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 2020-10-20 20:11:45.577956+00:00,2023-07-13 20:20:07.077393+00:00,"Trump supporter assaults, knocks phone out of journalist’s hands",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/trump-supporters-assaults-knocks-phone-out-of-journalists-hands/,2023-07-13 20:20:06.944831+00:00,,,"(2021-05-28 13:44:00+00:00) Trump supporter pleads guilty after assaulting, knocking phone out of journalist’s hands",Assault,,,,Dymanh Chhoun (WCCO-TV),,2020-09-30,False,Duluth,Minnesota (MN),46.78327,-92.10658,"
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,,, 2020-07-01 15:18:21.179965+00:00,2024-03-14 14:56:08.566051+00:00,"Photojournalist arrested, equipment seized outside Trump’s Tulsa rally",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-arrested-equipment-seized-outside-trumps-tulsa-rally/,2024-03-14 14:56:08.430578+00:00,obstruction: obstructing or interfering with an officer (charges dropped as of 2020-08-07),,"(2020-08-07 14:59:00+00:00) Charges dropped against photojournalist arrested outside Trump’s Tulsa rally, (2021-01-08 08:56:00+00:00) Cellphone returned six months later to photojournalist arrested outside Trump’s Tulsa rally","Arrest/Criminal Charge, Equipment Search or Seizure",,"cellphone: count of 1, camera: count of 2, camera lens: count of 3, equipment bag: count of 1, protective equipment: count of 1, storage device: count of 2",,Alan Pogue (Freelance),,2020-06-20,False,Tulsa,Oklahoma (OK),36.15398,-95.99277,"Texas photojournalist Alan Pogue was arrested while documenting police arresting others outside of President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 20, 2020.
The Texas Observer confirmed to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that Pogue was covering the rally for the outlet. Pogue is also the owner of the Texas Center for Documentary Photography and was a combat medic in the Vietnam War.
Pogue told the Tracker that had already passed through security into the BOK Center when he heard somebody yell that something was happening with the police outside.
“So I grabbed my camera bag and ran out front, but by the time I got there the three people had already been arrested and were being led across some grass to a police van,” Pogue said. “I followed the police and the three people and took some photographs.”
After the individuals were in the van, however, Pogue said the officers from the Tulsa Police turned to him “almost in unison” and asked who he was.
Pogue’s arrest report, which was released to the Tracker, states that Pogue followed police into a restricted area of the Trump rally and refused to leave, stating that he was media. The report also states that Pogue was allegedly “unable to provide proof of being with the media.”
Pogue told the Tracker that the police narrative is completely inaccurate.
“One police officer told me to stand back just a little bit more,” Pogue said. “So, I took a couple of giant steps backward and he was satisfied, so I just kept taking pictures. No one else said anything to me. There was nothing to indicate that I shouldn’t be there and nobody told me I couldn’t be.”
Pogue said that when the officers turned to him and asked who he was, he identified himself as a photojournalist, showed them the wristband he received after passing through the rally’s security screening and handed them his business card.
“It was really generational: One of the younger police officers said, ‘Well, you’ve got your wristband, you’re obviously a photojournalist. I guess you can go now,’” Pogue said. “Then an older officer said, ‘No, no, no, you can’t go now.’”
Officers searched through his camera bag, which contained not only his equipment but a medical kit and a bulletproof vest that he had worn through security. Pogue told the Tracker that, during the search, one of the officers said, “It looks like he’s some kind of social justice advocate.”
When Pogue located his digital copy of a letter from the Observer verifying that he was on assignment for the news organization, he showed it to the older officer.
“[The officer] then grabs my iPhone and is flipping through my emails, and I said, ‘Officer, you do not have my permission to look through my iPhone,” Pogue said. “But, he saw that I’m also a member of the Veterans for Peace, and that pretty much nailed me.”
Pogue said that he was placed under arrest, but that the officers were not rough with him and didn’t zip-tie his hands too tightly.
A spokesperson from the Tulsa County jail told the Tracker that Pogue was arrested at approximately 5:40 p.m., and booked in the jail at 7:17 p.m. He was released on a $500 bond paid by the Tulsa Bail Project at around 11:20 p.m.
The Tulsa Police Department, the arresting agency, did not respond to requests for comment.
Pogue was charged with obstructing or interfering with an officer, the spokesperson said, which is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail, a $500 fine or both.
Pogue’s belongings — including his wallet, ID, phone and equipment — were not returned to him upon his release. He was told he would have to come back to the county jail at 8 a.m. on June 22; when he arrived that Monday officers informed him that his two cameras, three lenses, cellphone, memory cards, camera bag and bulletproof vest were all being held as evidence.
“Obviously all they would really need is my compact flash card, nothing else really matters,” Pogue said. “It’s just harassment. There’s no intel to be gathered from my lenses.”
“I am deprived of the tools of my trade for no good reason,” he added.
Tristan Ahtone, editor-in-chief for the Observer, told the Tracker, “We condemn the arrest of reporters by security forces and demand that Tulsa police release [Pogue’s] equipment immediately.”
Pogue said that his arraignment is set for July 10, but that he is hopeful the charges will be dismissed and his equipment returned before that date.
The exterior of Tulsa’s BOK Center, where President Donald Trump held his first re-election campaign rally in many months on June 20, 2020.
