Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- August 4, 2018
- Targets
- Ric Peavyhouse (KATU)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Ric Peavyhouse, a photojournalist for Portland TV station KATU, was struck by a blue foam-tipped round fired by police officers on August 4, 2018.
Ric Peavyhouse, a photojournalist with local TV station KATU, was filming a protest in Portland, Oregon, on Aug. 4, 2018, when a police officer shot him in the leg with a “less-lethal” foam-tipped round.
Mike Bivins, a freelance reporter who covers the city, was standing a short distance away from Peavyhouse and captured video of the sponge round striking him. He later posted the video on Twitter.
Here’s video of @KATUNews photojournalist @RPeavyhouse taking a police less-lethal weapon like a champ during the Aug 4 Patriot Prayer rally and counterprotest pic.twitter.com/m1w8DPndGL
— PDX Mike Bivins (@itsmikebivins) August 8, 2018
The video shows a small number of protesters in front of a line of Portland police officers. Peavyhouse is standing on the side of the street, holding a big TV camera on his shoulders and filming the line of police and the protesters.
In the video, police officer issues a dispersal order over a loudspeaker.
“All people in this area must immediately disperse,” the officer says. “Failure to comply with this order may subject you to arrest or citation and may subject you to the use of riot control agents or impact weapons.”
Suddenly, a small blue projectile — likely a 40mm plastic round with a blue foam tip — strikes Peavyhouse in his right thigh. He clutches his leg, turns around, and stumbles out of frame.
In an interview with KATU, Peavyhouse described being struck by the less-lethal round.
“Then I hear a tat-tat-tat-tat,” he said. “A split second later, I feel like a crack on my leg, feels like a baseball bat hitting your thigh.”
Peavyhouse tweeted that the 40mm sponge round left a large bruise on his thigh and made it painful for him to walk.
Last protest injury update: got checked out by a doctor. Bruise gets nastier by the hour. Hurts to walk a little, but doctor says to just take it easy.
— Ric Peavyhouse (@RPeavyhouse) August 5, 2018
Hit by one of the larger “less lethal impact rounds” used by @PortlandPolice yesterday #LiveOnK2 pic.twitter.com/tLd9GbjPyx
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