Physical Attack

Editor’s Note: With an unprecedented number of journalists assaulted in 2020, we’re working behind the scenes to make the Tracker database as detailed and user-friendly as possible. Email: [email protected] with questions about methodology and using the database.

Category Summary

Total cases	845
Journalists assaulted in 2021	134
Journalists assaulted in 2020	422
Journalists assaulted in 2019	40
Journalists assaulted in 2018	41
Journalists assaulted in 2017	48
Journalists assaulted, pending pre-2017	1

Two journalists assaulted while covering anti-lockdown protest at Oregon Capitol

December 21, 2020

Two journalists were assaulted by an individual while documenting an anti-lockdown protest at the Oregon Capitol in Salem on Dec. 21, 2020.KGW8 reported that far-right group Patriot Prayer had organized the demonstration at the Capitol, where lawmakers had convened for a special one-day session to address bills related to COVID-19 and wildfire relief.Oregon Public Broadcasting reporter Sergio Olmos tweeted at 1:15 p.m. that police had already declared it an unlawful assembly and officers in riot gear were stationing themselves about …

Independent journalist struck with munitions while covering Olympia protest, press pass damaged

December 20, 2020

Independent videographer Melissa Lewis was hit multiple times by crowd-control munitions while covering dueling demonstrations in downtown Olympia, Washington, on Dec. 12, 2020. One of the rounds struck and damaged her press pass.Lewis told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker she was covering a “Stop the Steal” protest organized by the far-right group Patriot around the state Capitol, where counter-protesters had also gathered.“There was a much larger ‘Stop the Steal’ presence than anti-fascist presence, so the anti-fascists were beat back by …

Journalist assaulted, her phone and finger smashed while covering Portland eviction protest

December 8, 2020

KATU ABC 2 reporter Genevieve Reaume was assaulted and had her phone smashed by individuals participating in an eviction protest in Portland, Oregon, on Dec. 8, 2020.Reaume and KATU ABC 2 photojournalist Ric Peavyhouse were covering a protest against the feared eviction of a Black and Indigenous family from their foreclosed home in North Portland. Activists had been camping out at the property on North Mississippi Avenue — known as the “Red House” — for months when law enforcement came …

Journalist hit with pepper ball, sprayed with chemical irritant while covering protest in Omaha

November 22, 2020

Journalist Ross Mosier was hit with a pepper ball and an unidentified crowd-control spray used by police officers while covering a protest in Omaha, Nebraska, on Nov. 22, 2020.On the night of Nov. 22, protesters had gathered outside the central headquarters of the Omaha Police Department in downtown Omaha. The demonstrators were protesting against the Nov. 19 killing of a Nebraska man, Kenneth Jones, by a police officer, and demanding that authorities release body cam footage of the incident.Mosier is …

Journalist shoved, threatened by armed individual at pro-police rally in Portland

November 19, 2020

Videographer Garrison Davis was shoved by armed pro-police demonstrators, including one who bumped the journalist’s smartphone with a rifle butt while he covered a Nov. 19, 2020, rally in downtown Portland, Oregon, the journalist tweeted and told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.Protests had been held In Portland on almost a nightly basis since late May in response to police violence and in support of the Black Lives Matter movement following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The …

Two journalists assaulted during ‘Million MAGA March’ in DC

November 14, 2020

Two independent journalists told the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker that they were assaulted while covering what organizers called the “Million …

Videojournalist for Brazilian broadcaster assaulted during ‘Million MAGA March’ in DC

November 14, 2020

Daniel Silva-Pinto, a videojournalist on assignment for Brazilian broadcaster TV Globo, was assaulted while covering what organizers called the “Million MAGA March,” a gathering of various far-right groups, on Nov. 14, 2020, in Washington, D.C.The rally was held in the aftermath of President Donald Trump’s failed reelection bid, a loss that the president and his supporters claimed — without evidence — was the result of widespread election fraud.Things were mostly peaceful in the nation’s capital for much of Nov. 14, …

Photographer shoved by group of pro-Trump demonstrators in Salem, Oregon

November 7, 2020

Documentary photographer Joseph Rushmore said he was shoved by pro-Donald Trump demonstrators while covering a rally in Salem, Oregon, on Nov. 7, 2020.Rushmore was pushed while covering one of the “Stop the Steal” rallies held around the country to promote President Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. In the wake of the election being called for Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that morning, about 200 people gathered outside the Oregon Capitol in the afternoon …

More Incidents

Search Results Summary

Total Results	589
Journalists affected	422
Institutions affected	203

How we track Physical Attacks

Journalists who face physical violence, either as the result of a targeted attack by a public or private individual or in the course of their work. If a journalist is hit by rubber bullets or bean bag rounds, it will be counted in this category.

Damage to equipment is counted in a separate "Equipment Damage" category, but may be also listed in this Physical Attack category if the damage occurs with an attack.

Journalists affected by tear gas, pepper spray, or other mass riot control agents will be counted if the individual suffers serious injury or appears to have been specifically targeted. Incidents that fall outside these parameters and in which multiple journalists were affected by riot control agents may be counted in the “Other” category.