vegas recibe balas de gomas de parte de la policía en medio de las protestas por la muerte de #GeorgeFloyd. pic.twitter.com/zJV0YHXoa1
— Univision Noticias (@UniNoticias) June 1, 2020
In the video, reviewed by the Tracker, an officer can be seen moving toward the journalists. Several shots can be heard, after which Zapata can be heard groaning. He says on the livestream, “They have just shot us.”
Zapata then said to his audience, “Police officers from Las Vegas just shot us. Police officers from Las Vegas Police Department are attacking the press. I repeat, my partner, Fernando Rentería, and I were hit by the police.”
Rentería told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, “I was hit by pepper bullets on my abdomen and one of my elbows. It wasn’t very painful but it’s unexpected, so it’s frightening, and since I wasn’t the only one hit and I heard people around me screaming, it was a very tense moment.”
The LVMPD responded to requests for comment by emailing the Tracker two press releases. Neither addressed Zapata or Rentería specifically, or members of the media more broadly, nor did they address the use of particular munitions.
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.
WCCO photojournalist Tom Aviles was shot with a projectile and later arrested while covering the fifth night of protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. Thousands gathered around the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the police department’s Third Precinct building in the days that followed.
At approximately 8:45 p.m., Aviles was reporting at the intersection of Nicollet and E. Franklin avenues with WCCO producer Joan Gilbertson. In a video captured by Aviles, he is positioned to the side of their news vehicle when a line of Minnesota State Patrol troopers advanced down the street firing crowd control ammunition.
In the video, a shot is heard firing just before Aviles shouts in pain and the camera shakes. Aviles then moves off the street and into a nearby alley way and parking lot.
As Aviles repositions to film the advancing troopers, one officer breaks out from the line and approaches him, shouting “Get moving! Get gone! Go!”
Aviles can be heard identifying himself as a WCCO photojournalist and asks the trooper where he should move. He also identifies the vehicle that has moved down the road as belonging to the station.
“OK, OK, OK!” Aviles says as two additional officers make their way toward him. He begins to turn around and walk away from the officers and into the parking lot
“Joan! Joan! Get over here!” Aviles shouts to producer Gilbertson, who was presumably still in the car.
An officer then approaches Aviles from behind and tells him he’s under arrest, forcing him to the ground. Aviles complies and multiple times assures the officer that he’s not fighting.
Gilbertson told WCCO that a patrolman told her, “You’ve been warned, or the same thing will happen to you.”
She said she put her hands up and said, “Don’t shoot me, don’t shoot me.”
Aviles was released approximately two hours later, WCCO reported.
Photojournalist Tom is free, after being arrested and shot with a rubber bullet. This true blue, AMAZING journalist even managed to share a smile. #wcco pic.twitter.com/XrbnCKo3tb
— Susan-Elizabeth (@susanelizabethL) May 31, 2020
WCCO could not immediately be reached for comment.
At a news conference late that evening, Minnesota Commissioner of Corrections Paul Schnell said Aviles’ arrest was “regrettable,” CBS News reported. He added that it is difficult to identify journalists amidst the challenges of crowds, smoke devices and police tactics.
“We value and know the importance [of journalists],” Schnell said.
The Minnesota State Patrol was not immediately available for comment.
Multiple other reporters were arrested in Minneapolis that day, and a three-man CNN news crew was arrested by state troopers the day before, on May 29.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
An investigative reporter for 9News KUSA covering protests outside the state capitol in Denver, Colorado, was hit by a non-lethal round just after completing a live shot on the 10 p.m. news on May 30, 2020.
Jeremy Jojola, who works for Denver’s NBC affiliate, told the Committee to Protect Journalists he was wearing a 9News hat and standing next to his photographer down the hill from the state capitol after completing his live stand up when the incident occurred.
Jojola said he was looking down at his phone when he felt a “hard impact” on his back, hitting the backpack he was wearing. Jojola audibly groaned after being hit, which can be heard in a video of the incident he posted on YouTube. He then shouted, “I'm media! We're press! We're press! We're press! We're press! Don't shoot at us!”
“I knew what it was immediately, it was a projectile and it came from the capitol direction, it came from the hill,” he recounted. “I didn’t hear any warning.”
He then walked with photographer Austyn Knox up the hill towards the capitol, shouting “media coming through” and came upon a group of about 15 members of Colorado State Patrol, responsible for policing the state capitol, Jojola told CPJ. He asked to speak to a supervisor, and was able to speak with an officer he had previously interviewed. The officer, according to Jojola, said, “I made the call to fire upon you guys, you didn’t look like media.”
Jojola said he accepted him at his word and left, but on his way down, marveled at how well-lit the area he had been standing was. “I feel that they should have known we were press. We were [just] live on TV,” Jojola told CPJ.
Jojola tweeted out a photo of an orange, nonlethal round that he found in the area he was standing when he was hit.
I went back to where I was hit and found this. This may or may not be the round that hit me. But it’s right where I was standing. I’m clearly with a photographer and wearing a 9NEWS hat. pic.twitter.com/42BC8jrxLz
— Jeremy Jojola (@jeremyjojola) May 31, 2020
Sergeant Blake White, a public affairs officer for the Colorado State Patrol, said in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the incident occurred while officers were trying to clear the area of protesters.
“There was a male, who was later identified as a member of the media, not responding to commands to clear the area,” he wrote in an email. “The male appeared to be rummaging through things, facing away, and wearing a backpack. There were no clear indications the male was a member of the media. A second male was next to him as well with no press markings either. One foam round was fired to gain compliance and struck the first male in the backpack.”
“[The supervisor] explained to the reporter there was no indication he was with the media and that the camera was not visible and was apologetic,” White wrote.
“We do not and will not target members of the media for capturing what is going on in the state and around the country, and we respect and believe in the freedom of the press,” White concluded.
Jojola told the Tracker via text that he did not hear any warning from the officers, and the shot was fired a minute and 30 seconds after he went off the air.
“These officers, if they were observant, would have seen me and a photographer. I was also standing in a lighted area.” He said the supervisor offered him an explanation, but did not apologize. He added that he is filing a records request for the Colorado State Patrol’s “less than lethal deployment policy.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Jeremy Jojola posted on Twitter that he was fired upon with an object like this. "I was clearly with a photographer just after I went live with a large camera and light."
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-06-03 03:16:48.645734+00:00,2024-02-16 21:34:15.860653+00:00,European Pressphoto Agency photojournalist arrested during Minneapolis protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/european-pressphoto-agency-photojournalist-arrested-during-minneapolis-protests/,2024-02-16 21:34:15.752634+00:00,curfew violation: breaking curfew order (charges dropped as of 2020-07-22),,"(2022-02-08 12:03:00+00:00) Journalists reach settlement agreement with Minnesota State Patrol, rest of suit ongoing, (2020-07-22 11:37:00+00:00) Charges dropped against European Pressphoto Agency photojournalist arrested during Minneapolis protests, (2020-07-30 00:00:00+00:00) Freelance photojournalist joins ACLU suit following arrest while covering Minneapolis protest, (2024-02-08 00:00:00+00:00) Journalists get nearly $1M settlement over Minneapolis BLM protest attacks","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Tannen Maury (European Pressphoto Agency),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"A European Pressphoto Agency photojournalist was assaulted and later arrested alongside two other journalists while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Multiple days of protests in Minneapolis and across the nation were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents all arrests separately. Find arrests of journalists covering protests related to the death of George Floyd here.
Tannen Maury told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a peaceful protest when Minnesota State Patrol troopers began to enforce the 8 p.m. curfew, warning all those still present to disperse.
“Five minutes later, they started marching up the street, launching tear gas and I guess rubber bullets, and everything else they have, and I got hit in the back with a projectile,” Maury said.
He believes he was struck with a tear gas canister judging from the large, white residue mark on his shirt and bulletproof vest. Because of his protective gear, Maury said, he was uninjured and able to continue working.
At just after 9 p.m, Maury was walking with freelance photojournalists Stephen Maturen and Craig Lassig on Nicollet Avenue toward 28th Street where a “parade” of police cruisers was driving, according to Maturen.
Maturen told the Tracker that a police cruiser had stopped abruptly on their block and began shooting less-lethal rounds at the handful of people around them.
The three photojournalists identified themselves as members of the media, and were initially told to keep moving.
A moment later, Maturen said, someone made the call to arrest the journalists.
Sheriff’s deputies ordered all three to get on the ground face down with their hands out, and they complied.
Maury said they explained that they were journalists and exempt from the curfew. “They were gentle, they weren’t rough with us at all,” he said.
The photojournalists were taken to the Hennepin County Public Safety Facility in downtown Minneapolis and cited with breaking the city’s curfew order, a misdemeanor which is punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 or up to 90 days in jail. The curfew order specifically exempted members of the news media, however. They were in police custody for approximately two hours.
Maury confirmed that all of their belongings were returned to them upon their release.
Neither the Minneapolis State Patrol nor the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department could immediately be reached for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Law enforcement at a Minneapolis protest on May 30, 2020, after the police killing of George Floyd. Photojournalist Tannen Maury was hit with a tear gas canister fired by a state trooper and arrested while documenting protests in the city.
",arrested and released,Hennepin County Sheriff’s Department,None,None,False,0:20-cv-01302,"['ONGOING', 'SETTLED']",Class Action,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-06-07 04:48:09.419681+00:00,2022-03-10 19:24:26.176771+00:00,"Head wound, bruised lung and concussion for photographer covering Phoenix protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/head-wound-bruised-lung-and-concussion-photographer-covering-phoenix-protests/,2022-03-10 19:24:26.116380+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Thomas Machowicz (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"Freelance photographer Thomas Machowicz was shot with three rubber projectiles by Phoenix police, resulting in a gash on his scalp, a concussion, and a bruised lung, as he was photographing protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for eight minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Machowicz was taking photographs in front of the headquarters of the Phoenix Police Department at roughly 10:15 p.m. when protesters began to lob fireworks at police, and police responded by shooting tear gas, pepper balls, and projectiles into the crowd, Machowicz told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
“I realized I was in a bad spot,” Machowicz said. As he ran away from the headquarters through a cloud of tear gas, camera in hand, police began shooting rubber projectiles in his direction. The first two projectiles hit Machowicz’s lower back and the side of his ribcage. In pain, he fell down. A few seconds later as he was lying on the ground, a third projectile hit him on the back of his head, ripping an inch-long gash into his scalp, he said.
Video of the assault was captured by ABC15 Arizona news and aired live on television.
“When I got hit in the head, I couldn’t make decisions anymore. I just curled up into the fetal position,” Machowicz said. A few seconds passed before a bystander picked Machowicz up under the arms and carried him to a safe distance from the protest.
After bystanders alerted police to his condition, Machowicz said police accompanied him for a block where he was told an ambulance would arrive. When it didn’t, police drove him to a fire station, where an ambulance took him to a hospital. The process took 30 minutes, he said, during which his head wound bled profusely.
At the hospital, Machowicz said he received four staples to close his head wound, and was diagnosed with a concussion and a bruised lung.
“I definitely have some trauma from it that’s still sinking in,” he said.
Machowicz recounted the incident in an interview with Melissa Blasius, the ABC15 Arizona journalist who captured the assault on camera.
Mercedes Fortune, a public information officer for the Phoenix Police Department, wrote in response to an emailed request for comment that people in the group were throwing rocks, bottles, incendiary devices and fireworks during the incident.
“Every attempt is made to identify the suspect(s) responsible for those actions unfortunately it is very difficult during these chaotic encounters. Several announcements were given to everyone to leave the area. … There is no sure way to control the actions of a large group of people who make a conscious decision to ignore the repeated announcements and direction by law enforcement officials.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Rocks and fireworks were among the objects hurled at the headquarters of the Phoenix Police Department on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-06-08 03:09:10.020317+00:00,2022-11-09 17:12:43.579298+00:00,Freelance photojournalist hit in eye with projectile amid DC protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-covering-protests-hit-eye-leg-projectiles-fired-police/,2022-11-09 17:12:43.500417+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Wil Sands (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Freelance photojournalist Wil Sands was struck with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for 7 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Sands, who is based in Richmond, Virginia, was covering protests near the AFL-CIO building when tensions began rising around 11 p.m., he told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Individuals had set some vehicles ablaze and Sands began planning how to leave the area. He was standing behind a light post looking at his cellphone when a flying object he suspects to have been a tear gas canister bounced off the light post before hitting him squarely in the face, on his right eye. The Tracker could not confirm the type of object he was hit with.
A street medic in the crowd quickly found him and put gauze over the wound, and told Sands he needed to go to the hospital. Sands walked to the police cordon and, after seeing his wound, they let him through. “I pulled off the gauze, their faces changed, and the commanding officer allowed me to pass through," Sands said.
He told CPJ that he believes the object that hit him was launched from an area where D.C. police officers had been standing. There were officers from multiple law enforcement agencies operating in the general area at the time, according to news reports. Sands, a member of Fractures Collective, was wearing a press pass at the time he was hit.
He wrote in a series of Instagram posts that he spent 16 hours in the emergency room, and suffered a partially torn retina and damaged cornea. He had surgery on his right eye on June 1.
"My retina was reattached, a silicone band was permanently inserted around my eyeball, and a bubble of gas was inflated behind the retina," he wrote. "It is unclear how much of my sight in my right eyes [sic] I will get back."
Alaina Gertz, a D.C. police spokeswoman, declined to comment on the incident that led to Sands’ injury.
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.
Protesters near the White House in Washington, D.C., on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-06-09 03:05:33.331964+00:00,2023-11-01 16:25:58.696382+00:00,Phoenix television reporter hit by projectile; news van vandalized,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/phoenix-television-reporter-hit-projectile-news-van-vandalized/,2023-11-01 16:25:58.373560+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,vehicle: count of 1,Josh Sanders (KPNX),,2020-05-30,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"Phoenix television reporter Josh Sanders was hit in the thigh with a rubber projectile while reporting across from police headquarters on protests in the city on May 30, 2020. Sanders and his crew were unable to retrieve their news vehicle due to the protests, and found it vandalized the next morning.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, for 8 minutes and 46 seconds during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Sanders, a reporter for 12 News, Phoenix's NBC affiliate, was standing outside of Phoenix Police Department headquarters when police fired the projectile, hitting him in the thigh. In a live broadcast after the incident, he said the impact was “very painful” and that he didn’t know why police shot in his crew’s direction.
Later, he found another such projectile on the ground and posted the photo to Twitter.
This is a picture of what the rubber ball looks like that Phoenix Police fired in our direction earlier hitting me in the left thigh. #12News pic.twitter.com/uvsci1laop
— JOSH SANDERS (@JoshSandersTV) May 31, 2020
He also posted a picture of his thigh, with a large pink, red and purple bruise.
The aftermath of being hit by a Phoenix Police rubber ball night 3 of the protests. #12News pic.twitter.com/7K5q3Tp1WD
— JOSH SANDERS (@JoshSandersTV) May 31, 2020
Sanders did not immediately reply to an interview request from the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Sanders wrote on Twitter that because of the protests his crew could not retrieve its 12 News car parked outside of Phoenix City Hall until the next morning. When 12 News retrieved it, it had been tagged in black paint with George Floyd’s name.
We had to leave one of our news cars outside of Phoenix City Hall last night due to the protests.
— JOSH SANDERS (@JoshSandersTV) May 31, 2020
This morning you can see the name George Floyd in graffiti sprayed on the side of the car. #12News pic.twitter.com/wjPCOhzyg0
In an emailed response to a request for comment, Phoenix Police Department spokeswoman Mercedes A. Fortune wrote that she has not briefed on that specific incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Protesters march toward Phoenix Police Department headquarters on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,private individual,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-06-09 04:15:54.027872+00:00,2024-02-21 21:15:05.401211+00:00,"In 'pandemonium,' photojournalist arrested, held overnight in NYC",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/pandemonium-photojournalist-arrested-held-over-night-amid-new-york-city-protests/,2024-02-21 21:15:05.168492+00:00,rioting: unlawful assembly (charges dropped as of 2020-06-05),,"(2024-02-07 00:00:00+00:00) Judge accepts journalists’ settlement with NYPD, (2021-08-05 16:40:00+00:00) British photographer sues NYPD for unlawful arrest, police brutality, (2023-09-05 16:54:00+00:00) Journalists reach ‘historic’ settlement with NYPD in First Amendment suit, (2023-09-08 00:00:00+00:00) Judge voids First Amendment settlement with NYPD","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera lens: count of 1,Adam Gray (South West News Service),,2020-05-30,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"Adam Gray, chief photojournalist for UK-based South West News Service, was pushed to the ground and arrested while covering protests in New York, New York, on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Gray told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he had been documenting protests all day, and was photographing demonstrations in and around Union Square in Manhattan at around 10:40 p.m.
When Gray reached the front of a crowd of protesters on 13th Street, he said officers started charging the crowd and arresting protesters in what he described as “pandemonium.”
