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 2021-05-24 13:13:55.203454+00:00,2023-11-01 14:33:38.399379+00:00,"Block Club Chicago journalist assaulted, his camera damaged at protest",https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/block-club-chicago-journalist-assaulted-his-camera-damaged-at-protest/,2023-11-01 14:33:38.293542+00:00,,,,"Assault, Equipment Damage",,,"camera equipment: count of 2, camera lens: count of 1",Colin Boyle (Block Club Chicago),,2021-04-16,False,Chicago,Illinois (IL),41.85003,-87.65005,"
Block Club Chicago reporter and photojournalist Colin Boyle was assaulted by a Chicago police officer while he was covering a demonstration in northwest Chicago, Illinois, on April 16, 2021. According to its website, Block Club is a local, reader-supported nonprofit newsroom “dedicated to delivering reliable, nonpartisan and essential coverage of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods.”
According to the Chicago Sun Times, hundreds of demonstrators gathered in front of the city’s Logan Square Monument the evening of April 16 to demand justice for 13-year-old Adam Toledo, who was shot and killed by a Chicago police officer on March 29, 2021. After several speeches and chants, the paper reported, the crowd marched north on Milwaukee Avenue, yelling phrases such as, "No justice, no peace, abolish the police!"
Boyle said he was leaving the demonstration around 9:50 p.m., after several hours of covering a peaceful protest, when he saw an alert on Twitter that said the Chicago Police Department was calling units to return to an intersection where Boyle had been photographing earlier.
Around 10 p.m., he said he arrived on the scene of a standoff between officers and protesters. Boyle said he had been following a group of protesters down West Logan Boulevard toward an area where police had blocked off the street.
"There was a police sergeant telling the police officers to form a line and two seconds later after he made that call, he looked at me and directed me to move," Boyle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in an interview. Boyle said he began to move, but “under four seconds after the sergeant told me to move, an officer comes power walking up behind me and he says, 'Sir, he's not going to tell you again.'"
Boyle said he was holding a Chicago Police Department press badge in his hand and had press markings across his helmet and vest on front and back. He said he also verbally announced that he was press. Still, he said, the officer marched up to him and "shoved me backwards through a crowd of police officers."
According to Boyle, he repeatedly told the officer he was already moving, but the officer cut him off and said, "Nope, nope, nope. Keep on going." After being pushed through "a wall of his coworkers [officers] who did not intervene," Boyle said he lost balance and fell on his camera gear, breaking a camera hood, busting open a flash, and shaking up a telephoto lens, which he said still rattles from the impact.
"This is how you treat press credentialed by your department, again?" Boyle wrote on Twitter alongside several photographs taken at the scene. "Shameful."
The cop on the right started tossing me as I was leaving upon order. I was pushed to the ground and that broke my camera lens hood. Thanks, @CPD_Media. This is how you treat press credentialed by your department, again? Shameful. pic.twitter.com/rOdJknBudb
— Colin Boyle (@colinbphoto) April 17, 2021
After the incident, Boyle said he shared his frustration with CPD Director Glen Brooks, and a few days later he filed a formal complaint. As of early May, Boyle said, he had received no information on the status of his complaint.
Chicago police did not respond immediately to an emailed request for comment. The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting assaults, arrests and other incidents involving journalists covering protests across the country.
Colin Boyle, a photojournalist for Block Club Chicago said he was assaulted by police while covering demonstrations in Grant Park on July 17, 2020.
Boyle was documenting the scene surrounding the park’s Christopher Columbus statue, where reports estimated that at least 1,000 people had gathered, eventually attempting to topple the monument to the 15th-century explorer.
Removal of Columbus monuments around the country has been a focal point for many nationwide groups given the explorer’s history of colonization and violence toward Indigenous people.
During the demonstrations in Chicago, which included a rally in support of Black and Indigenous people, police and protesters clashed. Forty-nine officers, according to the Chicago Police Department, were injured, with 18 sent to the hospital, while demonstrators filed at least 20 complaints for excessive force and other grievances with the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.
Boyle told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he’d arrived at Grant Park around 8 p.m., making his way around the area, taking pictures and following police orders. He was wearing a helmet emblazoned with the word “press” and had his police-issued press badge around his neck. About 15 minutes later, he said, police cleared out Columbus Drive, which bisects the park, and things seemed to be winding down.
He said that as he began to exit the park he encountered Officer Kerry Pozulp. Boyle said he held up his press badge, and when the officer saw it, he swore at him, chiding him for presenting his press credentials.
“I said, ‘Is there a problem? Can you repeat?’” Boyle told the Tracker. Boyle said Pozulp then grabbed him from behind and started to shove him. Boyle said he then pulled out his phone to film. When he called out for help to nearby officers, Pozulp replied, “Yeah, you’re gonna need help.”
Boyle tweeted video of the assault shortly afterward:
I was just assaulted by an officer for crossing the road to my bicycle while holding up my press badge and he called me a "smart ass" for doing so, accused me of wanting to start a problem. I yelled help, he said "you're gonna need help" before throwing me. @Chicago_Police pic.twitter.com/XYuJe19IQm
— Colin Boyle (@colinbphoto) July 18, 2020
He said he walked away without injury and immediately reported the incident to police nearby. “I had the worst-case scenarios running through my mind,” he said.
After Boyle tweeted the video, the CPD responded on Twitter with a statement that read, in part, “We remain committed to ensuring members of the press are able to do their jobs safely. This incident occurred when Chicago Police officers were dispersing the crowd to protect public safety and all those involved.”
— Chicago Police Communications & News Affairs (@CPD_Media) July 18, 2020
Boyle filed a formal complaint with COPA. When asked for comment, Jennifer Rottner, the director of public affairs at COPA, said she had nothing additional to share, as the case is under investigation.
Boyle also filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago and Officer Pozulp, alleging that Pozulp committed eight offenses, including use of excessive force, assault and battery. The case has since been settled and dismissed, according to Boyle’s lawyer, Matt Topic.
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.
The Christopher Columbus statue in Chicago’s Grant Park was officially removed on July 24, 2020.
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