Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- May 30, 2020
- Location
- Salt Lake City, Utah
- Targets
- Unidentified photojournalist 5
- Assailant
- Private individual
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Unknown
Assault
A photojournalist was assaulted while assisting a Fox 13 News crew during protests in Salt Lake City, Utah, on May 30, 2020.
Fox 13 correspondent Sydney Glenn wrote on Twitter that she, her unnamed colleague and a photojournalist from another station were assessing damage to a Fox 13 news vehicle when a crowd attacked the two photojournalists. The Tracker has documented the assault of the Fox News 13 photojournalist and damage to the outlet’s vehicle here.
Glenn did not respond to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker’s calls or emails requesting comment. When emailed for comment, Fox 13 News Director Marc Sternfield said, “At the request of those involved, we are not releasing additional information about the incident.”
The Salt Lake Tribune reported that the group Utah Against Police Brutality had organized a car caravan protest, but that individuals took to the streets when there were not enough vehicles to fit all the demonstrators.
Following looting and vandalism, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall announced an 8 p.m. curfew. Salt Lake City Police Department officers were joined by police from 13 cities and up to 200 National Guardsmen.
Detective Greg Wilking of the SLCPD confirmed to the Tracker that two photojournalists were “roughed up.”
“There were so many things happening that day that we didn’t even break the incident with the journalists down into a separate report,” he added.
The SLCPD did not respond to the Tracker’s requests for additional information about the incident or whether arrests were made in connection with the assault or vehicle damage.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker is documenting several hundred incidents of journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas, or had their equipment damaged while covering protests across the country. Find these incidents here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