“I’m photographing this happening and I turn and I see this big guy, this cop coming at me,” Gray said. As the officer pushed him to the ground, two of the three cameras he was carrying “smashed” to the ground off his shoulders. Gray noted that luckily the only damage to the equipment was a broken UV lens filter.
Two additional officers then came up and assisted the first in restraining Gray and arresting him, he said.
I now have more images of my arrest whilst photographing protests on Saturday from a NYC colleague. Three cameras hanging off me and a press card in a lanyard around my neck (clear and visible on the other side) @SWNS @TheSun @GreensladeR @KateEMcCann pic.twitter.com/uvoil0DdNT
— Adam Gray (@agrayphoto) June 5, 2020
“I have a lanyard that has my foreign press card in it around my neck,” Gray said. “They stood me up and another guy in white came up — I think he was a more senior officer — and I’m shouting at him as well that I’m foreign press, that I’m a photographer.”
Gray said they asked him whether his press pass was issued by the NYPD, and that he responded no, that it was a foreign press card issued by the US State Department. Gray told the Tracker that the officer said something to the effect of, “Alright, no no no, I’ll take him away.”
Officers then took Gray down the street and passed him off to another officer who was designated his arresting officer and was eventually listed on all of Gray’s arrest reports.
After being stripped of his equipment and re-cuffed, Gray waited on a prison transport bus with 50 to 60 others for half an hour until the rest of the seats were filled. He said he then waited an additional hour outside One Police Plaza due to the volume of arrestees that night.
“At this point, I feel like I’m just in the system and we’re going through with it, I’m being booked and that’s what’s happening. There’s nobody else there that I can speak to or remonstrate with,” Gray said.
After being processed, he was placed in a holding cell with 50-70 people crammed in shoulder-to-shoulder. Gray said that he still had a face mask in order to combat the spread of coronavirus, but most others did not.
Gray was released at around 9:30 a.m. — nearly 11 hours after his arrest — with a desk appearance ticket for unlawful assembly, a misdemeanor punishable by up to three months in jail and a $500 fine.
When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30 minute mark” of a press briefing held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.
Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second — maybe too long — to sort out.”
The Manhattan district attorney announced in a press release on June 5 that his office would not prosecute unlawful assembly or disorderly conduct arrests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
British photojournalist Adam Gray is arrested near Union Square in New York City on May 30, 2020.
",arrested and released,New York Police Department,2020-05-31,None,True,1:21-cv-06610,['SETTLED'],Civil,None,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2020-06-10 23:15:33.622563+00:00,2023-11-02 15:28:53.519004+00:00,Unidentified man attacks Reuters photographer with crowbar during Minneapolis protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/unidentified-man-attacks-reuters-photographer-crowbar-during-minneapolis-protests/,2023-11-02 15:28:53.431238+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Lucas Jackson (Reuters),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"An unidentified man wearing body armor broke Reuters photographer Lucas Jackson’s camera with a crowbar while he was covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Jackson described his attacker and posted a photo of his broken camera on Twitter:
Photo of the camera that a man with a crowbar hit when he attacked me while working in Minneapolis today. A man dressed as a “Medic” with body armor, keep your eyes out. pic.twitter.com/H4d6YXtK0K
— Lucas Jackson (@Lucas_Jackson_) May 31, 2020
In a statement given to the Committee to Protect Journalists through Reuters’ press office, Jackson said that the assailant was “a young white man wearing body armor emblazoned with a red medic cross.”
In the statement, Jackson said that the young man screamed “Get out of here!” before smashing Jackson’s camera with the crowbar. The statement did not say that Jackson was injured in the attack.
An unidentified man attacked Reuters photographer Lucas Jackson with a crowbar during protests in Minneapolis on May 30, damaging his camera.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,private individual,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2020-06-15 20:11:41.288033+00:00,2020-06-15 20:11:41.288033+00:00,Journalist hit with police baton while photographing protests in Philadelphia,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-police-baton-while-photographing-protests-philadelphia/,2020-06-15 20:11:41.231932+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Sam Trilling (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania (PA),39.95233,-75.16379,"A Philadelphia police officer hit freelance photojournalist Sam Trilling with a baton while Trilling was covering protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Trilling told the Committee to Protect Journalists that he was standing on a barricade taking pictures of the line between police and protesters when an officer struck him once with a baton across his abdomen.
Trilling’s injuries did not require medical attention, and he continued reporting, the journalist told CPJ. He said he was able to identify the officer who struck him, though had not yet filed a police report as of press time.
The Philadelphia Police Department declined to comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Photojournalist Sam Trilling captured the moment before a Philadelphia police officer hit him with a baton during protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2020-06-25 15:12:05.860377+00:00,2022-03-10 19:30:16.290059+00:00,Freelance photojournalist struck with projectiles at Tucson protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/police-hit-two-freelance-journalists-projectiles-tucson-protest/,2022-03-10 19:30:16.232814+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Brian Norberto (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Tucson,Arizona (AZ),32.22174,-110.92648,"Freelance photojournalist Brian Norberto was struck several times by crowd-control munitions fired by police in Tucson, Arizona, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Norberto told the Arizona Daily Star he was livestreaming the protests on Facebook when he was struck several times by nonlethal rounds fired by police that evening.
“When I got hit directly, I was continuing what I did before, getting between the crowd and the police,” Norberto said. “It’s hard to say that police were directly targeting the media, but at the same time that night I could feel a difference from the night before.”
More details about this incident were not available as of press time, as Norberto had not responded to multiple interview requests.
Tucson Police Department did not respond to a request for comment on this incident.
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.
Journalist Juanita Ceballos’ camera was hit by a pepper ball while she covered protests against police violence in Louisville, Kentucky, on May 30, 2020.
Ceballos, a producer and cameraperson for VICE News, was filming with a colleague near Jefferson Square in downtown Louisville for several hours when police officers declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly and ordered protesters to disperse, she told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. Crowds of protesters were marching in response to the March 13 killing by Louisville police of Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, and the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police on Memorial Day.
At 8:25 p.m., while filming a line of police officers advancing toward a protester, Ceballos’ camera was hit by a pepper ball, she said, adding she was filming from the corner at a removed distance. After reviewing the footage of the hit to her camera — which wasn’t permanently damaged — she said she couldn’t be sure whether or not she had been targeted.
“I always make an intentional effort to look officers in the eye. If I have to move I will move,” she said. This time she hadn’t done so, she said, because she felt she was “far enough away that I was not in their way.”
Ceballos said she expected that her equipment and the press identification she was wearing made her clearly identifiable as a journalist. The night before, a reporter and photojournalist from Louisville TV station WAVE 3 were hit by pepper balls fired by police.
The Louisville Metro Police Department didn’t respond to a call and email from the Tracker requesting comment. Following the WAVE 3 incident, an LMPD official said officers have orders to not shoot pepper balls at members of the media.
Ceballos said that after the hit she felt threatened, not knowing whether the attack had been directed toward her or not. The journalist said she stopped filming for nearly half an hour, until she had cleaned the pepper powder off her lens, changed her N95 and gas masks and stopped coughing.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
While on assignment for Reuters, freelance photojournalist Kyle Grillot was struck by an unknown crowd control munition when Los Angeles police officers fired projectiles at demonstrators during protests on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Grillot was documenting protests in Los Angeles as they continued past the city’s 8 p.m. curfew. Grillot told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was at the intersection of Hope Street and Olympic Boulevard, preparing to document the police advance toward protesters in the area.
“I positioned myself safely on a corner and held up my LAPD press badge,” Grillot said.
As officers opened fire on the demonstrators with crowd control munitions, Grillot said he realized that his position was actually putting him in danger and moved behind an electrical box.
“That’s when I felt it hit my thigh,” he said, adding that he believes it was a rubber bullet that struck him. “I ran around the corner and continued to take photos, continuing to try to make my press badge as visible as possible.”
Grillot told the Tracker that beyond a bit of bruising, he was not seriously injured and none of his equipment was damaged. While he does not believe he was deliberately targeted, Grillot said that the officers were firing indiscriminately.
“I’m left wondering what I could have done to make it any more apparent that I was working press,” he said.
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Photojournalist Kyle Grillot was hit with a projectile fired by a Los Angeles police officer the day he captured this image. Grillot was on assignment for Reuters to cover protests in the city.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-07-06 21:41:05.898417+00:00,2022-03-10 19:30:52.859621+00:00,TRT World correspondent hit with projectiles while covering Minneapolis protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/news-crew-hit-projectiles-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/,2022-03-10 19:30:52.797161+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Lionel Donovan (TRT World),,2020-05-30,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Just after Minneapolis’ curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020, a correspondent and cameraman for Turkey’s state-run English-language news channel were hit by projectiles fired by police.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Lionel Donovan, a Washington-based correspondent for TRT World, said he had set up for a live shot outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct just after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, near some peaceful protesters staging a sit-in at an intersection. Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Governor Tim Walz’s order.
“The curfew came and it was like a button got hit,” Donovan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
According to Donovan, the police advanced down the street and began to fire off tear gas and flash bangs to disperse the crowd. One of the tear gas canisters hit cameraman Barbaros Sayilgan’s foot during Donovan’s live shot.
Sayilgan could not be reached for comment, but Donovan said he helped the cameraman and a producer off to safety, then went back into the street to film more footage himself. Donovan was filming on his phone, he said, when a blue foam round struck him in the inside of his left thigh, breaking the skin.
“It felt like someone took a baseball bat and set it on fire and hit me in the leg,” he told the Tracker.
Donovan was wearing a helmet and flak jacket, both emblazoned with “PRESS” in white uppercase letters. He said he was not close to the crowd when he was hit.
“It definitely made us very jittery for the rest of the deployment because then we just didn’t trust the police in any way, shape or form to help us with anything,” he said.
Requests for comment sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not immediately returned.
On June 1, Donovan tweeted a video in which he displayed the wound on his leg:
When you hear journalists talk about getting fired on by police, this is one of the things we’re getting hit with. It felt like I got hit with a baseball bat... pic.twitter.com/Xp4ZSYalvE
— Lionel Donovan, III (@LionelDonovan3) June 1, 2020
Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, brought up the attack on the crew in a June 3 phone call with David Satterfield, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, according to an article published in the Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper.
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.
Minnesota State Patrol officers move toward protesters gathered near the police department’s Fifth Precinct on May 30, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-07-10 17:33:53.253264+00:00,2022-03-10 21:07:10.022806+00:00,Photojournalist struck repeatedly with pepper balls while covering La Mesa protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-repeatedly-pepper-balls-while-covering-la-mesa-protest/,2022-03-10 21:07:09.964702+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Henri Migala (East County Magazine),,2020-05-30,False,La Mesa,California (CA),32.76783,-117.02308,"East County Magazine photojournalist Henri Migala was shot with pepper balls on two occasions while covering protests in La Mesa, California, on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Migala told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was photographing demonstrations near the La Mesa police station at around 6:20 p.m., having received word that officers had begun using tear gas on demonstrators.
In an account for the magazine, Migala wrote that when he reached the station, the standoff between police and protesters was well underway. The tear gas in the air caused his eyes to burn. Migala worked his way toward the south side of the station and crossed the street to distance himself from the protesters.
“I was wearing a bright yellow safety vest with my ‘MEDIA’ badge on the front,” Migala wrote. “I stood alone, away from any of the protesters so that I wouldn’t be mistaken for one of them. But despite standing there, alone, for about 20 minutes, I was shot with a pepper spray paintball in the leg.”
Migala told the Tracker that the pepper ball hit his right thigh, leaving a large amount of the chemical irritant powder on his leg.
Police continued to engage with protesters over the next hour, he said, firing various crowd control munitions to disperse the demonstrators.
“I had been there for so long that my back started hurting,” Migala said. “So, I sat on the curb in front of the postal office across the street from the police station, pretty far from the main demonstrators.”
As he sat there, police suddenly fired pepper balls at him again, striking him an additional two to four times, he said.
“One of the pellets exploded and a bunch of the powder went into my nose, my mouth and in my eyes,” he said. “I was instantly incapacitated.”
Migala said a couple of young women were able to lead him to safety. One woman held his camera, glasses and hat as the other rinsed out his eyes for at least five minutes.
He added that the powder was still covering his respirator mask, face, clothes and beard when he got to his car, and caused him significant difficulty breathing. The following day, some powder residue still covered his camera, and when he attempted to brush it off, his eyes watered and became irritated.
“Just molecules of that stuff is enough to irritate your eyes with burning pain,” he said.
Migala told the Tracker and wrote about a second journalist who was also struck with a projectile — believed to have been a rubber bullet — while covering the protests that day. The Tracker was unable to identify the journalist as of press time.
East County Magazine Editor Miriam Raftery told the Tracker that they don’t know for sure that Migala was intentionally targeted. ”It seems to me they should have been able to see that he was media,” she said.
The La Mesa Police Department did not respond to phone requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
From right, photojournalist Henri Migala in a reflective vest and media credentials while covering a May 30, 2020, protest in La Mesa, California, his leg after a pepper ball hit that day, and his camera covered in residue.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-07-29 02:01:06.406870+00:00,2022-03-10 19:33:58.512906+00:00,Journalist hit by rubber bullets while documenting protest near White House,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-hit-rubber-bullets-while-documenting-protest-near-white-house/,2022-03-10 19:33:58.447945+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Sally Ayhan (TRT World),,2020-05-30,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Sally Ayhan, a reporter for TRT World — a Turkish state-owned, English-language broadcaster — said she was struck in the chest and leg by rubber bullets fired by law-enforcement officers while she covered a protest near the White House on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minneapolis on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
In a report for TRT, Ayhan said that as she and her cameraman walked through the streets of Washington, D.C., they saw cars, including a police car, smoldering and heard tear-gas canisters and firecrackers going off.
“The rest of the protesters came, saying that they were being chased by police with fire crackers and gas canisters and rubber pellets,” she said.
Ayhan, who didn’t respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment, added she didn’t see protesters struck by the projectiles, though she herself was hit several times. It wasn’t clear which law-enforcement agency’s officers fired the rounds.
She said in her report that she was first hit in the back of the leg. “Then as I turned around trying to figure out how the police were dealing with protesters, I was hit in the chest, which hurt incredibly for a few moments,” Ayhan added.
Ayhan tweeted that she was struck while reporting in front of the White House, and that it appeared to be a tactic police were using “to keep protestors from breaking through the barricades.”
I was shot twice tonight by rubber bullets while reporting in front of the White House. Just one of the strategies police are using to keep protestors from breaking through the barricades. #GeorgeFloydProtests pic.twitter.com/JQtXF1e0Ku
— Sally Ayhan (@Sally_Ayhan) May 31, 2020
Neither the Secret Service nor the D.C. Metro Police Department responded to emailed requests for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd. Find all of these cases here.
A Secret Service agent is seen behind a barricade as demonstrators rally near the White House in Washington, D.C. on May 30, 2020
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-08-08 12:01:32.559567+00:00,2022-03-10 22:06:56.635936+00:00,Weapons aimed at Free Press journalists covering Detroit protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/weapons-aimed-free-press-journalists-covering-detroit-protests/,2022-03-10 22:06:56.577963+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,M.L. Elrick (Detroit Free Press),,2020-05-30,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"Two journalists who’d been reporting for the Detroit Free Press had weapons brandished at them by law enforcement officials while covering protests in the city on May 30, 2020, they told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Detroit Free Press reporter M.L. Elrick, who’d been reporting that evening with a group of Free Press journalists, told the Committee to Protect Journalists that at around midnight, a police officer pointed a nonlethal rifle at him. Elrick was standing on a street with Free Press reporters Branden Hunter and David Jesse, several other reporters and unidentified people in civilian clothes. Elrick was wearing a press badge, khakis and sneakers, according to photographs of the evening and the incident.
Elrick said that he “explained to the cop who [he] was and nothing happened.”
Immediately following this incident, police used tear gas to disperse protesters as well as a rubber bullet gun, but Elrick said he did not feel like it was aimed at the reporters.
“There was tear gas everywhere, so some people got it in their eyes,” Elrick told CPJ about that evening. “There [were] a lot of people going out there without proper regalia,” which, in Elrick’s opinion, made it difficult to distinguish journalists from protesters.
The Free Press did not respond to an email requesting comment as of press time.
When contacted by CPJ, the Detroit Police Department’s voicemail box was full. The department did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment as of press time. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
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.
A news crew with Phoenix’s 3TV and CBS 5 was rushed by a crowd, and their security guard injured, while the journalists broadcast live from protests in Scottsdale, Arizona on May 30, 2020.
Demonstrations in Phoenix and Scottsdale began in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since late May.
Reporter Max Gorden and a videographer went to Scottsdale Fashion Square, a large shopping mall, in response to a tip that protesters planned to gather there around 10 p.m.
The crowd grew to several hundred as demonstrators began marching down the blocks around the mall, Gorden told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. As protesters returned to the march’s starting point, some people started smashing store windows and spray-painting walls, he said.
At that point, Gorden suggested to his producers to throw the live broadcast to him. When the light on the camera turned on, Gorden said, his group became a target.
