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 2023-05-25 21:00:51.717373+00:00,2023-05-25 21:02:24.165828+00:00,Philadelphia news crew shot at with pellets during live broadcast,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/philadelphia-news-crew-shot-at-with-pellets-during-live-broadcast/,2023-05-25 21:02:24.030039+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Shawnette Wilson (WTXF-TV),,2023-05-17,False,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania (PA),39.95233,-75.16379,"
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 đŹ
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) May 18, 2023
(via @MarkFusetti) pic.twitter.com/wRdFG3ozpL
âOK, so, somebody just hit me with pellets, obviously,â Wilson says in the clip. She told the anchors that she wasnât 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.
âThey had no idea what was flying at them or what could come nextâŠespecially after a TV reporter was shot and killed in Florida a few months ago,â Kolodziej wrote. âNothing to take lightly people.â
The Philadelphia Inquirerâs publishing systems were disrupted by a cyberattack that prevented the newspaper from printing its regular Sunday edition on May 14, 2023, temporarily closed its newsroom and took select computer systems offline.
The Inquirer reported that it was not clear when the systems were first breached but that the attack was detected the morning of May 13, when employees found that the newspaperâs content management system wasnât working. Inquirer Publisher and CEO Elizabeth H. Hughes said in a statement later that day that the paper had âdiscovered anomalous activity on select computer systems and immediately took those systems off-line.â
The newspaper said it was able to implement workarounds that day that allowed online publication to continue, albeit sometimes at a slower pace.
The Sunday early edition â which was compiled on May 12 â was successfully printed, but the company was unable to print the regular edition of the newspaper. It instead published solely the online version, and printing resumed during the afternoon of May 14 for the Monday edition.
The Inquirer reported that employees were barred from entering the newspaperâs offices until May 16, as the internet servers had also been disrupted.
In an emailed statement on May 14 to Inquirer journalists reporting on the attack, Hughes said that outside cybersecurity experts had been brought in to help restore systems and that an investigation was ongoing into who was behind the attack and whether any employees or particular systems were targeted.
âWe appreciate everyoneâs patience and understanding as we work to fully restore systems and complete this investigation as soon as possible,â Hughes said. âWe will keep our employees and readers informed as we learn more.â
The Inquirer later reported on May 23 that a ransomware group that calls itself Cuba claimed it was behind the attack and had posted a trove of stolen data and files online. Hughes told the newspaper that the company has not found any evidence that materials were actually taken or shared online.
Independent reporter Ralph Cipriano says he was âstonewalledâ by the Philadelphia district attorney for writing critical articles, eventually culminating in his physical removal from an Aug. 8, 2022, press conference in Pennsylvania.
Cipriano, a former Los Angeles Times and Philadelphia Inquirer reporter who publishes the Big Trial blog, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he first started attending District Attorney Larry Krasnerâs weekly press conferences in July after three years of no response from his requests for comment. Cipriano said that at every press conference, Krasner refused to take questions or call on him.
The district attorneyâs office, which did not respond to requests for comment, holds weekly conferences to brief the media on local issues and events.
During an Aug. 8 press conference, the DA issued Cipriano a warning for not waiting until he was called to ask a question.
âThat is not how we proceed,â Krasner said during the media event, which was live streamed and posted on Facebook. âAnyone who cannot observe those rules can leave and can leave now or be escorted out.â
According to Cipriano, he tried asking questions two more times and was warned by the DA a second time then asked to leave. After being escorted out of the venue, Cipriano wrote on his blog that the treatment was personal.
âAfter four years of presiding over free-for-all press conferences, the D.A. now maintains that reporters no longer have the right to speak up and ask him a question.â
Paula Knudsen Burke, a staff attorney for the Reporterâs Committee for Freedom of the Press, requested written policies and rules that govern the DAâs office interaction with the press during media events as part of a Right-to-Know Law filing. In a letter to Krasner on behalf of Cipriano, Knudsen Burke highlighted that his office could not locate any written policies or guidelines for interactions with the media.
âIt is clear that there are no ârulesâ or procedures governing access to press conferences held by your office,â Knudsen Burke wrote.
She also objected to Ciprianoâs removal from the press conference as unconstitutional under the First Amendment: âGovernment officials cannot make media access decisions based on the content of news coverage, media organizationsâ interaction with government officials, or the agencyâs perception thereof.â
Cipriano continued attending the DAâs weekly press conferences and reported that Krasner called on him to ask a question during a Sept. 12 conference.
