Student journalist detained at University of Minnesota protest

Student journalist Tyler Church was briefly handcuffed and detained while reporting student protests against the Israel-Gaza war at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus in Minneapolis on Oct. 21, 2024.

The Minnesota Daily, the university’s student-led news outlet, reported that the protest was organized by members of the UMN’s Students for a Democratic Society chapter to pressure the administration to divest from investments in Israeli companies and weapons manufacturers.

Daily reporter Church told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he learned of the building takeover from a push notification from the university, which said that students had stormed Morrill Hall, an administrative building, and were “causing property damage and restricting entrance and exit from the building.”

Church said that after reporting outside alongside two other Daily journalists for about 30 minutes, the protesters let them into the building. He added that the outlet’s editor-in-chief, Spencer White, brought the journalists steel plate vests labeled with “PRESS” to wear while inside.

“More or less, we just looked around, assessed the damages so far, prepared to set up interviews with some protesters and got general coverage of the event so far,” Church told the Tracker. “I had had a meeting set up with one of the protesters, followed by another protester joining. During the middle of that interview, the police had started clearing buildings from the basement, which was where I was.”

Officers with the University of Minnesota Police Department and Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office entered the building through basement tunnels at approximately 5:45 p.m., the Daily reported.

“Police broke down the door, weapons drawn, and hauled us to the ground,” Church said. “During that, I said multiple times, ‘I’m with the media, I’m press, I’m with The Minnesota Daily.’ Even still, they told me that it didn’t matter and that I had to get on the ground. They handcuffed me and put me with everyone else who had been detained.”

When his fellow Daily reporters were escorted to the basement along with the demonstrators, they questioned the officers about why Church had been detained and placed in zip cuffs. Church told the Tracker that after about 20 minutes, an officer decided to release him.

“They struggled with the handcuffs because the handcuffs were put on me so tightly that they were actually digging into my wrist,” he said. “Eventually, the cop had gotten one off me and gave me the scissors to do the other one because he didn't feel comfortable cutting them because they were so close to my wrist.”

Church told officers his backpack — containing his laptop and two notebooks with journalistic work, as well as his coursework — was upstairs, but they said they were unable to find it and directed him to retrieve it from the department’s offices the following day.

Officers told the three Daily reporters and a journalist from The Minnesota Star Tribune to remain in the basement until the building was cleared, Church said, and ultimately led them out through the tunnels several hours later. Eleven protesters were arrested, according to the Daily.

Both White and one of the other Daily reporters told the Tracker that Church was the only journalist detained or handcuffed that day. The editor added that the Daily staff were glad Church was OK and that they are working to recover the items seized by the university police officers.

Church told the Tracker that when he attempted to retrieve his equipment, the university police’s office was closed, with a contact number posted on the door. He said he left a voicemail, and an officer eventually told him he could retrieve his belongings when the office reopened, but didn’t clarify when that would be.

The University of Minnesota Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.