As he was getting ready to go live, someone began pushing a sign toward the camera shot.
Security guard Jesse Torrez, a private security contractor the station hired to accompany news crews during the protests, told the Tracker that when the camera light turned on, several people rushed toward the cameraman, with one individual holding a sign moving toward Gorden. Torrez put his hand out to stop the person with the sign. As he was holding that person back, someone else struck him over the head with a hard object. Torrez believes it may have been a metal pipe.
Gorden saw a scuffle out of the corner of his eye. When he looked to see what had happened, he saw Torrez bleeding from his head. Both Torrez and his partner were carrying firearms, and they put their hands on their weapons. The crowd eventually dispersed.
After safely getting out of the area, Torrez went to the hospital to seek medical attention. He had four staples put into the laceration on his head, and had to go to a concussion clinic for two months, he said. For a month after the attack, Torrez said he couldn’t drive because his equilibrium was off as a result of the head injury.
A Scottsdale Police Department spokesperson confirmed that the incident has been reported and that police have an open investigation for aggravated assault. However, no suspects have been identified and no arrests have been made.
Gorden doesn’t believe that he and his colleagues were targeted because they were journalists. He said tensions were running high that night, and when the sign was pushed out of the way, they escalated.
“Anything could spark violence in that situation,” Gorden said. “In that moment, windows were being broken out, there was kind of this fervor that sort of really, really escalated throughout the crowd.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Bill O’Driscoll, a reporter for the local public-radio station 90.5 WESA, was struck by a projectile fired by police while covering protests in Pittsburgh on May 30, 2020.
Protests that began in Minneapolis on May 26 had spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
O’Driscoll told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that May 30 was the first big day of protests in Pittsburgh, with demonstrations beginning downtown around 2 p.m. He took over for a colleague covering the protests for WESA at around 5 p.m.
“In a familiar pattern now, the protest had started quite peacefully: Protesters were blocking the streets, marching, chanting, blocking the streets, etc.,” he said. “After a couple of hours, there was an incident where an unoccupied police car was set on fire. A second car was then set on fire in the same area. The protest at that point was called off by the organizers.”
While most of the protesters dispersed, O’Driscoll said up to 200 people remained on downtown streets. He found a splinter group of protesters and followed them as they marched.
When the group turned on to Smithfield Street — which cuts through the middle of downtown — they encountered a police blockade manned by officers clad in riot gear.
“The police had decided at that point to stop the protest, or, in other words, to initiate a confrontation with the remaining protesters,” he said.
O’Driscoll said that around 6:30 p.m. he was standing behind the front line of protesters and was at least 30 to 40 yards away from the police. Officers had begun firing tear gas and crowd-control munitions, though he said he wasn’t sure what type of projectiles they were using.
“I had my back turned — not intentionally, that was just the way I was facing when I knocked out a tweet about what was going on — and I just felt this impact on my left buttocks, and it felt like I’d been hit by a baseball pretty hard at short range,” O’Driscoll said. “Then I realized immediately that it had been something that had been fired, and then I started to run off down the street in the opposite direction until I could figure out what was going on.”
And your humble reporter was just hit in the left buttocks by what I think was a rubber bullet. That stang @905wesa
— Bill O'Driscoll (@ODriscoll1bill) May 30, 2020
O’Driscoll told the Tracker that he didn’t know if he was targeted. While he said officers couldn’t have seen the press credentials around his neck because of the way he was standing, he was carrying a large, noticeable microphone.
“I had been on that particular scene for a while at that point, and within sight of the police, so it’s also possible that they could have identified me and if they were targeting me they probably would have seen who I was at that point,” he said.
The Pittsburgh police didn’t respond to a request for comment.
At a press conference that evening, Pittsburgh Police Chief Scott Schubert said “white males dressed in anarchist attire” had hijacked what had been a peaceful protest. Schubert didn’t discuss police use of crowd-control munitions.
While the projectile left a large bruise, O’Driscoll said it didn’t hamper his ability to work and he covered a subsequent protest as well.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Radio journalist Mike Phillips had his employer-issued iPhone stolen by an unknown person while covering protests in Wilmington, Delaware, on May 30, 2020.
Protesters took to the streets of Wilmington and cities across the United States following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died after a Minneapolis, Minnesota, police officer kneeled on his neck for almost nine minutes during a May 25 arrest.
Phillips had been reporting on demonstrations on May 30 for radio station WDEL alongside fellow correspondent Sean Greene.
Phillips told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protests had been mostly peaceful throughout the day but that during the evening hours he observed some individuals smashing storefront windows and stealing merchandise.
Phillips said that Greene had been broadcasting via Facebook Live with an iPhone at around 6 p.m. when an unknown individual punched him and stole the device.
Phillips said that at the time of Greene’s assault, which the Tracker is documenting here, he had also been broadcasting to Facebook Live. In Phillips’ video, individuals can be seen removing items from a building, which Phillips can be heard describing as “the looting of a store” in downtown Wilmington.
During Phillips’ broadcast, an unknown individual wrenched the phone from his hands and made off with the device. Phillips’ phone continued to record video after it was taken from him, and an individual can be heard laughing as they run away from the scene.
“It was disheartening that I couldn’t keep doing my job that night,” Phillips said.
Phillips later reported the theft of the phones to Wilmington police on behalf of WDEL. As of press time, Phillips said that neither his nor Greene’s phone had been recovered and no arrests had been made in connection with the alleged thefts.
Aside from incidents on May 30, Phillips said WDEL reporters haven’t faced altercations during subsequent coverage of the demonstrations.
“We have covered plenty of stuff since then and have had no incidents whatsoever,” Phillips said.
Though Greene was injured in the field, Phillips said he hasn’t feared for his safety while covering the Wilmington protests.
“Despite what happened to Sean, I didn’t feel unsafe,” Phillips said. “It was more of a crime of opportunity, if you want to call it that.”
A spokesperson for the Wilmington Police Department declined to comment on the incident or confirm whether there was a continuing investigation into Phillips’ report, citing restrictions on releasing such information under Delaware’s Victims’ Bill of Rights.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A photojournalist with Syracuse.com and the Post-Standard newspaper was shoved to the ground by a police officer while covering protests in Syracuse, New York, on May 30, 2020, video of the incident shows. The journalist suffered scrapes and bruises and two of his camera lenses were broken.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
News photographer Dennis Nett was covering the protests in downtown Syracuse on the night of May 30 with two other photographers and two reporters. John Lammers, senior director of content at Advance Media New York, the parent company for the news outlets, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. At 9:37 p.m., a group of riot police moved to clear the area in front of the Public Safety Building on South State Street of protesters who had broken windows at police headquarters and the nearby criminal courts building, syracuse.com reported.
In a video of the incident recorded by Nett’s camera, the line of officers are seen advancing yelling “move back, get back.” One officer is seen gesturing at Nett and then breaking away from the line of officers, charging towards the journalist, and knocking him to the ground. In a separate video of the incident, Nett can be seen stumbling and then falling over from the assault. The photographer suffered cuts and bruises to his elbow and hip, syracuse.com reported. Lammers told the Tracker that two of Nett’s lenses were damaged from the fall, but that “Dennis kept working with a busted lens and a skinned up elbow and hip.” One of the lenses has been repaired and another isn’t yet repaired due to a Nikon parts shortage, a representative from syracuse.com/The Post-Standard told the Tracker on Aug. 26.
Nett was wearing a press identification card around his neck and had cameras slung from both shoulders, syracuse.com reported. A witness to the incident, Clifford Ryans, told the outlet that he was clearly identifiable as a journalist. “They couldn’t say they didn’t know he was a reporter because he had all the cameras on his person and he was taking a picture as they did it,” Ryans told syracuse.com.
Nett didn’t respond to emails seeking comment.
After conducting a review of the incident, Syracuse Police Chief Kenton Buckner said the officer, whom he identified as Sgt. Todd Cramer, had acted with “reasonable and necessary” force and wouldn’t be disciplined, syracuse.com reported on June 12.
In a video of a press conference posted by syracuse.com, Buckner is shown saying that Nett “didn’t comply with the instructions that we clearly gave him and that put him in harm’s way.” According to the report by syracuse.com, Nett told police in an interview about the incident that he “recalled hearing commands from officers a few seconds before he was shoved…[and] was preparing to move.” Buckner said Cramer “did not know, at that moment, that Nett was a journalist,” according to the website’s report.
Tim Kennedy, president of Advance Media New York, said in a statement that the company was disappointed with the announcement. “Dennis Nett was working in the public service and posed no threat to police. He didn’t deserve to get shoved to the ground, in a way that was neither necessary nor reasonable.”
Lammers told the Tracker there have been no further developments related to the incident.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Jessika Eidson, a reporter for CBS-affiliate KMTV, was hit by projectiles fired by police while reporting live on protests in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 30, 2020, according to footage of the incident.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Eidson was reporting on the second night of protests in Omaha, which had moved as the night progressed from 72nd and Dodge Streets to downtown, according to Eidson’s tweets and other news reports.
Shortly before 10:30 p.m., Eidson tweeted protesters had gathered near the police headquarters, where she observed tear gas and fireworks.
Eidson then went live on air to report from the scene near Howard and South 12th Streets. In a video of the incident, Eidson says her crew got a “very painful” whiff of tear gas earlier. She reports she just saw a man throw something at police, just as a bang from a firecracker can be heard. The video feed cuts to a view of the city.
Almost immediately Eidson exclaims, “OK, we gotta go though! I just got hit!” Eidson tweeted that Omaha Police shot at her and her colleague with pepper balls.
It isn’t clear whether Eidson’s crew was targeted by police. “We were several feet away from any officer or protester,” Eidson tweeted. “We had a large tripod, camera and bright light showing we were doing a newscast when I was directly struck twice.”
At a press conference earlier that night, Chief of Police Todd Schmaderer said police deployed tear gas and pepper balls after the protest was declared an unlawful assembly. Lt. Sherie Thomas, a spokesperson for the Omaha Police Department, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the department was conducting an ongoing review of the protests, but didn’t comment specifically about the incident.
Eidson and KMTV didn’t respond to the Tracker’s requests for comment.
In a video update from her home an hour after the incident, Eidson says she and her cameraman were both safe, but she had a large welt on her leg where she was hit.
“I’m doing OK. I have little bit of a cough right now,” she says in the video. “I think I'm going to go inside and maybe drink some milk and see if that helps.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering Black Lives Matter protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A reporter for the Fayetteville Observer said he was hit, knocked unconscious and kicked while he and a colleague livestreamed the looting of stores in a North Carolina shopping mall on the night of May 30, 2020.
A group of people broke into the Cross Creek Mall about six miles west of downtown Fayetteville following protests earlier that day against police violence in the city’s downtown. Demonstrations had erupted nationwide days before, following the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, while he was in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Paul Woolverton, a senior state reporter for the Observer, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he headed downtown to start reporting on the protests at around 7 p.m. This was shortly after people had set fire to the Market House, a historic downtown Fayetteville building that was once the site of a market for enslaved people.
Woolverton said the Market House was still burning when he arrived downtown, where he saw people acting aggressively toward TV camera people nearby. He said he wore press credentials in full view on a lanyard around his neck, and that he was carrying a notebook, pens, cellphone and selfie stick. While downtown, he ran into colleague Melody Brown-Peyton, and the two decided to stick together. Downtown Fayetteville would later be closed to all traffic, so the pair drove in Brown-Peyton’s car to the Cross Creek Mall, where they heard that looting was taking place. They stopped at Woolverton’s home on the way to get his camera.
Woolverton and Brown-Peyton parked across the street from the mall and walked over to it. They saw a group of white men with pickup trucks and long guns, and saw people running out of a J.C. Penney store with dresses and other merchandise.
“It was kind of ‘Mad Max’-looking,” Woolverton said.
Woolverton was struck and knocked unconscious just after 11 p.m.. by an unknown male assailant, Brown-Peyton told the Fayetteville Observer. He was livestreaming on Facebook at the time and video from the scene cuts off a few seconds before he was hit. Woolverton said he was trying to be careful about raising the phone because he was aware that it would attract attention. He remembers hearing the man who attacked him say “Don’t be taking no pictures,” before he grabbed Woolverton’s selfie stick and phone.
“My memory is him grabbing at my cellphone, me yelling at him, struggling with him upright,” Woolverton said. “My next memory is waking up and a police officer next to me.”
Brown-Peyton told him the attacker got into a pickup truck and drove away. She also told Woolverton that he was lying down with his eyes rolling back.
“I have no memory of the conversation,” Woolverton said. “I didn’t know my phone number, I didn't know why I was at the mall or how I got there.”
Brown-Peyton contacted Woolverton’s editor and his girlfriend, and they went to the hospital. Brown-Peyton told Woolverton the assailant was struggling to get hold of Woolverton’s camera, but he couldn’t because of the strap. The attacker also kicked Woolverton when he was unconscious on the ground. Woolverton’s camera bag was ripped and his camera was slightly scuffed.
On the morning of May 31, 2020, Woolverton tweeted: “Got a knot on my head, scrapes, bruises from head to foot and a concussion. The looters at Cross Creek Mall didn’t like that I was shooting video (see their activities on the @fayobserver Facebook page). I am told I was kicked and punched but don’t remember that.”
Woolverton filed a police report after the incident, but police didn’t identify the suspect. The Fayetteville Police Department didn’t respond to a request for updates on the case.
Woolverton said he didn’t know whether he had been targeted for being a journalist. “I think he just saw a guy with a camera.”
He told the Observer that this was the first time anyone had attacked him while he was doing his job in 30 years as a journalist, and that he felt lucky his colleague was by his side.
“I was trying to be situationally aware, but it came really fast out of the blue. A big lesson is don't go alone,” Woolverton said. “Thank God Melody was there.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
In North Carolina, Fayetteville Observer senior reporter Paul Woolverton was knocked unconscious while livestreaming looters on May 30, 2020. He was treated for a concussion and other injuries.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,private individual,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest",,, 2020-10-21 14:44:53.903545+00:00,2021-11-16 17:24:03.401629+00:00,Photojournalist attacked during protest in Salt Lake City,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-attacked-during-protest-salt-lake-city/,2021-11-16 17:24:03.329746+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Unidentified photojournalist 5,,2020-05-30,False,Salt Lake City,Utah (UT),40.76078,-111.89105,"A photojournalist was assaulted while assisting a Fox 13 News crew during protests in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 30, 2020.
Fox 13 correspondent Sydney Glenn wrote on Twitter that she, her unnamed colleague and a photojournalist from another station were assessing damage to a Fox 13 news vehicle when a crowd attacked the two photojournalists. The Tracker has documented the assault of the Fox News 13 photojournalist and damage to the outlet’s vehicle here.
This. Is. Unacceptable. Tonight a group of protestors attacked my co-worker.. a very talented photojournalist as we were assessing the damage to our @fox13 news car after it was smashed. A kind photojournalist from another station was helping and attacked as well. pic.twitter.com/ic3bDOOBle
— Sydney Glenn (@SydneyGlennTV) May 31, 2020
Glenn did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s calls or emails requesting comment. When emailed for comment, Fox 13 News Director Marc Sternfield said, “At the request of those involved, we are not releasing additional information about the incident.”
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the group Utah Against Police Brutality had organized a car caravan protest, but that individuals took to the streets when there were not enough vehicles to fit all the demonstrators.
Following looting and vandalism, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced an 8 p.m. curfew. Salt Lake City Police Department officers were joined by police from 13 cities and up to 200 National Guardsmen.
Detective Greg Wilking of the SLCPD confirmed to the Tracker that two photojournalists were “roughed up.”
“There were so many things happening that day that we didn’t even break the incident with the journalists down into a separate report,” he added.
The SLCPD did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for additional information about the incident or whether arrests were made in connection with the assault or vehicle damage.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
A photojournalist for Fox 13 News was attacked while covering protests in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 30, 2020.
Fox 13 correspondent Sydney Glenn wrote on Twitter that she, her unnamed colleague and a photojournalist from another station were assessing damage to the Fox 13 news vehicle when a crowd attacked the two photojournalists. She also shared an image of her colleague, who appeared to have abrasions on his right arm and calf.
This. Is. Unacceptable. Tonight a group of protestors attacked my co-worker.. a very talented photojournalist as we were assessing the damage to our @fox13 news car after it was smashed. A kind photojournalist from another station was helping and attacked as well. pic.twitter.com/ic3bDOOBle
— Sydney Glenn (@SydneyGlennTV) May 31, 2020
In the image posted by Glenn, the van appears to have a shattered windshield. It is unclear what, if any, injuries the second photojournalist sustained, which the Tracker has documented here.
Glenn did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s calls or emails requesting comment. When emailed for comment, Fox 13 News Director Marc Sternfield said, “At the request of those involved, we are not releasing additional information about the incident.”
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the group Utah Against Police Brutality had organized a car caravan protest, but individuals took to the streets when there were not enough vehicles to fit all the demonstrators.
