Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- May 30, 2020
- Location
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Targets
- WTVD
- Equipment Broken
- Actor
- Private individual
Equipment Damage
The offices of ABC11, INDY Week and The News & Observer in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, were damaged during protests in the city on May 30, 2020.
Alternative weekly newspaper INDY Week reported extensive damage to its newsroom, while ABC11 and The News & Observer newspaper both had windows smashed as protests stretched late into the night.
The protests in Raleigh echoed demonstrations across the country sparked by a video showing a white police officer kneeling on the neck of George Floyd, a Black man, during an arrest in Minneapolis. Floyd was pronounced dead at a local hospital.
The newsrooms in Raleigh were damaged late in the first major day of protesting in the city. Demonstrations had been peaceful through the day, but late in the evening, after police began using tear gas to disperse crowds, a small group of people began destroying property in the city’s downtown.
A reporter for ABC11, Bridget Condon, posted videos on Twitter showing windows smashed out on the station’s street-level studio. Fragments of glass littered the sidewalk outside.
ABC11 didn’t respond to requests for comment about the damage.
The three offices were just some of many businesses damaged in the city. According to an article in the News & Observer, “nearly every” business in Raleigh’s downtown area was damaged overnight.
A spokesperson for the Raleigh Police Department said police were aware of damage to INDY Week and the News & Observer. There haven’t been any arrests related to the incidents, according to the department.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker documents journalists assaulted, arrested, struck by crowd-control ammunition or tear gas or who had their equipment damaged in the course of reporting. Find all incidents related to Black Lives Matter and anti-police brutality protests here.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
