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 2021-03-24 17:10:13.752925+00:00,2021-03-24 17:10:13.752925+00:00,Photojournalist’s hearing damaged by flash-bang grenade thrown by federal agent,https://pressfreedomtracker.us/all-incidents/photojournalists-hearing-damaged-by-flash-bang-grenade-thrown-by-federal-agent/,2021-03-24 17:10:13.716037+00:00,,,,Assault,,,,Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (Freelance),,2020-10-06,False,Portland,Oregon (OR),45.52345,-122.67621,"
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.
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.
Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland said he was hit in the chest with a tear gas canister deployed by federal agents while he was covering protests in downtown Portland, Oregon, early on July 23, 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.
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 a class-action lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon.
Lewis-Rolland, whose work has been published by the Portland Mercury, The New York Times and Reuters, said he was struck in the chest with a tear gas canister fired by federal agents early the morning of July 23.
Video shared by Lewis-Rolland with the Tracker shows canisters of tear gas being shot down the middle of an empty street, when sparks suddenly fly close to the frame. Lewis-Rolland abruptly jerks his camera, and as he moves away, a tear gas canister is visible on the sidewalk.
In an Aug. 10 document filed in the ACLU lawsuit, Lewis-Rolland said that the canister struck him.
According to the court papers, when he was covering protests in Portland at that time in July he had started wearing a fluorescent vest with a transparent pocket, where he displayed a press badge issued by the Portland Mercury. He also wore a helmet and backpack with the word “PRESS” written in several places.
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.
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.
Mathieu Lewis-Rolland said he was shot with pepper balls and targeted with a tear gas grenade on the morning of July 21, 2020 in Oregon, Portland. Multiple other journalists also reported being targeted with crowd-control munitions that day.
The journalists were 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.
Demonstrations that began the night of July 20 stretched into the early hours of the next day, according to the Oregonian, as the “Wall of Moms” and other protesters confronted federal officers stationed at the Mark O. Hatfield federal courthouse and the Multnomah County Justice Center downtown.
After retreating, federal agents emerged again after 2 a.m. to use crowd control munitions to disperse the smaller group of protesters that remained at the courthouse, according to the Oregonian. Around that time, agents shot pepper balls at Lewis-Rolland and threw a tear gas grenade in his direction, he said.
In footage of the incident that Lewis-Rolland provided the Tracker, he can be heard saying, “This is what makes me nervous, when there’s all this smoke and they don’t know who is who.”
Seconds later, federal officers begin to fire in his direction and he moves behind a tree.
“I have my hands in the air, I’m marked as press, I’m being fired upon,” Lewis-Rolland can be heard saying as he backs away. Then one officer advances towards him and tosses a tear gas grenade in his direction.
Lewis-Rolland’s helmet, T-shirt and backpack were all marked “press,” according to an interview he did with Buzzfeed. He also said he wrapped his Nikon camera in fluorescent tape so that officers don’t mistake it for a weapon.
Lewis-Rolland told Buzzfeed that officers were pointing their weapons at protesters and press alike that night. "I saw them pointing them at everybody and anyone, including me," he said, adding, “Last night was the most horrifying thing I have ever experienced in my life.”
Lewis-Rolland, a defendant in the ACLU class action suit, provided testimony about an incident earlier in July in which he was injured by munitions fired by federal agents.
DHS, which has coordinated the federal presence in Portland, said in a statement that officers used pepper balls and tear gas to respond to an “assault” against the courthouse and law enforcement officers by rioters. The agency didn’t respond to a request for comment on the incidents.
The Portland police said in a statement that its officers weren’t present and didn’t engage with protesters that evening.
Photojournalist Mathieu Lewis-Rolland was hit with multiple rounds of non-lethal projectiles fired by federal agents while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, in the early morning hours of July 12, 2020.
Protests 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.
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.