Following looting and vandalism, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced an 8 p.m. curfew. Salt Lake City Police Department (SLCPD) officers were joined by police from 13 cities and up to 200 National Guardsmen.
Detective Greg Wilking of the Salt Lake City Police Department confirmed to the Tracker that the two photojournalists were “roughed up.”
“There were so many things happening that day that we didn’t even break the incident with the journalists down into a separate report,” he added.
The SLCPD did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for additional information about the incident or whether arrests were made in connection with the assault or vehicle damage.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was pushed by a law enforcement officer and her car window was shot out by rubber bullets fired by police while she was covering a protest in Los Angeles on May 30, 2020.
The protest in Los Angeles began as demonstrations erupted across the country, sparked by a video of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital. Protests against police brutality and for racial justice have continued across the country.
Berg was on assignment for Status Coup, which describes itself as a progressive media company, and was on her way to cover a protest on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles. She told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview that when she and a photographer parked the car, she got out and was confronted by a member of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. She said she showed her press credentials and the officer left.
Minutes later, another member of the sheriff’s department confronted her, she said. Again, she showed her press credentials, but she said the law enforcement officer did not back off. According to Berg, he pushed her, backing her toward the street where a line of law enforcement vehicles were driving by. She said she feared she would be run over.
As she was covering the protest, she said that law enforcement began deploying tear gas. She said that she was in close proximity to a canister fired by police which landed near her and another journalist, neither of whom were standing near protesters. She was disoriented and having trouble breathing, and protesters helped her to leave the area and recover from the gas.
Around 6:30 p.m., she began to leave the area in her car, Berg said. Body camera footage she later acquired from the Los Angeles Police Department showed officers had formed a line across a broad street and started firing crowd control munitions, like rubber bullets.
Cars were stuck in traffic and could not leave the area. Berg said that she put her head out of the window and asked the police where they were supposed to go.
She said that an officer looked at her, then fired shots at her vehicle.
The rubber bullets shattered the glass of her rear window, leaving large holes, and left dents in the body of her car, photos show.
The cops just shot out by back window. And it was completely unnecessary. This after tear gas, being ribbed by a bully stick and other atrocities. And I had my press credentials visible. Coverage of today to follow on @StatusCoup. #laprotest #GeorgeFloyd pic.twitter.com/pSdLtSIAXq
— Notorious Lefty-Desiree McLefty Face (@TinaDesireeBerg) May 31, 2020
A spokesperson for the LAPD said the department was not aware of the incident and that the department does not deploy tear gas. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Berg said that she has communicated with the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles about joining a class action lawsuit about police conduct during the protests.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering these protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
While covering a May 30, 2020, protest in Los Angeles, independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg says law enforcement pushed her and later shattered the window of her car with rubber bullets.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2021-01-26 19:59:18.264733+00:00,2023-11-03 16:21:06.136197+00:00,"Photojournalist struck with rubber bullet, his camera damaged during L.A. protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-struck-rubber-bullet-his-camera-damaged-during-l-protest/,2023-11-03 16:21:06.012083+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Ringo Chiu (Freelance),,2020-05-30,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"Photojournalist Ringo Chiu, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, was struck with a rubber bullet and had his camera damaged while documenting protests in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.
The protests in Los Angeles were sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
In a post initially to Facebook and later shared with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, Chiu wrote that officers fired a rubber bullet that would have struck him in the upper body had it not been for his camera, which took the brunt of the hit. The lens hood of his Leica Q camera was damaged, as seen in photos posted to his social media accounts.
My Leica Q was hit by a rubber bullet fired by LAPD in a protest last month. Not working anymore 😭😭😭 #leicaq #leica #leicala #leicaphotojournalism #leicalove #protest #blacklivesmatters
— Ringo Chiu (@ringochiu) June 21, 2020
📸 https://t.co/5G5YvhfQad via https://t.co/tFiRvDN0df pic.twitter.com/0TtnqwOSXm
Chiu told the Tracker that he was also struck on his inner left thigh with a second rubber bullet fired by law enforcement.
CBSLA reported that both Los Angeles Police Department officers and L.A. County Sheriff’s deputies were at the scene in tactical gear. Neither agency responded to requests for comment as of press time.
Chiu was also assaulted by individuals while documenting the protest, which the Tracker has documented here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country in 2020. Find these incidents here.
Photojournalist Ringo Chiu, a member of the National Press Photographers Association, said he was kicked by individuals while documenting protests in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.
The protests in Los Angeles were sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Demonstrations against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Chiu posted multiple photos of bruises on his left leg and damage to his camera on Facebook the following day, with the caption, “Rubber bullet fired by LAPD and kicked by a protester…”
The Tracker documented the assault and equipment damage from the rubber bullets here.
Chiu told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker via email: “I am not sure whether or not I was targeted when I was kicked by the protesters during the chaos of the protest. They were attacking a police vehicle and most likely did not want me photographing them in the act.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that multiple vehicles belonging to the Los Angeles Police Department were vandalized and at least two were set on fire during the protests on May 30.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented hundreds of incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country in 2020. Find these incidents here.
KATV News reporter Shelby Rose said she and several colleagues were hit with tear gas deployed by police while they covered protests in Little Rock, Arkansas, on May 30, 2020.
The demonstrations in Little Rock were among many anti-racism protests across the country that were sparked by the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, as well as other deaths of Black people at the hands of police.
Rose was covering the protests in downtown Little Rock as tensions escalated between police and protesters. According to the Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Arkansas State Police used tear gas multiple times that night to disperse protesters who gathered in the city’s downtown.
Rose said she and four other KATV journalists were first hit with tear gas when they stood near a small group of protesters, shortly after the Arkansas State Police arrived. One journalist, digital reporter Paige Cushman, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she had seen police using tear gas indiscriminately in a different area shortly before the news team was hit with it, and said she didn’t believe the news team had been targeted.
Rose said there were a handful of protesters near where she was standing with her colleagues, preparing for a live broadcast. She and members of her team were clearly identified as journalists. They were wearing polos with the KATV news logo and carrying camera equipment, including a powerful light used to shoot video, she said.
“There was no warning for tear gas,” she said. “They shot it right at us.”
In a live broadcast shot immediately after tear gas was used, Rose walked along a sidewalk, with protesters visible nearby, describing the effects. “My eyes are currently burning right now,” she said.
In a clip from a Facebook Live video recorded by a colleague, Rose and other members of the team kneel on the ground, as someone helps her pour water in her eyes.
Rose said she believes police intentionally fired tear gas toward her. “It was obvious who we were, and we were standing right next to them.”
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said in an email that the incident hadn’t been reported to the agency. He said police wouldn’t have fired on reporters standing near the police line, because the officers wouldn’t have deployed tear gas on themselves. “I assure you no tear gas was directed at any state troopers or reporters.”
He also said police always issue a loud warning to disperse before using tear gas. Rose said she heard no announcement from police before the tear gas was deployed.
About 15 minutes later, Rose was standing on a corner on Martin Luther King Drive with no protesters near her when a tear gas canister landed near her, she said.
Video reviewed by the Tracker that was shot as Rose was broadcasting live shows a line of police carrying riot shields, blocking a street. A tear gas canister appears to be shot from the line of police, alight and trailed by a shower of sparks. As she reported on the scene, Rose initially called the canisters “fireworks,” before she realized they were tear gas.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Documentary filmmaker Christopher Frierson was pepper-sprayed in the face by police while he filmed a protest in the Brooklyn borough of New York on May 30, 2020.
The protest was among the many demonstrations that broke out in response to police violence and in support of Black Lives Matter following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Frierson, whose work includes the award-winning documentary “The King” and the forthcoming “Don’t Try to Understand,” said in an interview with Democracy Now that the May 30 protest in Brooklyn had been peaceful until a woman threw a water bottle toward police from the group he was filming. He said that police began running toward the group spraying liquid at people, including him.
The Tracker couldn’t reach Frierson for comment.
Video Frierson recorded shows an officer in a helmet and face shield approaching and directing a stream of liquid in the direction of the camera from several feet away. The camera points toward the ground and Frierson can be heard groaning. He told Democracy Now that it was the second most painful experience in his life.
“I think that it’s more than the pain,” he said in the interview. “It’s just not knowing what’s happening all of a sudden, because you’re robbed of your sight. You’re robbed of your senses.”
Frierson kept the camera rolling after he was sprayed. Shortly after, voices can be heard around him asking if he had been sprayed and helping to treat him. Someone pours a liquid into his eyes and on his face, explaining that it will reduce the stinging, and wiping his face and nose.
“They got me right in the face, I saw it happening,” Frierson says in the video.
Frierson was incapacitated, unable to see, for more than 10 minutes after he was sprayed, according to The Guardian.
The Guardian reported that Frierson was clearly displaying a press badge at the time he was sprayed.
“I’d assumed they wouldn’t do anything to me because I was press and I had a camera in my arms, but I found out that I was wrong,” Frierson told the Guardian.
The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Johnathen Duran, content editor at Colorado-based Yellow Scene Magazine, said he was shot with pepper balls and hit with tear gas while livestreaming from a Black Lives Matter protest in Denver on May 30, 2020.
“I was shot in the arm and foot with pepper balls,” Duran, who writes under the name De La Vaca, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “This was at approximately 5:40-6 p.m.,” he said, adding that police officers used chemical agents including smoke bombs and pepper balls, as well as flash-bang grenades, on protesters in a dirt lot adjacent to the city’s Civic Center Station.
“I was on the far sidewalk, taking photographs while wearing a press badge,” he said. “I was subsequently hit with tear gas twice, once on the Capitol lawn, and the second time of which forced me to leave the protest to recover.”
Duran shared images with the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker of bruising on his arms, which he said were caused by the pepper balls.
A Denver Police Force spokesperson said the department didn’t have a record of the incident. However, the spokesperson said the department had undertaken a review of its response to the large-scale demonstrations in the city following the killing of George Floyd, some of which escalated into violence.
The department reviewed the use and tracking of “less-than-lethal” munitions, the processes for documenting use of force during protests, the use of body cameras and improving dispersal orders, among other issues.
Two journalists who’d been reporting for the Detroit Free Press had weapons brandished at them by law enforcement officials while covering protests in the city on May 30, 2020, they told the Committee to Protect Journalists.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Detroit Free Press reporter Branden Hunter, who’s no longer with the newspaper, told CPJ in an interview that he’d been reporting on May 30 with a group of Free Press reporters. At about 11:30 p.m., as he was standing near a handful of his colleagues and trying to see through a haze of tear gas, a police officer approached him with a rubber bullet gun and told him to leave, according to a tweet from Hunter’s twitter account and his interview with CPJ. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
“I put my press pass up and immediately stopped what I was doing,” Hunter told CPJ.
Hunter, who is Black, said he felt the officer was “100 percent” going after him because of his race.
In a Facebook Live hosted by the International Center for Journalists on June 5, Hunter said he’d been wearing streetwear that evening, including a Black Panther jacket, and that, aside from his press badge, he “fit the description of the protesters.”
According to both Hunter and a video of the incident on his Twitter account that was viewed by CPJ, a tear gas canister rolled toward the journalists from another direction immediately after the officer had stepped away from him.
M.L. Elrick, who’d also been reporting that evening with a group of Free Press journalists, also had an officer aim a crowd-control weapon at him later that night. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker has documented his assault here.
The Free Press did not respond to an email requesting comment as of press time.
When contacted by CPJ, the Detroit Police Department’s voicemail box was full. The department did not respond to CPJ’s emailed request for comment as of press time.
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.
Samuel Braslow, a reporter for Los Angeles Magazine, was struck by a crowd-control munition while covering protests in Los Angeles, California, on May 30, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Samuel Braslow, a reporter for Los Angeles Magazine, tweeted that was covering protests outside CBS Studios when his leg was grazed by a projectile fired by police, breaking the skin.
Grazed by a rubber bullet while covering protests in Los Angeles. Police opened fire on protesters who hand their hands up outside CBS gate. pic.twitter.com/sAiG5q7193
— Samuel Braslow (@SamBraslow) May 31, 2020
Braslow, who did not immediately return a request for comment, wrote in subsequent tweets that he was "doing fine."
The Los Angeles Police Department did not respond to an email requesting 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.
Minneapolis Star-Tribune reporter Chris Serres was struck by a rubber bullet and caught in tear gas while covering protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 30, 2020.
Protests began in Minnesota on May 26, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Serres wrote on Twitter that Minneapolis police tear gassed him and shot him in the groin with a rubber bullet while he was covering the protests, despite waving his press badge.
“I was twice ordered at gunpoint by Minneapolis police to hit the ground, warned that if I moved ‘an inch’ I’d be shot,” Serres wrote.
Regarding police behavior last night, I was twice ordered at gunpoint by Minneapolis police to hit the ground, warned that if I moved "an inch" I'd be shot. This after being teargassed and hit in groin area by rubber bullet. Waiving a Star Tribune press badge made no difference. pic.twitter.com/pfBm7ubzOg
— Chris Serres (@ChrisSerres) May 31, 2020
More than three dozen journalists were assaulted, arrested or had equipment damaged while covering protests that night. The Minneapolis Police Department, Minnesota State Police, and Minnesota National Guard did not reply to emailed requests for comment about these incidents.
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.
Just after Minneapolis’ curfew went into effect on May 30, 2020, a correspondent and cameraman for Turkey’s state-run English-language news channel were hit by projectiles fired by police.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Lionel Donovan, a Washington-based correspondent for TRT World, said he had set up for a live shot outside the Minneapolis Police Department’s Fifth Precinct just after the city’s 8 p.m. curfew went into effect, near some peaceful protesters staging a sit-in at an intersection. Journalists were specifically exempt from the curfew by Governor Tim Walz’s order.
“The curfew came and it was like a button got hit,” Donovan told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview.
According to Donovan, the police advanced down the street and began to fire off tear gas and flash-bang grenades to disperse the crowd. One of the tear gas canisters hit cameraman Barbaros Sayilgan’s foot during Donovan’s live shot.
Sayilgan could not be reached for comment, but Donovan said he helped the cameraman and a producer off to safety, then went back into the street to film more footage himself. Donovan was filming on his phone, he said, when a blue foam round struck him in the inside of his left thigh, breaking the skin.
Requests for comment sent to the Minnesota State Patrol and the Minneapolis Police Department were not immediately returned.
Fahrettin Altun, Turkey’s communications director, brought up the attack on the crew in a June 3 phone call with David Satterfield, the U.S. ambassador to Turkey, according to an article published in the Daily Sabah, a Turkish newspaper.
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.
Blade photojournalist Kurt Steiss was struck with crowd-control munitions while covering protests in Toledo, Ohio, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.
Steiss reported on Twitter he was fired upon by police while documenting the police advance from the Lucas County Courthouse toward the police headquarters that afternoon. In a series of tweets, he recounted being struck multiple times with pepper balls, which left a welt on his arm.
Been hit a few times as police advanced their line between the Lucas County Courthouse and the Safety Building (TPD HQ). Heading in to edit and file. @AmyEVoigt is taking over for now on photo. pic.twitter.com/vitIM4ZNkQ
— Kurt Steiss ⚔️ (@kurtsteiss) May 31, 2020
Steiss, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment, was also struck on the forehead.
“Ironically there isn’t much of a mark there (compared to my arm), but I can still feel soreness on my head while my arm feels fine,” he wrote.
Lt. Kellie Lenhardt, who commands the Toledo Police Public Information Section, told the Tracker over email that the department did not receive complaints from Steiss or other journalists that day.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said during a press conference on June 22 that there was an investigation into officers’ conduct during the protests. Kapszukiewicz also announced that officers will no longer be permitted to wear military-style camouflage.
On July 22, Toledo police announced that three officers were disciplined for misconduct during the May 30 protests. One officer received a written reprimand while the other two were suspended and given last chance warnings, meaning they could be fired following another infraction.
“Police legitimacy cannot improve if departments fail at policing their own,” Police Chief George Kral said in a press release announcing the disciplinary measures. “I will ensure that officers are held accountable when their actions are found to violate department policies, and I will always support the hundreds of officers that positively represent Toledo Police.”
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.
Toledo Blade editor Nolan Rosenkrans said he was caught in tear gas and shot at with crowd-control munitions by law enforcement while covering protests in Toledo, Ohio, on May 30, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, for more than eight minutes during an arrest on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital. The incident sparked anti-police brutality and Black Lives Matter demonstrations across the country.
Nolan Cramer, a journalism student interning for the Toledo City Paper, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was photographing near the corner of East Woodruff and Franklin Avenues as Toledo Police Department officers worked to disperse protesters in the street at around 5:45 p.m.
Cramer said that an officer deliberately threw a tear gas canister at him and Toledo Blade editor Nolan Rosenkrans, who was standing next to them, despite both of them wearing visible press passes. Both journalists were caught in the cloud of tear gas.
Rosenkrans told the Tracker that he had not felt targeted with tear gas that day, but noted that he did not know what Nolan had experienced or seen.
“What police did do was shoot pepper spray balls when I crossed some arbitrary line toward them,” he said.
