Reporter shoved, notebook damaged at Washington state protest

A reporter for a local news outlet was shoved multiple times by federal officers while reporting on an anti-deportation protest in Spokane, Washington, on June 11, 2025.

Former Spokane City Council President Ben Stuckart called for the community to gather in protest following the detention of two Venezuelan immigrants living in the city, local broadcast station KREM reported. Stuckart was considered the legal guardian of one of the individuals, a young man who had aged out of a program that allowed certain immigrant children to seek lawful permanent residency the day before he was detained, according to Range Media.

The local reporter, who asked to remain anonymous because they had not been authorized to speak about their experiences, told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they arrived to start covering the protests at approximately 1:45 p.m. The demonstration was centered around the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in downtown Spokane.

“For hours, protesters had blocked an ICE transport van with their bodies but things had been relatively calm,” the reporter said. “Then, a few hours in, I heard shouting from around the other side of the building and I sprinted around the corner where a gate had been opened and ICE were attempting to leave. Protesters were linking arms to try and stop the vehicle.”

The reporter told the Tracker they had a bright yellow press credential clipped to their shirt and filmed using their cellphone, being careful to stand on public property to the side of the gate and separate from the gathering protesters.

“Then, ICE agents also came around the back corner and started forcefully shoving protesters,” they said. “I declared verbally, ‘I’m press!’ multiple times. I had my notebook in one hand and my phone, recording, in the other.

“An agent shoved me hard. I again declared I was press and got shoved again, and my notebook ripped out of my hand and tossed on the ground.”

They told the Tracker that a page containing reporting notes about the day’s events had been ripped out of the notebook and, by the time they found it later, it was too torn, dirty and trampled to read.

The reporter said that their editor has spoken with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and is determining whether to file an official complaint or civil case against the federal agents.

The ICE Office of Public Affairs did not respond to an emailed request for comment.