Incident details
- Date of incident
- July 17, 2025
- Targets
- Frank Debesa (WPLG)
- Assailant
- Private individual
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
A restaurant employee in Hialeah, Florida, repeatedly grabbed and pushed WPLG photographer Frank Debesa on July 17, 2025, while he and reporter Jeff Weinsier reported on health violations there.
A news crew with television station WPLG was confronted by an employee at a restaurant in Hialeah, Florida, on July 17, 2025, while attempting to ask questions about its latest shutdown by state health inspectors.
Photojournalist Frank Debesa and investigative reporter Jeff Weinsier were reporting a “Dirty Dining” segment at the South Florida restaurant China Buffet after it was shut down by inspectors for the seventh time since 2014, Weinsier recounted in an article for the station.
In footage captured by Debesa, Weinsier is heard asking through an open door to the kitchen whether someone would be able to speak with them about the inspection. Seconds later, a man storms out.
The restaurant employee repeatedly shoves Debesa’s camera as the photojournalist says, “You can’t touch the camera. That’s assault. That’s assault!”
The man then grabs at Weinsier’s microphone, resulting in a brief scuffle in which Weinsier defends himself. The man darts back into the restaurant, grabs a metal tray and starts to go back outside, but another individual appears to pull him back inside.
Weinsier is then seen retrieving the microphone and its sponge cover, which was ripped off.
The same man also aggressively approached Weinsier during an investigation at the same restaurant in 2017, he reported.
Neither Debesa nor Weinsier responded to requests for comment. Weinsier reported that neither filed charges.
“We were attacked for simply trying to hold them accountable,” he said. “Instead of answers, we were met with aggression from a restaurant that should be answering to the public.”
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogs press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
