Freelance photojournalist hit with projectiles, arrested while documenting protests in Worcester, Mass.

June 1, 2020
Freelance photojournalist Richard Cummings was arrested and charged with failure to disperse and other charges while documenting a protest against police violence in Worcester, Massachusetts, on June 1, 2020.Cummings told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that he went to the protest that day to photograph from a distance, but added he didn’t stay long before heading for the Main South neighborhood to continue work on a long-term documentary project on the area.Cummings said that at around 9:30 p.m. he noticed …

Independent photographer stopped for secondary screening, devices seized

June 28, 2019
Independent photographer Tim Stegmaier was stopped for secondary screening and had his electronic devices confiscated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection on June 28, 2019.Stegmaier was flying in from Shanghai, China, to Detroit, Michigan, after a photojournalism trip to the Philippines when CBP officers pulled him aside for additional screening. In an account published by the ACLU of Ohio titled, “Photographs and the First Amendment. My Harrowing Journey Through U.S. Customs,” Stegmaier wrote that the officers didn’t provide any explanation …

Miami freelancer has phone and camera seized by police

May 25, 2019
Miami freelance photographer Jacob Katel had his phone and camera seized by police after he attempted to take pictures of a motorcycle crash on May 25, 2019.According to Miami New Times, Katel stopped while en route to Miami Beach to take photographs of the crash, which was causing a traffic standstill. Katel took out his camera, but before he even snapped a photograph, a Miami police officer handcuffed him and seized his camera and phone. Katel explained that he was …
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