Rosenkrans tweeted shortly after 6:30 p.m. that he had also been shot at with a “paintball gun” by an officer who knew he was a reporter.
Just was shot at with a paintball gun by a cop who knows I’m a reporter. He’s wearing fatigues.
— Nolan_Rosenkrans⚔️ (@NolanRosenkrans) May 30, 2020
He told the Tracker that he had continued documenting the protest and speaking with protesters and police as the march continued down Franklin Avenue to where it becomes 17th Street.
“[The police] knew I was a journalist. The camo team was near me for several miles and I had been talking to them from the street for quite some time,” he said. “I can’t say I was targeted because I was a journalist, but I can’t say for sure.”
Lieutenant Kellie Lenhardt, who commands the Toledo Police Public Information Section, told the Tracker over email that the department did not receive complaints from Rosenkrans or other journalists that day.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said during a press conference on June 22 that there was an investigation into officers’ conduct during the protests. Kapszukiewicz also announced that officers will no longer be permitted to wear military-style camouflage.
On July 22, Toledo police announced that three officers were disciplined for misconduct during the May 30 protests. One officer received a written reprimand while the other two were suspended and given last chance warnings, meaning they could be fired following another infraction.
“Police legitimacy cannot improve if departments fail at policing their own,” Police Chief George Kral said in a press release announcing the disciplinary measures. “I will ensure that officers are held accountable when their actions are found to violate department policies, and I will always support the hundreds of officers that positively represent Toledo Police.”
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.
Jan Czernik, a photojournalist for Denver 7 News, was struck four times by pepper balls fired by police while covering protests in Denver, Colorado, on May 29, 2020. The reporter accompanying him, Adi Guajardo, said she avoided being hit.
The camera Czernik was holding was also hit, damaging the lens.
Guajardo tweeted about the experience, initially identifying the projectiles as paintballs:
Police just fired off paintballs and tear gas.
— adigtv (@AdiGTV) May 30, 2020
Our photographer got hit four time and our camera got hit.
Luckily, I ducked and avoided getting struck.#denverprotests @DenverChannel pic.twitter.com/8KstNp39HS
This incident occurred during the second night of protests in Denver over the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis Police officer knelt on his neck for almost nine minutes on May 25. Related protests have spread to cities across the nation.
According to a Denver 7 News story about the protests, police fired pepper balls and pepper spray into a crowd of protesters gathered near where Guajardo and Czernik were standing.
"Earlier today one of our photographers got hit by paintballs four times, including on the camera,” Guajardo later said on air. “We believe it might have been either tear gas or pepper spray balls but at one point my entire face was burning so I know what some of these people are experiencing.”
Later in the evening, Guajardo was filming a live shot, answering the anchor’s questions about Czernik being hit by pepper balls, a group of officers wielding pepper ball guns approached her, forcing her and her crew to retreat. “Where do you guys want us to go? Why are you pushing us back right now? Can we get some answers as to why you’re pushing us back at this moment?” she asks the officers, camera still rolling. “Where are the crowds supposed to go? You keep pushing them back. Where do people protest peacefully?” One of the officers shouted “move back” in reply.
Adi then tells the anchor, “So they’re asking us to move back but they’re not giving us answers. If people want to protest, where do you protest?”
Guajardo declined comment to the Tracker, citing guidance from Denver 7 management.
A request for comment sent to the Denver Police Department was not returned as of press time.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find all of these cases here.
Hart Van Denburg, visuals editor for Colorado Public Radio, was struck on the face with a tear gas canister fired by Denver police while covering protests in the city on May 29, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
During the protests, police fired a tear gas canister that hit Van Denburg on the chin. He posted a selfie to Twitter that night documenting his bruised chin, and expressing gratitude to those who shared milk with him to dampen the effect of the tear gas.
Tear gas canister on the chin. Ok. Thanks to volunteers with the milk. pic.twitter.com/K0mgHXQC6o
— Hart W. Van Denburg (@hartoutwest) May 30, 2020
Details regarding precisely where in Denver the incident occurred were not immediately available, and Van Denburg — who covered the protests again the following day — did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Requests for comment on this incident sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.
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.
Protesters gather in Denver, Colorado, on May 28, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-06-10 03:23:40.969331+00:00,2023-11-03 17:27:55.154529+00:00,"Journalist assaulted, camera lost while documenting New York City protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-assaulted-camera-lost-while-documenting-new-york-city-protests/,2023-11-03 17:27:55.072899+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Sue Brisk (Freelance),,2020-05-29,False,New York,New York (NY),None,None,"NYPD officers injured freelance journalist Sue Brisk and allegedly seized her camera while she was covering protests in New York City on May 29, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Brisk told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she was photographing demonstrations at 42nd Street in Times Square in the evening of May 29 with her NYPD-issued press pass clearly displayed.
“I watched the police beat people with billy clubs and then they threw a woman up against a pole right in front of me,” Brisk said. “After that it’s a blur, kind of.”
Brisk said that, before she knew what was happening, her head was slammed to the ground and she found herself pinned under at least three NYPD officers, and said her camera strap had wrapped around a bicycle handle and was choking her.
“Protesters were pleading with the police to please let go of me because they said I was an old lady and that I guess it looked very violent, what had happened,” Brisk said. She noted that she is short, lightweight and has silver-gray hair. Protesters pleaded with the NYPD riot officers to let her up and out of the way, Brisk told the Tracker.
She said a protester intervened and pulled her to the opposite sidewalk. Brisk then realized that one of her cameras was missing.
Brisk said she believes police took possession of the camera, and said everyone who had been in the vicinity was soon arrested.
“I’ve lost camera equipment which is essential to the job that I do,” she added. “I did nothing wrong.”
Brisk told the Tracker that she did not go to a hospital out of concern over potential exposure to the coronavirus. Instead, she said she worked through the night documenting the protests in order to stay awake in case she had a concussion.
When asked for comment, an NYPD spokesperson directed the Tracker to the “30 minute mark” of a press briefing held by New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Police Commissioner Dermot Shea on June 3.
Around that point in the recording, Shea says: “The only thing that I might add on the point of the press: We’re doing the best we can, the difficult situation. We 100 percent respect the rights of the press. Unfortunately we’ve had some people purporting to be press that are actually lying, if you can believe that. So sometimes these things take a second — maybe too long — to sort out.”
Brisk told the Tracker that she is still trying to figure out how to retrieve her camera.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Karli VanCleave, a journalist with WPTA ABC 21, was struck by a tear gas canister fired by police while she was covering protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana, on May 29, 2020.
Protests in Fort Wayne began as demonstrations erupted across the country, sparked by a video of a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest in Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a hospital.
VanCleave covered the protests in downtown Fort Wayne for several hours. In the evening, as protesters gathered in the street, she said police formed a barricade to keep them from the courthouse lawn. The tension between protesters and police went on for several hours, VanCleave said, and police used tear gas several times.
VanCleave was part of a group of five journalists with WPTA covering the protests. They had been standing near the police, who were aware the journalists were there, she said. VanCleave and her colleagues were wearing bright red shirts and jackets with the station’s logo. She was carrying equipment, including a camera marked with ABC 21’s letters.
As protesters and police faced off, without a warning, police began shooting canisters off in every direction, VanCleave said. She began to run and lost the rest of her team.
She saw one of the canisters, billowing smoke and looking “like a firework,” coming straight toward her face. VanCleave said she turned to duck, and the canister hit her in the back. She couldn’t breathe and had to hunch over. She was also carrying a large camera and a microphone, which made it “impossible” to run, she said.
VanCleave’s coworker, Kayla Crandall, posted on Twitter that VanCleave had been struck with a canister while covering the protest.
The blow from the canister left VanCleave feeling sore the next day. Being close to the tear gas was worse, she said, because she couldn’t breathe or see and her skin felt as though it was burning everywhere.
VanCleave did not report the incident to police. Though the news organization has been in touch with police about other issues from the protests, she did not believe her experience had been reported.
Sergeant Brian Walker, the regional public information officer for the Indiana State Police, said in an email that he had looked into the claim, but there was nothing to comment on and confirmed there was no documentation of it.
VanCleave said police did not give warnings before using tear gas. For both protesters and the press, it was not clear what people were supposed to do to avoid exposure. “We would inch closer and closer so we could get the best shots, and still thinking that we were OK for a little bit to not get tear-gassed,” VanCleave said. “But then it would just happen out of nowhere, it seemed like almost every time.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting damage of equipment and multiple journalists arrested or struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas while covering related protests across the country. Find these cases here.
Journalist Karli VanCleave covering protests in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-06-22 14:00:32.627732+00:00,2022-03-10 19:49:14.053055+00:00,"CNN reporter hit with a projectile, tear-gassed during live coverage of Minneapolis protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cnn-reporter-hit-projectile-tear-gassed-during-live-coverage-minneapolis-protest/,2022-03-10 19:49:13.991655+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Miguel Marquez (CNN),,2020-05-29,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Miguel Marquez, a national correspondent for CNN, was hit with a projectile and tear-gassed on live TV while reporting from protests in Minneapolis, Minnesota, for Cuomo Prime Time on May 29, 2020.
The protests were part of several days of demonstrations that began in response to a video of a white police officer in Minneapolis kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a black man, during an arrest. Floyd was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Marquez was covering protests near the Fifth Precinct headquarters where demonstrators refused to comply with warnings from law enforcement and the National Guard that they were breaking curfew and would be removed, Marquez reported. “That’s when things got very, very intense here,” he said in a video of the incident.
Marquez went on to say that protesters were firing bottle rockets and fireworks at the precinct, while law enforcement was responding with tear gas and flash-bang grenades. At one point in the video, the CNN reporter lets out an exclamation after being struck with a canister or a rock, and host Chris Cuomo advises him and his crew to retreat from the action.
While describing the action in front of him — which included protesters “using the fireworks as weapons” — Marquez wound up in the line of tear gas, telling his cameraperson to “watch yourself” as they moved away. In the video, he can be heard coughing.
“That’s a healthy dose,” he said, before continuing to report. ““They fired a hell of a volley of tear gas into the crowd to get them out,” he said.
A CNN spokesperson declined to make Marquez available for an interview, noting that he had not specifically been targeted by tear gas but was merely “in the area where the tear gas was being shot.”
A Minneapolis police department spokesperson did not respond immediately to a question about why tear gas was deployed or the type of projectile that struck Marquez.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred total incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find these incidents here.
Demonstrators chant outside the Fifth Precinct on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,unknown,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-07-22 22:40:27.320438+00:00,2022-03-10 19:49:50.218693+00:00,"Indianapolis Star journalist pepper sprayed, threatened, shot with projectile",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/indianapolis-star-journalist-pepper-sprayed-threatened-shot-projectile/,2022-03-10 19:49:50.161185+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Kelly Wilkinson (The Indianapolis Star),,2020-05-29,False,Indianapolis,Indiana (IN),39.76838,-86.15804,"Indianapolis Star photojournalist Kelly Wilkinson was tear gassed, pepper sprayed, threatened and shot with a pepper ball on May 29, 2020, while documenting the first night of protests in Indianapolis, Indiana.
The protests were sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis, Minnesota on May 25. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Wilkinson told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protests that day had been largely peaceful until shortly after sunset when something triggered a back-and-forth between protesters and law enforcement.
“It sort of spiraled downhill after that,” she said.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers began launching tear gas into the crowd, Wilkinson said. It was the first time she had experienced the chemical irritant.
“I don’t know whether I had a panic attack or what, but that first time that it got me, it got me good,” Wilkinson said. “I thought I was going to die.” After taking a few minutes to recover she said she was able to resume working.
Shortly before 10 p.m., as the skirmish between police and demonstrators continued, Wilkinson said she was working near a street corner where a number of police officers were assembled in a line. In a video captured by Eric Weddle, a reporter with NPR affiliate WFYI, Wilkinson can be seen approaching the intersection with one of her cameras raised as she photographs the scene.
An officer breaks away from the police line and approaches Wilkinson with his weapon trained on her. A second officer appears to intervene and directs Wilkinson to step back; as she does, the first officer appears to begin lowering his weapon.
On the ground moments ago in Indianapolis. pic.twitter.com/H4fto941z0
— Eric Weddle (@ericweddle) May 30, 2020
Wilkinson told the Tracker that she didn’t remember the incident happening until she saw the video and that she hadn’t felt threatened at the time. “It does look quite shocking though, when you see it,” she added.
Wilkinson noted that in a separate incident that night she was struck above the knee with a pepper ball. She didn’t realize what hit her until she researched the wound pattern when she got home.
Later that evening, after Wilkinson had put on a gas mask to protect herself from the tear gas, officers directly pepper sprayed her, Wilkinson said.
“It looked like he was pointing right at me,” Wilkinson said. “I was maybe 8 to 10 feet away from him, so not too far.”
“Again, I thought I looked like a photographer, but maybe I didn’t. I did have all of my equipment on me,” she added, noting that she was carrying two cameras, a fanny pack and her press pass.
The following day, Wilkinson said the Star issued new press passes that are bright yellow and marked PRESS in large capital letters. Editors from the Star did not respond to requests for comment.
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department did not respond to a voicemail requesting comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country related to the death of George Floyd while in police custody. Find all of these cases here.
Reporter Julio Rosas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was struck by a projectile shot by law enforcement while reporting on a protest in Minneapolis on May 29, 2020.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Rosas said he was hit near Minneapolis' Third Precinct while reporting for Townhall, which describes itself as a conservative news and commentary site.
In the early afternoon, Rosas filmed State Patrol troopers and National Guardsmen stationed near stores that had been burgled. At about the same time, officials announced the arrest of fired police officer Derek Chauvin on third-degree murder and manslaughter charges. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison later added a second-degree murder charge in addition to charging three other former officers with aiding and abetting murder.
The situation grew tense as an 8 p.m. curfew drew closer, Rosas said. He filmed protesters emotionally confronting a mixed deployment of National Guard and police, including State Patrol.
Some officers can also be seen wearing riot gear with “Police” or “Sheriff” written on it. It isn’t precisely clear to which law enforcement agencies they belonged.
Protesters, journalists and even law enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a dozen different agencies joined the law enforcement effort in Minnesota, often wearing similar looking uniforms.
Officials by loudspeaker ordered protesters to disperse 10 minutes before curfew, as officers donned gas masks, Rosas told the Tracker. Rocks and bottles flung from the protesters’ side of a barricade were met with projectiles and tear gas from law enforcement, Rosas said.
But instead of advancing to enforce the curfew, police and National Guard troops began to withdraw from the area, Rosas said.
In a video of the incident Rosas filmed from the sidewalk, law enforcement are seen backing past a burned-out building. He told the Tracker he had informed the National Guardsman closest to him that he was a journalist. He was wearing press credentials around his neck. Rosas pans to the left as police fire projectiles toward a line of protesters down the street.
Then the sound of another shot rings out and the video cuts off. Rosas was hit in the torso. He would later tweet a photo of a welt of about 40 millimeters in diameter, the same as some of the projectiles he saw being used.
Rosas, who was hit by what he believed was a pepper ball the previous day, said the pain of getting hit by a 40mm projectile was on a different level.
“When I first got hit, on a scale of one to 10 pain-wise, it was a 10 for the first minute,” Rosas said. “And then I thought ‘Oh shoot I need to get out of here.’”
Rosas said he jumped over a small fence on the side of the road and landed on his back. Other people in the area helped him up and asked if he needed to go to the hospital. He wasn’t coughing up blood and didn’t feel pain breathing, so he went back to reporting, assuming he didn’t suffer serious internal damage. Later that night, he went to the hospital and received an official all-clear.
Capt. Melanie Nelson, a spokeswoman for the Minnesota National Guard, told the Tracker it “did not employ non-lethal rounds during the civil unrest in Minneapolis, Saint Paul and surrounding communities.”
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to questions sent by the Tracker.
Rosas said he would be “very surprised” if he was hit by accident because there was no one around him. But he said he didn’t know whether he was targeted specifically as a journalist.
Citing his experience assessing threats in the Marines, Rosas said it didn’t make sense to focus on him, as he posed no danger whether he was recognized as a journalist or not.
At least 12 people across the country were partially blinded by police projectiles between May 28 and June 2, according to a Washington Post investigation. One of those 12, freelance writer and photographer Linda Tirado, was hit in the left eye on the same night and precinct as Rosas.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Townhall reporter Julio Rosas shows the welt left behind from a projectile that hit him while covering protests on May 29, 2020.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-08-18 18:32:54.838836+00:00,2023-07-17 20:23:18.996916+00:00,Journalist says police fired pepper balls at him while he stood alone covering Denver protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalist-says-police-fired-pepper-balls-him-while-he-stood-alone-covering-denver-protests/,2023-07-17 20:23:18.850629+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Kevin Beaty (Denverite),,2020-05-29,False,Denver,Colorado (CO),39.73915,-104.9847,"Reporter and photographer Kevin Beaty says that police officers tried to pelt him with pepper balls while he was covering protests in Denver on May 29, 2020.
The protests erupted in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25.
Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held in cities across the U.S. since late May.
Another Black man, Elijah McClain, died in August 2019 after a fateful encounter with police in Aurora, Colorado, which is in the Denver metro area. McClain’s name has been invoked in signs and chants at protests sparked by Floyd’s death.
Beaty told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was standing alone on the lawn of the Colorado State Capitol while covering the May 29 protests for Denverite when a truck carrying Denver Police Department officers wielding pepper ball launchers arrived and began firing off rounds.
Beaty said he didn’t take direct hits, but he heard rounds make contact with his backpack.
“Even the smallest bit of powder getting into your respiratory system will make you sneeze or cough,” Beaty said.
Beaty said that in addition to using pepper balls, Denver police were also hitting protesters with tear gas throughout the day and that he had taken some himself.
He did not seek medical attention following the May 29 protests.
Later that night, Beaty tweeted that Denver Mayor Michael Hancock told him earlier that day that police would not target bystanders to the protests.
“Why, then, did I just get shot while standing alone on the Capitol grass taking photos?” he said in the tweet.
.@DenverPolice the mayor told me this morning bystanders are not the intended target of this enforcement. Why, then, did I just get shot while standing alone on the Capitol grass taking photos?
— Kevin Beaty (@KevinJBeaty) May 30, 2020
The Denver Police Internal Affairs Bureau contacted Beaty after he tweeted about the incident, Beaty told the Tracker. He filed a report with the office, but said he has not been contacted since.
A spokesman for the Denver Police Department declined to comment on Beaty’s case.
“An internal affairs investigation into this incident is underway and it would be inappropriate for the department to comment at this time,” spokesman Jay Casillas said in an email.
Denver has seen numerous demonstrations since President Donald Trump’s inauguration in 2017, Beaty said. But the protests that broke out in the days following Floyd’s death were “some of the wildest I’ve ever seen.”
“It was pretty bananas for the first few days,” Beaty said.
In the months since, Beaty said that he has seen protesters in Aurora carrying firearms. He also noted that there have been a number of shootings during area demonstrations. In July, a 23-year-old man allegedly opened fire at a Jeep that attempted to drive through a group protesting McClain’s death while marching on Interstate 225 in Aurora.
Two protesters were struck with bullets during the shooting, according to CBS4 Denver. Samuel Young, the accused shooter, is charged with four counts of attempted murder.
“In the last month, things have gotten more worrisome from a safety perspective,” Beaty said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists being assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or having their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Jeff Wagner, a reporter and anchor for WCCO, a CBS affiliate station based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was livestreaming protest coverage as he was hit by a police projectile on May 29, 2020.
The protests were held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the U.S. since the end of May.
Wagner was covering the fourth night of protests in Minneapolis on May 29. The night before, protesters overran and set fire to the Minneapolis Police Department’s Third Precinct. But the focus on the 29th had shifted to the Fifth Precinct.
In a livestream video filmed by Wagner, the Minnesota State Patrol can be heard over loudspeaker just before 11:30 p.m. ordering people to disperse immediately. About 10 minutes after Wagner filmed the loudspeaker warning, he was hit by a police projectile.
Wagner did not respond to requests for comment, and a message left on the WCCO general line was not answered.
In the livestream, Wagner reports that State Patrol troopers were advancing north on Nicollet Avenue, shooting projectiles at protesters who’d been throwing objects and launching fireworks at the police. He stands separate from the action in a mostly empty parking lot on the side of the street.
A lone officer can be seen stepping into the parking lot and appears to hit one individual trying to retrieve a bike. Wagner asks if the person is all right, just as he, too, is hit. Wagner grunts as his phone tumbles to the ground.
Wagner says in the livestream that he is all right despite the projectile feeling like the “the hardest punch to my forearm I’ve ever had.” But he says he recognized the risk of reporting close to the action.
“I had my hand up. I got my news badge,” Wagner says as he flashes the badge on the video. “It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter in that moment. I looked like anybody else.”
The livestream video does not clearly show the officer who shot the projectile at Wagner. Protesters, journalists and even law enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a dozen agencies joined the law enforcement effort in Minnesota in late May, often wearing similar-looking uniforms.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety, which oversees the State Patrol, didn’t respond to the Tracker’s emailed list of questions.
Several other journalists were hit by police projectiles and tear gas fired by either State Patrol or Minneapolis Police that evening, as documented by the Tracker.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Taylor Schuss, a photojournalist with Denver NBC affiliate 9News KUSA, was struck with a pepper ball fired by Denver police while covering protests in the Colorado city on May 29, 2020.
Protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 have spread across the country, sparked by a video showing a police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest the day before. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
That evening, police fired a pepper ball that hit Schuss on the ankle, according to Tim Ryan, director of content at 9News KUSA, who summarized the incident in an email to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
Ryan wrote that Schuss and the reporter he was with, Steve Staeger, “don’t believe they were targeted as journalists but rather happened to be in a group of protesters who were targeted.”
Staeger later tweeted about the incident, also adding that an individual had sprayed Schuss’ camera lens with some substance while they were covering the demonstrations.
I watched @Taylor_TVnews take a pepper ball shot into his ankle by police and have a protestor spray his camera lens with something, all while we both endured about 5 or 6 rounds of tear gas tonight during coverage tonight. Yet through it all he stayed focused.
— Steve Staeger (@SteveStaeger) May 30, 2020
Schuss did not reply to an interview request sent via Twitter message.
Requests for comment on this incident sent to the Denver Police Department were not immediately returned.
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.
Reporter Julio Rosas was hit by a pepper ball fired from a Minneapolis police vehicle as he reported on a protest in the city on May 28, 2020, Rosas told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The protest was held in response to a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis on May 25. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital. Protests against police brutality and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement have been held across the United States since the end of May.
Rosas had arrived at the Minnesota Police Department’s Third Precinct and begun filming in the early afternoon for Townhall, which describes itself as a conservative and commentary news site. He shared videos of protesters outside the police station and people walking through the ransacked aisles of a nearby Target.
As evening drew close, hundreds had gathered near the police station in preparation for a third night of protests, according to news reports. The police had maintained a minimal presence throughout the afternoon, Rosas said, until a convoy of police vehicles drove in next to the Target parking lot.
A video filmed by Rosas shows officers escorting one person apparently under arrest and patting down another. More police officers arrive in an unmarked white van. The officers are seen throwing flash bang grenades and shooting less-lethal ammunition to disperse the crowd. The video shows a water bottle thrown at the officers, who had formed a line in the middle of the street.
Rosas said he followed the police after they began to retreat from the scene. He realized he needed to find a safer place to film after he was almost hit by a tear gas canister that had been thrown back at police, he said.
Rosas laid down on a berm on the side of the road to lower his profile for safety. “I was trying to make myself as small as possible to try and get out of the way while still trying to do my job,” he said.
Rosas stopped filming during a lull in the action, he told the Tracker. Then an officer pointed his pepper ball gun from inside a Minneapolis Police vehicle directly at Rosas.
“I started shaking my head and said, ‘No, no, no, don’t do it, don’t do it,’” Rosas told the Tracker. “And then he shot me in the upper left thigh.”
Rosas said he was wearing a press badge “clearly in front” around his neck and had his phone in his hand when he was shot. He said he wasn’t sure if he was targeted specifically as a journalist. There were some protesters nearby, but he remained apart from them on the berm to avoid getting hit by thrown objects. He did nothing to indicate a threat to the police officer, he said.
Rosas said he believed he was hit by a pepper ball, a projectile similar to a paintball filled with an irritant instead of paint. The projectile left a white powder on his clothing that burned and caused him to cough.
Minnesota Police Department spokesperson John Elder told the Tracker he was unable to comment about this and other incidents involving the press. However, he said that the police department had not used pepper balls in years, instead using “40 mm less lethal foam marking rounds.” He also said, “Every use of force by the MPD is under investigation internally.”
It is not clear if other law enforcement agencies were present on the scene. Video footage appears to show only Minneapolis police officers.
Protesters, journalists and even law enforcement officials have had difficulty at times identifying specific officers during the protests. More than a dozen different agencies joined the law enforcement effort in Minnesota, often wearing similar-looking uniforms obscured in the chaos of tear gas-soaked streets.
Rosas continued to report despite being hit. Later that night, Mayor Jacob Frey ordered the police to evacuate the Third Precinct, which protesters then set on fire.
The following day, Rosas was also hit by a projectile as he filmed Minnesota State Patrol troopers and National Guardsmen confront protesters, he told the Tracker. Getting hit by a likely pepper ball “wasn’t great,” Rosas said, “but it was a whole lot better” than the 40 mm projectile he was shot with the next day.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd control ammunition or tear gas or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
Minnesota Reformer reporter Max Nesterak was shot with crowd-control ammunition while covering demonstrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 27, 2020.
Police were attempting to reign in a second day of protests following the death of George Floyd, a Black man. Floyd died at a hospital on May 25, after an officer knelt on his neck during an arrest, ignoring Floyd's repeated exclamations that he could not breathe. A video of the arrest sparked widespread outrage, and protests began the following day in Minneapolis.
On May 26, thousands of protesters gathered outside the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct. That afternoon and evening, police clad in riot gear fired tear gas, flash-bang grenades and less-lethal rounds into the crowd and some demonstrators built barricades and set fires.
Protesters took to the streets again the following day.
Shortly after 11 p.m., Minnesota Reformer reporter Max Nesterak tweeted that he was struck in the chest by a rubber bullet shot by Minneapolis police.
And I got hit in the chest by a rubber bullet from police. Covered me in dust that’s been making me cough for a half hour. I’m home now. pic.twitter.com/sYShFOjvQO
— Max Nesterak (@maxnesterak) May 28, 2020
“[The rubber bullet] covered me in dust that’s been making me cough for a half hour. I’m home now,” Nesterak wrote. Nesterak did not respond to messages requesting further comment.
At around the same time, a second Reformer reporter, Ricardo Lopez, tweeted that he was “physically yanked away” by a police officer who wanted the media to move away from the advancing police line. Lopez could not be reached for comment to further clarify his tweet.
The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
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.
Minnesota police aim pepper spray at protesters on May 28, 2020, as demonstrations continued for a second day following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, in police custody.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2021-09-24 20:12:15.487217+00:00,2024-02-16 21:04:00.764013+00:00,Reporter struck in the eye with less-lethal round during second day of Minnesota protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/reporter-struck-in-the-eye-with-less-lethal-round-during-second-day-of-minnesota-protests/,2024-02-16 21:04:00.652924+00:00,,,"(2022-02-08 11:54:00+00:00) Journalists reach settlement agreement with Minnesota State Patrol, rest of suit ongoing, (2020-06-02 16:05:00+00:00) Freelance journalist files class action suit against Minneapolis police department, (2024-02-08 00:00:00+00:00) Journalists get nearly $1M settlement over Minneapolis BLM protest attacks",Assault,,,,Jared Goyette (Freelance),,2020-05-27,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Freelance journalist Jared Goyette was struck in the eye with a crowd-control munition and tear gassed while documenting demonstrations in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 27, 2020.
Police were attempting to reign in a second day of protests following the death of George Floyd, a black man. Floyd died at a hospital on May 25, after an officer knelt on his neck during an arrest, ignoring Floyd's repeated exclamations that he could not breathe. A video of the arrest sparked widespread outrage, and protests began the following day in Minneapolis.
On May 26, thousands of protesters gathered outside the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and at the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct. That afternoon and evening, police clad in riot gear fired tear gas, flash-bang grenades and less-lethal rounds into the crowd, and some demonstrators built barricades and set fires.
Protesters took to the streets again the following day.
On the 27th, Goyette began tweeting at 7 p.m. about a young protester who had been hit in the side of the head by a crowd-control round by police. He continued tweeting as other demonstrators attempted to carry the man to safety and eventually loaded him into a car to be taken to the hospital.
Ten minutes later, Goyette tweeted that he had been struck in the eye and then tear gassed.
I got hit in the eye and then tear gassed. pic.twitter.com/wXm1P5yPKb
— Jared Goyette (@JaredGoyette) May 27, 2020
Goyette, who was not immediately available for comment, posted that people had rushed to help him bandage his eye and helped him to safety when a cloud of tear gas came upon them.
“I wasn’t trying to put myself at risk. I wanted to document what was happening to the young man who seemed critically injured, and the people who were trying to keep him alive,” Goyette wrote.
Photojournalist Dymanh Chhoun of WCCO-TV tweeted that he, too, had been caught in a cloud of tear gas.
The Minneapolis Police Department did not immediately respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s request for comment.
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.
Minneapolis police spray a crowd-control agent on protesters on May 27, 2020, in the wake of George Floyd’s killing. While documenting events that day, freelance photojournalist Jared Goyette was tear gassed, hit in the eye with a crowd-control munition.
",None,None,None,None,False,0:20-cv-01302,"['ONGOING', 'SETTLED']",Class Action,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-05-29 17:27:36.691845+00:00,2023-07-17 20:26:29.666132+00:00,Minneapolis Star Tribune reporter struck by projectile while covering George Floyd protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-struck-projectiles-while-covering-minneapolis-protest/,2023-07-17 20:26:29.535428+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Andy Mannix (Minneapolis Star Tribune),,2020-05-26,False,Minneapolis,Minnesota (MN),44.97997,-93.26384,"Andy Mannix, the federal courts reporter for the Minneapolis Star Tribune, was struck with a crowd-control projectile while covering a protest in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on May 26, 2020.
Demonstrations began in response to the death of George Floyd, a Black man, the day before, after an officer pinned down his neck with his knee for several minutes, ignoring Floyd's repeated exclamations that he could not breathe. A 17-year-old bystander caught this encounter on video and shared it on Facebook, sparking widespread outrage.
On May 26, thousands of protesters gathered outside the convenience store where Floyd had been detained and marched almost three miles to the Minneapolis Police Department's Third Precinct. There, some in the crowd turned violent, lobbing rocks and water bottles at police. Others attacked parked police cruisers and the precinct itself, breaking a glass door, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. Police clad in riot gear answered by setting off tear gas canisters, detonating flash bang grenades and firing rubber or foam bullets into the crowd.
One of these projectiles — tipped with blue foam — hit Mannix in the thigh.
I Was just shot with this in the thigh. pic.twitter.com/igcJ3e7iQ4
— Andy Mannix (@AndrewMannix) May 27, 2020
Mannix, who had walked with the protesters to the precinct, told the Committee to Protect Journalists he was leaning against a tree a block away from the precinct attempting to post a video to Twitter when he was hit. Mannix was wearing a press pass, but it was not visible under his raincoat. He said that the police seemed to be firing these projectiles "indiscriminately" and that he did not feel as if he was targeted. CPJ is a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.
The next day Mannix posted a photo to Twitter of an enormous, colorful bruise that had spread across the inner part of his upper left thigh.
The tear gas police fired was so thick that "you couldn't see your hands in front of your face for a couple square blocks," Mannix told CPJ.
Most protesters in the crowd were wearing face masks to prevent the spread and transmission of coronavirus. "If you can imagine like 2,000 people in a pretty condensed crowd, and then all of them coughing because they're just getting annihilated by this tear gas, you probably couldn't have a worse situation in terms of the pandemic," Mannix said.
A request for comment sent to Minneapolis Police Department Public Information Officer John Elder was not answered as of press time.
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.
Protesters gather near the Minneapolis Police Third Precinct on May 27, 2020, after George Floyd, a Black man, died while in police custody. The death touched off multiple nights of protests in the city and across the nation.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, Black Lives Matter 1 year, Black Lives Matter 2020, chemical irritant, protest, shot / shot at",,, 2020-04-16 20:28:56.369820+00:00,2023-11-03 17:33:46.648085+00:00,Georgia woman charged with kidnapping after hijacking news van with reporter inside,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/georgia-woman-charged-kidnapping-after-hijacking-news-van-reporter-inside/,2023-11-03 17:33:46.559801+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,vehicle: count of 1,Iyani Hughes (WANF),,2020-04-14,False,Atlanta,Georgia (GA),33.749,-84.38798,"A woman was arrested in Atlanta, Georgia, and charged with kidnapping after police said she hijacked a news van on April 14, 2020, with a reporter inside.
Atlanta police spokesperson Officer Anthony Grant told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that at approximately 5:30 a.m. police were called to the scene of a crashed Toyota involving a pregnant woman, later identified as 38-year-old Seniqua Lunsford.
A CBS46 news crew was nearby to cover the crash, the outlet reported, and had just finished a live shot. Reporter Iyani Hughes had started the news van to power her computer as she sat in the back editing footage, while the photojournalist with her stood outside.
Grant told the Tracker that, unbeknownst to the officers approaching the scene of the crash, Lunsford exited the vehicle. She then jumped behind the wheel of the news van and sped away.
Grant said that officers heard reporter Hughes’s screams, attempted to stop the van and then gave chase.
Police spokesman Officer Steve Avery told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that Hughes attempted to make Lunsford pull over.
“The suspect wouldn’t do that, so [Hughes] did the smart thing: She got into her seat and put her seat belt on,” Avery said.