Following protests in western Philadelphia, TheBlaze reporter Elijah Schaffer was assaulted while filming looting inside a discount store on Oct. 27, 2020.
Schaffer, who reports for TheBlaze, which was founded by conservative political commentator Glenn Beck and is a part of Blaze Media, was covering protests that broke out in response to the death of Walter Wallace Jr., a 27-year old Black man who was fatally shot one day earlier by two Philadelphia police officers.
According to news reports, protests that had begun peacefully the night of the shooting, to demand justice for Wallace, were disrupted by violence and looting âthat officials said were caused by people taking advantageâ of the demonstration. On Oct. 27, the second night of protests, The Washington Post reported that law enforcement âtook a more aggressive tack,â using lines of riot police to block demonstrators who had gathered at Malcolm X Park in West Philadelphia.
As the protests spread out, some people targeted "big-box stores" in the Port Richmond area and broke into places such as Walmart, according to The Washington Post and Schaffer.
Schaffer told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he followed a group of protesters headed from a nearby police precinct toward Port Richmond, running past officers who were trying to stop him. He said he "ran with the looters trying to document what was happening," which led him into a Five Below, a specialty discount store, at Sepviva Street and East Butler Street. He did not have any press markings displayed at the time, he said, noting that he had not found it "very useful to mark yourself as press."
In a video shared on Twitter, Schaffer films people grabbing things from inside the store when someone approaches him and says, "Hey bro, stop recording," to which he responds, "I'm not recording faces. I'm doing the floor."
He said he was accused of being a white supremacist several times and that he felt targeted for being white. In a video captured by Daily Caller reporter Shelby Talcott, Schaffer can be seen being confronted by several men and backing up before they start attacking him.
Schaffer told the Tracker that his attackers tried to steal his phone, and one of them pulled out a gun. "Another guy punched me right in the face and they started kicking and punching me a couple of times in the head and the gut,â he said.
According to Schaffer, the attackers stopped after a young Black man intervened.
After the incident, Schaffer went on camera to recount the attack. "I was jumped," he said with a bloodied lip. "I might go to the hospital I think to get stitches."
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenny tweeted the next afternoon, "The looting that has taken place is distressing, and it is clear that many of these folks are taking advantage of the situation, harming our businesses and communities, and doing a great disservice to those who want to protest the death of Walter Wallace, Jr."
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Philadelphia Inquirer reporter Samantha Melamed was briefly detained by police while covering a protest inside the Philadelphia Municipal Services Building on June 23, 2020.
Protesters had gathered inside the building to demand a meeting with Philadelphiaâs mayor and managing director to lobby for defunding and demilitarizing the local police department. The protest was part of a national movement against police brutality that began at the end of May following the death of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis.
Melamed captured the moments leading up to her detention in a video she later posted to Twitter.
In the footage, a group of officers places a demonstrator under arrest while a crowd can be heard chanting âDefund the PPD,â referring to the Philadelphia Police Department. A different officer then approaches Melamed to ask who she is, and Melamed can be heard responding repeatedly that she is a journalist.
Seconds later, an officer finishes zip-tying the demonstratorâs hands, turns to Melamed, grabs her notebook out of her hands and appears to pull her arms behind her back while informing her that she is under arrest.
So I just told a police officer wielding a baton that im a reporter. He told me to âput this on Twitterâ. Then he tightly handcuffed me with zip ties and he and another one mocked me while dragging me backward down two flights of stairs along with few dozen others arrested in MSB
— Samantha Melamed (@samanthamelamed) June 23, 2020
Max Marin, a reporter for local NPR affiliate WHYY, tweeted at 4 p.m. that Melamed had just been arrested. He added that he asked PPD Deputy Commissioner Dennis Wilson, who was with police at the protest, why Melamed had been detained. Wilson responded that he didnât know but that he would âcorrect that.â
Marin reported that after further questions about Melamedâs arrest, Wilson left to check on her status.
Melamed tweeted at 4:15 p.m. that she had been released. She said she believed it was because of Marinâs post. âI can only assume that, because [Marin] tweeted it, a captain came by and said âare you Samantha?â and cut my ties off,â Melamed wrote.