At 1:58 a.m. on July 12, Lewis-Rolland began filming live on Facebook, documenting as federal agents emerged from the U.S. Courthouse and started moving the crowd toward the west. About one minute into the video, a federal officer can be seen raising his gun at Lewis-Rolland, but not firing. When Lewis-Rolland reached the intersection of Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Main Street, about a block from the Courthouse, he turned to take a photograph of a teargas canister rolling into the intersection when he was shot multiple times. The impact of the non-lethal plastic munitions ripped his T-shirt in at least two places.
In a declaration in support of the ACLU lawsuit that led to the TRO, Lewis-Rolland said that one or more federal agents shot him 10 times with impact munitions. He shared photographs of his injuries with the ACLU, including one large laceration and two smaller contusions on his right side, a laceration on his right elbow, two large lacerations on his back and four smaller contusions on his left side. Munitions recovered from the intersection are also pictured.
These are some of the #munitions I recovered from the intersection at sw 4th and Main in #PortlandOregon where I was targeted and shot 10 times. pic.twitter.com/OUkOAEXR35
— Mathieu Lewis-Rolland (@MathieuLRolland) July 16, 2020
“I was not posing any type of threat to Agent Doe or anyone else. I was not even facing him,” Lewis-Rolland said in the declaration.
While a number of federal agencies had officers in Portland in July, it wasn’t clear which agency the officers were from. The Department of Homeland Security, which coordinated the federal presence in Portland, didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Independent photographer Mathieu Lewis-Rolland said he was fired on by police and targeted with tear gas at close range while covering protests in Portland, Oregon, on May 31, 2020.
Lewis-Rolland, based in Portland, was covering one of the many protests 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, a Black man. A viral video showed a white police officer kneeling on Floyd’s neck during an arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.
In Portland, 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. Around 10:40 p.m. on May 31, Lewis-Rolland went to investigate a loud bang at the intersection of Southwest Salmon Street and Southwest Third Avenue, on the same corner as the Mark O. Hatfield U.S. Courthouse, according to a class-action lawsuit filed by American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Oregon. Lewis-Rolland is a plaintiff in the case, which led to an agreement by the Portland Police Bureau in July not to arrest or harm any journalists or legal observers of the protests.
The intersection by the U.S. Courthouse was mostly clear of protesters when Lewis-Rolland arrived, according to his case filing. As he began photographing, an officer aimed a gun directly at him. Shortly after, the officer fired several projectiles toward him without warning, according to the filing.
The police also threw tear gas, according to the suit. “Mr. Lewis-Rolland was overcome by the effects of tear gas and was unable to continue documenting protests or police action at that location, but he attempted to continue operating his camera to the best of his ability while recovering from the effects of the tear gas,” says the complaint. “He was able to capture a visual cloud of gas hovering over the intersection he had just retreated from.”
Lewis-Rolland later posted a photo on Facebook showing the officer just before he fired. “He could see I was holding a camera as well as I could see he was holding a gun,” Lewis-Rolland said in the post. He added that while he wasn’t injured, he felt shrapnel hit his body.
About an hour later, he was photographing a protest around the corner from the first incident, at Southwest Fourth Avenue and Southwest Taylor Street, when a different officer threw a canister of tear gas designed for crowd control at his feet, according to the suit. The photographer was again momentarily incapacitated by the effects of the tear gas.
When he started covering the protests on May 30, Lewis-Rolland wore a shirt and jeans and carried a Nikon camera with a telephoto lens, he told the Committee to Protect Journalists, a founding partner of the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker, in a recent interview. “Before this I covered local music, festivals, local business editorials, landscapes, and weddings,” he said.
Lewis-Rolland told CPJ that he later had a T-shirt printed with the word “press” on the front and back and received a press pass from the Portland Mercury. He couldn't be reached for further comment about the incident.
The ACLU class-action complaint said that during the May 31 incident, Lewis-Rolland was “unmistakably present in a journalistic capacity” since he was carrying a “large Nikon D850 camera with a 70-200mm lens and a flash.”
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.