The chase ended when Lunsford crashed the news van into a traffic circle approximately a mile away, deploying the airbags. Police quickly arrived at the scene and arrested Lunsford, Officer Grant told the Tracker.
Hughes was not injured in the crash, Grant said, but was taken to the hospital as a precaution. During the course of their investigation, police learned that both Hughes and Lunsford are pregnant.
CBS46 Station Manager Jeff Holub told the Tracker, “This was obviously a very dangerous and frightening situation and we are happy that Iyani is OK.”
Lunsford is being held on charges of kidnapping, which is punishable by 10 to 20 years in prison under Georgia law.
Documentary filmmaker Ricardo Olivero Lora was shot with a round of "crowd control ammunition" while filming police officers dispersing protesters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the early morning of July 23, 2019.
Olivero Lora told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was filming between 1 and 3 a.m., carrying his professional camera and clearly identified with credentials issued by the Puerto Rico Documentary Association.
“I was clearly identified with that and I also had a big camera, so it would be difficult for someone to confuse me for a protester,” Olivero Lora said.
In the video Olivero Lora published via Fuertefuerte, an officer can be seen removing a canister from a riot gun and reloading before turning and firing in Olivero Lora’s direction. As Olivero Lora turns after being shot, there appears to be at least one person standing a short distance behind him.
Un policía dispara a uno de nuestros documentalistas. - Equipo Fuertefuerte (Viejo San Juan, madrugada del 23 de julio) pic.twitter.com/K8KjbwClNC
— Fuertefuerte (@Fuertefuerte2) July 26, 2019
Olivero Lora told the Tracker that he did not know whether he had been directly targeted by the officer.
“I was concentrated on the camera and getting the shot, so I cannot say whether there was someone next to me or close to me,” Olivero Lora said. “What I can tell you without a doubt is that he fired in my direction and it hit me, but mildly.”
Olivero Lora told the Tracker that it felt as though he had been hit in the leg with a couple of marbles. He added that because of the distance from which he was filming, he was not bruised or otherwise injured.
The New York Times reported that Puerto Rican police were using shotguns that included rubber-coated metal pellets, but that they could also be loaded with rock salt, bore cleaners or noise rounds that cause less severe injuries.
When asked if he continued filming after the incident, Olivero Lora told the Tracker, “Of course, of course.”
Documentary filmmaker Ricardo Olivero Lora was hit with crowd control ammunition while filming a protest calling for the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 23, 2019, police clash.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"protest, shot / shot at",,, 2019-07-26 14:35:48.257691+00:00,2022-07-30 02:49:27.078510+00:00,Broadcast reporter struck by a rubber bullet while covering Puerto Rico protests,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/broadcast-reporter-struck-rubber-bullet-rock-while-covering-puerto-rico-protests/,2022-07-30 02:49:27.011694+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Orlando Rivera Martinez (WAPA-TV),,2019-07-15,False,San Juan,Puerto Rico (PR),None,None,"NotiCentro WAPA-TV broadcast reporter Orlando Rivera Martinez was injured while covering protests in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on July 15, 2019.
Rivera was covering protests outside La Fortaleza, the official residence of Gov. Ricardo Rosselló, where demonstrators were gathered for the third night to demand the governor’s resignation.
“During the nights, authorities have been shooting gas and rubber bullets at the protesters,” Rivera told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker. “And I — and a lot of journalists — have been close by, in the middle of it.”
It was under these conditions that Rivera said he and his photographer were shot at. Rivera told CPJ that he was struck by one, and the overwhelming pain caused him to fall.
Rivera continued documenting the protests that night, however, but sought safer ground on a third-story balcony to keep observing the protests.
“And then, a protester threw a rock at the police and I got hit in the abdomen,” Rivera told CPJ. The Tracker has documented that incident here.
In a video posted by WAPA-TV, Rivera can be seen laying down on the floor, writhing in pain and tapping his right side where a bruise appears to be forming.
Security forces told La Estrella de Panamá that 10 people were injured that night, including several policemen and “a journalist, who was attacked with a stone.”
Rivera told CPJ that while no one had expected the scale of the protests, his station did provide him with a gas mask and a bulletproof vest. He also said that while some protesters were aggressive and did not want to be filmed, he and his photographer didn’t encounter much hostility.
When asked if he would continue documenting the protests moving forward, Rivera said, “Yes I will. And if it gets aggressive and violent, I will try to find a safe spot—though you never know.”
On July 24, after multiple nights of protests, Gov. Rosselló announced he would step down on Aug. 2.
This was the moment thousands of protesters, standing in front of the governors mansion, tonight, heard the governor say he is resigning pic.twitter.com/PhmVDGpe4A
— David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) July 25, 2019
Demonstrators in San Juan, Puerto Rico, called for the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosselló for nearly two weeks in protests that left several injured.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"protest, shot / shot at",,, 2019-06-20 17:20:13.343856+00:00,2023-06-26 17:49:42.652043+00:00,Man arrested for assaulting reporter outside of Trump’s reelection announcement rally,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/man-arrested-for-assaulting-reporter-outside-of-trumps-reelection-announcement-rally/,2023-06-26 17:49:42.518470+00:00,,,(2019-09-16 12:09:00+00:00) Man arrested on battery charge of journalist agrees to probationary deal,Assault,,,,Michael Williams (Orlando Sentinel),,2019-06-18,False,Orlando,Florida (FL),28.53834,-81.37924,"A Florida man was charged with battery after assaulting an Orlando Sentinel reporter on June 18, 2019, at the Amway Center in Orlando, where President Donald Trump was hosting a rally to launch his bid for re-election in 2020.
Sentinel reporter Michael Williams was filming at least three individuals with his cellphone as they were removed from the building. One of the men, later identified as Daniel Kestner, appeared to be engaged in a dispute with a second man, but his ire turned to Williams when he noticed that the journalist was filming the altercation.
Kestner then began to approach Williams, hurling curses and demanding that he stop filming them. When Williams didn’t comply with his demands, Kestner can be heard saying, “I promise you I’ll kick you in the nuts.”
The Sentinel reported that Williams retreated backward, but Kestner caught up to him and smacked his hand, attempting to knock the cellphone to the ground.
In the video, security officers can be seen immediately coming between Kestner and Williams, ordering Kestner to immediately leave the property.
Orange County Clerk records obtained by the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker show that Kestner was later arrested and charged with battery for “willingly striking” Williams. A first-degree misdemeanor, Kestner could face up to one year in jail if convicted.
According to a police report obtained by the Sentinel, Kestner was intoxicated during the altercation.
Julie Anderson, editor in chief of the Sentinel, told Newsweek that ahead of the rally the newsroom spoke with the reporters and photographers covering the event, “telling them to be careful and vigilant about their own personal safety.”
Anderson told the Tracker that her staff has faced intimidation, threats and name-calling at Trump rallies since 2016.
People chant “Fake News” as U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign kickoff rally in Orlando, Florida.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Donald Trump rally, election, Election 2020",,, 2019-05-28 20:09:35.741103+00:00,2023-07-13 20:22:44.593038+00:00,Alaska radio reporter attacked while covering abortion demonstration,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/alaska-radio-reporter-attacked-while-covering-abortion-demonstration/,2023-07-13 20:22:44.505097+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Jennifer Williams (KSRM-AM),,2019-05-21,False,Soldotna,Alaska (AK),None,None,"KSRM Radio Groups News Director Jennifer Williams was assaulted while covering a Planned Parenthood rally on May 21, 2019, in Soldotna, Alaska.
Williams was covering the rally and speaking to both pro-choice advocates and anti-abortion counterprotesters. According to Craig Medred, an independent journalist in Alaska, Williams had finished interviewing an anti-abortion protester, and walked across the street to speak to a pro-choice advocate when she felt an object hit her face.
She told Craig Medred News that she saw a car speed past and someone tell her she was “going to hell.” Williams did not initially realize that she had seriously been hit, and she and the person she was interviewing moved closer to the large group of protesters.
When Williams got into her truck to leave later, she realized that she was bleeding and the hit was more serious than she thought initially.
Later that evening, Williams tweeted that she had been attacked.
While covering the #StopTheBan rally in Soldotna I was struck by unknown items out of a moving vehicle while being told I was going to hell. Battle wounds of a journalist. @Ksrm pic.twitter.com/jqixlwkFxs
— Jennifer Williams (@JenniferKSRM) May 22, 2019
Williams told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she does not know who attacked her, but she has filed “a police report with the Soldotna Police Department in hopes of getting some information on who made the attack and hopefully prevent it from happening again.”
Craig Medred News reported that Williams had received an outpouring of support from anti-abortion and pro-choice advocates since the attack.
“Both rallies, the pro- and the anti- have been great,” Williams said. “We live in a small community where people are generally pretty tolerant.”
On May 23, Williams tweeted a video thanking her supporters and emphasizing that she hopes the attack will not deter journalists from covering the news, or activists from voicing their opinions.
Just an update and a huge thank you for all of the kind words and support ❤️ pic.twitter.com/sVCpWrUBHB
— Jennifer Williams (@JenniferKSRM) May 23, 2019
“I was out there just trying to do my job, and they were out there just trying to stand up for what they believe in,” she said. “We all have one common goal in this life.”
Jennifer Williams, News Director for Alaska-based KSRM Radio Groups, shows the lacerations and bruising she received when an object was thrown at her while she was reporting.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,unknown,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"protest, reproductive rights",,, 2019-03-13 16:09:06.811291+00:00,2023-10-27 21:34:29.364734+00:00,"Sacramento photojournalist pushed to the ground by police while covering protest, his camera damaged",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/sacramento-photojournalist-pushed-ground-police-while-covering-protest-his-camera-damaged/,2023-10-27 21:34:29.244484+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,"miscellaneous equipment: count of 1, camera: count of 1",Hector Amezcua (The Sacramento Bee),,2019-03-04,False,Sacramento,California (CA),38.58157,-121.4944,"A Sacramento police officer shoved Sacramento Bee Senior Photographer Hector Amezcua to the ground with his bicycle during a protest on March 4, 2019, breaking his equipment and interrupting his broadcast.
More than 100 people gathered in a Trader Joe’s parking lot around 6:30 p.m. that day to protest the district attorney’s decision not to bring criminal charges against the officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark, a 22-year-old black man, last March. After about two hours, the march circled back to the parking lot where it had begun.
Police spokesperson Sgt. Vance Chandler told NPR that officers gave 10 orders to disperse over a two-hour period. “Shortly after we started monitoring the group at [approximately] 7:30 p.m., we established the group was unlawfully assembling by standing in the street,” Chandler said.
Protest organizers also encouraged people to leave, NPR reported, and many did. Soon after that, a row of officers in riot gear formed a line and began slowly advancing, leaving only one exit for those remaining: Down 51st Street.
Amezcua told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was broadcasting a livestream as officers on bicycles began pushing marchers into a flower bed next to a large Trader Joe’s sign. “As I hugged the corner of the sign with my right shoulder I felt bicycle officers closing in on me. I felt an officer hit me with his bike from my left side,” Amezcua said. “I lost my balance for a second and looked into [the] officer’s face as I turned. He screamed, ‘I told you to get out of the way,’ I assume as motive for hitting me.”
He wasn’t aware that his camera had been damaged in the collision until his colleague Sam Stanton walked up to him to tell them they were no longer broadcasting live. The HDMI port and cable on his Nikon Z-6 camera were broken.
The Bee reported that the assault was witnessed by National Lawyers Guild legal observers at the scene as well as Bee journalists.
Amezcua stayed behind at the shopping center where his company car was parked as officers on bikes and in riot gear began circling the protesters and forcing them on to 51st Street. When he and Stanton switched the live feed to his cellphone they continued reporting, staying around 20 feet behind the officers who continued cordoning the protesters onto the Highway 50 overpass. A line of officers, initially out of view of the protesters, was waiting at the end of the bridge.
Police had received reports that at least five cars had been keyed, according to a tweet from Sacramento Police Department Capt. Norm Leong, and shortly after 10 p.m. officers began arresting those that had not dispersed.
“As we walked closer we observed a large group of people on the overpass at 51st Street and Highway 50 surrounded by police officers on bikes and riot police with nowhere to go,” Amezcua said. “At this point I noticed our colleague Dale Kasler among those in the group.”
The Bee reported that 84 people were arrested over the next four hours. The Tracker documented the arrests of three journalists, including Bee reporter Kasler, Sacramento Business Journal reporter Scott Rodd and student journalist William Coburn.
Amezcua told the Tracker that he believes that he, Stanton, and other journalists from Univision, KCRA, NPA and ABC 10 were not arrested because they had not stayed with the group that was corralled at the end of the overpass.
Kettling — surrounding protesters in order to prevent any exit, often followed by indiscriminate detentions and arrests — is used across the country as a protest response despite the risk it poses to journalists covering the protest.
“I’m very disappointed the protest ended the way it did. I have many questions about what went on that precipitated the order to disperse and the subsequent arrests,” Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg tweeted in the early morning on March 5. “No matter the reason an order to disperse was given, no member of the press should be detained for doing their job.”
Sacramento's police department and public safety accountability office are conducting ongoing internal investigations into the police tactics used during the protest, The Bee reported.
Amezcua told the Tracker that people have asked him why they stayed after orders were given to disperse. “My response has been Section D of California PC 409.5,” Amezcua said.
That section of the penal code allows for any member of the news media to remain after orders to clear an area have been given.
Sacramento police officers watch protesters in March 2018 following the funeral of Stephon Clark, a young black man. Protests broke out in 2019 after the announcement that officers involved in his shooting won’t be charged.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, court verdict, protest",,, 2018-08-15 02:12:58.414047+00:00,2023-11-27 21:31:50.053081+00:00,Portland police shove independent journalist Donovan Farley with batons,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-police-shove-independent-journalist-donovan-farley-with-batons/,2023-11-27 21:31:49.948352+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Donovan Farley (Paste),,2018-08-04,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Independent journalist Donovan Farley and photographer Doug Brown were shoved by Portland police officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 4, 2018.
The journalists were in downtown Portland that day to cover the far-right "Patriot Prayer" protest and counterprotests for Paste magazine.
A video that Brown posted on Vimeo shows journalists and protesters slowly retreating before an advancing line of Portland police officers, as the officers fire non-lethal projectiles at them. At one point, the officers stop at the edge of a street and wait. Without warning, the officers begin running down the street toward Brown, Farley, and others. Once they reach them, they violently shove them backwards with their batons.
"Move!" the officers yell as they force Brown backwards.
"What's your name?" Brown asks one of the officers pushing him. "What's your name, sir? What's your name?"
The officer does not reply.
“Their response when we were pinned against a wall was to hit and push us repeatedly with their batons,” Farley wrote in an account for Paste. “We all either had press passes clearly displayed or were holding several obviously professional cameras when we were attacked, and there was a TV crew trailing the line of police, so we figured we’d be allowed to slide out of the way and do our jobs. We were wrong.”
A screengrab from a video recorded by Doug Brown shows Portland police officers shoving Brown backwards with batons on Aug. 8, 2018.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,protest,,, 2021-10-22 13:45:20.685205+00:00,2023-07-13 20:23:01.141164+00:00,Portland police shove freelance photographer Doug Brown with batons,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/portland-police-shove-freelance-photographer-doug-brown-with-batons/,2023-07-13 20:23:01.042188+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Doug Brown (Paste),,2018-08-04,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"Freelance photographer Doug Brown and independent journalist Donovan Farley were shoved by Portland police officers while covering a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 4, 2018.
The journalists were in downtown Portland that day to cover the far-right "Patriot Prayer" protest and counterprotests for Paste magazine. Brown was taking photographs of protesters and Portland police officers, who were clad in riot gear and armed with batons and non-lethal weapons.
A video that Brown posted on Vimeo shows journalists and protesters slowly retreating before an advancing line of Portland police officers, as the officers fire non-lethal projectiles at them. At one point, the officers stop at the edge of a street and wait. Without warning, the officers begin running down the street toward towards Brown, Farley, and others. Once they reach them, they violently shove them backwards with their batons.
"Move!" the officers yell as they force Brown backwards.
"What's your name?" Brown asks one of the officers pushing him. "What's your name, sir? What's your name?"
The officer does not reply.
Brown later tweeted a video showing the police charge.
Here's riot cops in Portland rushing and hitting me, @DonovanFarley, and others on the sidewalk. I don't know why they did this. #AllOutPDX #DefendPDX pic.twitter.com/mra0fanen0
— doug brown (@dougbrown8) August 4, 2018
“Here’s riot cops in Portland rushing and hitting me, @DonovanFarley, and others on the sidewalk,” Brown wrote. “I don’t know why they did this.”
On Aug. 2, 2018, photojournalist Mike Krotche and reporter Nia Harden of Detroit TV station WXYZ were attacked by a man wielding a metal baton. Neither Harden nor Krotche were injured in the attack.
Harden and Krotche were filming a live shot about a fatal car crash on Detroit's West Side when the man first approached them.