Melamed was one of several journalists detained by police during Philadelphia protests in May and June. WHYY reporter Avi Wolfman-Arent was arrested while covering a protest in downtown Philadelphia on May 31. The following day three more journalists were arrested covering other Philadelphia demonstrations: Delaware Online reporters Jeff Neiburg and Jenna Margaretta Miller and Inquirer reporter Kristen Graham. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documented those cases here.
A few hours after Melamed was released, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted that he was disturbed by the video of Melamedâs arrest and concerned that the police officersâ actions were against the law and police policy.
âIt will be fully investigated and addressed,â Kenney added.
I am extremely disturbed by the video of a reporter being detained while doing her job and covering one of todayâs protestsâand also very concerned that it may violate the law and @PhillyPolice policy. It will be fully investigated and addressed.
— Jim #PhillyVotes Kenney (@PhillyMayor) June 23, 2020
The Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to emailed requests for comment.
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.
A reporter for nonprofit media outlet Unicorn Riot was hit repeatedly while he filmed protesters who said they were defending a statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 14, 2020.
The night before, on June 13, a group of vigilantes had gathered at South Philadelphiaâs Marconi Plaza to defend its Columbus statue. Monuments of the Italian explorer and other figures across the country had been toppled or vandalized during continuing protests sparked by the May 25 police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota. That evening, Schiano had filmed a group of men carrying bats and guns at the statue before he was assaulted and had his bike tires slashed.
On June 14, a much larger crowd of demonstrators claiming to defend the statue converged on Marconi Plaza, drawing counterprotesters. Schiano said when he arrived in the late afternoon, police were trying to separate the two sides but failed to keep them apart, resulting in several heated confrontations.
In one video Unicorn Riot shared on Twitter that night, Schiano asks a man if he can tell him what was going on.
âHow about I beat you the fuck up? Get the fuck out of here,â says the man before walking away.
Another man sitting next to Schiano then says: âListen, youâre not supposed to be here, like, videoing everyone, you know what Iâm saying?â
It then appears Schiano is repeatedly hit by different members of the group surrounding him over the course of 30 seconds. Schiano said his camcorder was smashed into a tree by one of the people in the group, damaging the equipment.
Footage from a 6abc Action News reporter captured part of the incident, showing a crowd converging on Schiano and attacking him as he filmed. âKill him!â a voice can be heard shouting. âThatâs the one from yesterday!â another voice yells as Schiano is punched and shoved.
In video footage from the aftermath of the incident, members of the crowd can be heard taunting Schiano and threatening bodily harm as police officers intervene to keep them away from the reporter.
Like the previous evening, the assaults on Schiano appeared to come from members of the group that said they were there to protect the Columbus statue.
Schiano told the Tracker that at another point, he was standing near a police officer when a man came and tackled him to the ground. He added that at several points, people in the crowd tried to take his phone from him.
âI was standing within inches of a cop when this happened, too, who didnât do anything,â he said.
He added that he also saw assaults on counterprotesters by members of the group purporting to defend the statue that didnât attract police intervention.
The Philadelphia Police Department declined to comment on the incident.
Schiano said he tried to leave the plaza several times that evening, only to realize he was being followed, at which point he decided to stay, he said.
Schiano said he has covered dangerous and traumatic events previously, like the far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in the summer of 2017, where he was also attacked.
âThis felt like that,â he said. âIt was like the stress and adrenaline of things Iâve experienced before, but dialed up to 1,000.â
He told the Tracker that he had slight swelling on his lip where he got punched and âserious bruisingâ under his right arm from the blows he received.
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.
On June 13, 2020, Unicorn Riot reporter Chris Schiano was physically assaulted and saw his bikeâs tires slashed while filming protesters who claimed to be protecting a statue of Christopher Columbus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
After statues â including some depicting Christopher Columbus â were toppled or vandalized in cities across the country during protests over the police killing of George Floyd, a group of individuals stationed themselves at South Philadelphiaâs Marconi Plaza on June 13 saying they were protecting the Columbus statue there.
Schiano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he headed to Marconi Plaza after he saw a brief news article online that featured a photo of an armed man by the statue. Upon arriving on his bicycle, Schiano was quickly confronted by men asking who he was and what he was doing. He said he attempted to calm the situation and explained he was there as a journalist. However, he was assaulted within minutes of his arrival after he took out his camcorder and began filming.
