Photojournalist arrested, equipment seized while covering protest

Freelance photojournalist Sharif Hassan was arrested and his equipment seized while covering protests in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 1, 2020, according to a lawsuit filed on his behalf in November 2021.

Protests against police violence broke out across the country in the summer of 2020 following the police killing of George Floyd, a Black man, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

On May 30, then-Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued a curfew order for the subsequent three days. The order, which had no explicit exception for members of the media or other essential workers, ordered residents off the streets between 9 p.m. and sunrise.

According to his lawsuit, Hassan — whose work has been published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Atlanta Magazine and National Geographic Adventure, among others — arrived at The King Center for Nonviolent Social Change near downtown Atlanta in the late afternoon. He then photographed the planned protest as the crowd marched toward the CNN Center.

Officers with the National Guard, Atlanta Police Department and FBI were stationed downtown, according to court filings by the City of Atlanta.

Shortly before the curfew went into effect, a line of APD officers began pushing the crowd north on Centennial Olympic Park Drive, followed by a line of National Guardsmen, Hassan’s lawsuit states. Hassan and other members of the press walked behind the line of APD officers and ahead of the National Guard.

As the demonstrators and police passed through an intersection, an unidentified man ran down the side street and was pursued by officers who arrested him. Hassan followed and began photographing from a safe distance, according to his suit. Without being given any directions or an order to disperse, two officers approached Hassan and made him lie face-down on the ground.

According to disclosures filed by the city, Hassan was directed to leave or face arrest but refused to do so. The filing also asserts that Hassan did not identify himself as a journalist to the arresting officers, nor did he provide “media credentials or any other paraphernalia that would identify him as such.”

Hassan’s suit states that he identified himself as a member of the press when officers zip-tied his hands behind his back and told him that he was under arrest for violating the curfew order.

Hassan’s camera, at least two lenses and two loose memory cards were seized by police. The photojournalist was held overnight at the Atlanta City Detention Center. Hassan was released in the late afternoon on June 2, but his camera and lenses were not returned until a week later.

One of Hassan’s attorneys told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker in February 2023 that the two SD cards Hassan had been carrying in his pocket were never returned to him, and police have neither acknowledged that they are still in custody nor provided explanation. Hassan was not available for comment.

According to the suit, Hassan appeared for three hearings beginning in September 2020. At the final hearing in January 2021, prosecutors dropped the charge against him for what they described as evidentiary reasons.

Attorneys filed the lawsuit on Hassan’s behalf against the City of Atlanta and three APD officers in November 2021.

“Hassan’s arrest, detention, and prosecution have chilled him from documenting political protest events due to concern that he will again be wrongfully arrested,” the lawsuit states. “By failing to explicitly exclude basic newsgathering from the facial scope of the Atlanta Curfew Orders, the City, without factual basis, deprived Hassan and other working members of the media of their First Amendment press freedoms while the public lost its eyes and ears on events of significant importance.”

According to court filings reviewed by the Tracker, Hassan and the city are engaged in settlement discussions as of early 2023.