first_published_at,last_published_at,title,slug,latest_revision_created_at,charges,legal_orders,updates,categories,links,equipment_seized,equipment_broken,targeted_journalists,authors,date,exact_date_unknown,city,state,latitude,longitude,body,introduction,teaser,teaser_image,primary_video,image_caption,arrest_status,arresting_authority,release_date,detention_date,unnecessary_use_of_force,case_number,case_statuses,case_type,status_of_seized_equipment,is_search_warrant_obtained,actor,border_point,target_us_citizenship_status,denial_of_entry,stopped_previously,did_authorities_ask_for_device_access,did_authorities_ask_about_work,assailant,was_journalist_targeted,charged_under_espionage_act,subpoena_type,subpoena_statuses,name_of_business,third_party_business,legal_order_target,legal_order_type,legal_order_venue,status_of_prior_restraint,mistakenly_released_materials,type_of_denial,targeted_institutions,tags,target_nationality,workers_whose_communications_were_obtained,politicians_or_public_figures_involved 2021-08-23 16:16:35.256903+00:00,2021-08-23 16:16:35.256903+00:00,"Correspondent threatened, kicked during anti-vaccine protest at LA’s City Hall",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/correspondent-threatened-kicked-during-anti-vaccine-protest-at-las-city-hall/,2021-08-23 16:16:35.225609+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Frank Stoltze (KPCC-FM/LAist),,2021-08-14,False,Los Angeles,California (CA),34.05223,-118.24368,"
Frank Stoltze, a correspondent for the NPR station KPCC and LAist, was threatened, shoved and kicked while covering an anti-vaccine protest outside LA’s City Hall on Aug. 14, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered for a rally advertised as a “stop socialism, choose freedom march against medical tyranny” to protest COVID-19 vaccination requirements and mask mandates, Stoltze wrote in an account for LAist. Stoltze, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment, wrote that demonstrators carried pro-Trump flags, signs calling for the recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other signs and banners.
While the demonstration on the south lawn of the City Hall grounds remained peaceful, Stoltze told LAist that some fights broke out on the edges of the rally.
“Just a few steps into the park, I noticed a man with a bloody bandage on his head,” Stoltze wrote. “I asked what had happened and he said he’d gotten into a fight with ‘antifa.’”
Stoltze wrote that he identified himself as a journalist and asked the man if he’d be willing to be interviewed; the man declined. When Stoltze asked if he’d be willing to speak anonymously, the men with the injured man immediately started cursing at and threatening Stoltze.
Something happened to me today that’s never happened in 30 yrs of reporting. In LA. @LAist I was shoved, kicked and my eyeglasses were ripped off of my face by a group of guys at a protest - outside City Hall during an anti-vax Recall @GavinNewsom Pro Trump rally. pic.twitter.com/6s2Jfm8Xrg
— Frank Stoltze (@StoltzeFrankly) August 15, 2021
“One shoved me in the chest. Another came from behind, grabbed my hat, and ripped my prescription sunglasses off my head,” Stoltze wrote. “As I turned to leave, I told them I was going to find a cop. They called me an anti-gay slur and ‘little bitch.’”
Footage captured by journalist Andrew Kimmel shows part of the attack; as Stoltze walked away from the group of men, they followed him. Someone also ran up behind Stoltze and kicked him. According to Stoltze’s written account, the same man later knocked his phone out of his hands while Stoltze tried to film the man harassing others. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker was unable to determine whether Stoltze’s phone was damaged.
“I was attacked,” Stoltze wrote. “I’m fine. But I’m mad as hell.”
The LAPD confirmed that Stoltze filed a police complaint, HuffPost reported. According to LAist, no arrests have been made in connection with the assault.
Independent journalist Tina-Desiree Berg was assaulted while covering an anti-vaccine protest outside LA’s City Hall for the online outlet Status Coup on Aug. 14, 2021.
Demonstrators had gathered for a rally advertised as a “stop socialism, choose freedom march against medical tyranny” to protest COVID-19 vaccination requirements and mask mandates, LAist reported. Demonstrators carried signs from a cross-section of movements, including pro-Trump banners, signs calling for the recall of California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other signs and banners. While the demonstration on the south lawn of the City Hall grounds remained peaceful, according to LAist, some fights broke out on the edges of the rally.
Berg told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that she arrived approximately 45 minutes before the violence began and was standing across from the Los Angeles Police Department headquarters with a few other journalists. In footage Berg posted shortly after 2:30 p.m., a group of men can be seen gathering in a line as multiple people call out “Fuck antifa!”
At 0:22 in the clip, a man can be seen running up to Berg, pulling down his mask and saying “Hey bitch” before appearing to strike out at Berg and her camera; Berg said the man punched her and struck her camera. Another demonstrator intervenes and pulls the man away as Berg makes her way back to the sidewalk.
A few moments later, as a brawl appears to break out between the anti-vaccine demonstrators and counterprotesters, a second man runs up to Berg and attempts to pull the mask off her face while shouting, “Unmask them! Unmask them all!”
Anti-vaxxers in LA yell "Fuck Antifa" as one ATTACKS journalist @TinaDesireeBerg, who was injured as a result while reporting. More footage to come from fights that broke out. pic.twitter.com/hHfuesJ38L
— Status Coup News (@StatusCoup) August 15, 2021
A photo of the incident shows the man pulling down Berg’s goggles and face mask; Berg’s press credentials can be seen on a lanyard around her neck.
Berg told Democracy Now that she will not let the increasing violence, especially incidents targeting the press, prevent her from covering protests across California.
“People need to see what’s going on and if I let [the Proud Boys] control what I do then they sort of win the conversation,” Berg said. “They don’t want the press, they don’t want people filming them, they don’t want to be exposed for their violent actions. And so the intention of what they’re doing is to try to silence me and other journalists like me from covering what they’re doing and I absolutely am not deterred from doing it. I will be much more aware, take more security precautions.”
Berg told the Tracker she has not filed a police report about the incident, but plans to speak with the special investigations unit about it and the assault she witnessed of videographer Rocky Romano on July 3.
This article has been updated to include comment from the journalist.
Jake Lee Green, an independent video journalist for News2Share, a collective that sells footage to news outlets, was slapped, kicked and sprayed with a chemical irritant while covering an anti-vaccination rally in Los Angeles, California, on Aug. 14, 2021.
Green told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker he was covering the “stop socialism, choose freedom march against medical tyranny” rally, a demonstration outside LA’s City Hall, where demonstrators gathered to protest against mask and vaccination mandates.
When counterprotesters arrived, Green moved away from the gathering to record a brawl that had broken out on the outskirts of the rally. Footage of the incident shared on Twitter shows an individual slap Green, who was wearing a black ballistic helmet and flak jacket, both labeled “PRESS.”
Video footage shows the same person then swinging a helmet at Green while a second individual kicked Green and then grabbed at his camera in an attempt to pull it away. In footage captured by Green, he is heard identifying himself as a journalist.
Green said he backed away from the crowd to readjust his camera equipment and refocus his camera on the escalating violence when someone sprayed him with pepper gel.
“I couldn't see anything and then I felt someone grab my camera, start pulling at it, and that’s when my mic broke off and damaged the screen on the side,” Green said.
Green said the attack damaged his microphone but he attempted to keep recording until the pain from the irritant became unbearable.
Green told the Tracker he did not file a police report about the incident. At least two other journalists were assaulted by individuals during the rally.