In one video Unicorn Riot tweeted that evening, Schiano appeared to be in a confrontation with several men who had come to the statue.
âSir, Iâm just here taking a video of you with your bat,â says Schiano. âYouâre here at the Columbus statue with a bat. That seems newsworthy to me. Thatâs all. Any of you guys want to tell me why youâre out here today?â
One man tells him that they are there âprotecting history.â Then, the man with a bat Schiano was originally addressing begins taunting him, saying âlook at you, youâre fucking shaking. How scared are you?â As he says that somebody else appears to hit Schiano.
In a second video, a man in a red-shirt walks up to Schiano holding a baseball bat and appears to slap him. About 14 seconds later, Schiano says âthis guy just hit me in the headâ and the camera pans to a man in the group surrounding Schiano hauling away his bicycle. Schiano can be heard asking for his bicycle to be returned before the camera shakes violently and there are sounds of a struggle. The clip ends with a man slashing the bikeâs tires with a knife.
After those assaults, Schiano said police came and formed a line in front of him. He said some protesters continued to try to come at him and a video he posted on Twitter showed one being shoved away by police while yelling âI donât want him fucking filming.â
Later, a police officer approached Schiano and ordered him to leave the area, saying that it was a âvolatile situationâ and Schianoâs presence was âaggravating the situation.â
Schiano told the officer he was there as a journalist to document what was going on.
âAnd youâre inciting a riot,â said the officer.
Fearing arrest if he did not comply, Schiano left the area.
âI walked away with my slashed tires bike under threat of arrest to these cheering sounds of basically everybody who was there,â he told the Tracker. âIt was like theyâd just won a baseball game because the cops told me to leave.â
Contacted by the Tracker, the Philadelphia Police Department declined to 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.
Associated Press photojournalist Matt Rourke was assaulted while covering an event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 4, 2020.
Rourke was part of a news crew photographing and interviewing Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and Mayor Jim Kenney in North Philadelphia as the two toured the area following days of protests spurred by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
The AP reported that as Outlaw and Kenney crossed the street, a bystander approached Rourke and punched him in the face, causing him to lose consciousness and fall to the ground. The outlet wrote that it is unclear what prompted the attack.
Officers tackled the man â later identified as Derrick King â and took him into custody. King has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering another person and resisting arrest, the Tribune reported.
The Philadelphia Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
Rourke, who could not be reached for comment, was treated at a hospital for significant facial injuries and has since been released.
King is facing charges of aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering another person and resisting arrest, the AP reported.
National Guard and Police maintain barricades near City Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on June 1, following days of protests. Three days later, a bystander attacked an AP photojournalist as the mayor and police commissioner toured the area.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,private individual,yes,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,,,, 2020-06-17 02:55:55.868353+00:00,2021-11-19 16:22:42.445344+00:00,Philadelphia Inquirer reporter one of three journalists detained by police past curfew,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/philadelphia-inquirer-reporter-one-three-journalists-detained-police-past-curfew/,2021-11-19 16:22:42.395199+00:00,,,,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Kristen Graham (Philadelphia Inquirer),,2020-06-01,False,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania (PA),39.95233,-75.16379,"Kristen Graham, a reporter for the daily Philadelphia Inquirer, was temporarily detained on June 1, 2020, by police while returning home from reporting post-curfew, her paper reported.
Graham was one of three journalists similarly detained that night in Philadelphia. Reporter Jeff Neiburg and photographer Jenna Miller of Wilmingtonâs The News Journal and Delaware Online were also arrested by Philadelphia police as they attempted to return home after the 6 p.m. curfew, the outlet reported.
Their respective outlets said the three journalists were reporting on protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and 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.
Graham, a Pulitzer Prize-winning education reporter, volunteered to cover the protests that day, she said in a personal account written for the Inquirer. Police deployed tear gas around 5 p.m. into a crowd near Graham. She continued to report despite the stinging in her eyes.
As the curfew set in by 6 p.m. and the protesters dissipated, Graham wrote that she decided to walk back to her car near the Inquirer office. After passing dozens of police officers, one approached her to ask where she was going. The officer urged her to keep her press credentials prominently displayed. So she did.
After she photographed some police buses near City Hall, another officer told her she was not allowed there. So Graham turned around to walk the other way around the building.