",arrested and released,Tulsa Police Department,None,None,False,None,[],None,returned in full,False,law enforcement,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,Donald Trump rally,,, 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",,, 2019-02-22 16:52:02.978036+00:00,2023-05-08 14:14:01.583872+00:00,"Cameraman, other reporters attacked at Trump rally",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/cameraman-other-reporters-attacked-trump-rally/,2023-05-08 14:14:01.399058+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Ron Skeans (BBC News),,2019-02-11,False,El Paso,Texas (TX),31.75872,-106.48693,"A man wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat attacked a group of reporters, including BBC News cameraman Ron Skeans, during a Trump rally in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 11, 2019.
Video of the altercation shows the man, whose identity has not been released, running onto the press risers and then pushing journalists and cameras, while shouting, “Fuck the media!” After security restrains the man and begins escorting him out of the rally, the crowd begins chanting, “Let him go!”
Skeans told BBC News that the man gave him a “very hard shove” and tried to knock him and his camera over. BBC News later broadcast a report on the attack narrated by Gary O’Donoghue, the network’s Washington correspondent.
“At first, he pushes the camera from behind into my cameraman,” O’Donoghue said in the segment. “As he passes, he shoves violently once again, before being restrained.”
O’Donoghue reported that Trump appeared to notice the commotion in the press area and asked, “Everything OK?” but did not condemn the attack.
Although the man was forcibly escorted out of the rally, he was not arrested or charged with any crime.
“We have not reviewed any material from law enforcement for charges at this time,” an El Paso district attorney spokesperson told The Daily Beast. "No charges will be filed until we do."
After the White House Correspondents Association called on Trump to condemn attack, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders issued a statement: “President Trump condemns all acts of violence against any individual or group of people — including members of the press. We ask that anyone attending an event do so in a peaceful and respectful manner."
Editor's Note: This article has been updated to reflect the correct year of the incident.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally in El Paso, Texas, on Feb. 11. During the rally, one of his supporters violently shoved members of the press. No charges have been filed.
",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,None,,Donald Trump rally,,, 2017-08-25 18:31:14.718550+00:00,2022-09-21 19:32:28.603912+00:00,Journalists in Phoenix tear-gassed while covering protest,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/journalists-phoenix-tear-gassed-while-covering-protest/,2022-09-21 19:32:28.522335+00:00,,,,Other Incident,"A sudden change, a cloud of gas and real news in the making (http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2017/08/24/president-donald-trump-rally-arizona-republic-journalists-gas-pepper-spray/595894001/) via Arizona Republic",,,,,2017-08-22,False,Phoenix,Arizona (AZ),33.44838,-112.07404,"Seventeen Arizona Republic journalists were exposed to tear gas or pepper spray while covering anti-Trump protests on Aug. 22, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona, according to Republic editor Nicole Carroll.
Reporter Laura Gomez and photographers Rob Schumacher and Jason Pohl told Carroll about their experiences reporting on the protests.
“The air around me was thin with that layer of tear gas,” Gomez said. “The skin around my mouth and nose started to burn badly."
"As parents with kids rushed away, we moved in," Schumacher said. "I kept shooting until I couldn't see any longer. Coughing and gagging, I rushed my way up Second Street to the office to wash off and file. As we were filing, we heard the flash-bangs going off outside our building. So I went back to cover the action in front of our employee entrance.
“Some people in the crowd were immediately saying, ‘OK, time to go home,’" Pohl said. "Others were becoming more confrontational. By the time the crowd dispersed to the west, near the parking garage, the burning started in my throat and nose. I had goggles on, so my eyes were fine, but it was clear it would only get worse."
Police officials lob tear gas to try and disperse demonstrators after a Donald Trump campaign rally on Aug. 22, 2017, in Phoenix, Arizona.
",None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,None,The Arizona Republic,"chemical irritant, Donald Trump rally, protest",,, 2017-05-18 06:56:39.556525+00:00,2023-12-18 20:26:13.621829+00:00,Photojournalist Nebyou Solomon arrested at Trump rally,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalist-nebyou-solomon-arrested-trump-rally/,2023-12-18 20:26:13.489287+00:00,"obstruction: obstruction of a police officer (charges dropped as of 2019-04-17), trespassing (charges dropped as of 2019-04-17)",,"(2023-12-11 15:24:00+00:00) Photojournalist’s lawsuit dismissed, appeal filed, (2019-04-17 13:28:00+00:00) Solomon files First Amendment lawsuit against Las Vegas police",Arrest/Criminal Charge,,,,Nebyou Solomon (KLAS-TV),,2017-04-15,False,Las Vegas,Nevada (NV),36.17497,-115.13722,"Nebyou Solomon, a photojournalist for 8 News Now, was arrested on April 15, 2017, while documenting a rally held outside Trump International Hotel Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department released a statement saying that Solomon continued recording from private property belonging to the Fashion Show Mall after security officers requested him to move. Amy Rose, of the ACLU's Nevada chapter, said that Solomon was recording from a sidewalk.
Solomon was released eight hours later on the night of his arrest. He was charged with trespassing and obstruction of a police officer.
Las Vegas police stand between protesters against and supporters of the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States on Nov. 12, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
",arrested and released,Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department,None,None,False,2:19-cv-00652,['APPEALED'],Civil,None,False,None,None,None,False,False,None,None,None,None,False,None,[],None,None,None,None,None,None,False,[],,"Donald Trump rally, protest",,,