Incident Details
- Date of Incident
- August 14, 2024
- Targets
- Peter Hambrecht (News2Share)
- Assailant
- Law enforcement
- Was the journalist targeted?
- Yes
Assault
Pro-Palestinian protesters gather outside a presidential campaign event for Vice President Kamala Harris in New York City on Aug. 14, 2024. Videographer Peter Hambrecht was shoved by police while covering the protest that evening.
Freelance videojournalist Peter Hambrecht was shoved repeatedly with batons by New York City police while documenting protests outside a fundraiser for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign on Aug. 14, 2024.
State Democratic leaders — including Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul — and labor union members gathered in Harlem in a show of support for the Harris-Walz campaign ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Politico reported. Pro-Palestinian protesters rallied outside the event, demonstrating against the Biden administration’s military support for Israel amid the ongoing Israel-Gaza war.
Hambrecht told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that the protest outside the campaign event was uneventful, but tensions escalated after protesters marched the 10 blocks north to a restaurant where the Democratic officials were holding an after-party. He said he was one of five or six journalists to make it into the restaurant alongside approximately 15 demonstrators.
“I was kind of pulled out of the restaurant by the cops, who eventually came in. And then they just start pushing people down the sidewalk away from the restaurant for a while, just really ramming people,” Hambrecht said. “Most of us at the front were press anyway, by the end of it, and they just continued to do it.”
He said that he was wearing his city-issued credentials while police shoved him multiple times with their batons, and he received multiple bruises around his ribs. Hambrecht said he licensed his footage from the protest to News2Share, a collective that sells footage to news outlets.
At least four journalists, including Hambrecht, were struck or pushed by officers with batons during the chaos. Hambrecht, who routinely documents protests in New York City, told the Tracker that the police response on the night of Aug. 14 “was the craziest it’s been for a while.”
“They just didn’t stop. It was very, very strange that they seemed to be the clear aggressors in that situation, when everyone was getting out of the way and they continued to push us,” he said.
The New York City Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Press Freedom Tracker catalogues press freedom violations in the United States. Email tips to [email protected].