A minute later, she wrote, two officers confronted her and put her hands behind her back. Despite Graham trying to explain she was a reporter, the officers cuffed her in zip ties. Graham told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the officers placed her helmet and phone inside her backpack.
The curfew order explicitly excludes working media as essential personnel. But Graham told the Tracker that the officers âbrushed asideâ her explanation that she was working as a journalist.
Graham wrote in her account for the Inquirer that she was brought to an empty bus that soon was filled with more than 20 women, including Miller from The News Journal. Like Graham, Miller and Neiburg were detained near City Hall and brought to buses segregated by gender, Neiburg said in an interview with the local radio station 97.5 The Fanatic. The journalists, with the other detainees, were then driven to the 22nd District Headquarters.
Graham told the Tracker that she was brought into the station for processing. But a police supervisor told the officers there was no room and ordered her taken back to the bus.
For two hours, the journalists remained on the buses, their outlets reported. In her Inquirer account, Graham described how the buses were not air conditioned and one woman urinated herself after not being allowed to use the bathroom. Another woman had a medical emergency and was eventually taken to receive medical care.
An officer informed the detainees on Graham and Millerâs bus they would be issued citations for violating the curfew and released by the end of the night, both journalists said.
Graham wrote in the Inquirer that she was eventually able to maneuver her hands in order to send texts to her husband and editor on her smartwatch. A lawyer for the Inquirer contacted city officials. Around 9 p.m., the journalists were released without charge but with an apology from officials.
City spokesperson Mike Dunn told the Tracker that Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is âextremely troubledâ by the detentions and has called some of the journalists. Both Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw âare strongly committed to allowing press access so the public can be fully informed,â Dunn said.
Toward that end, Dunn said Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw ordered an investigation into the detentions. And police protocols that ensure âproperly credentialed press are essential workers and not subject to restrictions of a curfew, as long as they are not impeding public safety or police operations [âŠ] have been reiterated repeatedly in internal communications to officers.â
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. Find all of these cases here.
Two journalists working for Wilmingtonâs The News Journal and Delaware Online were temporarily detained on June 1, 2020, the outlet reported. Philadelphia police arrested photographer Jenna Miller and reporter Jeff Neiburg as they returned home from reporting around 7 p.m., after the 6 p.m. curfew, Miller said in a tweet.
A third journalist was similarly detained that night in Philadelphia. Kristen Graham, a reporter for the daily Philadelphia Inquirer, was also arrested by police as she attempted to return to her car soon after the curfew, the paper reported.
Their respective outlets said the three journalists were reporting on protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and 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.
After the curfew set in by 6 p.m. and the protesters dispersed, Miller and Neiburg decided to go home and file their reporting, Neiburg said in an interview with the local radio station 97.5 The Fanatic. Millerâs bike was parked near police headquarters, so they headed in that direction.
They asked a police officer how to get there safely, who instructed the journalists to walk around the south side of City Hall, Neiburg said in the radio interview. As they walked, they saw police officers arresting people.
The journalists held their press credentials in the air, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
âTheyâre going to round you up, theyâre going to round you up,â a group of officers warned the journalists. One of the police officers started to escort Miller and Neiburg out of concern they would be arrested, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
But two other officers interceded and overruled her, Neiburg said. The journalists were to be detained.
Miller said in a tweet after her release that they repeatedly identified themselves as journalists and showed their press credentials. But officers claimed they were under orders to detain everyone.
âI donât believe you,â one officer told the journalists, in reference to their press credentials, according to Neiburg.
Miller and Neiburg were placed in plastic restraints and escorted to gender segregated buses, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
Graham wrote in her account for the Inquirer that she was also arrested near City Hall and brought to an empty bus that soon was filled with more than 20 women, including Miller from The News Journal. The journalists, with the other detainees, were then driven to the 22nd District Headquarters.
For two hours, the journalists remained on the buses, their outlets reported. In her Inquirer account, Graham described how the buses were not air conditioned and one woman urinated herself after not being allowed to use the bathroom. Another woman had a medical emergency and was eventually taken to receive medical care.
An officer informed the detainees on Graham and Millerâs bus they would be issued citations for violating the curfew and released by the end of the night, both journalists said.
Graham wrote in the Inquirer that she was eventually able to maneuver her hands in order to send texts to her husband and editor on her smartwatch. A lawyer for the Inquirer contacted city officials. Around 9 p.m., the journalists were released without charge but with an apology from officials.
