Photojournalist arrested covering pre-presidential debate protest

Independent photojournalist Sarah Baum was arrested by a plainclothes New York City police officer while documenting a demonstration on Sept. 10, 2024.

Baum told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that a small group of demonstrators in “black bloc” — wearing all black and concealing their identities — gathered in Manhattan to protest ahead of the presidential debate that evening. According to a statement shared with Baum, the protest focused on the election, as well as issues ranging from the ongoing Israel-Gaza war to corruption in NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.

After police intercepted the demonstration, Baum said the protesters scattered or were arrested. The photojournalist stayed to document some of the arrests and then began walking home on a sidewalk nearby. That’s when they said a plainclothes officer placed them under arrest.

“Two officers came up and grabbed me and said, ‘Put your hands behind your back.’ And I said, ‘I’m a member of the press. You can see my big camera! I’m a member of the press,’” Baum recounted. “They said, ‘You know, oh well, you don’t have a badge.’”

Baum told the Tracker that they had only recently moved to the city, and had not yet obtained the six reporting clips necessary to qualify for a press credential from the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.

“To get a press badge in New York City, you need to demonstrate a need for it. In order to demonstrate a need for it, you need to be on the ground for protests, but then when you’re on the ground at protests, you’re at significant risk of being arrested if you don’t have a badge,” Baum said. “So it’s kind of this Sisyphean task.”

Baum said they repeatedly asked for the officers’ names and badge numbers, but the officers refused to answer.

The photojournalist was transported to New York City Police Department headquarters in lower Manhattan and held for approximately six hours. They were released in the early hours of Sept. 11 with a citation for walking on the roadway.

A second photojournalist, Olga Fedorova, was also detained while documenting the demonstration that day, but was released when a supervisory officer recognized her. Her camera and equipment bag, however, were damaged in the course of her detention.

On Oct. 7, Baum told the Tracker that the paperwork for the charge had been improperly filed, and therefore the charge was functionally dropped; the Tracker confirmed that there are no pending criminal charges against them.

Though Baum said they were relieved not to have to appear in court, they added that the experience has had a chilling effect on them.

“I should be documenting all the protests that are happening around the city, but I’ve had to sit on the sidelines while I figure out how physically and legally safe it is for me to go back out there,” Baum said. “I’ve also been experiencing symptoms of post-traumatic stress since the arrest and everything else that happened that day. So it’s not just a chilling effect in that I have to worry about how simply doing a job could jeopardize my safety, but also that doing your job becomes more challenging when dealing with mental health repercussions in the aftermath.”

The NYPD did not respond to an emailed request for comment.