"While we were doing our live shot, towards the end of it, a man with a beer bottle and a baton-looking type of piece came over here, started interrupting us," Harden later said in a Facebook Live video about the incident. "I didn't think anything of it because he was kind of walking away after that."
When the live shot finished, Harden and Krotche returned to their WXYZ news truck. As Harden sat in the passenger seat of the truck, Krotche stood outside and waited for the truck's "mast" — the communications array on top of the news truck — to be lowered.
"When the mast is up, it's unsafe, you can't just drive away," Harden explained to her Facebook Live viewers. "You have to wait for the mast to go down. So as he was waiting for the mast to go down, he [stayed] outside of the truck, to make sure nobody was going to touch it or touch the vehicle, because it can be very dangerous."
While Krotche waited outside the truck, the man with the metal baton started to smash a nearby car, which WWJ radio reporter Mike Campbell was sitting in. Then he turned his attention to the WXYZ truck.
"He turns around very quickly, very quickly, and he runs — he looks at me, dead in the eyes — he looks at me, and he runs over to the car, runs over to the live truck, and he does this right here," she said in the Facebook Live video, showing cracks in the truck's windshield. "He starts hitting the front windshield where I'm sitting."
Krotche quickly jumped into the back of the news truck as the man smashed the WXYZ news truck's windshield and driver-side mirror.
Police later arrested the man.
A man uses a metal baton to smash the windshield of a local TV station's news truck, on Aug. 2, 2018, in Detroit, Michigan.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,private individual,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,,,, 2021-10-22 13:41:12.847040+00:00,2023-08-28 16:51:05.723518+00:00,Local TV reporter attacked in Detroit by man wielding a metal baton,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/local-tv-reporter-attacked-in-detroit-by-man-wielding-a-metal-baton/,2023-08-28 16:51:05.510892+00:00,,,"(2019-09-16 09:54:00+00:00) Detroit man sentenced in attack on reporters, news vehicles",Assault,,,,Nia Harden (WXYZ-TV),,2018-08-02,False,Detroit,Michigan (MI),42.33143,-83.04575,"On Aug. 2, 2018, reporter Nia Harden and photojournalist Mike Krotche of Detroit TV station WXYZ were attacked by a man wielding a metal baton. Neither Harden nor Krotche were injured in the attack.
Harden and Krotche were filming a live shot about a fatal car crash on Detroit's West Side when the man first approached them.
"While we were doing our live shot, towards the end of it, a man with a beer bottle and a baton-looking type of piece came over here, started interrupting us," Harden later said in a Facebook Live video about the incident. "I didn't think anything of it because he was kind of walking away after that."
When the live shot finished, Harden and Krotche returned to their WXYZ news truck. As Harden sat in the passenger seat of the truck, Krotche stood outside and waited for the truck's "mast" — the communications array on top of the news truck — to be lowered.
"When the mast is up, it's unsafe, you can't just drive away," Harden explained to her Facebook Live viewers. "You have to wait for the mast to go down. So as he was waiting for the mast to go down, he [stayed] outside of the truck, to make sure nobody was going to touch it or touch the vehicle, because it can be very dangerous."
While Krotche waited outside the truck, the man with the metal baton started to smash a nearby car, which WWJ radio reporter Mike Campbell was sitting in. Then he turned his attention to the WXYZ truck.
"He turns around very quickly, very quickly, and he runs — he looks at me, dead in the eyes — he looks at me, and he runs over to the car, runs over to the live truck, and he does this right here," she said in the Facebook Live video, showing cracks in the truck's windshield. "He starts hitting the front windshield where I'm sitting."
Krotche quickly jumped into the back of the news truck as the man smashed the WXYZ news truck's windshield and driver-side mirror.
Police later arrested the man.
KATU cameraman Carter Maynard was harassed and assaulted while covering a protest on June 28, 2018, outside the offices of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Portland, Oregon.
Prosecutors pursued charges against a 33-year-old woman for the attack, alleging that she slammed a wooden gate into Maynard’s head, and that her motivation was due to hostility toward the press. She was acquitted by a Multnomah County jury in May 2019.
The Oregonian reported that the medical professionals who examined Maynard diagnosed him with a concussion. A doctor hired by the defense, who did not personally examine him, disputed this.
According to The Oregonian, the woman accused of attacking Maynard testified that she had her hand on the wooden gate but did not slam it into the reporter; rather she let it go and it closed on him. She also testified that she thought the KATU reporter broadcasting images of protesters in attendance would endanger their lives.
Maynard, who no longer works for KATU, could not be reached for comment.
On June 26, 2018, reporter Darryl Forges and photographer Linda Sargent-Nestor of Florida TV station WTVJ were attacked by a stranger during a morning live shoot in Miami Beach, Florida.
“It’s been a wild day, but overall my photographer Linda Sargent-Nestor and I are ok,” Forges wrote in a Facebook post a few hours after the attack. “We were attacked by a crazy stranger in Miami Beach this morning while doing our live shot.”
“Special thanks to Miami Beach PD for responding quickly, and also to two complete strangers who helped,” he said.
Forges wrote that his glasses were broken in the attack, which left him with minor bruises, scratches and bite marks.
On June 26, 2018, photographer Linda Sargent-Nestor and reporter Darryl Forges of Florida TV station WTVJ were attacked by a stranger during a morning live shoot in Miami Beach, Florida.
“It’s been a wild day, but overall my photographer Linda Sargent-Nestor and I are ok,” Forges wrote in a Facebook post a few hours after the attack. “We were attacked by a crazy stranger in Miami Beach this morning while doing our live shot.”
“Special thanks to Miami Beach PD for responding quickly, and also to two complete strangers who helped,” he said.
Forges wrote that his glasses were broken in the attack, which left him with minor bruises, scratches and bite marks.
Heather De Mian, an independent livestreamer and photographer, was pepper sprayed by St. Louis police while filming protests in St. Louis on Sept. 29, 2017, according to her tweets and livestream video of the incident.
In an interview with St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Nassim Benchaabane after the protest, De Mian said she was livestreaming the demonstration to Periscope when she was informed by protesters that the St. Louis police tased a protester. She moved closer, trying to film the arrest of the protester, when police allegedly sprayed her with a chemical agent from the side.
De Mian regularly documents protests by livestreaming them on Periscope and uploading them to her Youtube channel, "Heather DeMian," and her Twitter account, @MissJupiter1957.
In the Periscope video, De Mian can be seen asking the officers multiple times why she was sprayed and why they failed to give a dispersal order. In the video, one officer points at De Mian and says repeatedly, “time to go."
“I should have to be a threat before someone fucking maces me,” she says later on the livestream.
De Mian later tweeted that the pepper spray had a severe effect on her because she has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder.
"B/c of my #EDS, my physical reaction to pepperspray is different. It takes a few minutes to feel it where I have mucus membranes in my face," she tweeted. "Didn't really feel it much on my arms & medics washed where there was visible orange liquid, but not whole arm, so missed where fine spray. So while I didn't feel an initial reaction on my arms much, where it sat on the skin for longer, it damaged the skin. #EDS"
The St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
#STLProtests 2 https://t.co/Md7vRrOjyj
— Heather ♿📷📱🔭 (@MissJupiter1957) September 30, 2017
@MissJupiter1957 a livestreamer in a wheelchair, says she was pepper sprayed while filming after police teased/arrested a man #stlverdict pic.twitter.com/dhjtMdBO4G
— Nascream Bloodaabane (@NassimBnchabane) September 30, 2017
Heather De Mian, an independent livestreamer, was pepper-sprayed by St. Louis police while filming a protest.
",None,None,None,None,False,4:18-cv-01680,['DISMISSED'],Civil,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Black Lives Matter, chemical irritant, court verdict, protest",,, 2020-01-27 17:22:34.337149+00:00,2023-08-28 19:02:39.445059+00:00,"Independent filmmaker pepper-sprayed, arrested in St. Louis protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-filmmaker-pepper-sprayed-arrested-st-louis-protests/,2023-08-28 19:02:39.197843+00:00,rioting: failure to disperse (charges dropped as of 2017-10-18),,(2023-08-03 13:29:00+00:00) Filmmaker gets part of $4.9 million class-action settlement,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault",,,,Mark Gullet (Independent),,2017-09-17,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"In a lawsuit filed on his behalf, freelance filmmaker Mark Gullet says he was assaulted and arrested by police officers in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 17, 2017, while recording footage of a protest for his film on crime.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that more than 1,000 people had gathered in downtown St. Louis that day to protest the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
The Post-Dispatch reported that Gullet said he arrived downtown around 11 p.m., “after all the vandalism had happened.”
“I was on the sidelines with other media. Out of nowhere, we hear marching and batons hitting shields,” Gullet told the Post-Dispatch.
Three lines of police in riot gear and one of bicycle officers advanced around the intersection of Washington Avenue and Tucker Boulevard, boxing in approximately 100 people for arrest or detention in a maneuver called kettling.
According to the lawsuit filed on Gullet’s behalf, Gullet saw the bicycle officers approaching and asked them if he could leave. The lawsuit says the officers wouldn’t allow him to pass, and instead pushed their bicycles towards him and told him to get back. Trapped in the kettle, Gullet got on his knees on his own volition.
“At this point, Mr. Gullet observed officers unleash pepper spray without warning,” the lawsuit states. “Also without warning, a police officer grabbed Mr. Gullet’s arms so forcefully that Mr. Gullet thought his right shoulder was going to pop out. The officer then restrained Mr. Gullet’s hands with zip ties and pepper sprayed him directly in the face.”
Gullet was taken to St. Louis City Justice Center alongside others arrested at the scene, where he was jailed for approximately 20 hours without receiving medical attention, the lawsuit states.
On Sept. 17, 2018, one year after the kettling arrests, ArchCity Defenders, a legal advocacy group, and the law firm of Khazaeli Wyrsch filed 12 lawsuits against the St. Louis Metro Police Department on behalf of individuals whom they said were treated illegally by police officers during the protests. Gullet and two video journalists, Fareed Alston and Demetrius Thomas, were among those represented.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented 10 journalists detained, arrested, assaulted or had their equipment damaged while covering the protests that night.
Gullet, Thomas, Alston and the other plaintiffs are seeking damages, attorneys fees, expenses and any other relief the court deems appropriate. A trial for Gullet’s case has not been scheduled.
Around 100 demonstrators and multiple journalists were arrested during protests following a verdict of not guilty in the murder trial of a former St. Louis, Missouri, police officer on Sept. 17, 2017.
",arrested and released,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,2017-09-18,2017-09-17,True,4:19-cv-02590,['SETTLED'],Class Action,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, chemical irritant, court verdict, kettle, protest",,, 2020-01-27 17:24:18.063629+00:00,2023-10-27 21:17:42.041017+00:00,"Independent video journalist assaulted, arrested in St. Louis protests",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/independent-video-journalist-assaulted-arrested-st-louis-protests/,2023-10-27 21:17:41.906644+00:00,rioting: failure to disperse (charges dropped as of 2017-10-18),,(2023-08-03 13:32:00+00:00) Video journalist gets part of $4.9 million class-action settlement,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Damage",,,camera: count of 1,Demetrius Thomas (Independent),,2017-09-17,False,St. Louis,Missouri (MO),38.62727,-90.19789,"According to a lawsuit filed on his behalf, freelance video journalist Demetrius Thomas was assaulted, arrested and his equipment damaged while documenting protests in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sept. 17, 2017.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that more than 1,000 people had gathered in downtown St. Louis to protest the acquittal of Jason Stockley, a white former St. Louis police officer who in 2011 fatally shot Anthony Lamar Smith, a black man.
That night, police officers advanced around the intersection of Washington Avenue and Tucker Boulevard, boxing in approximately 100 people for arrest or detention in a maneuver called kettling.
On Sept. 17, 2018, one year after the kettling arrests, ArchCity Defenders, a legal advocacy organization, and the law firm of Khazaeli Wyrsch filed 12 lawsuits against the St. Louis Metro Police Department on behalf of individuals whom they said were treated illegally by police officers during the protests. Thomas and two freelance filmmakers, Mark Gullet and Fareed Alston, were among those represented.
According to the lawsuit filed on Thomas’ behalf, Thomas drove downtown after receiving a call from a friend telling him about the protests, but by the time he arrived they had all but ended. He parked near Tucker Boulevard, where he saw police officers in “military garb” form a line and begin chanting loudly.
While filming the police, Thomas changed his position to get a better angle. According to the complaint, an officer approached Thomas and told him that he could record as long as he remained on the sidewalk. He complied and rejoined other members of the media on a sidewalk corner.
The lawsuit says that Thomas noticed a change in the officers’ attitudes and that they appeared to be preparing to kettle and arrest all those present, so Thomas attempted to leave the scene via a nearby alley. A police officer blocked his path and directed him back towards the intersection. Thomas complied.
At the intersection, Thomas saw between 100 to 200 officers pounding their batons against their shields and the ground. According to the complaint, Thomas was terrified and attempted to return to his car parked past the intersection. Officers blocked him once again.
“In response to Mr. Thomas’s plea, an SLMPD officer pointed a large can of pepper spray at Mr. Thomas and told him to ‘get out of here’,” the complaint says. Thomas complied, and followed the officer’s directions to return to the intersection. There, the crowd was pushed by police and Thomas was knocked to the ground. Suddenly and without warning, police began indiscriminately pepper spraying the kettled crowd.
According to the complaint, when police advanced into the crowd to arrest those present, several officers held Thomas by the arms and legs while another struck him repeatedly in the ribs with his baton. Another officer confiscated Mr. Thomas’s camera, and in the altercation officers broke Thomas’ drone.
Thomas was zip tied and taken to St. Louis City Justice Center alongside others arrested at the scene, where he was detained for several hours.
“I was strictly there to film and document that night because it’s a part of history. Instead we were kettled, beat, and arrested — there was nowhere to turn, and you couldn’t call the police because they were the ones doing it to you,” Thomas said, according to a press release announcing the lawsuits. Thomas also said that the damage to his camera equipment cost him several job opportunities, making it impossible for him to keep up with house payments.
In a video posted on ArchCity Defenders’ YouTube, Thomas said the events are something he’ll never forget.
“For it to end up the way that it ended up kind of damaged my whole outlook on trying to capture real life events like that, because it could always take a turn for the worse,” he said.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented 10 journalists detained, arrested, assaulted or had their equipment damaged while covering the protests that night.
Thomas, Gullet, Alston and the other plaintiffs are seeking damages, attorneys fees, expenses and any other relief the court deems appropriate. Thomas’ case is not expected to go to trial until April 2021.
Police corner and detain protesters on the street following the not guilty verdict in the murder trial of a former St. Louis, Missouri, police officer on Sept. 17, 2017. Multiple journalists were arrested in the kettle.
",arrested and released,St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department,2017-09-18,2017-09-17,True,4:19-cv-02590,['SETTLED'],Class Action,None,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,unknown,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,,"Black Lives Matter, chemical irritant, court verdict, kettle, protest",,, 2017-05-24 01:48:49.773084+00:00,2023-11-03 18:33:48.368171+00:00,"Vocativ journalist charged with rioting in Washington, D.C.",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/vocativ-journalist-charged-with-rioting-in-washington/,2023-11-03 18:33:48.240158+00:00,rioting (charges dropped as of 2017-01-27),,(2021-09-17 00:00:00+00:00) Vocativ journalist receives payout from class-action settlement with District of Columbia,"Arrest/Criminal Charge, Assault, Equipment Search or Seizure",What happened during my arrest at Trump's Inauguration (https://freedom.press/news/what-happened-during-my-arrest-trumps-inauguration/),"camera: count of 1, cellphone: count of 1",,Evan Engel (Vocativ),,2017-01-20,False,Washington,District of Columbia (DC),38.89511,-77.03637,"Evan Engel was arrested on Jan. 20, 2017, while covering protests in Washington, D.C., on the day of President Donald Trump's inauguration. At the time, Engel was a senior producer at Vocativ. Vocativ spokeswoman Ellen Davis told the Committee to Protect Journalists that police seized Engel’s camera and mobile phone.
In a blog post for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, Engel wrote about the circumstances of his arrest:
The group – which included protesters, journalists (including myself), medics, and legal observers – raised their hands in the air and awaited further instructions from the police.
I livestreamed the detention on Facebook. After about 40 minutes, police officers from DC’s Metropolitan Police Department began pulled me from the group (livestreamers were among the first arrested). As I’ve done in numerous protests since 2008, I showed officers my camera and business cards and explained that I was a journalist.
“That’s great,” one officer replied. “I’m a sergeant.”
Engel was charged with the highest level of offense under Washington, D.C.’s law against rioting, which applies when there are injuries as a result of the activity or property damage in excess of $5,000, which can be punished by a maximum of 10 years in jail and fines of up to $25,000.
Engel wrote that he was detained for over 27 hours. He said that he and other detainees were subjected to abusive treatment, including being locked in the back of an overheated van.
On Jan. 27, all charges against Engel were dropped. Police later returned his phone and camera.