City spokesperson Mike Dunn told the Tracker that Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is âextremely troubledâ by the detentions and has called some of the journalists. Both Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw âare strongly committed to allowing press access so the public can be fully informed,â Dunn said.
Toward that end, Dunn said Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw ordered an investigation into the detentions. And police protocols that ensure âproperly credentialed press are essential workers and not subject to restrictions of a curfew, as long as they are not impeding public safety or police operations [âŠ] have been reiterated repeatedly in internal communications to officers.â
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. Find all of these cases here.
Two journalists working for Wilmingtonâs The News Journal and Delaware Online were temporarily detained on June 1, 2020, the outlet reported. Philadelphia police arrested reporter Jeff Neiburg and photographer Jenna Miller as they returned home from reporting around 7 p.m., after the 6 p.m. curfew, Miller said in a tweet.
A third journalist was similarly detained that night in Philadelphia. Kristen Graham, a reporter for the daily Philadelphia Inquirer, was also arrested by police as she attempted to return to her car soon after the curfew, the paper reported.
Their respective outlets said the three journalists were reporting on protests that began in Minnesota on May 26 and 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.
As the curfew set in by 6 p.m. and the protesters dispersed, Miller and Neiburg decided to go home and file their reporting, Neiburg said in an interview with the local radio station 97.5 The Fanatic. Millerâs bike was parked near police headquarters, so they headed in that direction.
They asked a police officer how to get there safely, who instructed the journalists to walk around the south side of City Hall, Neiburg said in the radio interview. As they walked, they saw police officers arresting people.
The journalists held their press credentials in the air, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
âTheyâre going to round you up, theyâre going to round you up,â a group of officers warned the journalists. One of the police officers started to escort Miller and Neiburg out of concern they would be arrested, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
But two other officers interceded and overruled her, Neiburg said. The journalists were to be detained.
Miller said in a tweet after her release that they repeatedly identified themselves as journalists and showed their press credentials. But officers claimed they were under orders to detain everyone.
âI donât believe you,â one officer told the journalists, in reference to their press credentials, according to Neiburg.
Miller and Neiburg were placed in plastic restraints and escorted to gender segregated buses, Neiburg said in the radio interview.
Graham wrote in her account for the Inquirer that she was also arrested near City Hall and brought to an empty bus that soon was filled with more than 20 women, including Miller from The News Journal. The journalists, with the other detainees, were then driven to the 22nd District Headquarters.
For two hours, the journalists remained on the buses, their outlets reported. In her Inquirer account, Graham described how the buses were not air conditioned and one woman urinated herself after not being allowed to use the bathroom. Another woman had a medical emergency and was eventually taken to receive medical care.
An officer informed the detainees on Graham and Millerâs bus they would be issued citations for violating the curfew and released by the end of the night, both journalists said.
Graham wrote in the Inquirer that she was eventually able to maneuver her hands in order to send texts to her husband and editor on her smartwatch. A lawyer for the Inquirer contacted city officials. Around 9 p.m., the journalists were released without charge but with an apology from officials.
City spokesperson Mike Dunn told the Tracker that Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is âextremely troubledâ by the detentions and has called some of the journalists. Both Mayor Kenney and Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw âare strongly committed to allowing press access so the public can be fully informed,â Dunn said.
Toward that end, Dunn said Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw ordered an investigation into the detentions. And police protocols that ensure âproperly credentialed press are essential workers and not subject to restrictions of a curfew, as long as they are not impeding public safety or police operations [âŠ] have been reiterated repeatedly in internal communications to officers.â
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. Find all of these cases 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.
âI was one of many people who ran up a grass embankment through a lot of gas fumes to street level,â 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.
âFrom 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,â Piette said. âI 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.â
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.
âThe 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,â 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.
âThis 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,â 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",,, 2020-06-28 23:31:48.862734+00:00,2022-05-12 21:47:26.602769+00:00,"Radio journalist arrested, cited for failure to disperse during Philadelphia protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/radio-journalist-arrested-cited-failure-disperse-during-philadelphia-protest/,2022-05-12 21:47:26.528965+00:00,rioting: failure to disperse (charges dropped as of 2020-07-08),,(2020-07-08 13:27:00+00:00) Charges dropped against radio journalist arrested during protest,Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Avi Wolfman-Arent (WHYY-FM),,2020-05-31,False,Philadelphia,Pennsylvania (PA),39.95233,-75.16379,"Avi Wolfman-Arent, a reporter for WHYY, Philadelphiaâs NPR affiliate, was arrested and charged with failure to disperse while covering a protest in the city on May 31, 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, 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.
Wolfman-Arent told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was documenting a relatively small protest of 50 to 75 people as they walked from Philadelphia Police Department headquarters in the neighborhood of Old City at around 4:30 p.m.
Im a reporter with âŠ@WHYYNewsâ© in Philly. Yes, I was just arrested. A very brief explanation below: pic.twitter.com/5u5h4A7erS
— Avi Wolfman-Arent (@Avi_WA) May 31, 2020
After a few skirmishes with protesters, police reportedly gave a dispersal warning: Wolfman-Arent said in a video posted to Twitter that he did not hear it, and that his back was turned as he tried to send a tweet.
âThey started advancing really quickly,â he said in the video, âand I was tackled from behind by an officer on the steps of the Curtis Publishing Building in Philadelphia near Sixth and Walnut [streets].â
Wolfman-Arent told the Tracker that though he identified himself as a member of the press, he was arrested alongside at least a dozen protesters.
âIt felt unprovoked,â he said. âIt wasnât crowd control. It wasnât some kind of potentially chaotic situation. The demonstration had just started and there were almost no people there.â
WHYY reported that police confiscated the recorder and boom microphone Wolfman-Arent was carrying and transported him to the Philadelphia Police 22nd-23rd Precinct. His equipment was returned upon his release at around 5:50 p.m., and he was cited for failure to disperse.
All told, Wolfman-Arent said, he was in police custody for approximately an hour.
Sandra Clark, WHYYâs vice president of news and civic dialogue, said that Wolfman-Arentâs arrest, after he clearly identified himself as a journalist, was âcompletely unacceptable.â
âWe have a duty to serve the public and that means seeking truth and accountability, and representing diverse perspectives and experiences,â she said. âWe arenât going anywhere.â
A police spokesperson told WHYY that the department was aware of the allegation and had opened an Internal Affairs investigation.
Neither Mayor James Kenney nor the Philadelphia Police Department responded to the Trackerâs 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.
On May 30, 2020, a police officer in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, struck Unicorn Riot journalist Chris Schianoâs phone with a baton while Schiano was covering an arrest.
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.
The incident occurred around 10 p.m. on the night of May 30, while Schiano was covering a group of police officers arresting a young black man. He had been live-streaming the protests for Unicorn Riot, a non-profit media collective based in known for its extensive and sympathetic coverage of street demonstrations.
Unicorn Riot later published a video on Twitter showing Schianoâs interaction with the police officers.
Philly police pin young black man to the ground with their knees, swat our field reporter with a baton for filming the scene.
— Unicorn Riot (@UR_Ninja) May 31, 2020
"Beat it."
"I'm a journalist, sir!"
"I don't care what you are. Beat it." pic.twitter.com/llguNcdTlx
As seen in the video, Schiano approached the officers, who had pinned the young man to the ground. As Schiano moved closer to document the manâs arrest, an officer appeared and waved his baton at Schiano.
Schiano identified himself as a journalist, and the officer said, âI donât care what you are, beat it!â and struck his phone with his baton, bringing the video to an abrupt end.
Schiano said that, after he was forced to stop filming, one of the officers told him, âYouâre not essential,â and suggested that he was in violation of Philadelphiaâs 8 p.m. curfew. The curfew, which exempts âpersons with essential duties,â is not supposed to apply to members of the media.
Schiano told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he was wearing a press pass during the incident. He said the altercation was âfairly minorâ and he did not suffer any injuries, but he was upset that the police stopped him from documenting an arrest.
âThis seems fairly egregious if the First Amendment is supposed to be real,â he said.
Schiano said that Philadelphia police officers similarly attacked him with batons in 2016, while he was documenting protests around the Democratic National Convention, and in 2018, while he was documenting a demonstration outside of a federal prison.
âCops here are quite proficient swatting phone cameras with those little metal batons,â he said. âIt was clearly a motion they are used to making for the specific reason of not getting filmed.â
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.
While filming an arrest during protests in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a police officer knocked the phone from Unicorn Riot journalist Chris Schianoâs hand with a baton, ending his recording.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,law enforcement,yes,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.
Trillingâs 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",,,